Exactly one year ago today, Duncan found a puppy in the backyard, and Miss Darcy joined the family.
And exactly four years ago Wednesday, Duncan himself arrived:
So I suppose it's appropriate that they are spending most of their time this week hanging around hoping to play with puppy Sophie next door. At first it was just Duncan who seemed interested in her, but Darcy has discovered that Sophie loves to run up and down the fence, so they spend a lot of time playing.:
Duncan, whose interests lie less in running and more in peering benevolently but bemusedly through the fence at this small but noisy creature, is learning to jump aside briskly or get knocked over:
Duncan and Darcy are both fascinated by the new puppy next door. In fact, Duncan is outside right now, all alone, nose to the fence, even though Sophie went in for a nap ages ago. So you need to get to know this little girl, because I have a feeling you'll be hearing a lot about her.
So here is little Miss Sophia, hoisted over the fence for her photo op. Isn't she cute?
Duncan has a new hobby. You can see it in this video of Darcy playing fetch:
Now, to the uninitiated, it may look like he's just standing there, behind the Japanese maple, doing nothing. But actually, he's busily engaged in Waiting For The Neighbours' New Puppy To Come Outside. He's been doing it for most of the last two days.
Yes, our neighbours have a new puppy - a very sweet little brindled girl, 9 weeks old, of baffling ancestry, although there are apparently a couple of terrier breeds in the mix. Her name is Sophia, although at last report that was under review. If I ever have a camera handy at the right time, I'll grab a photo, because she's adorable.
Duncan and Darcy inspected her through the fence as soon as she arrived. She was a bit scared at first when she first realized there were two much larger and much louder animals just a board's width away from her new home, but she's now sticking her little nose through the fence quite happily. Darcy greets her happily, tail waving, then moves on when Sophia goes back indoors.
Duncan, though, is obsessed. He's not usually much of a fan of the great outdoors, but it's becoming hard to get him in. He stands there peering through the fence at a totally puppy-less yard, and can't seem to quite believe she's gone. I'm not sure whether he adores her, or whether he's worried because the last time we found a random puppy in the yard, we kept her...
And speaking of hobbies, Darcy has been experimenting with her Couch-Sitting Like a Cat skills. She's having a few challenges:
Darcy is now 13 months old. A teenager, in dog years. And like all teenagers, she has been giving some thought to what she wants to do when she grows up.
She thought learning to be one of the wonderful Paws4Stories dogs who come to the library. But they have to be calm, quiet, and gentle at all times. Not really Darcy's style.
Duncan, of course, has had an important career as a construction supervisor, first when we took out the pool, and later on the deck. So Darcy tried her hand - uh, paw - at helping to install the new flooring in the basement. It's not as easy as it looks!
But we think she's finally found her niche. Darcy has decided to become a cat:
She's been practicing walking along the back of the couch, and is getting quite good at it. She's even been working on lying down up there, and has actually managed not to fall off a couple of times.
Darcy's signature move when she's playing is to throw herself to the ground and roll over without missing a beat. This tends to leave her covered in grass, leaves, mud, sand, mulch and other interesting substances (most of which are later deposited on our bed). It's also the main reason for her rather unfeminine but accurate nickname: Pigpen!
This morning she put on an impressive series of rolls, even for her, while playing with Duncan. And for once, I actually had my phone handy to record it for posterity. Be sure to crank up the volume to hear her ferocious growls!
Yes, I admit it - I have been negligent in updating the D&D Fan Club about their stars. I blame summer. We spent months with Darcy napping on the living room AC vent, while Duncan napped on the dining room one. Occasionally they'd trade. Not exciting to watch.
But recently things have picked up. This week, for example, we spent a day picnicking and playing at Pinery, mostly to avoid the guys who were climbing all over the house installing news eaves troughs. It was a great way to spend a day!
We had the park almost completely to ourselves; as far as we could see in both directions, there was nobody else on the beach. Duncan and Darcy had a lot of fun running and playing on the sand (that's Duncan in his spiffy blue harness, and Darcy in Kerry's old green one, because she chewed the buckle off her spiffy purple harness):
This was the first time Darcy had really been able to play in the lake. She wasn't quite sure what to make of it at first, but Duncan showed her how to wade in the shallow water:
It wasn't long before she decided that the water was great fun. She ran and played for the longest time. Duncan, being older and wiser, realized the water was cold, so he played for a while then stood on the beach with the grownups, watching the silly pup:
And then she got daring. She ran as far away as she was allowed, then charged back at full speed. Over. And over. Again!
