I realized the I’ve always had an older dog to teach the younger dogs how it all works around here. Yup… every new dog or puppy had a mentor, a master – a dog to look up to for answers.
Except now. Now I’m the old dog.
And to be honest, I’m getting older by the minute. Taking care of two, high-energy puppies – is wearing on me, especially with the constant rain. They are both too little to run around free outside, so they are cooped up in our hallway, except for when we walk them.
Every day, this is the hallway. I clean it and repeat. The pups have access to the hallway and my office. We’ve had to take down all the art… Since it has been raining very, very hard for 3 weeks, the poor pups have been inside too much!
Hubby has Violet walking perfectly on the leash, which is incredible, since she is only 15 weeks old! He took her on a hike on Saturday, and she was ‘great’, he said, except when she met other people or another dog. Then, she barked. A lot. So, we need to socialize her.
Violet on the hike with Hubby this weekend.
Vivienne is much more bold. She and I are working on meeting the cats, sit/stay and learning all about ‘outside’. For example, yesterday I had her linked to my belt while I fed. Thank horsegods that she is only 30lbs right now or I’d have been pulled all over the place.
Here we have Violet tied to Scouty’s Tree. (Scout loved to sit here and watch the world go by.) Vivienne is tied to another tree close by. I’m sitting there or watching from my bedroom window. They are learning about ‘outside’ and what goes in in the front of the house.
This afternoon, after the sun came out (and they had destroyed the hallway), I safely tied them out to Scouty’s tree and the tree next to Scouty’s tree. They did great! I can see them from the bedroom and I watched carefully. Both learned how to navigate the tree and how to sit and watch the world. My goal is to get them familiar with the front of the house and the back of the house (horse area). And, of course, the cats.
The cats love dogs. All of them rubbed up against Scout and Virgil. In this photo, two of the cats are sitting with me. The dogs are at full attention. Violet was very, very excited. Vivlenne had already met them several times so she was more docile.
Violet is sacked out at my feet as I write this. A very exciting day…
DODGER
Since Dodger doesn’t see or hear very well, he is not willing to go into the big field on scary, windy, rainy, stormy days – which is all we have had for 3 weeks. Today, he went out with Gwen and Norma. He had a great day. As he trotted up, he gave me a nod. I knew what he meant…
Dodger is always the last to come in for dinner. He loves his ‘outside’ time.
He marched up the hill like a trooper. You’d never know that he was at least 37 years old this year.
