Echo update

Echo, over the holidays, stayed with Marn's parents and we are eternally grateful for that. We both know that he's a very large dog to take care of, and especially because he's a puppy. They did a great job and I think probably got spoiled with attention while we were gone.
I think he gained at least 10 lbs while we were gone and probably 1 inch in height. I'm sure his size was exaggerated because we had just spent 2 weeks with Mariner, who is a small and skinny dog, but he's still big! I don't know what he weighs now, but if I had to guess, it's 135lb - at least! We measured him just the other day and at the shoulders, he's now approximately 34-35 inches -- almost full height, we hope. Yes, I said 35 inches at the SHOULDER. Add his long neck and huge head, and he's easily 4 feet tall when stretching his head up to the tip of his nose. I also tried to pick him up a while ago, and almost couldn't...
It's funny; we know he's big, but a lot of the time he doesn't SEEM huge to us until we see him with other people. Like Teresa, for instance! They came over the other weekend to pick up their skis and boots and stayed for a tea... Echo looked MASSIVE next to Teresa. I think it's partly that we don't see him next to other people very often, and also Teresa's not very tall. He'd look up and lick her face no problem. LOL. I wish I had a picture... He was pretty excited when they came over and he can be hard to control when he gets like that. It's something we're going to have to work on really hard for the next few months. I don't want him going down into the entrance part when people come over. First, there's not enough room for him, and second, he knocks people around trying to say 'hi' and get by them when he is down there. It's annoying and frustrating.

But he's still the greatest dog, even with his largeness combined with tendencies!