Archive for the ‘observations’ Category
Oh deer
Today as I was driving to the gym with Ryan I saw something that I almost didn’t understand on the side of the road. It was one of those moments where you see something and your brain is trying to make sense of it but somewhere you know instantly what it is. I stopped short and threw on my flashers and jumped out of the car yelling my son, “DON’T GET OUT. There’s a baby deer on the road”
A deer in the yard (not the one in this story)
It was fine. Still and as small as it could get itself. I didn’t want to touch it – to get my human scent on it so I nudged it with my foot but it stayed put. Finally, after assessing “will it bite? Naw” I gently put my hands under its belly and lifted. It was SO light! And as I watched the impossibly long legs unfurl I noticed how warm it was, how soft and clean, and how light it was and how skinny. It wobbled to its feet and started toward the brush when I heard the mama snort and stamp and run a few feet away. I shooed it into the brush until it was at least a few feet from the road and got back into the car. It was likely trying to cross our crazy busy road to get to the prairie on the other side with mama and fell down the slight embankment onto the road. It must have been less than a day old, maybe two days but definitely young!
Muddy puppies will grow into dogs
Yesterday was a rainy, humid, day. But puppies don’t care about muddy feet, floors or food bowls – they just want to play! And so, against my wishes but in line with my instincts I let them out when the rain had let up a bit. They had a blast! They were rolling around with Chloe and chasing each other and basically getting into the best kind of puppy trouble – the dirty kind. And I noticed something, how much Chloe seems to really enjoy being a mama.
Now we’ve had a series of mamas and each has been different; Bella, our first, was a strict mama, her tag line would be “now cut it out all of you and behave!”. Sweetie, our mama from last year would have the tag line, “Here’s how to be in submission, and here, and here and here…now get me out of here!”. And Annie‘s would be, “Where’s my KONG? Where is it? Oh, you want to nurse – FINE, hurry up I have to find my KONG!!” But Chloe’s would be “Hi you guys! How are you? Wanna wrestle? OK! I love you all.” It is heartwarming and so sweet to watch. I can’t wait for a warm sunny day to get some video on it to share with all of you.
Puppy adoption interviews are going well. I’ve met some wonderful families full of love and eager to share it with a puppy. Watching them choose a puppy makes me wonder what is it exactly that we respond to in a puppy? Mostly I think it is looks and what those looks tell us about the kind of dog we hope it will be. But what most people don’t realize is that the description of the kind of dog the puppy will be is really just a story – an invention made up of what that puppy represents, how it reminds them of a past pet, or is the opposite of a past pet, that sort of thing. Most people don’t really chose based on temperament (though, with this group you can’t go wrong – with a mama like Chloe) or energy level match – though some do go into the process with those ideas in mind. But I tell you, I can tell a family that given their set of criteria one puppy would be better than another but most don’t listen once they have gotten their eyes on a pup – they just fall in love and the story line begins.
For the love of Franklin
Franklin’s favorite foods:
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Things Franklin says:
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Updates and naming the puppies
The puppies are getting the hang of eating on their own – today I counted 5 of the 7 all lapping from their bowls at the same time! A new record.
Tonight I weighed them all and gave them a wormer. Even though their paperwork indicated they were wormed when they came into the shelter I was having my doubts. They’ve been with me since Saturday, making this day 5, and their bellies were still tight. So at 4 weeks their weights range from 3 lbs 1 ounce to 4 lbs 3 ounces!! Most were in the upper 3 pound range. If I kept better records I would know how this compares with other litters but alas I have not. Oh well.
I was thinking, since we had so much success with Annie‘s puppies being named after Rudolph’s reindeers, I was thinking of naming this group after flowers. It took some head scratching to come up with male sounding flower names (we have three males in the litter) but here they are in order of my favorite:
Female names: Poppy, Lily, Iris, Tulip, Daisy
Male names: Sweet William, Aster, Crocus, Jacob (Jacob’s Ladder)
Any votes which we keep and which one of each group we throw out? Just comment on this post (below) and let me know.
Chloe and pups settling in
Getting the family at week 3 is so different! I realize that usually by now I have all the puppies identified by personality – who is more outgoing, who is more vocal, that sort of thing. But the best I can do now is count them, and there always seems to be the same one missing… she’s always off in some corner snoozing all by herself. It could be the same puppy each time, or another one who looks like her, there are three tricolor pups…who knows? I made sure that I held each one tonight and said “hello.” The one mostly white male with back dew claws does stand out for me but that’s about it. The rest I can identify in my mind but have no idea who is who. There are two pairs of pups who look similar, one male and one female each. And I think one of the golden ones that looks like the white one is a male too – he’s got the cutest face! It is crazy how cute he is. I know I say this each and every time but THESE are the cutest puppies ever…
Chloe is a dream. I walked her today with the “pack” – my four and my neighbor’s. She did well, better than Sweetie and way better than Annie. She is a calm dog, submissive and willing to listen but likes to run away from me when I want to “nab” her to bring her inside or to brush her. She has asked for snuggles a lot more than I thought she would so soon. She is a very loving dog. Someone is going to be WAY lucky to have her.
Franklin continues to amaze me
Franklin the parrot has been with us for a month now. We’ve worked out our little routines. I have found that like dogs, birds seem to thrive on routines. I do too, so it makes sense to me.
He is starting to really get into his life here. He is willing to try any food I offer and has some favorites: for breakfast he LOVES oatmeal, toast, pancakes (but only with pure maple syrup) and soy milk (which he calls “water”.) For lunch and dinner he is eating peas, corn, carrots, onions (!), apples, potatoes, sweet potatoes, noodles and toast. I eat a lot of toast. He is trying to eat greens but is taking to them slowly. He ate more tonight though than he has yet so there is hope.
He has figured out how to communicate when he wants more of something to eat by making a little “pip” of a sound. When he’s had enough he’ll turn his head a way or take the food and (more…)
