Just Say No
Sam and Lisa headed toward the park for a little stroll. It was hot and Lisa was eager to get onto the trail by the lake as it was heavily shaded. The shrill voices of children raked the still, hot air. Most of the shrieks came from the public pool area off to the right and behind some dense shrubbery and didn’t bother Sam and Lisa as they navigated the footpath beyond the pool toward the playground. The cool and shady path Lisa wanted to show Sam was to the left of the playground. Suddenly, the children playing on the playground equipment stopped and looked in Sam and Lisa’s direction. As if tuned in to the same radio frequency, the children, at least a dozen, but perhaps more, stopped and descended from the ladders and swings, their eyes boring into Sam and Lisa. Lisa began to feel a bit uncomfortable, but Sam didn’t seem bothered. But then the children started marching purposefully and relentlessly toward them, arms outstretched, their eyes singularly focused on Sam. Sam glanced at Lisa nervously. Sam was a big, handsome and friendly guy and was not easily intimidated, especially by kids. But the sheer force of their numbers and all of those outstretched arms, open mouths and glazed eyes was disconcerting. Sam slowed down, his own eyes darting back and forth, and nervously licked his lips. Lisa wondered if the children had been infected by some sort of zombie strain. Still, she knew what she had to do in order to save Sam, who was beginning to look scared. This was not a good look for a big, black dude.
“Stop!” Lisa called out as she expertly stepped in front of the uncertain Sam and held her hand up.
I made a bunch of grade school children sad today. And I’m not one bit sorry.
You may be wondering what the story above has to do with me making children sad and unhappy. Let me relate what happened and then think about the story I just told.
I was walking one of my regular daily clients today. We went to a local park that has a lovely, mostly shaded trail that wraps around a small lake. I chose the location because today was really, really hot and Bud is a big black Labrador retriever that easily overheats.
As we headed toward the trail, we were suddenly accosted by a large group of children. I’d seen them disembark from a school bus and I’m guessing they were on some kind of summer camp outing. One minute they were playing on the playground equipment, and the next they were all headed for Bud.
I’ll admit I expected a couple of the children to head toward us. I did not anticipate the entire group would do so. Strangely, they headed toward us in unison, with a couple of the larger boys leading the charge. I heard a few mumbled “pet the dog, pet the dog,” before I took action.
“Stop,” I said firmly, planting myself in front of Bud and serving as a shield between him and the advancing children.
Shocked, they actually stopped. “You may not approach a dog like that,” I stated calmly and quietly. Yet there was no mistaking the fire in my voice. Nor from my eyes.
The children’s faces fell, but with the exception of one, they all backed away. One little girl, also a budding fierce sort, stepped up to me. “But why? Is he jumpy?”
I suspect she was asking if he would jump on them. While it’s difficult to condense a topic that can be difficult for many adults to grasp in an entire conversation into a concise tidbit, much less into a tidbit for a child, I did my best.
“It’s super scary for him to suddenly be approached by all of these people like that. How would you feel if a bunch of strange people you didn’t know all wanted to come up and touch you on the head?” I asked her.
Much like most adults I sometimes try to briefly educate, I received a confounded and dazed look.
I didn’t have time to explain further, nor did I have any inclination to offer any apologies to the confused, dumbfounded and slightly offended looks I received from the crowd of youngsters.
But before I took off to continue my walk, uninterrupted by strangers, I made eye contact with the adult that was allegedly supervising the kids. Allegedly being a key word and eye contact being more like a stare of recrimination for their total lack of supervision.
I know a lot of people feel badly about saying no to other people. I am not one. I am my dog’s advocate and I am a fierce advocate. Luckily for my client dogs, I’m just as fierce an advocate for them as I am for my own dogs.
In today’s example – written in the beginning of this post as a story that seemingly involved two humans to provide a better perspective on how the dog might see things – Bud probably would not have done anything to the kids. He loves people and he likes kids a lot, but the sheer number of kids and all the outstretched arms probably would’ve made him very, very uncomfortable as evidenced by the fact that he was already seeking an escape route as told by his darting eyes that were already showing the whites and by his nervous telltale lip licking. And probably is not anything I ever want to take a chance with when it comes to children and dogs.
After I exited the scene with Bud today, I could not help but think how that very same scenario might have played out with my dog Camm. Camm is cute and petite. Lots of people, including kids, want to pet her. Camm is very selective about humans (this may come as a surprise to my own friends and to agility folk I know, but it’s the truth) and she intensely distrusts and dislikes children. I don’t need Camm to ever nip a kid to know that she would nip a kid in a heartbeat. What Bud very nearly experienced today would’ve been Camm’s worse nightmare.
I wish I could say that what happened today in an anomaly. It isn’t. Except it is usually adults I am dealing with.
“We’re not saying hi today, ” I sing out on a regular basis as someone with a dog pulling on the end of its flexi-leash and yapping its head off tries to convince me that my charge should meet cute little FiFi. Meanwhile the dog I’m walking has its hackles raised.
“Call your dog!” I regularly yell to the person who has chosen to exercise their own dog off-leash in a small neighborhood park and who has sighted the dog I’m walking with on the adjacent sidewalk. I do a quick one-eighty, looking over my shoulder to see if the dog has decided to go back to its owner yet or not. More often than not, the dog is slowly trotting behind us as the owner uselessly calls it and throws me dirty looks. I feel no shame when I tell you my own eyes get hard, very hard, as I meet that dirty look and raise it.
Recently, I stopped on a street in a neighborhood where I was walking and asked a man with an off-leash dog to leash his dog up. The man was deeply offended. This scenario probably happens at least once a week, but on that particular day, that particular man chose to take it up a notch. He proceeded to try to lecture me that dogs should be in their “natural state” (whatever the hell that was supposed to mean – clearly to him it meant unleashed) and that all dogs would prefer to say hello to one another. He then attempted to demonstrate how his dog would like to do just that. But instead of a more proper nose to butt dog greeting, he seemed to think the greeting should be nose to nose, despite the fact that both dogs were stiff and erect in their front end carriages and that the hair was raised on the back of the dog I was trying to walk and keep away from him. He then tried to greet the dog I was walking himself.
“No, ” I said.
“What? I’m just trying to be friendly,” he countered.
“No means no!” And with that I turned on my heel and got out of there. Just in time too from the hard eyes and stiff expression on Tommy’s face.
“Geez, what a bitch,” I heard the man say.
Asshole, I said out loud. And I made no pretense at muttering it.
I don’t know when saying no became something to be apologetic about. But it’s about time it stopped.
The Magical Heathen Puppy
My “puppy” now towers over Camm.
Rhys turned seven months old earlier this week. While he is still very much a puppy and will be for a while, it’s often hard for me to think of him on such immature terms. For several months now he so often seems like a Big Dog. Of course then he’ll go and do something that quickly brings me to my senses, but he has this amazing aura about him.
On the evening that he became seven months old, Rhys made a decision.
Before I tell you about that decision, I’m going to relate that I am fond of encouraging my dogs to make decisions. They are not always decisions I am fond of and sometimes we battle a bit about those decisions. There are quite frankly times when I do not like their decisions and they are told so. However, in encouraging some independent decision-making I often find that good choices can be made. It helps that I am fond of herding dogs, a breed-type that was selectively bred for years prior to confirmation types mucking them up for good decision-making abilities. Besides, they are still dogs and I am still a Human and there is still a whole lot of their lives that I control.
That particular night, Rhys came upstairs when I called for the dogs and informed them that it was “time for bed.” The three Big Dogs understand this routine and willingly come upstairs – if they aren’t already – settle into their respective spots and prepare for slumber. Rhys also understands what this phrase means, but more often than not, he’d rather stay up late. Since my days of staying up past 11 pm, much less past midnight, are generally far and few between now, I often find I have to encourage Rhys to come upstairs by either grabbing his collar and marching him upstairs and into his crate or enticing him upstairs with a few bits of kibble and then tossing the bits into his crate.
When he willingly came upstairs this night, Rhys jumped up onto my bed with Youke and Camm. Brady prefers to sleep either in his dog bed in my bedroom or beside the bed on the floor. He’ll sometimes come up for a while, but he never stays. The only exception is if we’re experiencing a thunderstorm or fireworks are going off. Then he is mashed as tightly as he can get into my body, preferably with his head tucked under my chin or resting cheek to cheek until the cacophony is over.
I figured I’d let Rhys stay on the bed while I washed my face and brushed my teeth. He’s proven of late that he can often be quiet while I perform this nighttime ritual, instead of trying to keep the party going as he attempted to do only a few short months before – by chewing on pillows, the bedspread or my slippers, or engaging Camm in some frisky play on top of the bed while Youke glared at the two of them and did a low growl. Not that Youke’s clear communication of offense was heeded.
When I emerged from the bathroom, I did not see a bright-eyed seven month old puppy pleading with me to stay up a bit longer. Instead, I saw a 35-pound dog sprawled out on the bed, snoring away and fast asleep.
I was amazed. We’d had a fairly uneventful day and while we’d gone out in early evening as we often do, our walk had been relatively short, 45 to 60 minutes only and to a less than exciting place.
I padded to the bed to take the pillow shams off and to set my alarm. He did not move.
Rhys was also in the exact same spot of the bed where Jasmine always slept and was in the identical position as the one she assumed when she went to bed.
I figured there was some sort of cosmic message in that and decided to let him stay on the bed. I thought that he could stay at least until he became restless and naughty, at which point he’d need to go into his bedtime crate, which has been in my bedroom and has been the same crate he’s slept in since I brought him home.
I eased into bed, configured my legs between Rhys and Camm, Youke in his spot against my side and slept with three dogs again for the first time since Jasmine died.
Here’s the thing. Rhys did not become restless and naughty. Rather, he slept deeply and soundly all night long, snoring softly – because he does and has since he was eight weeks old. Sometimes he feels like a cat purring with his soft snoring.
My alarm woke us all up, including Rhys, when it went off at 8 am.
