Besotted

I am crazy about the puppy, Sparky.  He has so much personality, he can't help but make you smile, n ot to mention just laughing out loud.

He has attached himself to me but is willing to love anyone who crosses his path.  Just bend down to per him and suddenly he slides into a puddle at your feet.  Then he takes your fingers into his mouth and give a hearty puppy sigh and all is well with a world.

Vancy (Sparky's fairy godmother) said he was unflappable.  That is certainly the truth.  He has no problem being on his own in the yard; sitting on the dirt pile, chewing a stick, investigating undergrowth, digging a hole and, his favorite, biting the flowers off the annuals on the deck.  He has favorite toys among the ones that the big dogs already had, favoring the ones that they don't favor.  He especially loves a purple pumpkin (the king for trick or treating) sticking his head in it and running about the house bouncing off furniture.  (we would stop him but are usually laughing too much to move)  He's also learned where the toys are kept so he can help himself  and the same goes for the half chewed dog chews though real bones are his favorite.

He comes when you call him and that puppy bounce of his has given way to a sleeker run as his legs are growing longer and leaner.  He's learned that he can dig in his water bowl outside but only drink from the one inside.  He just learned how to get into the bay window, scattering everything before him.He knows to sit back and watch when the big dogs get all hysterical at the fence, joining them when it is safe.  He's learned to be quiet when everyone is sleeping and to pat me gently to wake me up so he can go out in the morning.

He still needs to navigate the inside steps to the basement and the doggy door.  Even though is legs are getting long he's not quite big enough and I don't want him scraping his tummy each time he goes in an out.  He also needs to understand that he stay in the yard when the gate is open and stays out of the way of the car pulling him.  That will come.  Charlie and Kali are showing him.

Charlie and Kali.... As much as they cringed when we first brought the puppy home, the often are the ones to instigate play, luckily only one at a time.  They bark, roll, growl, show teeth and play hungry hungry hippo but they are not as fierce as they may look.  Their patience last only so long but a sharp bark tells Sparky that they are done.  I see them, not so much as a pack, but as a family, with Charlie forging ahead checking out noises and giving hell to people walking up the street without his permission and Kali and Sparky sitting back, close together waiting for the all clear.  Father, mother, son.  What could be more perfect than that?