Atlas is so happy here. Weimaraners were bred for hunting, so I imagine that for him, it’s like his essential nature gets to really come out and play. Finally. All his life, most of his walks have been on-leash. Now, the balance has shifted. He is a happy explorer and happy hunter and there are so many wild smells for him to smell. I could watch him all day.

Atlas does not, however, love campfires. This past weekend, we had a campfire, with s’mores and ghost stories. Where was Atlas, you might ask? In the car. He spent so much time hiding behind the picnic table that I finally opened the car door and let him in. We’ve been camping before, so I am not entirely sure what changed, but I am guessing it’s the smoke. I’ve had a few kitchen fiascos since our last camping expedition. Whenever Atlas caught a whiff of smoke, he would vanish upstairs and remain there until the smoke was long-gone.

Every time I leave Atlas with my mother, I come back to find that she has made him one happy happy dog while I was away. One time, she made him a pancake. Another time, it was a sausage. Another time, it was a pork chop. If it weren’t for the fact that I have fed him regularly for ten years – I am a proven food source – I think he might trade me in for this new model.

Atlas and Kia are still negotiating their relationship, but progress has definitely been made. At first, there was much hissing and hiding. Now, puppy and kitty can walk past each other, there is the occasional sniff, and once in a while, Kia will even tease Atlas. Kia is definitely the boss. Once, she was napping on the living room floor. Atlas walked in, laid on the floor near her, and jumped up almost instantly and walked away – it looked like he was so overwhelmed with nervous excitement that he couldn’t handle it.

Atlas has the wild, the kitty, meat, and a whole lot of love. In his world, all is well.