Instead of the frantic and annoying barking he does when in his crate when I awaken in the morning, Rhys stood up and plopped himself across my body, licking and kissing me a good morning message.
I wondered if it was a fluke and what he’d do on the following evening.
Last night, he again came upstairs, jumped on the bed and made it pretty clear he was not going to sleep in his crate. Message received.
However, after turning of the lights and crawling into bed, I could feel Rhys get up. I made out his shadowy form, with his head cocked and listening to the sounds coming in through the open window. I listened too, especially when he started a low, soft growl. His growl was answered by Brady’s similar low and soft growl. Often Brady expresses his displeasure about things – nighttime things being restless movement or loud noises – with low growls. But while it at first sounded like Brady was warning Rhys to keep his opinions to himself, Brady’s tone changed and it seemed apparent to me that they were both perturbed by 1) a distant dog barking, 2) a distant coyote howling, 3) a car slowly driving by, and 4) a faint fluttering coming from a tree.
I asked Rhys to be quiet and to lie down. He did become quiet, but he chose to jump down from the bed. Ah, this is it, I thought. It was too good to be true. He’s going to grab some tissue from the bathroom wastebasket or start mauling my slipper, I guessed.
Wrong.
Rhys settled into another of the dog beds in the bedroom, actually underneath the window, and fell asleep. I soon heard his soft snoring.
I am theorizing that Rhys is experimenting with what will work for him in terms of bedtime positioning.
I’m fine with that and with what his ultimate decision will be. Regardless, it does not appear that the crate will be among the options.
This is the face of a seven month old that can make his own decisions.
I spoke earlier about Rhys’s aura. Maybe that’s not quite the right word, but he has an amazing calm and confident demeanor about him, especially for one so young. He is also very good about reading other dogs and adapting appropriately. I’ve been surprised and pleased with how he adapts his play and greetings between puppies younger and smaller than himself, small dogs, big dogs, adult dogs, playful adult dogs and not so playful adult dogs.
Even with Big Grumpy BrotherUncle Brady, Rhys knows when to stay away from him, when to playfully shoulder check him and when to offer some gesture of appeasement.
Brady was being a huge grump the other night, grousing at the other dogs, while at the same time continually shoving his head into my armpit for reassurance. Rhys was feeling very affectionate as well and decided to hop onto the couch with me. Brady sneered at him. Rhys pulled back, but then tenderly and very sweetly dipped his head and barely touched his nose to Brady’s head. Brady seemed surprised, Rhys did it again. Brady laid down on the floor beside me after that and relaxed.
Then, Rhys pulled something similar with me. I really didn’t want a wiggly 35-pound behemoth on top of my chest as I was trying to chill and watch TV, the first time in weeks it felt like. He turned his head to my face, looked at me with an expression that was at the same time sweet, but also inscrutable, and pressed his paws around my neck. Before I knew it, I was laying down on the couch, with an adolescent border collie spread across me and softly vibrating with his soft snore. I have no idea what was on TV. All I knew was that I was smiling and gazing down on the sleek head of an adolescent border collie that had magically lulled my spinning and overactive mind.
I haz all the sexy superpowers and control your brain now.
And yet, Rhys is still an adolescent. Not just an adolescent, but an outright Heathen. Yes. With a capital H.
And honestly, there is no one to fault for this but myself.
I’ve mentioned a few seemingly innocuous actions such as Rhys jumping on the bed or jumping on the couch. But he jumps on other things as well.
For instance. I indulged and bought myself a nice lounge chair for my deck this summer. Correction. I bought Rhys a nice lounge chair.
This is tame though. He also discovered that garbage cans make lovely perches.
And if one stands on the garbage can, they can also peer over the top of the six-foot fence.
The garbage can has been moved
I do not have photographic evidence though of Rhys running into the kitchen at a recent agility club event and launching himself onto a table to help himself of some tasty culinary items. An observant, and surprised, friend caught him before he could make off with any tasty items.
No one caught him though when he launched himself onto a picnic table some 30 minutes later and snatched an unattended cheeseburger.
Some people at the event seemed very offended.
I’ll admit to a slight moment of shame at the heathen I am raising. But it was quickly overcome by giggles.
I suppose I should train this dog.
Photographic evidence of me eating popcorn in front of my dogs. I am training them to watch me eat popcorn in front of them and not to grab it themselves. Although I cannot say with any certainty that feelings of resentment are not also being trained here.
So, unlike with Youke where I went full out helicopter mom and had him doing umpteen tricks before a year old and had enrolled him in several classes and could barely contain myself before he started agility lessons (at least I did wait until he was a year old before I started him on anything resembling agility) and then entered him in his first real agility competition at 18 months old – because he was going to be my agility champion, damnit Jim! – I vowed to take the super laid back approach with my next puppy when the time came. So the time is here and I’m sticking to that vow.
Rhys did attend one puppy kindergarten class, but I think we missed half of the session due to my prior engagements. I really didn’t care. I can teach, and have taught to some degree, the basics of “sit” and “down. ” I’ve worked on recall with him intensely since day one as something told me that was going to be super important with Mr. Independent. And I always teach a “wait” behavior and work on impulse control stuff just as a form of play or through play. I even taught Rhys a trick. He knows how to “shake paw.” We started working on “roll over” and spinning left and spinning right, but then I sort of forgot about it.
At the urging of one of my agility instructors I enrolled Rhys in a foundation class after she promised me I did not have to show him any equipment. I’m sticking to my guns and this dog is not doing anything with any agility equipment until he’s a year old at the very least. The foundation class has been fun and focuses more on handling exercises and flatwork for both me and for Rhys. My main goal though was to have Rhys in a setting where he had to “work” when and where other dogs were working as well.
And on that note, I recently enrolled Rhys in a Control Unleashed class. I loved doing Control Unleashed with Youke some eight years ago. The stuff I learned in that class I still employ with all of my dogs today.
We’ve had two classes so far and I think both of us have thoroughly enjoyed them. Rhys of course gets massive amounts of treats – kibble and bits of cheese mostly, but some Cheerios-type things from Trader Joe’s and bites of dried rabbit or bison as well. And I get to play with him, while also strengthening some of the stuff he’s already learned through everyday life with me and adding some new skills.
In the next several months I’ll probably do some more Control Unleashed classes with him just to keep him working around other dogs, but if the present holds, he understands being in “work mode” and that being able to perform tasks around other dogs, even highly aroused ones, isn’t a major deal. Such is the wonder of the well bred working dog.
I’m not sure if there are special classes for table jumping, food grabbing opportunistic dogs though. I might have to actually work on that myself.
And while on the subject of training and competition, I’ve also vowed that Rhys will not enter a competition for real until he is at the very least two years old. Youke was, and is, an old soul in many ways, but he was too young and too ill-prepared to have entered competition at 18 months old. That was completely my fault and a mistake I’ve vowed not to repeat.
Mostly, I want Rhys to spend his first year learning about becoming a solid canine citizen while also having a grand time playing and exploring his world. And if that means he jumps on a few picnic tables, well, physical ability and fearlessness are valued in canine performance sports, right?
Swimming in lakes and ponds while out hiking is also good canine conditioning.
Oops. I guess that maybe I do encourage the picnic table jumping thing …
- My apologies for the lack of any blog updates of late. Ironically, it’s not as if I had nothing to say, but more like too much to say. My brain has been spinning of late. Unlike writers’ block though, in my case, too many ideas or too much to say creates a logjam. I also have a puppy, which is pretty much my excuse for everything that does and doesn’t happen in 2017. I’ve been releasing some of the day-to-day stuff in personal Facebook posts and by posting a plethora of pictures, but I promise to get back to more regular blog updates, now that I’ve done a bit of tweaking and have re-named the blog.
My New Dog
Rhys is not really a puppy any longer. Overnight it seems, he became a dog.
A very handsome dog.
I love his manly and serious profile.
Of course, he is only 19 weeks old, so he’s still technically a puppy.
But so much leg. And grown-up dog coat.
But he’s becoming more like A Big Dog every day.
I recently got a new camera. Mainly I purchased a new one because my older digital camera wasn’t cutting it in terms of capturing images of Rhys as he’s constantly in motion. Hard to document the changes and the growth when all the camera captured was a blur.
Although I purchased the camera about a month ago, I haven’t really had time to learn how to use it. The fact that the sun came out this week and we had temperatures above the 50-something degree mark for the first time in almost 200 days was an excuse to get to know my camera. I took it out and played with it on Wednesday afternoon when we had some lovely late day sunshine. And I took it out again late today – even though we were back to rain and 50-something degrees.
I love how I am able to get lovely and clear head shots now.
Camm is such a beautiful dog. She is also the perfect supermodel. Apparently getting paid with Balls guarantees a perfect shot every time.
Brady is a hunk.
Youke is still speck-tacular.
Camm is still a Ball hoarder.
Ball love.
Oh look – a sort of family portrait. Hard to capture them not in motion, especially when there is so much to explore in this world.
Rhys has made a bit of progress with Youke too in convincing him that they are really going to be the best of friends. This morning, they rolled together in a wormy dirt hole. If that’s not bonding, I don’t know what is. Sadly, no camera around when it is really needed. But I did get a tiny bit of the brotherly love later today.
Okay, I guess the love is more on Rhys’s part.
There is no love for being leashed up.
But really, I have mad dog-walking skillz. So professional.
On his way to being a dog, but still a bit of a puppy.
Happy weekend!
Cooking is the New Spectator Sport
I see you are preparing something delicious. Can I help?
I don’t cook much these days. I find it hard to cook for just myself most of the time and I’m far too impatient, and hungry, most of the time to actually go through the preparation process. That said, I do, mostly, enjoy cooking.
Of course, my cooking may horrify some. Remember That’s Just a Suggestion, Right?
However, my dogs find cooking endlessly fascinating.
Right behind you. Over here. Do you need me to sample something for you?
