Happy "5 months birthday" ( and almost 2 month in the mountains) my little-big baby Joy!
ALREADY?
Its hard to believe that its already 5 months since Joy first started crawling around under her moms warm belly with her sisters , looking for the milk bar
Hard to believe its almost 3 month that we visited the historic mill in a beautiful valley in norther Italy to see her the very first time, meet her mom and dad and all the uncles and aunts and other siblings living there, and her incredible breeder, Signora Ludovica Salamone.
And the past 60 days since I brought Joy home to the mountains she has become the quintessential center of my life, touching others wherever she goes, making me laugh and love, sigh and fuss, train and educate, encourage and distract, clean and say no 1000 times a day - and I would not have it any other way .
THE GUILT!
Its been a different kind of week and a half, mainly for the reason that I had to leave Joy in the care of my very big hearted neighbor and friend, Lucy and her Patou herd dog Cookie. I had a 4 day trip planned a long, long time ago before Joy was even a consideration, and I could not leave my French friends hang out for dry as the only German speaking travel guide for the Cannstatter Wasen Beer Fest in Stuttgart Germany*. (see photo proof) My wife was gone on a different trip the same time so I asked Lucy, next door neighbor and daily doggy walk partner with Cookie if she would consider taking care of Joy for these 4 days (leaving on Wednesday night and coming back on Sunday afternoon) .
The guilt and anxiety I felt was crushing and I even hated myself for having planned that trip that left me basically no option but to leave Joy in the care of someone else. My rational side tried to argue that it is a good experience for Joy to learn how to deal with my absence even overnight and how to trust other people when I am not there. So, with a long checklist and a huge bag full of blankets, toys and all "her things" I brought Joy over on Wednesday night and that was it. Not gonna lie: I had tears in my eyes as I left....
Needless to say, it went all really well: Joy loves Lucy and Cookie and Lucy loves Joy as much, Cookie, as an 8y old, distinguished lady was a tad less amused and made sure to teach the annoying little pocket rocket some manners. At the end, Cookie was extremely caring and patient with all the shenanigans, and Lucy kept sending me updates, photos and videos so I could eventually relax and enjoy the beer fest with my friends as it should be.
Thank you, Lucy and Cookie for taking care of my baby!
In hindsight, I do confirm that it is important to get your puppy getting used to "changes" , if for nothing else but to prepare for some worst case scenario like an emergency hospital visit or the like. Its so hard to do but its a good and necessary preparation.
IN OTHER NEWS:
Meet Mrs Duck, Mr. Turkey and the Chicken gang: on our daily walk on the way out the village, we pass a chicken coop with a humongous and very cocky rooster (pun intended so sorry) a few ducks, geese and 2 huge turkeys who seemed to be completely unimpressed by Joys presence and growing size. Joy on the other hand was very impressed by the size of these strange beings making strange sounds and smelling , well, strangely and she usually swapped to the other side of the alley to pass in a hurried and unassuming way. I started to try to introduce her to these feathery folks and eventually, she stopped , gazed through the chicken wire and started to "talk" to them. To be continued... fingers crossed
SWEET DREAMS ARE MADE OF THIS...
Please tell me that I am not the only IW parent who could spend endless time just watching their baby sleep ? There is something inherently peaceful and relaxing to watch them sleep, observe them when they dream, listen to the little yelps and barks and see the legs and the tail twitch and run and wag. If I am the only one I'll take it with pride: I always enjoyed watching beauty beyond measure, and my sleeping little Joy is the most beautiful thing I could image. And I get to take pictures of her endless eyelashes that so perfectly line those always half open sleepy eyes. Ah, the EYELASHES!!! sigh
PULLING HER WEIGHT:
The last weigh-in date at the vet listed her at 31kg at 4month and 3 weeks of age. My breeder gets regular photo and video updates and she is very happy with how Joy is growing, so I guess things are all in the green here. I do have a little issue with the age related recommendations for activities: Her energy level and need for activity does not quite match the activity guidelines , despite trying a variety of things: several short walks in the village, city walks, short play dates with other dogs, just hanging out in the backyard, little training sessions for recall, sit, and other "elementary school age" stuff. She seems always not tired and wants to do more. We're at an average of 3.5km of mixed walk and activities per day now, split into several units, and only if she gets one longer walk (5-10min longer) she seems happy to come home and chill.
