Aslan is maturing nicely; he weighs 110 and is so beautiful.  It is not just how handsome he is but his personality and the wonderful expressions he has on his face. He is very aware of everything and wants to be a part of any event.  It is impossible for me to leave him ever so my trips are planned when Tim can be at home or when Aslan can come with me. I have even thought of having an Assistants Trainer train him so I can get him access to stores and airplanes.  

Our Vet office is the best and all come from the top veterinarian schools in the country.  You do not have to make an appointment so I drop in to get him weighed or say hello and of course his regular checkups.  So far everything looks great. 

 When we are out he is so genuinely irresistible he attracts a crowd and he loves the attention.  I think it is because he has the typical comic, clever Leo attitude and knows how to get people excited.  If at the bank or pharmacy he jumps up on the counter in a polite way as if he is there to ask for his check or medicine. He really looks at you straight in the face: unusual for dogs.  In spite of his size people automatically sense his friendliness and how loving he is; this has surprised me the most.  

He finished his first AKC Obedience class and earned his Canine Good Citizenship Certificate (and badge)!  All summer our swimming pool did not have many swimmers (maybe 1 or 2 every couple of weeks) so I would take Aslan in the mornings to swim laps and do water exercises.  The first time he walked straight into that pool and started swimming. He then turned his head and looked at me like, “Why didn’t you tell me this was here?” 

I couldn’t believe how much he loved the water so I knew we had to do a lot of water work.  In the evenings we go to the river and swim.  We run across the rocks and he chases the geese as if he is going to catch one.  All the people laugh and love watching him; he loves the people and wants to make friends with everyone.  Of course I have to call him down especially around children—he just really likes to play.  His biggest love is seeing other dog’s even tiny little dogs he makes friends.  This is where I have a hard time is finding him playmates.  

I have had good luck at the parks finding dog buddies, but now that he is so big some of the dogs do not want to play with him.  I joined the Newfoundland Water Rescue Club which meets on the weekends in North Georgia.  The only problem was after driving for two hours, they wanted all the dogs in a crate so they could work with one dog at a time.  

Aslan was not happy with the crate or not being able to play with the other dogs.  Of course he loved the water exercises and being with all the people.  The lake area was fenced in so I took him out of the crate and walked him a lot outside the training area.  But note that Aslan always has the perfect manners; he was such a gentleman and didn’t even howl like the other dogs.  I always tell him how proud I am of his swimming and of the way he acts.  He gets better all the time and does amazing things.  Everywhere we go people are always impressed with him. 

At night when I’m on the computer, I can hardly get any work done because he comes upstairs and grabs my arm to tell me to go to bed.  He has this funny serious look where he tilts his head like why are you still up?  It is time for you to sleep!  Last night he did the same thing only he was barking and pulling my arm and I kept asking what is it?  I thought he was hungry.  When I went downstairs, Tim and Stephan were spread out on the floor asleep like a Leonardo Divinci drawing.  

I think that he thought something was wrong or perhaps they were dead.  When he realized I knew he had alerted me to this terrible disaster, he was so excited.  I bragged and bragged on him.  “Wow you thought something might be wrong with the guys and you came and got me.”  He jumped, turned circles, barked and his eyes sparkled like he had solved a crime mystery.