The kitchen is the central point of my house, both literally and figuratively. So very many good things happen in that room.
The dogs have always been excellent about laying down quietly while I go about my business. Underfoot, but quiet. I have just learned to navigate around them. I figure it’s good for my agility and spacial awareness skills.
The young newcomer to the tribe, Rhys, did not understand this remaining quiet, still, and ever hopeful, bit at first. Youke, Brady and Camm have learned that by remaining quiet and still, and yet underfoot, I’m sure to eventually manage to drop something. Better yet, they’ve found I’m usually pretty generous.
This is one of the many, many things that my dogs have learned that I did not actively set out to teach them. They discovered that if they were annoying or jumping at me or being rude by attempting to grab something, they got banished to a crate or to another room.
It did not take long for Rhys to learn to lay on the floor quietly during any food preparation. Well, except when it involves his own.
I’m being a good dog!
Much to Youke’s continuing dismay and disgust on all things that involve Rhys, Rhys has chosen as his quiet watching spot in the kitchen, the exact same rug as what Youke lies upon. In fact, Rhys has decided that laying down right next to Youke is his ideal spot.
This infuriates Youke.
However, he has decided to tolerate it, barely, because, well, food could be dropped and he is way faster and more experienced than that rude little interloper.
So, there I was this afternoon, home a bit early from work and I was seized with the desire to make a meal.
Okay, really, I just had some stew meat that I bought a little over a week ago that really needed to be cooked.
Don’t be alarmed. It was still good. Besides, that shit gets cooked.
I decided to make a beef stew. But I didn’t want to mess with the slow cooker. I realize many find this a handy and convenient kitchen aid. I rarely use mine, because, well, Youke is a counter surfer in my absence from the house.
I dredged the stew meat in some flour, salt and a lot of pepper and opted to add a half bottle of oregano I found hanging around in the cupboard. I find dried oregano fairly useless, so not sure why I had it. I’d much rather use fresh herbs.
Once I had placed the beef into the cast iron pot to brown, I realized I might not have all of the proper ingredients for a beef stew. But then I thought that maybe I should look a recipe up. Then I thought about how long that would take. Then I decided I’d just wing it.
As that thought process was occurring, I realized I’d used way too much flour. My beef was sort of browning, but the roux was seriously thick.
Time to add some liquid to the pot.
I found a half-used bottle of white balsamic vinegar on the shelf by the stove and poured that in. I also saw a half-full bottle of white cooking wine on the shelf. So I poured that in too.
The beef mixture was still too thick and flour-y looking. So I poured in a can of chicken broth. Because of course I had no beef broth.
Now the mixture was looking better, but I realized it probably had no taste. So I added a can of tomato paste. That resulted in a surprisingly decent flavor.
But something was still missing.
I shuffled around in the refrigerator, looking for perhaps a bottle of beer to add. All I found though was hard ciders, apple and pineapple. Neither appealed to me.
Um. I see a lot of good stuff in here.
Then I spotted a can of ginger ale. Ah, inspiration! I poured in half of the can and sipped on the remainder.
I decided that trekking again downstairs for some potatoes was too much of a task, so I opted to peel and cut up some parsnips I had for the corned beef dinner I never made last month instead. Ditto for some carrots.
I still thought I was missing a vegetable product though. Inspired, I ended up trekking downstairs into the garage anyway to get a can of diced tomatoes to add.
After tasting it, I thought it was good, but could still use a little oomph. I looked to my right and saw the cans of coconut milk I’d purchased when I was seized by the urge to make Thai curry one day while shopping at Trader Joe’s. The moment had passed by the time I arrived home and hasn’t made a comeback. I added a can of coconut milk.
But I’d thrown this all together in the space of about 35 minutes, it wasn’t ready to eat. The vegetables had to soften and the meat had to cook a but more in the liquid, which was now of an appealing texture and no longer gloppy.
So I took the dogs for a game of Ball and a short hike.
When I returned home two hours later, my stew was ready.
It was delicious. The dogs confirmed this when they licked my serving spoon and bowl after I ate.
Feeling pleased with myself this evening, I rummaged through the refrigerator looking for space to place my pot of stew. In the process, I realized I had an open and half-used carton of milk in there. Thinking it’d be nice to a glass of milk to wash the stew taste down, I grabbed the carton …
… and simultaneously realized as I opened it that the contents were spoiled (sorta green actually) and that it had an alleged expiration date of sometime in January.
Hmmm. I didn’t think it had been that long since I’d bought milk.
Let me in here more and I’ll make sure nothing expires!
My Puppy is an Angel
So exhausted!
I adore this little dog.
Sometimes I just have to sit back and wonder at how such awesome dogs come into my life. Rhys is definitely one.
Okay, so I’m not going to talk about how he had to have baths two nights in a row because he rolled in something super earthy, super organic and very smelly. Not really sure what it was, except that it wasn’t poop.
Rhys is not a fan of baths. Turns out though that he kinda likes the towel drying part. And he wasn’t so traumatized that he couldn’t come back into the bathroom to watch me rinse out the tub after his baths.
What I am gonna talk about is how he is such a fantastic, smart, thinking little dog that makes my heart burst with pride.
We started off the day, Easter Sunday, with a nice cuddle in bed.
I actually woke the dogs up because my legs were all achy and I had to get out of bed and stretch. I decided to feed them early as Rhys had puppy class later and then go back to bed.
Usually I place Rhys back in his bedtime crate when I make the decision to go back to bed. Today I decided to experiment and brought him into bed with me. It was the first time he’s been in bed with me since shortly after taking him home.
Youke was not a fan of this arrangement. He refused to budge from his coveted spot right next to me and proceeded to voice his disgust and anger with the situation, which was not helped by Rhys trying to snuggle up against him.
Rhys decided that maybe snuggling up against Big SisterMommyAuntieGirlfriend Camm was the better idea, but she informed him going back to bed is serious business and it is not a time to fuck around.
Therefore Rhys decided that being very small, sidling up behind Youke and snuggling up against me was the best thing to do. Bravo!
We then proceeded to breath in each other.
Taking breaths together is one of my most favorite things to do with creatures that are not human. I used to do it with horses, sometimes with cats and now I do it with my dogs. Rhys and I curled up nose-to-nose. I felt his body relax and before either of us knew it, he was fast asleep.
We all stayed curled up against each other for another hour and until my alarm woke everyone up. I think they would’ve stayed that way a bit longer if not for the alarm.
Then Rhys and I were off to puppy class. We’ve skipped half the session as I had other commitments and Rhys had other life experiences. This was the last class of the session.
Despite skipping so much, and, truthfully, despite me not doing much in the way of formal training, I am so pleased with how well he did in class.
Rhys has sit with a verbal command about 75% of the time and 100% with a hand motion, down with a hand motion about 85% of the time and walks very well on a loose leash. He also has a rocking recall, and the best thing ever – fantastic focus on me.
I really, really, really like that he is not uber focused on other dogs and that he is polite with people, but isn’t a pest.
Before the class began, there was a puppy play session and because it was Easter, there were hardly any dogs there. In fact, it became just Rhys and a very small Shibu Inu. The Shibu was adorable and taught Rhys how to play the chase game. Surprisingly, he hasn’t really played it before. He wrassles with Camm and plays Bitey-Face, but Camm is too quick on her feet and too adept at rolling him over for him to have understood the chase game. Beside which, I usually find border collies like to engage in the chasing part and aren’t such big fans of being chased themselves. At least mine aren’t.
Rhys did take offense to a yellow Lab that was in the class. It was the end of class, and Rhys was exhausted, but I suspect it was more a case of border collie prejudice and offense at the Lab’s approach. Still, it was the first time I’ve ever seen Rhys snark.
After class ended I took Rhys to run some errands, but apparently this year everything closed for Easter. I seriously do not remember this occurring before. But then again, I think I’m usually at an agility trial or something.
So off we went to a local park for a little jaunt. Rhys saw a ton of Small Humans, as well as people on bikes, people with kites and a big Cricket match. He also got to see some people playing tennis.
Taking it all in. Rhys as 16 weeks.
All the time, Rhys walked like a pro on a nice loose leash. Pretty amazing, considering how little he’s actually spent on a leash.
I decided to stop for a coffee at one of my favorite coffee shops before heading home and took Rhys with me as it’s a dog-friendly spot. There was a long line of people waiting – probably because most everything else was closed for Easter.
Granted, Rhys was about toast by this time, but he was excellent waiting in line with me. He politely said hi to a few people, but waited for them to notice him first. The very cool thing too was that every single person actually asked me first if it was okay to pet him or to say hello.
It was good experience for him as there were men and women, big guys and big women, people in hats and sunglasses and people who ignored him completely. The best thing was that there was a mat at the entry and Rhys chose to pop himself down on it after I had placed my coffee order and was waiting. No lunging out-of-control puppy here!
I was going to take Rhys by the vet’s to be weighed as he turned 16 weeks old on Saturday, but discovered the vet office was also closed today. That will have to wait until later in the week. I’m really curious about his current weight and even more curious to see if he will in fact double it as an adult. Youke did not, and many dogs do not, but it’s a commonly held belief. Time will tell.
Rhys is now napping in his crate, which it appears he will be outgrowing in the not too distant future.
For all of his spunky naughtiness, he is also a complete angel.
My Puppy Is Naughty
Rhys actually not being naughty for like a millisecond.
I have a very naughty puppy. Naughty puppies are completely normal. However, depending upon who you talk to, naughty is not nice.
Give me a naughty dog over a boring run-of-the-mill couch potato any day of the week.
Granted, I sort of have a thing for naughty. If they have a gleam in their eye and a mischievous expression, I’m in love. That goes for men too, but I digress.
The Naughty is very strong with Rhys. Very strong. I was warned that it would be, which is one of the reasons I jumped at the chance to take him home.
Apparently nearly nine years blurs and fades the memory because I’ve said for years how Youke was the best puppy ever. And he really was a good puppy, but slowly, the memories are coming back.
