SNAPPER

Malia LOVES to go on walks in her stroller. She just kicks back and enjoys the scenery, often putting her feet up - literally. And, of course, she jabbers ... loudly. Trust me when I say people know we're heading in their direction!

Rick and I enjoy taking a certain road because it has lots of hills, which is more of a workout for us. On this road there are three dogs we usually meet. The first dogs we come to are small blonde dogs. They love to bark! But they are very friendly. In fact, Malia has gotten several puppy kisses from one of them.

The second place we come to is the home of Snapper ...

This gentle giant is such a sweet dog! He is a highlight of our walk and every time he's near the road we are sure to stop and pet him. He has the sweetest brown eyes that look up at us. He's not a barker, but every once in awhile we hear his baritone bark, which has never been directed at us.

There are two other dogs further down the road that are chained up far out in a backyard and they LOVE to bark as well. Malia has taken to mimicing them and will loudly say, "Ra ra ra ra ra!" The dogs and Malia actually banter back and forth for as far as they are in each other's eyesight. We were planning to get video of her "barking" but the dogs were getting fed as we went back by and weren't interested in Malia at that time. You snooze, you lose as the saying goes. We'll try again, because it's just so funny.