Babies are amazing. Humans, dogs, cats, even piglets. They are cute, honest, joyful. This August, we decided our life was too easy, so we bought two Gordon Setter puppies. Trapper and Duke were four months old at the time, so they weren’t infants. They certainly have challenged us to get off the couch.
They bring excitement and energy to everything they do.
Of course like all puppies, they run, wrestle and romp until they collapse. Then sleep like angels. But you know that soon the hellions with waken to start the cycle over again.
Already they have grown. In just a month they have put on ten pounds. We watched them get their permanent teeth and use those ivories on anything they could wrap their mouths around. At 38 pounds, they are now an armful.
Yesterday they attended their first Puppy Kindergarten class at Diamonds in the Ruff. Eleven dogs and their humans (I can’t call them masters) filled the room with controlled chaos. But we all survived. From three pounds of Yorkie to 80 pounds of Rottweiler, with a scattering of Labs, one Cocker, Goldens, and a beautiful Mastiff. Everyone – dogs and handlers – were exhausted by the end of the session.
We have a long way to go. But seeing the improvement after just one week gives us hope that the dogs and we mere humans will survive.
My parents talk about having two boys only a year apart. Just normal, active boys, my brother and I did a lot of running and wrestling. What else would you expect? With these puppy brothers, I can now appreciate what it must have been like for the rest of the family listening to us racing, yelling and tumbling all over the place. I’m sure that will be some small consolation to my folks.
Oh, and by the way, if you ever think about getting two puppies from the same litter…DON’T DO IT!