I was never naughty and I’m still never naughty.
For instance. Last night I was waving my index finger in Rhys’s face and telling him he was “such a naughty, naughty dog.” He sat there and looked unimpressed. All of a sudden I was seized by a flashback. I recalled Youke also sitting in front of me looking rather unimpressed as I waved my nine-years-younger index finger in front of his face and called him “such a naughty, naughty dog.”
In fact, Youke got called “such a naughty, naughty dog” so much that to this day when he hears the word naughty, he plants himself in front of me, gets all wiggly and grins. I really should’ve put the behavior on cue, but the grin is a submissive grin and the behavior is an appeasement gesture, so I felt bad about it.
I’m not getting any appeasement behavior from Rhys though.
Rhys has discovered that paper, in its various forms ranging from copy paper to cardboard and everything in between, makes for a fine meal. Because clearly I’m starving him, even though my new nickname for him is Moose.
Unless I remember to pick up the waste can in the bathroom – which is hard because I’m living with a 15-week old puppy and I’m somewhat sleep deprived, especially over this past weekend – Rhys dives into it to retrieve whatever he can find. Usually it’s a used kleenex.
As my efforts to remember to pick up the waste can and place it in the sink – out of his current level of reach – have been vaguely successful, Rhys moved on this weekend to toilet paper.
Let’s just say I did not find Rhys’s decorative and festive touch of streaming toilet paper all over my bedroom particularly decorative or festive.
But why are you even allowing these things to happen? You need to properly contain your puppy so these things can be prevented.
Fuck you.
Seriously, I’m not crating my puppy any more than is necessary and and I already feel bad that he is crated as much as he is with my current client load, or when my sanity is teetering on the edge. Plus, my philosophy is that he’s gotta learn to live in my house – a real house with tempting things, such as shoes and dirty laundry – and I deliberately chose not to spend over a week “puppy-proofing” my house. Because, bottom-line, if the Naughty is strong, there’s no such thing as “puppy-proofing.”
Therefore, and for your amusement, let’s touch upon some of the things that Naughty Rhys has done (or does):
- Continually grabs either a slipper, a boot or a sneaker that the Human just slipped off, preferably as she’s returning into the house with mud-splattered outdoor shoes – thus lessening the chance of her immediately running to snatch away the slipper, boot or sneaker – and racing around the house with it in a sort of victory lap.
- Tossing ceramic bowls (that I now realize I foolishly use as dog food bowls) around in the house.
- Snatching used kleenex or discarded cardboard toilet paper or paper towel rolls from the trash.
- Sometimes eating the above.
- Diving into the box that contains premiums and scores from past agility trials and tearing the papers up. I guess I need to maybe stop keeping that stuff.
- Using the toilet plunger as a chew toy.
- Diving into the tub to retrieve the toilet plunger that was unsuccessfully hidden there to continue to use as a chew toy.
- Running around the house with the now chewed up toilet plunger hoisted high, much as the knights of old might have held their flags into battle.
- Diving into the tub to retrieve my fake Ugg boots that were placed there to prevent them from being carried off and mistaken for a new plush toy.
- Discovering where the dirty laundry is kept and finding that the Human’s underpants are delightful to toss about.
- Not backing away from the delightful used Human underpants even when Brady is guarding them because while he doesn’t toss them around, he still also finds them delightful.
- Realizing that there is a whole world three feet above his head and that this world includes entrancing foods, a cat and possibly toys that he did not know about.
- Using his ever-lengthening legs and body to raise his head up to this other level – which conveniently is about counter- or shelf-level high- with the intent of grabbing any of these interesting things with his ever-growing paws.
- Finding that climbing up onto the fax/copy machine in my office offers a whole new and interesting perspective on things.
- Realizing that pouncing first and asking later really is the best way to grab something to eat on the Human’s plate, at least until she wised up and put him in his crate and/or started eating at the dining room table again.
- Gnawing on wood. Sometimes that can be a stick, and sometimes that can be a chair leg, baseboard, a cupboard door, the Human’s bed. Fun fact: paper is made from wood pulp!
- Playing the game of running into the laundry room when the unsuspecting Human’s arms are full of clean laundry and where the kitty litter box is kept and repeatedly doing this makes a super fun game, especially when the silly Human is making aggravated noises of frustration.
Let me note that I do not believe that my dogs should never hear the word “no.” In fact, I very firmly believe that they do need to hear and understand this word. What they don’t need is to repeatedly hear this word and be allowed to continue partaking in the behavior that is causing this word to be said. Rhys and I now have an understanding that the kitty litter box is off limits. However, to keep the temptation of kitty rocha at bay and to prevent the utter ridiculousness of repeating “no” and therefore making it of no value to either of us, a pet gate has been installed at the entrance to the laundry room.
The following are things that aren’t exactly naughty, but certainly point to a naughty streak:
- Rhys lifted his leg to pee for the first time at seven weeks old. He may have actually been seven weeks and two days old. I was so gobsmacked I had to ask a person more knowledgeable than myself about this. She assured me it does happen. It is now happening approximately 50% of the time. Peeing on All the Things can only be a short time away.
- Rhys humped my leg at eight weeks old. He may have been more like eight weeks and a day old. I was so shocked and dismayed that I let it happen as I pondered if Brady had started his own leg humping at that age as well. I am still weighing whether to allow it as an occasional thing. Brady is allowed to do it exactly once per day, after his evening meal. However, Rhys has only done it randomly and seldomly, so I think that maybe I do not have to ponder for long.
- Rhys is fond of asserting his independence and love of exploration by taking side jaunts into the woods while we are out on trails. All of my dogs do this and I really don’t have a problem with it as long as they maintain some semblance of proximity to me. Brady frequently pushes this boundary which is why he is often leashed in many places. Youke and Camm are completely reliable in this respect. Thus far, Rhys is following in the mold of the latter two, however, recall training – always a priority for me – took number one priority fairly early.
While naughty, Rhys also does many things that are nice:
- Rhys has a rocking recall. While I realize this is likely to be tested, he proved a few times of late just how awesome his recall is. The first was when we were headed down a trail, not realizing there was someone with a dog further down. My four were, as usual, off leash. They rounded a curve in the trail ahead of me and I heard frantic cries for “Tater come here!” I’m guessing that Tater was not a good listener because the cries became louder and more frequent. On the other hand, I yelled, “Dogs, come! Rhys, come!” once and guess who came running back around the curve right to me? Even more impressive, Rhys was the first one back (although the other three were only a second or two behind). The recall was tested again this past weekend when Rhys saw a bunch of other dogs playing and being curious, thought he should go check it out. I hollered “Rhys, come” and he turned his head around and came running. Not too shabby.
- Rhys has a pretty decent sit for people. Of course we went to an agility trial this past weekend and he got away with a lot of not sitting, but when asked and if insisted, he’s very good.
- Rhys adores people. I am super impressed especially with how not shy he is with men. If anything, Rhys especially likes men.
- Rhys is very appropriate with other dogs, in particular, adult dogs. He offers polite greeting behavior and backs off if the adult dog indicates it does not wish to be friendly. He is also nonplussed if corrected, even if the correction may have been a bit harsh. I still think he’s very bold and a bit too much with puppies of his own age, but I have no intention of making him a dog park kind of dog anyway. I like that while friendly with other dogs and wanting to greet them if given the opportunity, he doesn’t strain to meet them or obsesses about them. He was passed by many dogs this past weekend and understood that they all didn’t want or need to play with him.
- Rhys is extremely confident and takes new experiences in stride. Rhys appears to be a bit of a thinker, but the kind that can quickly calculate a situation and strategize how to approach it. The agility trial this past weekend was held in a large arena that has metal bleachers. All of my dogs have approached those bleachers and the stairs up to them with some trepidation. I recall that Jasmine, Youke and Brady were all very fearful of the sound of them and the feel. Camm was less so, but all of them required encouragement and I rewarded small steps profusely with food treats. I was very curious about what Rhys would do. He confidently strutted into the arena portion where the trial was being held. One ring was quiet as it was being built for the next course. The other had dogs running in it. But before we could even see the rings, he had to approach the metal stairs first and then reach the bleachers which are cold, metallic, bouncy and loud. Rhys got two front paws on the metal steps and hesitated. I stood still, a couple of steps above him and waited. He stepped off, looked at the stairs again, sat down, though for a couple of seconds, and then climbed the stairs. I rewarded him with a piece of cheese. He then went up into the bleachers with me, completely unfazed by the rest of the experience or the surroundings. People walked by him, a few dogs walked by him, dogs ran in the ring off his side and some people milled about below him building a course. A few dogs even barked and he was unmoved. If anything, he was more interested in checking out more of the bleachers or trying to mooch some treats off people passing him.
Having a puppy is a lot of work at times and especially seemed so this past weekend due to helping out at an agility trial the entire weekend that was almost two hours away and that ended each day quite a bit later than I had anticipated. (Note to self: always keep expectations very low. I do in general have low expectations for most things, but foolishly allowed myself to think we’d end by a 4 pm each day at the latest. Nope.) I signed on for this though with my eyes wide open (even if at times – like today – I wanted to shut them and sleep!). While nearly nine years has dulled some of the memories of Youke as a puppy, I distinctly recall that the first year was exhausting, but also filled with fun. And as a result I have an awesome dog that I dearly adore and deeply trust.
If Rhys turns out to be even half as good as Youke, I’ll be happy.
Rhys. Late March 2017. Photo by Heidi Erland.
Life Skillz
Life skills. Rhys may be a naughty puppy at times, but I’m finding he’s really good at getting down the skills he’s gonna need for his life with me. And in the greater scheme of things, that’s far more important to me than him knowing a whole bunch of cool tricks – although eventually he’ll know some of those too.
His gold star for Sunday was letting me sleep until 9 am. And that was after he went to bed at about 9 pm.
