Well, here is just about grown up K9 Grits in all his glory. December 31 he celebrated his first birthday. He is still intact per the vet's advice and, in his case, it just makes him skinny but doesn't seem to have an adverse impact on his gentle disposition. The thinking is to neuter large breed male dogs at about 14 months, so we are due for a vet visit soon to assess where we are with musculature, etc. He is such a good natured dog, I would take 10 more just like him! He is laid back and curious about everything. If we can just get him to chill out on the counter surfing it would be great (he is big enough to reach ALL parts of the counter and this is dangerous for just washed dishes and anything else I was foolish enough to leave on the counter).

Grits and Bender do very well together. When I get home from work Bender walks me to Grits' crate to let him out and they just play together all evening. The other night I had a fire in the wood stove and Bender curled up at the other end of the couch. Grits decided to join the fun and found his special bone and jumped up. His back half was on Bender and his front half was in my lap. He is a BIG boy and carves out whatever space he thinks he needs.