2000: Titivating
IN MY OPINION
Books Read in 2007 "Dakota
after 3 Weeks" Flash
version here My Favorite Video Blogs Missbehavens (for others, see Links page) Drunk Driving Test Steve Irwin Meets Ross the Intern Volcanic Eruption 4/2/07 Polar Bear Cub Interpretation of Leviticus 18
Family Stories Vlog New on My
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IT PASSES SO QUICKLY 16 April 2007 [I learned today that I have already been alive for 23,433 days. I also learned that a Biblical "lifetime" is 25,568 days ("3 score and 10"), so I may not have much time left. I'd better type quickly.] I missed my "after 3 weeks" report on Dakota, so this is more of an "after 3½ weeks" report. As I sit here there is the sound of growling and snarling and fighting. This has been going on between Dakota and Lizzie for so long, I don't even pay attention to it any more. If you watch the Video of the Day, you can get a sense of what I mean. They play-fight all the time, when they are awake. Their favorite place to fight with each other is in my lap. It sounds like (and often looks like) Lizzie is going to do serious damage to her, but in fact, they are very definitely playing. Lizzie could hurt her if she wanted to, but they roll around and growl and mouth wrestle all the time. In fact, it's actually not quite as vicious as it sounded a week ago. Dakota seems to be learning the rules of the game (whatever they are). She doesn't always attack Lizzie. Sometimes she will lie on her back and play with her ears, or they will both roll over on their backs and bat at each other with their paws. Often Dakota lies on her back and Lizzie gets on top of her, growling and snarling, but it's all in play. As soon as she wakes up, Dakota is off in search of Lizzie and she follows her all over the place. She is looking all "leggy" now, quite a bit taller than she was when she first got here and she now takes up two handfuls, not only one. It is just amazing to me how quickly puppies go from blobs to real young dogs. The change in Dakota from when she first got here is the difference of night and day. She is amazingly affectionate. She will sleep in the crook of my arm for hours on end, if I'd let her, and she just loves Walt. Her ears go up when she hears him coming downstairs and she gallops after the other two dogs to greet him. Like all of our puppies, she loves chewing on his beard. The older dogs are used to receiving a treat when I go out and another when I get back and they run into the kitchen and sit to wait for it. Dakota has gotten the idea and now there are THREE, instead of two, waiting for treats, though Dakota hasn't yet learned to sit for her treat. She has learned, however, about when it's time to eat. I still feed her in the playpen, just to keep all the dogs separated, and as soon as she sees me pick up her bowl, she is jumping up and down and licking her mouth, running ahead of me into the kitchen and, after I stepped on her hard once, being very careful to stay away from the Birkinstocks! Half the time she tries to eat Lizzie's dinner (since Lizzie eats in the kitchen, so is the first bowl that I put down), but half of the time she runs to the family room and stands in front of the playpen, waiting for me. I'm really amazed at how much she has picked up in such a short period of time. She's really quite a smart little girl. She is all "mouth," of course, as all puppies are at this age, but not nearly as destructive as some that we've had. In fact, she hasn't really badly chewed anything yet, nor does she bite as hard as, say, the Christmas puppies did. My toes are safe, most of the time, from Dakota's teeth. She is also the one puppy who likes to go outside and, if it's warm, spend time wandering around in the sun, whether the other dogs are out there, or whether she's there all by herself. I am sure she has this independent streak because she was separated from her siblings so young.
Her new family, when she gets one, will have no trouble at all crate training her. She has always gone into the playpen to sleep at night and she sleeps there for 8 hours at a time. I kept her in it when I wasn't around, for the first week, but once I saw that she and the older dogs got along well, I only put her in it to eat (and then take her right out again), and to sleep. She never complains about being put in it to sleep. And though she isn't "housebroken," by a long shot, she does wake up from naps and go outside to pee most of the time. It has been raining around here for the past couple of days, so there are more puddles in the house than usual, but she's getting there.
A human life seems to pass very quickly...but a puppy's life
explodes. It is amazing how quickly they grow up. |
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PHOTO OF THE DAY
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This is entry #2573