I know that a lot of people follow a pretty strict schedule with their puppies and dogs. Just like many people follow a pretty strict schedule with their children. I believe the terminology is called structure. I was not raised with a lot of structure as a child. We didn’t eat at certain times, we didn’t go to bed at certain times, we didn’t have lessons and play dates. In fact, now that I reflect upon it, there was a certain amount of chaos. This might explain while I’m an individual with a craving for structure and routine, but that thrives on chaos and madness.
I raise my dogs the same way. Don’t expect to eat at specific time, don’t expect to get up every day at a certain time, don’t expect to go to bed at a certain time and don’t expect that we’re gonna have a fun adventure every day.
My hope and belief is that this helps to create a fun, resilient dog that has mad coping skillz.
Interestingly, Youke was raised in much the same way that Rhys is currently being raised, but he is a dog that would prefer a regular eating and sleeping routine. Sorry, dude. After nearly nine years together you gotta know that’s just not gonna happen. However, he really good at just chilling out when what he wants – usually to eat – isn’t happening when he thinks it should be. He’s also really good at rolling with the unexpected.
Brady and Camm embrace the uncertainty because the reality is that all of the eating, sleeping and playing will eventually happen. Both just roll with whatever the day may hold. They may ask questions along the way about what is happening, or not happening, but are generally pretty good with waiting or not doing the thing that they may think is about to happen, but isn’t.
I’m also very good about telling my dogs what’s coming up, or not coming up, as it happens.
Therefore, in my house, being willing to settle down, or go back to bed, is an Extremely Important Skill.
Because Rhys went to bed pretty early last night, I fully expected him to wake up earlier than usual to ask to go out to empty his bladder. He actually slept until almost 7 am. Much as I didn’t want to get up, I knew he really had to pee, and I realized I did too. So after I quickly used the bathroom, I let all four dogs outside. Then I led them back inside and said “back to bed.” All four, even the baby dog, trotted up the stairs. Rhys actually went back over to his nighttime crate. I opened the door, petted him softly for a second and placed him inside, repeating “back to bed.” The other three settled in their respective favorite places and we all slept in until 9 am.
This scenario contrasts drastically with an agility weekend or any other time I have early morning plans and must wake them all up and expect them to be ready to go by 7 am, or in some cases, earlier.
It’s all about rolling with the moment. I witness this resilience nearly every day with Rhys. I cannot take credit for much of his boldness and willingness to deal with what is thrown at him as he was raised with that expectation from the get-go. I can though take credit for continuing with that expectation.
I watched for instance today as he came into a puppy class that he was at once before a few weeks ago and upon entering immediately dealt with all the strange and loud noises from the high-pitched and sqeaky-loud voices of women to the lower and louder voices of the men and the barking of stranger puppies to him. I watched as he dealt with different introduction and play behavior from various puppies, to attentively interacting with human children and fearlessly navigating through a bunch of strange objects, even offering to ride on a skateboard and hand cart.
After the class, I took him into Home Depot with me to make a couple of purchases. He walked through the busy Saturday parking lot and shopping crowd into the store with me. He met complete human strangers and rode in a shopping cart, before deciding that walking beside it was better. He took in the strange and new sounds and scents and navigating through the busy parking lot beside the shopping cart with me.
All the while, he was calm. I cannot say for certain that he did not feel some apprehension as I’m sure he did. But he was never afraid and he checked in with me when he felt the need to. I talked with him throughout, and reached down to pet him on occasion, letting him know I was there if he needed me. He willingly interacted with people and sought out a few himself and mouthed a new welcome mat purchase I was making.
It was a fairly quick trip as I knew what I needed and I felt a bit overwhelmed myself with the Saturday shopping crowd due to lack of caffeine intake prior to the class and shopping trip. I didn’t want to overwhelm him and I didn’t bring any food rewards into the store with me. That last part was okay as Rhys discovered that Home Depot employees are apparently trained to dole out the dog cookies to canine visitors.
Rhys had a super busy Saturday too. I think it may have been the first day since he’s come to live with me that he did not partake in a nap of some sort.
While we didn’t arise super early, I did have a morning appointment for him at the vet’s for his puppy shots. After eating, Rhys played with Camm for a while, then chewed on a bully stick in his daytime crate while I showered and dressed. He was charming and polite at the vet’s, even showing off a skill that I did not know he had – sitting politely by the vet’s side as she opened the door to take him into the back area for his shots. Apparently he did more cool and charming stuff while back there because the vet and vet tech were all smiles when they brought him back and kept telling me what an awesome little puppy he was.
Since he had been all wiggly when we first arrived and I couldn’t read the scale for his weight – it’s hard not to be wiggly when everyone wants to pet you and oohs and ahhs over your cuteness upon your arrival through the door – I asked him to sit and wait on the scale so I could get an accurate reading.
Rhys has sit down pat. Wait is still a work in progress, but he held it for a sufficient number of seconds for me to get a reading on the scale. A whopping 19.4 pounds at 13 weeks.
Then I took all four dogs off on a walk and romp at a local park that has river frontage and some fun little trails. Naturally they all had a blast. Rhys is excellent about running with The Big Dogs, but also with coming back to check in with me. I’m not sure if that’s a life skill that border collies are born with, but it’s something that all of mine thus far have done. Since I’m out of the habit of carrying food rewards on me at all times,*I tend to reward with play or toys when we’re out on walks or hikes. Maybe it’s the border collie thing of wanting to work with a Human, but the look of joy of their faces when they’re out and about, then come running back to briefly touch my hand or give me a quick poke in the leg, then run back out again, is contagious and a pleasure to see.
Rhys is also at this stage in his life where pretty much everything and anything is an adventure. It’s fun to watch him stretch out his gangly growing legs and clumsily torch through the woods and brush. I adore that he is so bold and fearless, tearing up the banks of hills, through thick undergrowth, over fallen logs, through mud and mud puddles. Yesterday, he even waded into the river with his paws, unafraid of the rushing current farther out or the happy barking and yapping of Camm as she and Youke splashed in the water while Brady ran up and down in the sand. A quick whistle from me standing at the top of the bank over the river and all three of The Big Dogs came bounding from the water, through the sand and mud and flew over the bank to continue running on the trail. Rhys followed as fast as he could, but his legs are shorter and he’s still learning how his body works, but he navigated the same path, intent, and intense, about following The Big Dogs. That intensity was tempered though by the look of joie de vivre on his face as he came running as fast as he could. It’s almost as if he couldn’t believe how fast he was going and how strong his body was. Or maybe it was the opposite and he was delighting on exactly what his growing body could do.
Either way, it made me smile and laugh with shared joy.
Sadly, all good things must end and we headed home. My plan was to clean my house and I figured the dogs would want to nap for a while.
When I got out my vacuum, I crated Camm and Rhys and gave both a bully stick to gnaw on. Camm wants to supervise and herd the vacuum and giving her something to chew on is a good way to keep her calm and occupied. She has learned to chill out when I vacuum once in her crate, but since I was giving Rhys one too, figured she wouldn’t be jealous that way. Youke and Brady just chill out upstairs on my bed while vacuuming takes place as they’ve learned I rarely vacuum the bed.
Thus far, Rhys has not reacted to either the noise or motion of the vacuum, but I figure that encouraging alternate behavior cannot be a bad thing. In fact, he usually falls asleep.
But for whatever reason, he did not yesterday. He chewed on his bully stick and/or played with some toys in his crate while I vacuumed, then cleaned and mopped floors, cleaned the bathroom, picked up stuff strewn about the living room and kitchen, did a load of laundry and clean and replaced the cat’s litter.
After I finished cleaning up, I let Rhys and Camm out to play together. They are best friends and ran around chasing each other with toys, then played bitey face games while I checked email messages and Facebook for a while. Youke and Brady continued to keep it chill and lounged on my bed, although every once and a while Brady would bounce down to go watch Cam and Rhys play.
Brady is funny. He doesn’t really want to play with Rhys himself, but he seems to really like watching Rhys and Camm play together.
I had a bit of company come a short time later and Rhys came out into the yard to play for a while and do some posing for pictures. Okay, posing is stretching it as he has no concept of that, yet. But he did get to do super adorable puppy things while my friend took pictures of him.
By 5:30 pm, all cleaning was done and all company was gone. I knew Rhys was tired by the telltale look in his eyes of exhaustion and by the fact that he was becoming very fierce with his teeth. I fed him and the other three dogs – who were ecstatic at the unexpected early dinner time , especially Youke – and put him in his crate. A massive groan, followed by him collapsing into the bed I’d placed in the crate told me he was overdue for a long nap.
It was then that I decided it’s be a good idea for me to catch up on Bates Motel for a few episodes. I was joined on the couch by Youke – who has mad nap skillz, and Camm and Brady spread themselves out on the floor beside the couch, butt-to-butt. I got through two episodes before I too decided I had to close my eyes for a little bit.
I had originally planned to take the dogs out late day for a romp to “tire them out” so I could read and watch a bit of TV last night. Turns out, that was not needed. Everyone, even 13-week-old Rhys, was so chill, that the evening was peaceful and quiet. I almost felt like I was on vacation.
And yes, I live with four border collies. This is what I mean by life skills.
Stealing and playing with as many Balls as possible is a Life Skill
* I got out of the habit of carrying food rewards on me at all times when I began hiking more regularly with the dogs and due to the critter-filled areas that we often frequent. Because you know who else likes food rewards? Critters, including big omnivorous and carnivorous critters that might see me and/or my dogs as food rewards. That decision had the unexpected bonus of making me less of a pez dispenser and forced me to carry alternative rewards – usually Balls – or to find alternate rewards within the environment – such as twigs or water – or to create alternate rewards, including non-tangibles such as a game of chase. However, food rewards have their place and as Rhys enters the even naughtier teenage stage of his life, the food (and other) reinforcers will be coming out in full force.
So You Think You Want to Be a Rock Star
Alternative title: How to Socialize Your Puppy in One Weekend.
Second alternative (more accurate) title: Sleep is Overrated.
Yikes! Five weeks in and hardly a peep on the blog about the new tribe member, Rhys. Plenty on Facebook though. My friends probably want to kill me. Or do an intervention. The lack of blog posts and the millions of Facebook posts are all due to the fact that Rhys is a huge time suck, but super cute and wonderful. Mostly.
So I’m not going to even try to make up for the lost time on the blog – that would be thousands, upon thousands of words. Instead, I’m going to jump straight to this past weekend.
Over Saint Patrick’s Day weekend, I took YoBaCa and Rhys to the first “away” game of the year. Yup, we traveled for an agility show.
Now wait, I know you’re thinking, “She what??! Traveled with a 12-week old puppy??! (Although you may not have known he is now 12 weeks old, but he is.) “Is she insane???!!”
Apparently even more out of my mind than even I knew.
Rhys already is super fantastic on car rides, so naturally he was fine with the Friday afternoon I-5 crawl south. He was also fine with the pee stop at a rest area in the steady soaking rain, accomplishing all major business like a pro.
Of course I realized he was recharging the entire three hours it took us to get to Longview. Luckily, as a result of the time change the weekend prior, it was still light when we arrived at the hotel.
Wait! The puppy stayed at a hotel??!! Hold on. I’ll get to that part soon.
Checked into the room, which very, very sadly for me was on the second floor as arrived too late to secure a first floor room.
Now, normally I do not care if I’m not on the first floor, but all I could envision was trying to hustle a puppy with a teeny bladder outside first thing in the morning and actually making it outside without any leakage.
However, it was what it was and yet another thing I couldn’t do anything about. Therefore, after umpteen trips out to The Living Room on Wheels and up and down the stairs carrying my own and one “go” bag and the dogs’ various paraphernalia, got settled into the hotel room. But first, had to burn off some of that puppy energy.
So instead of taking the dogs up to the room and feeding them, I took them across the street from the hotel to a local park and made them run around for almost an hour. The three Big Dogs were all about this as it mostly involved Ball and exploring a new place. Rhys was also fine with it as it involved The Big Dogs, exploring and stealing Ball.
After that adventure and before it became pitch dark, grabbed some take-out food for myself and then back to the hotel. Because I’m a generous person with my dogs, I shared my fries and a bit of my sandwich. Rhys thought that was pretty wonderful.
Thinking that after he ate he’d be a bit tired and ready for a nap, I stuck him in the canvas crate I’d brought for just that purpose.
Silly me!
Rhys was all about the novel experience and he was only just starting the party. He gnawed on a bully stick for a little bit, then decided he had to go out. After we came back, he decided the canvas crate was icky and that he wanted to play with his brothers. Except they were ready for bed and were already up on the bed and didn’t appreciate his efforts to try to jump up on the bed with them. Luckily for them, the bed was way too high for him to leap into. He tried to entice Camm into playing, but she decided she also wanted to be up on the bed.
I took Rhys out on a walkabout of the hotel grounds and through the hotel where we met a few admirers, including a very talkative man and a man with his young son. Rhys just soaked it all up.
Meanwhile, we – and when I say we, I mean all of us that were not a 12-week old puppy – just wanted to snuggle on the bed and watch a little TV before going to sleep.
Not Rhys. Rhys thought he should either be outside again or running around the room. He did not appreciate my efforts to corral him in his crate.
Finally, just as I thought I was going to lose it, he settled – unhappily, into the crate. Finally, there was peace and quiet.
Until 2:30 am.
That was when Rhys made it known he was awake and did not want to be in the strange crate.
So, I took him and the other three dogs outside – rotating of course – for potty breaks.
I foolishly thought that was it and we could resume our slumber uninterrupted until the alarm went off at 6:15 am.
Nope. Rhys thought it was time to party.
Since I was worried he’d scratch through the mesh on the crate or break the zipper, I brought him into bed with me.
Rhys thought that was delightful. He has not been in the bed with me since his first two nights with me and since Camm and Youke were also in the bed, he thought it was a perfect opportunity to work on his social skills with both of them.
At this point, Camm and Rhys are best friends. In fact, I now refer to Camm as Big SisterMommyAuntie Camm as she is all those things and more to Rhys. They are tight.
Much to Rhys’s dismay though, he and Youke are still not best buddies. This is not from lack of effort on Rhys’s part.
However, taking advantage of Grumpy BigBrotherUncle Youke while he’s snuggled up to his Human and at his most softest and vulnerable by jumping on his head, then covering him in puppy kisses, followed by draping your wiggly puppy body over Youke’s body is not the way to win friends.
Youke made it known that behavior was not appreciated in the least and pointedly jumped over to the other unoccupied queen bed in the hotel room, joining Brady. Grumpy BigBrotherUncle Brady is wise to Rhys’s friendship solicitations and removes himself immediately. Rhys realized the error of his ways the first time he tried to jump onto Brady’s back when he was laying down and wisely has not attempted it again. This does not stop him though from sneaking puppy kisses at Brady, or alternately, trying to surreptitiously nip at his heels when he’s not looking.
I suspect Rhys is trying to model some of his behavior on Brady. I base this on his close observation, and clear admiration, of some of the things Brady does. However, he is obsessed with getting Youke to adore him. His efforts though are along the lines of the super geeky clumsy sweet kid at school that is smitten with the super cool mean but cute girl and Youke’s reactions are pretty much all mean girl. Still, Rhys is undeterred.
After causing Youke to leave his coveted spot in bed by my side, I decided enough was enough and clutched Rhys close. I’ll tell you that this was in an effort to contain and calm him, but really, I was about to throttle him.
Magically, it worked. Or he realized that his short life was about to remain short. Regardless, Obnoxious Crazed Bitey Puppy turned into Sweet Magical Puppy Breath Puppy.
Turns out, Rhys is a first class snuggler. He cuddled up against my face first, breathing in my breath, even as I breathed in his. Then he placed his head underneath my chin. That move gradually had him moving to place his nose and head up against my neck.Every now and then he’d give me a gentle little lick. Sometimes that was followed by him trying to eat my hair, but most of the time, he was just trying to snuggle in closer. We slept like that until my alarm went off at 6:15.
Like most rock stars that party all night, Rhys was not eager to get up when the alarm went off. Truthfully, neither was I. I turned it off and he re-positioned himself on top of my head – after trying to chew some of my hair first – sighed heavily, and then fell fast asleep again.
We arrived a bit late to the agility trial. Luckily, the show started off a bit late as well, which was good, because Youke was the first dog on the line that day.
In between runs with The Big Dogs, Rhys got to socialize and explore. I was positive he’d be worn out by the end of the day.
I was wrong. So very wrong.
After eating out with friends after the trial ended for the day, I was mentally and physically done. The Big Dogs were also mentally and physically done after a day of trialing, playing Ball and exploring. They ate their dinners when we got back to the hotel room and promptly curled up the sleep.
Rhys was not tired. Rhys thought we should be doing something that did not involve being curled up on the bed with the TV on.
After getting sick of him pestering me and the other dogs and him being unable to settle even with a bully stick in the canvas crate, I took him on a little walkabout. This was great because he got to meet a bunch of kids that were staying on the same floor. All that admiration went to Rhys’s head, because when we came back from his potty break, he made a bee-line for the room where the kids he’d met were staying.
Sadly for him, I took him back to his own boring hotel room.
I’ll spare you all of the details, but suffice it to say that Rhys almost spent the night in The Living Room on Wheels. In fact, had the temperatures not dropped into the lower 40s, he would have.
Rather than killing him, I fell into a state of exhaustion somewhere between actual sleep and daydreaming of an alternate universe where I had not made the decision to get a puppy, much less made the decision to travel and stay in a hotel room with a puppy. While I was in this altered state of reality, Rhys was happily cavorting about the hotel room by himself, doing god knows what, because even Camm was too tired to play with him. I remember wearily hoping he wasn’t destroying the hotel room and pissing and pooping on the rug.
I awoke at about 11-ish when he was attempting to fling himself into the bed with me. I hoped that it was a sign that he was ready to settle down and go to sleep. I was too tired to check the fate of the hotel room and scooped him up. He promptly started batting me with his paws and tried to chew my hair.
Again, I held him tight, but trying not to squeeze the life out of him. Apparently he got the message. He curled up and went to sleep.
Again, the alarm went off at 6:15 am. I needed the time to pack everything up and make the numerous trips up and down stairs and out to The LRoW before heading off for the second and last day of the agility trial. Luckily, I knew the run order was reversed and my dogs would be running last in the first class of the day.
I shut the alarm off. The dogs didn’t even raise their heads. Rhys readjusted his position against my body and heaved a heavy sleepy sigh.
I decided that I didn’t really need anymore Fullhouse Q’s and fell back asleep.
I awoke 90 minutes later and only because the sun was coming in strongly through the seams of the curtains covering the hotel window.
When I stumbled out with the dogs for their morning potty breaks, I dully observed that the hotel parking lot was nearly empty and not a single one of my friends’ cars remained. Naturally, they’d already left for the agility trial down the road.
I’m also pleased to say that Rhys made it outside every single time without incident for all potty breaks. Well, except for one time the first night when he didn’t even make an attempt to tell me he had to go and simply stopped to pee in the middle of running around being all crazy. That’s a rock star move right there.
While I made no attempt to hurry, and even waited at the espresso stand drive-through for what seemed like ages for a humongous cup of coffee (six shots, thank you very much!), still somehow managed to arrive to the trial Sunday morning in time for Brady to run, who was the first of my dogs to run that day.
If possible, Rhys had an even more social day on Sunday than he’d had on Saturday.
Because the weekend is a bit of blur and I can’t recall what exactly Rhys did or who he met on which day, this is a simple summary of all of the weekend social things he accomplished.
Met many small Humans and was petted by many of them.