Eventually, we decided to leave the beach and go for a hike in the woods. Darcy loves hiking, unless Duncan gets ahead of her:
Duncan loves hiking, as long as Darcy is behind him:
The trail was one dog wide, so we traded places a lot! But there were interesting smells:
And a river to pose beside:
We ran into traffic problems on the way home, so the trip took 4 hours, compared to the usual 2+. But both dogs were so tired they slept the whole way.
Wheatens may look cute and cuddly. But they've actually been bred for centuries to hunt down vermin. Admittedly, the unfortunate incident where Kerry met a mouse in the house and wagged her tail at it may not have been the ideal example of their ferocity. But in theory at least, they are mighty hunters.
So it must have been a not-too-bright mother rabbit who decided to make a nest and raise her babies in a yard that contains, not one, but TWO wheatens. Yup. We have tiny newborn baby bunnies in a cozy little hole in the garden right under the bedroom window. Just a few feet away from Duncan's favourite pooping area. You'd think that would have tipped her off...
Still, despite the fact that rabbits ate almost all the veggies I planted last year, it didn't seem right to leave them exposed to Duncan and Darcy just because their mother didn't think things through. So we have sacrificed a laundry basket to protect the nest, while still allowing Mom in to feed them. Darcy is quite intrigued, and keeps sticking her nose into the holes, but since the rest of her doesn't fit we hope the babies will be be safe.
For now, at least. But once they reach veggie stealing size, they're on their own!
Darcy was spayed yesterday. She is doing very well, and seems to be feeling almost her usual self already. Which means she wants to run and jump, doesn't want to pee on leash, can't understand why she's stuck in a penned-off end of the family room, and hates her "cone of shame" with a passion!
Here's a photo of her waking up from her surgery, in a nice cozy nest of blankies:
And here she is last evening, still feeling a bit sorry for herself:
But what of Duncan, you ask? Well, yesterday he was torn between enjoying the peace and quiet while she was gone - he slept most of the day - and worrying about her disappearance. After all, who knew who might disappear next? He kept a close eye on me all day, and even napped in front of the garage door for a while:
He has been very stressed since she got home - part worried about her, and part jealous of the attention she's getting - but, after a roughish sort of night, he's beginning to adjust, I think. By the way, three years ago, almost to the day, was Duncan's surgery.
Darcy has a new game, and I'm wondering if I should schedule a preemptive vet appointment – for when she breaks her leg!
We've never been sure exactly what Duncan was doing when he broke his leg, but it was some kind of twisting or spinning movement. Possibly tail-chasing, which he quite enjoyed. Well, Darcy feels that if she's going to equal or surpass him (which seems to be her goal in most things), she might as well be a bit more direct about it: skip the tail (hers is longer than his anyway, so not really a challenge to catch) and chase the leg itself:
I'm trying to convince her that this game is not a great idea.
Remember Bumble, from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer? (You should; Wikipedia tells me it's the longest-running Christmas TV special, having been broadcast every year since 1964.) Remember how he went from this:
to this?:
It's all about the teeth. Hermey pulled Bumble's teeth, and he turned into a kinder, gentler monster.
Our own little fanged monster has – FINALLY! – lost all four of those sharp little puppy canine teeth in the last few days. The pain and bloodshed have come to an end.
As Lewis Carroll so aptly put it, "Callooh! Callay! "
Two of them just disappeared, probably swallowed. Two were found on the floor. They're such tiny things to cause so much pain:
Our next Darcy-problem is also tooth-related. Her lower jaw is a bit narrow compared to her upper jaw, so the canines tend to poke into the roof of her mouth, which must hurt! Our vet consulted a doggy-dentist (aka a board-certified specialist in veterinary dentistry) who recommended a "removable orthodontic device" - aka braces. Much simpler and less expensive than the braces the kids needed, fortunately:
She's supposed to hold a ball as much as possible while the adult canines come in, to try to push them into position. (For the vet-ishly inclined, here is a summary of the journal article.) So a lot of her toys have been disappearing over the last couple of weeks, and being replaced by road hockey balls, Kong squeaky-tennis balls, and other spherical toys. We'll be playing a lot of Fetch in the next few weeks – Darcy will chase and retrieve anything that is thrown (and sometimes she even brings it back). We really hope it works, because if not it'll likely cost a whole lot more than $1.99 for a road hockey ball at Canadian Tire!
