Darcy's Leg Game

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.

O Frabjous Day!

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!

Bed Privileges

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:

Is it time to get a king-sized bed?

Graduation!

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!

I Yam What I Yam

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!