The following was published on October, 29, 2013, and somehow got corrupted on this site. So I have republished it.
As some who follow my wife, Kim, on Facebook may know, we are now new parents of a young puppy. This little gal is now about 10 weeks old. She is getting better every day but I’ve got to say that it’s like having a two year old on 4 legs romping around the house.
She’s a thief. She steals socks, shoes, underwear and other items lying about and takes them off to another area of the house to do whatever puppies need to do with these sorts of toys. I often slide my shoes off when I’m working and leave them under the center of my desk. The time then comes I want to put the shoes on to go walking somewhere else in the house, I look down and there is only one. This seems to happen at least half the time. Then I got to go and look around the house trying to sort out the new location where the heck she has confiscated them.
We have realized that we have to basically treat this house as we would if we had a human 2-year-old around. We have to move things out of the way because it’s very hard to get a puppy to realize that its not okay to be a thief. Thief? How is that possible when you own the world?
It’s a phase that we hope she will simply grow away from and lose interest – for the most part.
One of the most enjoyable things to watch are the interactions between this puppy and our 9 year old cat. This cat has been the queen of the house her entire life and all of a sudden this little dog-being, full of energy and hell, has entered her domain. She discovered early on that she has no problem controlling the dog, just as we do, but she has to be on her toes because the dog is quick and ready to rock and roll. If things get too outlandish for the cat she simply turns around jumps on the dog. The dog yelps, runs off and then is, temporarily, pursuing something else (TEMPORARILY).
She has two states – full-throttle and full-stop. The in-betweens are only beginning to appear. They are moments of gold.
I did not want this dog. But I have to admit after having her the last 8 weeks she is beginning to grow on me. The nature of the dog is amazing. She runs to me in the morning, while I’m still in bed, and is ready to pour on the coals. I’m not!. But, eventually, she settles down and rests her head on my chest – listening to the rhythms of my breath and heart. It’s endearing beyond what I expected.
Dogs’ personalities, as we all know, harbor an appreciation for us. They suck up our attention like “Downy” and a puddle of puppy piss. The cat never hides the fact that she appreciates occasional (and only that) flows towards her – the purring gives her away (you can’t fool me, lady). However the dog wants attention in spades. While the cat looks at you with fixed eyes, the dog has eyes that dance around our bodies taking in every detail of our living motion. They long to know what we are thinking – to know our state. They care. This social need is impossible to ignore and is, for sure, the reason that man considers the dog to be his best friend.
So we are integrating her into our lives. She rides in the airplane. We are getting her ear muffs to dampen the sound – this on top of her natural “ear flaps”. She has already done so – and took to it like the trooper I know she will turn out to be.
My airplane is a Piper Cherokee 180 and so, of course, we have named her Piper. She is a Cockapoo and is completely … well, what can I say?
“Be still my heart.”
So, little Piper, welcome to our lives. We look forward to many years with you. We intend to share our lives and know you will be a great addition – as we are to you.
And thanks, Kim, for “forcing” me into getting into this new adventure. Just as you “fed the cat”, which added pure joy to our lives as the cat decided “They’ll do…”, you have shown me, again, that my resistance is futile.
We naturally gravitate to all manifestations of life – and nothing emanates life like a dog.
Yep – she told me so. So did my son, Bryan.
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