It all began one morning a week or so ago. The humans were getting dressed to start their day, and Duncan was snoozing determinedly on the bed (he disapproves of early mornings, and tries hard to ignore them). Darcy, who was not allowed on the bed due to imperfect potty performance, casually hopped up onto it, strolled over next to the pillows, and peed. A girl's gotta go when a girl's gotta go, she thought.
Commotion ensued. The humans ran about bleating "No!" and "Outside!", as humans do. Duncan, who takes his puppy-raising responsibilities very seriously, was appalled – and he made sure everyone, especially Darcy, knew it.
And a small light bulb seemed to go off in Darcy's mind: peeing outside = good, peeing inside = bad. She's done so well ever since that she has now officially been given limited, supervised bed privileges:
This means that our early morning coffee can once again be enjoyed while reading the news in bed. Except now we share the space with two dogs instead of one. And a new question is beginning to be asked:
Tonight was graduation night at Darcy's grade 1 class. She is now Darcy Sparks, PHD (Puppy Has Diploma)
They started off with a regular class, with sit-stays:
down-stays:
and heeling practice:
Finally, the big moment came. One by one, to the stirring strains of Pomp and Circumstance (played by a musical stuffed dog, naturally) the students were called up to the front of the class to receive their diploma, a big dog biscuit, and small chocolate bars for their humans. Darcy made it look easy! Be sure to crank up the volume on your computer and watch it full-screen!
A few days ago, I made a batch of frozen Kongs stuffed with a mixture of kibble, pureed sweet potato, and assorted leftover treats. They were a big hit!
This morning, to use up the leftover sweet potato, Duncan and Darcy played "Leave It" with blobs of sweet potato puree. They did very well – Duncan got a perfect score, and Darcy only tried to cheat once. But she's not very neat - she needed to have her face washed when she was finished!
Darcy's inner terrier is beginning to show. She's started digging. This morning we caught her in the act of trying to tunnel under the prison wall fence! (youtube)
Duncan has never been interested in digging. Kerry would occasionally dig to bury her precious rawhides – in imaginary indoor dirt or Erin's boots as a puppy, gardens as she got older – but she wasn't really a digger either. But Darcy has scritched small holes in the yard from the start, and seems to be getting bigger ideas.
She's been temporarily foiled by a couple of strategically-placed stones, but we're going to have to keep an eye on this girl!
It's been two months since Darcy moved in, and on the whole she finds the new home satisfactory. Food and treats are dispensed regularly, Duncan is usually willing to play (when he's not fed up with having his tail chewed), and the humans are doing well at getting trained. There's the occasional downside – yesterday was bath day, for example – but on the whole, life is good.
But last night, she discovered a BIG PROBLEM. This place is haunted! There's a GHOST in the family room! Can you see it?
Right there, in the middle of the sliding door, just below that brightly lit patch of wall. It's a ghost puppy! Head down, tail up, glaring at Darcy.
But not to worry – she scared it away:
Mom turned on the outside light just to check, and sure enough, Darcy's barking had made it disappear!
When Duncan was a puppy, he learned very quickly that he could train us to use the "Trade" procedure he was taught at school. He simply stole things and held them for ransom! Underwear was best, of course, with socks a close second. But if nothing better was available, he'd even steal pebbles. He's much better than he used to be, but not entirely reformed...
And now it begins again...
Little Miss Darcy was apprehended this morning trotting down the hall with a stolen painting. Her taste in art is still a bit lacking; she pinched an old and not-very-good value study from a pile of canvases waiting to be painted over and reused. Or maybe she has excellent taste and felt it should be destroyed?
At least an art thief is a classier thing to have in the family than an underwear thief.
I had a random assortment of photos and videos of Darcy playing that haven't been used on the blog yet, so I've collected them here. They're all pre-Christmas, so she looks tiny!
She plays a lot with her small toys, of course – stuffed toys, chewy toys, etc. But she has some bigger "outside" toys that she also enjoys. Like her basketball:
... the tunnel (which is a collapsible leaf barrel with the bottom cut out):
... and her hula hoop. She likes me to throw it so it rolls along the ground; she loves to chase and catch it. Sometimes she runs inside it like in the video, sometimes she pushes it along in front of her, and once she actually managed to run along for a short distance straddling it. She looked a bit like she was on a hamster wheel!
But she also love her not-toys. Things like sticks (which, of course, Duncan also loves):
... and Tim's cups:
That embarrassing moment when your face gets stuck in your cup!
... empty carbonated water bottles:
... and of course, the always-popular boxes of all sizes and shapes:
