Throwback: Kuma’s first snow

Having spent the first two years of his life in Brazil, Kuma had never seen snow until this winter. True to his lineage, he is a true snow beast. From the very first moment he saw the white powdery stuff in Riverside Park he fell in love.

(The booties are not for the snow, but to protect his paw pads from the salt they sprinkle on the sidewalks when it gets icy out.)

Throwback: In September we went to Nantucket

It was a long car ride…
but then we got to relax on the beach.

We even got Kuma in the ocean for the very first time…

and saw a beautiful sunset.

Precious cargo

Tuesday night I flew to São Paulo to pick up Kuma and bring him to the US. We arrived at Newark airport yesterday morning and, despite having been locked in his crate for 17 hours, Kuma seemed surprisingly unfazed as he came bounding out into the New Jersey sunshine and proceeded to take a very long pee on the grass outside the Continental Cargo building.

Yesterday we took him on a long walk through Riverside park to get him acquainted with his new surroundings. He seems to love New York already, and he's quite fond of his new bed too.

A kiss for daddy

He's not fat, he's English

I am sick and tired of Brazilians stopping me on the street to admire Kuma, and then telling me "he's fat," "he needs to go on a diet," etc. Kuma is not fat. Our vet says he is fine. I have seen overweight dogs aplenty here in Sao Paulo, but our beloved (who eats nothing but the best home-cooked meals in highly regulated portions) is not one of them.

I think that people here are confused as they are not used to seeing true English, show bred labs (more on the distinctions between "show bred," "field bred," and "pet bred" labs here). Most labs here in Sao Paulo seem to be pet bred, or mixed with other breeds and, therefore, are smaller and not as barrel-chested as Kuma. On the chart to the right his is a solid 5 (which is "ideal," "overweight" begins at 6. For a full description of the chart, click here).

He's not fat, he just has a big chest.

A polo shirt for Kuma

Just when you thought you'd seen it all, J. Crew launches crewmutts (a clever companion to its existing children's line, crewcuts). Now you can prep your dog out in a madras collar and "critter" sweater. I'm waiting for them to come out with a set of four mini rain booties, I think it's only a matter of time...

It's actually much louder than it sounds on video

Kuma as Tigger

Touching raw meat

The past two days in a row I have handled raw chicken, something that I rarely do for my husband, in order to cook dinner for our dog. I have been wanting to take Kuma off of store-bought dog food for a while. When I was in New York in September I came across a book called Pet Food Nation (what would I do without the "staff recommendation" section at Barnes & Noble). In it is a detailed account of some of the horrors of what goes into commercial pet food, something that was brought to worldwide attention earlier this year when tainted pet food with ingredients manufactured in China killed pets in the US. The book also contains a step-by-step guide to cooking for your pet and includes several recipes.

From now on Kuma will be eating a healthy mix of ingredients including chicken breasts, hearts, and livers; brown rice and whole wheat pasta; steamed vegetables such as string beans, broccoli, and cabbage; and eggs (only as a treat on weekends). Today I purchased organ meats for the first time in my life (see photo). I was pleasantly surprised to find that our supermarket carries organic chicken livers. Tomorrow morning I will sauté up some heart and liver, also a first in my culinary repertoire. But, it's for a good cause, so, here goes!

Reunion, at last

Kuma and Dave met me at the airport this morning. Kuma was so excited to see me and it made for the best homecoming. I took these photos in the car ride home. (Kuma, as you perhaps can tell, is not a very cooperative model. As soon as you pull out the camera, he wants to get real close and sniff it, ruining many a potential photo.)

Family photo

Christina took this while visiting. J. Crew catalog, eat your heart out.

Kuma turns one

Our beloved Kuma turned one on May 5. As I was away in the US then, this past weekend was our first opportunity to invite some friends over to celebrate the occasion. I made a lot of food and several friends came over. Kuma even got his own "cake" of sliced banana (his favorite) and dog treats. (The Hello Kitty hats were the only ones we could find, Dave was a little upset that Kuma couldn't have something a little more masculine, oh well!)

Baby, it's cold outside

This past month I seem to be getting the worst of both hemispheres when it comes to the weather. I arrived in New York expecting nice spring weather, but it was still a little colder than I would have liked. San Francisco was just plain cold and windy, despite a few very hot days right before I arrived. And now, Sao Paulo. It was still warm when I left but a mere three weeks later the dead of winter has arrived. I am wearing wool socks around the house and sweaters when I go out. I guess there is a part of me that is still in denial about the fact that it gets cold here. I tried to help Kuma keep warm by placing a blanket in his crate last night, but he seems to think everything you put in there is a chew toy...

3 a day

Our little one (that's him at Christmas) has officially graduated to 3 walks a day! This might not seem that exciting to those of you who have never owned a dog, but, for us, this is like a dream come true. When Kuma first moved in with us he was a mess; peeing all over the house, chewing on everything. We eventually got him down from 5 walks a day to 4 (with many an accident for a while) where he'd been holding steady until this week. Now, if only he could learn to not jump on us when we sit on the couch. I guess you can't have everything.