Met lots of new grown-up Humans – men, women, elderly, in hats, in sunglasses
Lept into the arms of some of the above
Met a ton of adult and teenage dogs, most friendly. He did meet an elderly female border collie that did not suffer foolish little puppies. He was appropriate and polite with all of the older dogs – that included border collies, Australian Shepherds, Doodles, a Briard (whom he loved – the dog was seven months old and Rhys thought he was lots of fun!) , a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and others I cannot even remember.
He also met an Australian Shepherd puppy that was 11.5 weeks old. A peer. I’m finding though that he is so incredibly confident and sure about himself that he is a bit overwhelming for many of those within his age group. This little female puppy in particular was a bit shy.
Rhys also saw lots of cars driving by, motorcycles and cyclists too, as well as some big trucks. None of those things fazed him.
In fact, the only thing that seems to give him pause are dogs barking. That has become a lot better, but if he doesn’t recognize the bark, he becomes a bit concerned. He also heard what I think were gunshots – or something that sounded sort of like them, and while the sound made him stop and look around, he wasn’t very concerned after the initial few seconds.
In addition to the hotel grounds, Rhys explored a new park, the fairgrounds where the agility trial was held – ingesting some horse droppings as part of that fun process and got to walk around inside where the agility trial was. He also practiced his leash walking, played lots of tug with me (and even with Youke!!), tossed his food dish all over a big field and then ran off with it, but came back at a full run with it when I called him to me, and did a lot of “sits” for me and for the many people he met. We even managed to work in a few “downs.”
Rhys thought the entire weekend was just fabulous. He finally crashed when we got home and slept for nearly nine straight hours.
I apparently have an amazing bold and fun puppy. I fear I am raising a future rock star.
Rhys. 11.5 weeks old
Rhys. 8 weeks old.
Rhys. 11 weeks old. EARS!
Rhys (11.5 weeks old) and Camm.
Failed attempt at a family portrait and new cover for the blog.
One Week In …
It’s a big world out there Rhys
As promised, I’m keeping a journal of sorts on my first year with Rhys. I wish I had taken better notes of what Youke’s puppy-hood was like, and I’ve always regretted that I did not document all that happened with Brady – the bad, the very ugly and the good and the very remarkable.
In many ways, I’m grateful I started blogging as it helps me recall things and situations with the dogs. I guess I should have started blogging about a decade ago.
Rhys arrived last Saturday. He had a very long drive from Oregon home with me. Although my friend Patti was with me and had offered to drive so I could hold Rhys or to even hold him herself, I made my first “mean mommy” decision. I had him ride in the crate in the back of the The Living Room on Wheels.
Needless to say, that was not a popular decision. Rhys had never been away from his litter-mates and there he was, suddenly plucked up and plopped in a box all by himself.
He cried and howled a lot.
However, eventually, he quieted down. I could occasionally still hear some muted cries or grumbles, but for the most part he settled down roughly an hour into the ride. I had him padded in the crate with a lot of old towels, a piece a fleece and a fleece bit that his breeder gave me that smelled of his litter-mates. I also placed a toy from her that had their odor on it in the crate with him.
Rhys was upset and stressed when I got home. He did not want to eat at all. However, at 3:15 am he awoke and decided he was ravenous. Appetite for the most part has not been a problem since then.
Meeting the Tribe
I introduced Youke, Brady and Camm individually and one at a time to Rhys upon arriving home. My place isn’t that huge and we all have to live together and get along. I’m a believer in just getting the introductions over with and proceeding from there. I realize that this doesn’t work for all. It’s worked well for me in the past, so it’s what I do.
Youke was soft and gentle, but wasn’t super impressed. He took a few sniffs and then wanted to leave.
Brady was also soft and gentle, even slowly wagging his tail very softly and low. But he also wasn’t super impressed and wanted to leave quickly.
Camm, as I had fully expected her to do, lifted her lip a bit and did a low growl. Then she turned around and walked away. Camm has never been one to like puppies and I’ve learned to steer clear of young puppies with her. She was the one I was most worried about and I figured I’d have to carefully manage the puppy around her for a while.
Meanwhile, Rhys was deferential to the “big dogs” but did not grovel. That’s kind of important in my tribe. Youke intensely dislikes when dogs grovel. It seems to trigger some rage inside of him. Camm probably would have preferred a bit more groveling given that she is The Queen of All Things. I was just happy that Brady did not start off the introduction with one of his trademark grumpy growls.
Interestingly, all three dogs knew immediately that Rhys was here to stay and was the newest member of the tribe. How do I know that? I guess mainly because I know my dogs and I know how they treat visitors or dogs that are familiar but that do not live with them. I observe my dogs closely all the time and while disconcerted initially, no one was stiff and snarky.
I had Rhys sleep in bed with me that first night. I didn’t feel it was fair to him to thrust him in a crate again and expect him to deal. He immediately snuggled up against the curve of my neck and fell asleep, but only after snuggling up against an astonished Youke while I washed my face and brushed my teeth before bed. At some point during the night, Rhys moved off of me and found his own spot on the bed. That was the first sign of a bit of independence from him.
The First Full Day
Rhys settled back down after his dinner break at 3:15 am and awoke with a new outlook on life. In fact, he strutted outside with the Big Dogs like he’d been doing it all his life.
Okay, not quite. There was the element of novelty on his face about it, but he was clearly quite tickled to be included in Big Dog activities. He was very charmed to be exploring the outside yard and perimeter and immediately peed and pooped, just like a Big Dog!
Rhys had apparently not been exposed to dogs barking, because that was really the one thing that most startled him. Unfortunately, Camm and Brady do bark, while Youke is generally quiet. However, by the end of the first day, he wasn’t being startled by the barking any longer and now when we head out the door and Camm is barking because she’s excited, he wags his tail in anticipation of fun times.
The fun really started when the adult dogs realized the baby gets baby food and gets fed three times a day. So much jealously about that.
Camm started to warm up to him more on Sunday, while Youke and Brady steadfastly avoided him. The boys weren’t mean or snarky, but just didn’t want to engage. If he made too many overtures or got too close, they just moved away.
Workweek Developments
Unfortunately, my first week with Rhys was also one of the busiest work weeks I’ve had since I started my business. This meant that he’d need to spend several hours each day alone and crated or in an ex-pen.
My original intent had been to pick him up this Saturday, instead of last Saturday, based on two factors, one of them being that I knew this past week would be super busy. The other factor was that Rhys was only seven weeks old and I’d have preferred to pick him up at eight weeks. Actually, my preference would have been to take him home at nine or ten weeks old. However, there were nine litter-mates and they were being alternately bottle fed and nursing off by their mom. Rhys was also at seven weeks old the largest puppy of the litter. He weighed eight pounds – not huge, but by no means small either. He was also developmentally ready to leave. Thus, and a bit against my better judgment, I decided to take him home. The decision also saved me another five-hour drive, which was nice, but if he had not been ready, I wouldn’t have taken him.
Therefore, it was super affirming to see that despite his dismay at being yanked from his first family and thrust into a strange new world, by his second day with me he was convinced that he is one of The Big Dogs and was perfectly comfortable.
Rhys slept through the night with me in my bed. I foolishly did not set my alarm on Monday because I figured he’d get me up early. Wrong! Rhys slept until after 8 am!
By Monday, Rhys was predictably taking care of bathroom business outside and comfortably exploring his new world. He was also very actively trying to engage the other dogs, but being very mellow and charming about it.
Despite my misgivings about leaving him alone, after eating, peeing, pooping and playing, I left him enclosed in his ex-pen while I went to work. I came home several hours later, expecting to have to clean up a mess, but to my complete surprise, there was none. Hustled him out and he immediately took care of business.
On his second day with me he also discovered Ball.
This was not intentional. Much as I love playing Ball and enjoy having Ball fiends, I don’t believe tiny puppies should be playing fetch. However, Youke dropped his Ball and Rhys picked it up and immediately started playing with it.
I’m in trouble.
Rhys also enjoyed his first adventure that day with The Big Dogs, going along to one of our favorite spots. He held his own as the other dogs raced around him playing and even went down a trail a little ways with us.
He’s very young, so he’s not going on hikes with us yet, but since it’s a life skill he’ll need as it is an activity we do a lot, he’s going in small doses. He is quite amazing, confidentially walking and running along, sniffing spots, going off a little way to explore, but always staying within close proximity and coming quickly when called. He ended up going four times this week with us on similar little adventures and is just gaining more and more confidence.
I should note that I’m not using a leash on this ventures. He will have to be reliable off leash and this is a great way to start and I’m very pleased with how he either stays right behind me, very close to my side, sometimes a little bit ahead, and quite often, underfoot. Okay, we need to work on that last part.
On Tuesday I came back home from work and was greeted by The Big Dogs .. and by Rhys. Um, what??
Yes, Rhys was outside of his ex-pen and it looked like he’d had help. I immediately suspected Youke who is obsessed with how much food Rhys is getting and the fact that it is different from his food. I’ve since realized that Rhys could’ve been helped by any of the other three dogs as I’ve caught all of them pushing the ex-pen around in an effort to get to Rhys’s food. I’ve since learned to not leave any uneaten food down. It also helps that Rhys is getting better at eating all of his food when it is given in just the past few days, instead of being a bit of forager.
By Thursday, I was leaving Rhys in his wire crate while I left for work and he was fine.
The sleeping arrangements also changed.
Youke was extremely put out that the puppy was sleeping on the bed and so close to me. Youke has only not slept with me a handful of times, and most of those have been because we were miles apart. However, he refused to come into the bed after that first night when Rhys was sleeping in it with me. Since he looked so miserable, and I can’t stand when he is so upset, I decided Rhys had to take another “big boy” step in life and be crated at night.
Despite my misgivings, that actually went super well and he’s been fine sleeping in a good-sized travel crate at night. I figure this is a good way to get him used to being in a crate – a skill he’ll need when traveling, which he’s gotten very good at (no carsickness!) and if he is to ever do agility or other dog sports type things. And if he ever wants to sleep in the bed, that’s fine, but I think I’ll wait until he is a bit older and after he and Youke have established a friendship.
