This is my puppy Norton who I saved from the Oakland Animal Shelter on Tuesday, September 10, 1996. He is a Belgian shepherd/yellow lab mix according to several reports. In this photo, he is four months old sporting a new leash. Norton eats Excel, Advanced Pet Diet, Natural Choice, apples, bananas, and carrots. On occasion, he eats "organic" puppy treats made from wheat germ, molasses and graham flour. His favorite chew toy is the Kong but the knot takes a close second.
Norton does not bark often but when he does he sounds like this.
We took Norton to Echo Lake in Desolation Wilderness (El Dorado National Forest). Norton jumped all over the rocks, marked several trees and helped us find our way to the campsite after a night hike. This first photo shows Norton from a vantage point near the border of Desolation Wilderness and the Echo Lake area. We did not make Norton carry any food or water which permitted him to hike quickly. Next time, he gets a backpack, too.
In this photo, Norton is sporting his leash after running through the campsite, knocking over the stove and kicking dirt into the tent.
Norton plays with some dogs but his best friend thus far is Bailey. So far, we've only been able to get them this close without having them wrestle but we'll keep on trying.
Here's another one of Norton's best buds, Meripierce, a 75% laborador 25% retriever mix. Meripierce taught Norton the finer pleasures of drinking from a fountain.
I took Norton back to Desolation Wilderness for his second snow camping trip. The first one was to Emigrant Wilderness; however, due to the inclement weather, we did not get any photos from that trip. Here, Norton is posing near Lake of the Woods as he maintained a lookout for cross-country skiers, hikers and other snow dogs.
In this photo, we're taking a rest stop on our way to Lake Aloha. Norton did an excellent job of herding us and also of running on the icy snow, sliding with his mouth open and scooping up a bunch of snow to eat. Fortunately, this meant that I did not have to give him much water to drink.
This photo shows Norton finishing off his new favorite chew toy, a stuffed bear which he has already ripped off both eyes and the nose.