Our Berner Family Blog

Luce made his first trip to the beach today. We went to La Selva Beach which is a little south of Aptos, CA in Santa Cruz County. It was pretty overcast and cool which was probably good for our “orso piccolo” [little bear]. Luce did not seem to like the beach all that much. It took a while to get from the street to the water since it is a really wide beach there. Once we got close to the water, he was a little apprehensive. His paws got wet in the Pacific but that was about all he was OK with. I picked him up so he knew all was OK.

On the way back to the car Luce got tired so I carried him across the sand. Since Luce checked in at 44lbs at the vet the day before, I got a pretty good workout!

Today Luce got his final round of puppy vaccinations so he is now free to roam about the area. Well, not that free… He still needs training and will be on a leash, but at least he can cruise around on the ground now. Our backs are sighing relief collectively as he checked in at the vet at 43.9lbs.

This was taken in my home office which has dark blue walls and Stacey is holding Luce under one of the ceiling spot lights. The effect was different than expected but a great picture non the less.

Well we made it to fifteen weeks, not that we though we wouldn’t. As you can see, Stacey is still holding on (by a thread). Tomorrow Luce gets his last puppy shots and will be free to explore.

It was not exactly the plan to give him a bath today but he needed one and the weather was nice and warm. We have hot and cold water lines in the front of the garage so the water was just the right temperature. He cooperated very well during the actual bath. Stacey did most of it:

I played relieve washer (if that makes any sense). By this point, Luce was not looking too happy about the whole affair.

Then came the drying off part. This was a little more of an issue. We had exposed him to the blow dryer on a few occasions so he would be used to it. Eventually he settled in and probably figured it wasn’t so bad after all:

Then he finally gave up and figured, what the heck, I’m OK.

A new month with our baby boy. Well, he’s not the size of a baby anymore but Luce is still my bambino piccolo. Here we are again at the gym after a little romp across the grass.

Later, we made our way over the hill to Los Gatos to pick up a few things but first, a stop at Starbucks. We met (from afar) a big black Lab and black Labradoodle and the owners understood that Luce was not ready for visitors yet.

So, like, the last time I sat here while you were tying your shoes, there was plenty of room for me to sit here but now I can barely keep from falling off. Whats the deal? Why did you make this thing smaller?

Thanks, mom… You always know what to do to make me feel better.

Luce turned 14 weeks old today. We think this might be the last time Stacey can hold him for his weekly picture but who knows, we will see next week won’t we. He graduated from the small travel crate for the car to a large one which barely squeezes into the back seat. He skipped right over the medium size.

I’m just sittin’ here so go ahead and move along. Nothin’ at all to see here

Well, this flip flop just jumped at me and I had to do somthin’. Why didn’t you move along like I said before?

Well, we had a nice blanket, actually a big towel, laid out for Luce but Stacey though he would be more comfortable this way. He sure seemed to prefer to be held,… Like always