I’m a light sleeper and Rhys is pretty clear about when he needs to go outside. Thus far our routine seems to be to bed between 10:30 pm 11:30 pm, up for a quick pee at between 3-4 am – but not always, and then up at 6:45 am.
Bitey-Face
Perhaps the most major development of the week has involved Camm. As in she is now head over heels smitten with this puppy.
It started Thursday night after we’d all gone to agility class. Rhys did well meeting new people and met two lovely female dogs that were appropriate and playful.
Camm had gradually been warming up to Rhys, but he’s been most persistent about trying to initiate a friendship with Youke. Youke has just been more and more standoffish though. Brady continues to avoid him and Rhys has quickly picked up on Brady’s signature grumbles and growls. He seems to understand he might want to tread a bit carefully with Brady, although that has not prevented him from once jumping on him (met with a quick but appropriate correction) and several drive-by attempts to start some fun. However, while Youke and Brady will only tolerate the occasional nose touch, Camm has been initiating contact.
On Thursday night, she initiated play. Yes, actual play. Play that is appropriate and self-handicapped. The Bitey-Face game has now become a nightly ritual. It’s incredibly entertaining to watch. Pretty much better than anything that’s on television right now. I especially enjoy watching Rhys become better coordinated with each evening and try to employ some cool ninja moves. However, cool ninja moves aren’t really that cool when your body is not yet well-coordinated.
I do look forward to the progression of the cool ninja moves though.
The Bitey-Face game even started on Saturday morning, although I admit I asked Camm if she wanted to play with him as I’m fighting a cold and the game with Camm tires him out.
Rhys also got to meet the garage door repairman this week. While I figured it’d be a good socialization opportunity, it was still awesome to see Rhys initiate contact after being curious about the noise going on in the garage. The repair guy was great too in that he didn’t fawn over Rhys, but pretty much just went about his work. Rhys reciprocated by checking out the guy’s tools and the ladder he was standing on. The noise that went along with the repair did not concern Rhys in the least.
I’m loving that Rhys takes things pretty much in stride and is not fazed, thus far, by very much.
This coming week will be a lighter week in terms of work, which will allow for more time with Rhys and some managed socialization opportunities. I’ll also work on more training with him. While he’s playing tug and learning to give and take with tug, I want to introduce him to some more toys and to the clicker.
A final note about Rhys’s first week here. It is very fascinating to watch him watch The Big Dogs and follow their cues. I said that with Youke I was eternally grateful how much Jasmine took him under her wing and brought him up just as much as I did. It seems that history is repeating itself between he and Camm and it makes my heart sing.
Welcome to the Next Year of My Life
I only got about three and a half hours of sleep between the late hours of Friday evening and very early Saturday morning. Probably not the way to begin a new journey, with sleep deprivation. On the other hand, I’m pretty sure I’ll be in a deprivation-induced stupor for the next year or so, so in that light, it was an auspicious start.
I did it. I caved. I couldn’t resist any longer.
Some 530 miles and a speeding ticket later, I brought a puppy into my life on Saturday.
Everyone, meet Rhys.
Rhys is a black and white Border Collie. He hails from Oregon. He will be making Washington his home. Specifically, my house will be his home.
Lest ya’ll think this was some sudden knee-jerk reaction or weakness on my part, it was not. Homecoming for Rhys has been in the works for several weeks.
I had been contemplating a new addition for the past year or so. Much as I love teenage dogs or getting dogs as young adults, and much as I have had great experience obtaining dogs from shelters or breed-specific rescues, I could not shake the thought of going for a puppy again.
I’ve always joked that I must’ve done a pretty good job with Youke as he’s perfect. Obviously he isn’t really, but he’s about as perfect as any dog of mine is likely to ever get. I credit his utter perfection to how he was raised as a wee puppy to how I raised him after he became mine after only a few short months in his life.
Youke came into my life sort of by accident. I’d read a message written on a big board at the place I was taking agility lessons about pups that were available. I nervously made an inquiry, figuring it was about time that I really find out if Border Collies were everything I thought they were. I was at that time in my life, in the perfect place mentally and financially to finally raise a puppy. And I had support and help. Or so I thought. Going through a separation and subsequent divorce when your puppy is under a year old is not well advised. Of course, I did not know when I picked him up that my life was about to be broken to bits for a while.
Anyway, I fell in love with Youke when his picture was sent to me via email. It’s a modern love story really. And once I heard the story of how he and his litter-mates came to be, I was beyond smitten. See, I really love nothing more than a really good and engaging story.
Look how good, and good-looking, Youke turned out to be!
So, despite the fog that was pretty much Youke’s first year in life, he turned out pretty well.
I also have a bond with Youke that I don’t have with my other dogs or have had with any other dog. This is not to say that the bonds I have with or have had with, my other dogs are less, just that they are different. What Brady and I have gone through on his journey with me has cemented us for life. Camm designated herself long ago as my therapist and indispensable right hand gal.
But what I have with Youke is those first months of his life and I don’t have that with my other dogs. That stage is crucial for so many things, but especially for early learning, how to learn and impulse control.
I had decided some time ago that my next dog would be a puppy. The question was would it be a puppy from rescue or not.
I figured I had plenty of time to decide and to look around.
About a week or two before Jasmine became ill last November, I had a dream.
Now, I dream a lot and can recall a great many of them shortly after I awaken, but I’ve had a dozen or so dreams in my life that I have never been able to forget. The dream I had in November was one.
In fact, it reminded me of the dream I had several months after I had lost Kip, the first dog in my adult life. In that dream, Kip was frolicking in the big field in front of my mother’s place, when all of a sudden a big black dog appeared and they started playing tag under the old oak tree in that field. In the dream, Kip told me he was okay and it was okay to have this dog and the dream ended with Kip bounding by himself across the field and the unknown black dog running across the stream to come see me.
The dream shook me. I’m not a religious person and I’m ambivalent about the whole rainbow bridge thing; as in “nice concept, but really?” but still very comforting to think about. I’ve had people tell me since the dream was merely my subconscious informing me I was ready for another dog. Perhaps …
My next dog was supposed to have been a six-month old black Labrador Retriever, but he ended up getting parvo at the shelter and died. However, on the same day that I saw the Lab, I saw a skinny, severely malnourished Husky mix that I could not stop thinking about and that I instantaneously named Sylvie in my head that day. She went home with me a week later.
She was not black. But she was somehow still the dog in that dream.
Early last November, Jasmine was still very much alive. Yet I had a dream that she was standing right in front of me, very serious, and looked toward a tri-colored Border Collie and communicated that this was my next dog and that she really liked him/her and approved.
I woke up in the morning, completely baffled and a bit shaken. It was so odd. Plus, I’ve never really been drawn to tri-colored Border Collies. But Jasmine had been so serious in the dream. It was just strange.
When she died only a short time later, the memory of the dream shook me even more.
Still, I had vowed not to get another dog for a while.
Fast forward to January and driving with a friend to see a new litter of Border Collie puppies. I calmly went along to support a friend, firm in my resolve and calm because I knew I wasn’t interested in a puppy and therefore this was not my circus so to speak.
Imagine my disbelief when I saw that this litter had several tri-colored puppies.
Still, they were not for me.
However, when I learned my friend would not be taking one home either (a female will best as her next dog and only males were available), a germ seed began to sprout.
I then proceeded to literally spend many sleepless nights, consumed with “should I or shouldn’t I” thoughts. This whole adding another dog thing is a serious process for me, until the moment it is not.
I sent another friend, who did take a pup from the litter, a message asking if the breeder would even consider me. See, these were out and out serious sheepdog puppies and I don’t sheepdog. Don’t get me wrong, my dogs lead big lives and do a lot with me, the least of which is agility, but while I’ve put Youke on sheep a handful of times, it’s not anything I see myself becoming serious about. Although one should never say never, right?
I was prepared for a “no” answer and would be ready to move on, but in one of those odd twist of fate moments that so often comprise life, one male pup had suddenly become available the evening before my message reached the breeder. Plus, I had met with approval. So I got this picture.
And thus I found myself falling in love again over the internet. This picture only sealed the deal.
Puppy toes. One of the best things in life.
I got about five hours of sleep total last night, after being awakened at 3:15 am by Rhys for a potty break (seriously, we’re off to an excellent start!), and then back to bed after a late evening/early morning snack.
So far, YoBaCa are a bit miffed, puzzled and very, very curious. Youke is soft and gentle, but can only deal with the new baby in small doses. Although Rhys seems to like Youke very much.
Since Youke is perfect, snuggling up with him seems like a good idea.
Brady is, as usual, conflicted. He softly wags his tail and has been very polite and gentle, but there’s no way he wants Rhys near his toys or near his freshly dug dirt holes.
Camm has been the biggest surprise to me. Naturally she lifted her lip when she first met Rhys. And she is insanely jealous of his fresh and new baby toys. But she’s also been the first one to initiate play, and appropriate play at that.
Rhys is a classic black and white boy. He’s not a tri-color. Yet as I drove home with him last night on the last leg of our long car ride, I was suddenly moved because deep down I know he’s the dog in that dream.
There will be a lot of entries in this blog over the next several months that are specific to Rhys. That will be more for my benefit as I want to journal his progress, but feel free to skip over them, or maybe enjoy them with me. Eventually, his name will somehow become incorporated in the blog as well. But time is limited right now.
Rhys just woke up from a nice long nap and I want to get him outside to enjoy the late day’s light in the woods. The first of many, I’m sure.
Footnote: Rhys is a Welsh name and the Anglo pronunciation is “Reese.” No, he’s not named for anyone. His name just came to me when I saw that first picture of him. Yes, the name is a departure from my Boston sports figures tribute theme. And yes, I’m done with that theme now. Lastly, no, I do not deliberately seek to confuse all future gate stewards on the correct pronunciation of his name. Although I cannot say that the confusion surrounding Youke’s name has not been without some degree of humor.
YoBaCaRy 