Dogs and puppies

 

Dogs and puppies

Roxy with her ball, Gilbert waiting.

Roxy and Gilbert met a puppy the other day, a yellow Labrador called Max, thirteen weeks old, and very new to the experience of walking in the Great Outdoors. Well brought-up puppies know that they should be submissive to their elders and so they roll onto their backs, exposing the most vulnerable part of their anatomies to the seniors. Frequently, an inadvertent release of a small amount of puppy pee will occur, to further placate the adults.

When the older dogs sniff the puppy, it will squirm with delight, sometimes squeaking. Some dogs remain submissive all their lives. Our senior Jack Russell, Biddy, had an endearing habit of submitting to people in her ‘pack’ all her life.

Roxy is never happier than when she is carrying a ball, and if she can manage to fit two in her mouth, she is even more delighted. She will not relinquish her prize to another dog, only to a human. While Gilbert may sometimes be distracted from the task of retrieval, Roxy is fully engaged and always knows where a flung ball has landed, often pointing it out to Gilbert.

However, when she met Max, she dropped her ball and allowed him to play with it. Well-bred, properly-socialised adult dogs recognise and understand the needs of puppies. We have been fortunate to have had a number of puppies, and it is heart-warming to see an adult dog gently playing with a young puppy.

Gus playing with puppy Bertie.

To the inexperienced it may look and sound dangerous. There is a lot of play growling and mouthing, huge adult jaws enveloping tiny snouts, the puppy being allowed liberties no adult dog could enjoy.

Frodo playing with puppy Jenna.

Should the puppy become too boisterous, the adult will discipline it, firmly and so quickly that a human may miss the reprimand. Nonetheless, just as humans need a break and a rest from the insistent demands of toddlers, so should dogs be respected and the puppy removed to a safe place for a nap after a period of play.

Bertie sleeping with his big friend, Gus.

Young puppies miss the warmth and security of their litter-mates. Adult dogs don’t often sleep together, but will tolerate a puppy snuggling up to them.

Puppy Gilbert with Roxy and Herschel on his first night in his new home.

The Sixth Blog of Augustus Lazarus Cooke - Gus the poet

Hello everyone!
My Humans can't believe how big I'm getting. I'm eight months old and still growing. I'm trying to grow as big as Frodo. (Did I tell you that I really like Frodo – he's cool!) I'm ever so strong and heavy too but I'm all muscle. I have to try and remember not to pull when we go out because I nearly pull Mrs H over and she doesn't like that much. It's just that I get really excited – I'm much quieter on the way home.
Since I last blogged I've learnt to retrieve and drop and to swim. I really like the water and everyone says that I'm a proper Labrador now. I don't really understand that – I've always been a Labrador. I have to be careful when I play with Jenna as her shoulders and hips hurt but they're getting better. She can't wait to be off the lead again. She's allowed to swim and the Humans take her lead off so she can go in the water – they call it hydra-terrapin, I think.

Jenna's in front carrying the orange ball. I've got the green one. See how far back I carry it?

We all had to go and see Mark-the-Vet – it was Jenna's fault. She came up in lumps under her ears where she'd scratched though I don't remember her scratching that much. Tia and Foxy were staying with us so they had to be seen too but their ears were clean. Frodo's were clean – well, he'd had a yeast infection a few weeks ago so his ears had been thoroughly treated. Buddy's ears were just dirty and he has to have ear spray and he hates it. It smells nice though, and that's just as well since Mrs H gets covered in it when Buddy shakes his head as soon as the drops go in. We all grin when that happens but we don't let her see! Monty and Winston had to go the next day too but their ears were sparkling clean. Monty isn't here anymore. He was suddenly very ill and had to go and stay with the vets and then my Humans went to see him and they were ever so sad when they came home and that's when the rest of us knew that he was never coming home again. I miss Monty – he was fun. Winston's nice, too, but he doesn't want to play with us dogs like Monty did. Maybe he will later on.
Anyway, it turned out that Jenna and I had mice in our ears. They're very, very tiny mice and you can only see them under the microspoke so we had to have special drops. Mark-the-Vet said I'd probably had them all my life and passed them on. Well, I am quite a generous chap, you know – licks and wags for all.
My Humans give me some raw meat every day – it's yummy! I can't wait until I have it all the time for every meal like the others. Oh, yes, another thing I do now is smile. I look a bit like a horse when I do it but I don't make the noises they do.
The other day, Mr H said something about 'You spotted dogs' and that reminded me of something I'd heard before.

'You spotted snakes with double tongue,
Thorny hedge-hogs, be not seen;
Newts, and blind-worms, do no wrong;
Come not near our fairy queen.'

Mrs H told me that it's in a play called 'Midsummer Night's Dream'. That's funny – I don't dream about snakes and newts; my dreams are all to do with walks and water and food and playing.
I thought I'd make the verse more to do with us.

'You spotted dogs with nose so strong,
Labradors of lesser size,
Let all us four dogs do no wrong,
Watch our folks with loving eyes.'

What do you think? Not bad for a young pup, eh? I'll write a play for it to go in called, 'Our humans' best friends.' Jenna can be the fairy queen and Buddy can be her king. I'll be mischievous Puck and Frodo can be a strolling player. What's that you say? Don't give up the day job? That won't be hard – I like my job, guarding the house and looking after my Humans.

Yesterday we went for a good walk. There was quite a cold wind blowing but we Labradors have thick coats to keep us warm. Did you know our ancestors in Newfoundland used to jump into the icy waters to pull in the fishermen's nets? The Dalmatians' coats are quite thin compared to ours but even so Frodo really enjoyed his swim - could it have been anything to do with the treats Mrs H threw in the water for him? Jenna and I had a wonderful time, though I'm not as strong a swimmer as her - I don't really like getting out of my depth but she 's kind and shows me what to do when I'm not really sure. I may be bigger than her but I've still got a lot to learn though I've taught her something too! Thanks to me she's learnt how to carry two balls. I can carry two but you can't always see them – my nose is very long! I expect soon I'll be able to carry three like Jenna's and my mum.

Here's Jenna carrying two balls - she doesn't manage it as neatly as I do but then she has got a smaller muzzle.

When we were nearly back to the car we had a bit of an accident – well, Mrs H did. Jenna suddenly leapt forward to find the ball before I did and pulled Mrs H over. She doesn't think she's broken her rib – just bent it a bit – but she's trying not to laugh, or cough, or sneeze, or bend over, or pick things up – in fact she's not doing anything much because she says she's feeling a bit stiff.I don't think we'll be playing 'Fetch' today. Shame!
Got to go – things to do, people to see.
Hwyl fawr am nawr! (That's Welsh for 'Goodbye for now!')