Update Received December 2014:  Manny is amazing though and has literally made our home complete. Our first year was a very busy one to say the least. We found out that he absolutely loves Winter/Spring/Summer and Fall so we have no problem there. He gets along great with other dogs (including my parents seven year old Golden Retriever and as a matter of fact I think Manny has brought out the puppy in him again which is very cute, he’s also very tolerant of my sisters grumpy five year old Cockapoo who seems to have only-furbaby syndrome). He also does pretty well with cats too, although we don’t have any of our own our friends do so it works out nice even though they may not like his playfulness. But he loves the neighborhood kids and loves the dog park by our house more than anything. We spent a LOT of time up at the cabin which he also really enjoys because he gets to be outside and play with the neighbors labs and chase them into the lake (even though he really only enjoys going into the water chest deep at this point so they definitely have one up on him…I told them just wait until next Summer). We went to Madeline Island and got to experience the ferry for the first time which I think he did better than I did and also got to take his first pontoon ride this year which he did soooo good (a little worried about the kids jumping off the boat) but it didn’t surprise me that he felt he needed to come and save the day. We continuously work on training but all in all he’s just a happy go lucky pup and as long as he’s with us he’s content. He still has a lot of puppy in him but I wouldn't have it any other way seeing as though time goes by too fast as is. To put it ‘simply’ he's a sweet, loving, smart, loyal, handsome boy and Ryan and I both feel as though we couldn't have gotten luckier. As you can probably tell from this elongated email he’s literally our pride and joy.

Update Received February 2014:  Just wanted to share a few recent pictures of our pride and joy, hope you enjoy.

Update Received December 2013: The vet appointment went really well, he weighed in at 14.5 pounds!! We both swear that he gets bigger every minute. We're just filling out the paperwork now for obedience classes which we both super excited about and know he'll enjoy too :) We're currently working at home on: sit, stay, come and down and of course he does well with all of them. It still amazes me how smart and good he is (although I've always known that Shepherds are smart)! It's just funny to hear people say well they're just puppies and wait to try and start training. I really think that working on commands is one of his favorite things to do and he already amazes so many people with how good he listens and what he already knows :) Pretty much everyone in our neighborhood is dog friendly so he gets as much attention out and about as he does at home. Our neighbors down the street (who I had not met until this point) literally stopped on the wrong side of the street just to hop out to say hello to him the other day. I found out that they foster adult Golden Retrievers but as we were talking about obedience training just re-iterated my thoughts that he's going to be the smartest pup there (although my opinion might be a little bias). He's still working on his bite inhibition but does fairly well for a teething pup! And although he likes to vocalize his excitement while playing with our friends and families pups (of all sizes) does really well and makes his mama proud. We'll keep you updated...but I've attached a few recent pics of our little Manny for you to enjoy!