Back home from my whirlwind tour of points east, and back home to our latest addition: Davika. We got her a little bed of her own and have taken her out for a few good ol' fashioned off-leash fiestas. She really is growing on me, and even Mister Boom Boom seems to be ready to acknowledge her - no small step, and not necessarily where he started. In any event, the holiday weekend is over and it is time to get back to the routine.

My trip to NYC was nice. Too short to do too much, but I did get to visit Dojo for the mighty soy burger dinner with an extra salad (lettuce is just a conduit for their dressing.) Excellent!

My trip to Chicago was very short, but it was nice to see the big city in the summer time. Looks like I will be back there in a week or two, and hopefully I can find a way to get out and see my peeps!

The timing was such that my return to CA meant I would be home in time to head out the July Chihuahua Meetup! This was a big one since it was Davi's coming-out party in NorCal Chi Society.

Booms held court like he usually does, and I think he was very happy to be back visiting with his devoted (if unknowing) followers.

To date, Davika (who we have been calling Chika-Chika, because it sounds so good with Boom-Boom) has been sorta disinterested in the mass gatherings of other doggies we have attended. We've hit Alameda Small Doggie Park, for example, and she was infinitely more interested in marking and sniffing than hanging with the other demure doggies. No crime in that, but a picture is starting to emerge in which she is showing herself to be on about her own thing.

We hit Ohlone Dog Park in Berkeley, and she had a good time joining a crew of pups who barked at a few squirrels for a good 5 minutes, but other than that, she was all about sniffin' & markin'. To each their own I guess.

We did quite a bit of here-n-there with the pups over the holiday, but the centerpiece was some quality time at Chabot Park in the East Bay hills, including a romp in the tall grass of Bort Meadow. The girlie seemed to be on cloud nine having free reign of such a big area. I have been trying to see how safe she is being off-leash with us, and around the house, it is still too soon, but out in the wild, she is much more inclined to stick with us as a group - even if still on her own a bit.

We did a walk all the way up to the top of the west wall of the valley, which had nice views and, more importantly, a nice breeze! It was a warm one out there. Warm or not, nephew Quinn was looking for quality tree climbing opportunities, and Chabot has no shortage of candidates.

The girly was also up for some serious hoofin' time, and she did very well. Knowing so little of her back story, I try not to push it too hard with her. I have kept our hikes under 2 miles, and try to minimize the time we spend outside of a nice shade. The canopy on our chosen route was quite heavy, so even though it was warm, it wasn't too taxing. She certainly never slowed up or fatigued. To the contrary, on this walk - like the others - she also seems not interested in hanging out near the water bottle like Boomie does (Taylor is more like Chika-Chika in that, so maybe Booms is just a wuss!) Even when we got back to the car, she seemed pretty fresh, whereas the chihuahua was draggin' butt!

I can't say we are a fully integrated pack yet. Booms knows Taylor from visiting her in Illinois a few times. Taylor seems interested in Davika, but like Boomie, not so interested that she is all over her or anything. Everyone seems respectful and nice to each other, and no one seems unfriendly, even when treats or food are involved. To me, that is a good sign. I always knew Booms was gonna be tough to get to be overly-friendly. I really just want to make sure he isn't UN-friendly. He isn't. He is being an excellent boy for the most part. Davika is still a bit unknown, but slowly, she is revealing herself. She is exceptionally sweet, made happy by the smallest and most simple of things, and is a joy to have around. She loves having a little bed of her own, she loves a scratch here and there, and she loves to watch TV. Knowing she has some hard miles on her, I have been letting her dictate the pace at which we get to be buddies. Seeing her spin around in joy, or to play with her little stuffed toy, is something which she organically offers up with very little prompting, which is very endearing. Beyond that, she just likes being where we all are - and in my case for sure, the feeling is mutual. Booms will be the last to admit it of course, but in his own way too, I think he likes having the girly girl around with us too. That is the most important thing of all.