MS JEKYLL AND MS HYDE:
over the past few days, my little Angel Joy has discovered her inner demon: when she thinks its time to party, she lets it all out: teeth, claws, jumps, snaps, pawing - the works . When Cookie the Patou is around, she gets shown the limits very fast but around people I have to use my most serious "command voice" and some body language to get her to back off. Ankles and calws, no matter how they are wrapped, are the most welcome snack followed by flowy and wavy things like long skirts, shirts, coats and the like. She is like a little dragon who had swallowed to much molten lava and damn she is fast !
HEARABLES NOT EDIBLES:
This is, in hindsight, quite funny but could have gotten REALLY expensive.
As the "old-as-dirt-grumpy-old-man" that I am, I did, eventually give in to reality of nature and the age related decline of my hearing capabilities. I guess an extended time in the military and way to many nights in the techno clubs next to the speaker towers didnt help the issue. A bit ago, I got a set of last generation hearing aids, very discreet, almost invisible, high end to the extend that they serve as "invisible Ipods" for my phone, listening to music etc as well as doing an excellent job reconnecting me with my surroundings on an auditory level, especially in social settings with lots of ambient noise. I wear them every day from morning to evening and the get recharged over night next to my toothbrush. I would not do without them, although I had to insure them for about 8K Eur against loss (despite free French healthcare and a very very good top off insurance)
Good stuff, but expensive. Aging sucks sometimes.
Enters Joy:
One of the qualities I do love most about her is her overwhelming demand for physical contact: belly rubs, slow leg-muscle massages, gentle nose and forehead relaxation, you name, she wants it. If there is a superlative for "affectionate", let me know. She puts her head between my neck and my shoulder like a little baby wanting to be rocked gently and when all is right in her world, she starts giving little kisses with her pink little sandpaper tongue.
Who could resist?
Referring back to the "Jeckyl & Hyde" paragraph above, I have to admit that this angel like sweetness can do a hard 180 turn in a millisecond.
I hear a deep breath next to my ear she just licked so affectionately, I feel her body tense and BOOM, there she is: my little wiggly baby dragon on her back, with an endless, flexible neck, razor-sharp needle teeth, and muscular legs with pointy claws on each of the paws - and she uses hind and front leg without regard of their respective positioning.
Before I could even react, one of the hind paws hit my face one the side of one ear, yanking one hearing aid out and send it flying over the couch. The next second she had bitten my other ear, the hairthin , invisible wire got stuck in her white teeth, she snatched the other device out and, with a big,loud snap, it disappeard into her mouth.
I struggled for a moment to get her off me, shoved my hand into the dragons snout, pryed her jaws open, and have my finger fight the tongue and the molars and just managed to get my hearing aid before it hit the chute in the back down to "nowhere land."
Joy was far from done and took my engagement as a signal that "me too , I was ready to party" , while my entire intention was to find the other unit that got first hit by the paw. It was a mighty struggle, but in the end I won, claimed the couch, found my hearing device in the far corner, and retreated to check everything for lost parts, cleaned off slobber and dust and decided for the rest of the evening just to turn up the volume of the TV.
The thought of me filing an insurance claim for several thousand EUR for a hearing aid that was not lost but "ingested by a canine and rendered unusable" made me laugh and cry at the same time.
Alright, that was a long one, thanks for reading , I hope it made you smile a little, (it did make me smile again just typing it all up)
remember to hug all your doggos and loved ones and keep taking those millions of photos of them only you will ever look at again,
See you next week, be happy and safe,
Joy and Dominik from the mountains
*(Not IW related footnote:
The Cannstatter Wasen Beer Fest in Stuttgart is very similar to the Munich Oktoberfest, with just a few differences: The Wasen is a bit smaller than the Oktoberfest (4.5million visitors over 17 days weeks vs 6mil over 3 weeks in Munich) but the Wasen is less touristy and commercial and much more authentic than the Oktoberfest:
Word on the street is that "Munich is for the tourists, Stuttgart for the locals" .
Yes, I am biased. Very much so. Sue me :D or ask me for travel tipps)
