Important facts about Cedar:

Favorite foods: anything, especially if anything includes popcorn and peanut butter

Favorite activities: exploring outside with me, playing chase/tumble games with other dogs

Dislikes: not getting people food, when i am late with his meals or scheduled naptime snacks, and loud sudden noises 🙁

Nicknames: hippo, defective mini-cow, grub, jelly lump

I didn’t plan to adopt Cedar, because three dogs is a lot for us…

…But when my partner adopted Juniper, i foolishly sent the weekly updates with photos and videos to the rescue organization, and they saw she was living the life we promised she’d have. So when they had to um, unadopt her brother from his first home, they called to ask if we had any friends or family who might take him, hint hint, and i was like, “lol FINE.”

He knows an impressive but not record-breaking bank of simple cues which he loves to perform for new people, who then refer to him as “smart,” while i regularly have to stop him from accidentally murdering himself by eating entire socks or trying to befriend porcupines the same way he befriends cats. (So far, there is no language in which you can tell Cedar “no one likes you to lick their butthole” and have him understand you.)

Eventually, he’s going to be creaky and he won’t be able to walk and hike as long as he does now, so i thought maybe he’d like to go visit people in convalescence homes. He’s very gentle! However, so far he’s kind of impatient, and he doesn’t really enjoy being petted by new people–he just wants them to hand over treats. So i guess we’ll see how it goes as he gets a little older and lazier 😉

Cedar is super friendly with other dogs

…But he didn’t get well socialized before we adopted him, so he reminds me a little of a developmentally disabled kid on the playground: he is sweet and eager, but he still often gets picked last for all the games. His favorite thing is when other dogs chase him, knock him over, and chew on him. He wants to be the center of attention. But he isn’t fast enough to get chased, he’s very difficult to knock over, and look at him, he looks like chewing on him would be a bad idea even with his inviting body language.

It’s like, one of the saddest things in my life, is watching him run out to meet other dogs and inevitably end up following them around looking hopeful while they all play with each other. Fortunately, he has cousins who indulge him at least sometimes, and his sister loves to play with him, so even though he doesn’t have as many friends as he wants, he has a few. (Watson will at least leech heat from his body as they sleep, also known as “reluctant snuggling,” even if there is zero chance of play.)

And his real hobby is adventuring, just like me!

Cedar is so optimistic that he can find something to love about any walk, even in inclement weather or loud/urban areas. His favorite, though, is a peaceful path in the woods where lots of wildlife have been peeing, with a human who will give him treats every time he sees a deer and calmly sits instead of chasing after it. ❥