Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, May 1, 1995                   TAG: 9505030011
SECTION: NEWSFUN                    PAGE: NF-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: NANCY GLEINER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

LOOK HOW NOAH, MOHAWK HAVE CHANGED

Now, at 10 months old and still growing, Mohawk weighs 70 pounds, 5 more than 9-year-old Noah, who lives on Bent Mountain in Roanoke County.

Mohawk's been to puppy kindergarten, basic obedience school and now is going to agility training classes, where he's learning to go over ramps, through tunnels and to jump over things - ``he can jump really high,'' Noah said.

Even with all his training, Mohawk still has to be disciplined when he doesn't listen.

``He still gets hyper when people come over,'' Noah said, ``but his behavior's better.''

Noah and Mohawk still are pals, but things are different now that Mohawk's bigger. Now that the two are about the same weight, Noah loves to wrestle with his puppy, who still sleeps in the same crate he did when he was little, ``but his head sticks out the front.

``It was fun when he was little because I could outrun him,'' Noah said, ``but now he's much faster than me.''

Noah's mom, Jenny Chapman, thinks the boy and his pet ``are about the same mental age. Mohawk acts a lot like a 9-year-old boy.''

Mohawk still needs care, feeding and exercise every day, just as any pet, any age, does. As time goes on, kids and pets become closer friends, just as kids and kids do.

When Noah left for a week's vacation recently, he had wanted to take a picture of Mohawk with him ``so I wouldn't miss him so much'' and worried about him when he was away.

They both ``went nuts'' when Noah came back home.