Blog About a Dog-Kato at 13 weeks!

Kato-bato turned 13 weeks old yesterday.  He is getting bigger every day, and it's really taking it's toll physically. We noticed yesterday that his leg was getting stuck straight out a lot more. There could be a few reasons for this.  It seems to happen whenever he tries to scratch his ears while he is walking. It's like he forgets that he can't scratch and walk at the same time, and his leg just doesn't function that well. He also got a LOT of exercise this weekend, so it's possible that his muscles are just sore. Or it could just be growing pains like the vet said.  We'll keep watching it, and mention it to the vet again when we see him in a few weeks.

Kato and I had a pretty good week.  Last Wednesday was a normal day, and then on Thursday we went on an adventure! I was heading to Cleveland, and Ben was heading to Florida for race testing, so we planned to leave Kato with my parents in Kentucky. He loves it there, and they had no plans for the weekend, so we figured that would be a good place.  I wasn't planning on leaving until noon Thursday, but when Kato and I got up around 7, the news was going on and on about the snow that would soon be arriving. I decided we'd better leave sooner.  I put a sleepy Kato in his crate while I showered and got ready. (I love that I can do that now!) Then it took me about an hour to get everything packed and ready, not just my stuff, but his too. The snow had already started while I was packing up.  It was NOT easy to pack all of my stuff, all of his stuff, and the crate in the car by myself. In blowing snow. With a dog attached to my arm. (I had him on the leash the whole time, he can't be trusted off of it, especially when my attention isn't fully on him).  At one point I left him in the laundry room because there was just no way I could carry the crate out and get it in the car (it barely fits as it is, and it's hard to get in. And heavy.) while he was circling my legs. I gave him a few toys and he did just fine. When I came back in he got up from his playing and we carried on.  We finally got in the car around 8:45 am. I needed food, and gas, and then Ben called to say he had landed in Florida. Then I had to go back to the house to turn off the water. I didn't do it before because I didn't know how, and I was just waiting for Ben to call and tell me.  Finally we hit the interstate around 9:00.  We got about 20 minutes down the road, and traffic just stopped. The snow was piling up, the roads were awful and getting worse, and we just sat there on 65 for a LONG time.  We would move a few feet and then stop for another 10 minutes. Kato didn't mind a bit. He played in his crate and looked out the window. When we hadn't gotten out of Indianapolis after 45 minutes I started to get worried.  I knew he would have to potty, and if we were stuck in traffic I didn't know what we were going to do.  Eventually we moved and got going, but the going was slow. The roads were just awful.  It took 1 hour and 45 minutes to get out of Indianapolis and onto I-74. That's normally a 30 minute trip.  Once we were out of traffic, we could move, but I didn't go above 50 almost the whole trip.  After 2.5 hours in the car, we were only 30 miles out of Indy, so I stopped at a Walmart to let puppy potty. He did fine, and once we were back on the road he slept the rest of the way. Normally the trip to my parents is 3 hours, and on this day it took 5. 5! It was terrible, and could be the worst drive I've ever had.  I counted 25 cars wrecked or slid off. Thank the Lord my puppy did not care one bit. My hatred for winter continues!

Once we arrived at my parents, life was good. Kato was really happy to be there, and spent the first few minutes running around looking for Grandma & Grandpa! (They were at work).  When they got home he was SO happy to see them! I left for Cleveland on Friday afternoon, and returned on Sunday evening. My parents said Kato had a wonderful weekend. He spent lots of time outside and running around their basement, and got a couple visits from his Nana.  He looked HUGE when I got back! It felt good to know that he was in good hands while I was away. When I got back he was EXHAUSTED. He fell asleep around 7 that night.  We came back to Indy Monday morning, and again Kato was fabulous in the car. Slept and played.  Good boy Kato!

I don't know if he is still recovering from the wild weekend, or if he is just really tired from growing so rapidly, but he has slept a LOT the last two days. Yesterday Ben took him out at 6 before he left for work, and he slept until 8:30. This morning he slept until 8:45. The only reason he woke up was because I was worried about him so I went downstairs to check on him.  Even then, he didn't wake up and become his full-of-energy self until about 10:45.  He's such a sleepy wittle puppy!

Here are some pictures from Kato's 13th week!

Apparently this guy needs a bed.  I'm attempting to sew him one currently so he won't have to lay on a towel anymore! =)

Grandpa was teasing him with a flashlight..

But Kato was too smart for that and kept trying to chase the actual flashlight instead of the light on the ground. Silly puppy!

Tried to take a selfie for Daddy, he wasn't into it.

There's my sweet boy, looking so cute!

The day that I left for Cleveland, Kato was EXTRA snuggly buggly. I love when he is like that!

Back home after a tiring weekend, but our big boy got a collar this week! It's Fuzzy's vodka/ECR green!

My handsome 13 week old pup!