Big Brother Duncan!

Duncan has just found out that he's a big brother! In addition to his 4 brothers and 4 sisters from his own litter, he has 4 new baby brothers and 3 new baby sisters who were born a couple of weeks before Christmas.

Head over to the Urneybrae Wheatens blog and check out these adorable puppies!

When the Weather Outside is Frightful

It's no fun going outside to pee when it's –24˚C with a windchill of –41˚. Or when it's freezing rain. Or even when the snow's too deep to lift your leg over. So this winter has been tough for Duncan in some ways.

Academic consultation

On the other hand, Erin's flight back to Halifax on Friday only made it as far as Montreal before Halifax basically shut down. Porter gave her a free flight back to her dog, and it looks like she may not get another flight until this Friday, so at least some good is coming out of all these storms! Duncan has scritched her duvet into a cozy little nest at the foot of her bed and has taken over as her academic supervisor for the week.

Where Did Everybody Go?

It's been a wonderful two weeks for Duncan, with all three of his siblings home for Christmas. But sadly, real life is beginning to rear its ugly head. Evan went back to Toronto yesterday, and Erin is on her way back to Halifax this morning (weather permitting). Megan is at work, and Daddy is threatening to go back to work on Monday. It's -21˚C with a windchill of -30, so it's even too cold for a walk. All a guy can do is curl up in his hiding place behind the big chair, and nap.

This is really the only one of his puppy napping spots that he still fits, and he likes to curl up back there. It's a good hiding spot, and it's just the right size for one:  

Temptations

So I was looking through the Duncan's Dropbox folder, looking for any photos I hadn't used, and I discovered that a certain sibling has been tormenting him with food. Very glad he's so good at "Leave it"!

First there were the chicken fingers and sweet potato fries:

Then some chili. I hope he didn't get any of this - it was a bit hot!

The chili-mooching must have been right after wrapping some Christmas gifts, because he seems to have some tape stuck to his face:

Getting Ready for Erin

About a week before Christmas, strange things started happening. Duncan was a bit disturbed when we tried to take all the sheets off one of his napping spots. He defended them valiantly:

But eventually we managed to change them and remake the bed. He was so tired he had to lie down for a nap.

It was all worth it, though, because his big sister Erin came home, and he lets her sleep in "their" bed.

More Wascally Wabbits

For years, we've had rabbits living under our deck. Both Duncan and Kerry have always enjoyed sniffing around for them. But Duncan really gets into the chase! Here are a couple of short videos of him on the hunt a few weeks ago:

After the Ice Storm

We got off quite lightly in Ice Storm 2013 – relatively little freezing rain, and no power outages. So we just spent a couple of days tucked in at home until they got the roads back to normal. Duncan, who does enjoy a good hunk of ice, explored the backyard:

Then he curled up by the fireplace to dry off:

After the storm, there were lots of excellent sticks to pick up on our walks:

We were eventually able to persuade him that this should be an outside stick...

... and that this one was just a bit too big to bring home at all!