Written March 19, 2009
Our little wonder is now 7 months old. She has progressed to all adult teeth and she now has quite a bit of top coat coming in along her topline. It still stops just short of her fuzzy little butt, leaving the profile a little funny looking, but each day she progresses toward more adult coat. She still thinks that Parker’s ears are tug-of-war toys, but her adult teeth aren’t so sharp, so there is less sneezing (puppy allergy.) Parker still isn’t willing to return the treatment, so she has been hard to discourage. He will snap, in a deliberate miss for the benefit of the sound, to try to discourage her, but he’s a softie, and she knows it.
She is experiencing the joys of growing up and learning, and we get to experience life renewed through her perspective. Parker forgets that he isn’t a puppy any more too. She has quite a bit of confidence for such a young, relatively small creature, and when he goes belly-up in play, she thinks she can take him. <g> My favorite puppy memory of Jade is when she is the one on the floor, after she has thrown herself belly-up, ears flung straight out away from her face, all four feet pointed outward away from her body, with a look of pure glee on her face. In the next split-second following that pose, she is spinning and scooting away in a run, so it is only a brief moment in time.
I think she has taken to understanding rocket science, in her own way. As with most puppies, she loves to discover how fast she can run and how high she can jump, and the Jade-rocket is pretty fast. She has been applying her speed talent toward eating recently, however. She can clear her bowl really fast, then she boldly offers to help Parker finish his meal. The next step in her study of rocket science is the sonic boom. That occurs after she gives her dish a fast whip-cleaning and it sails out of its support and across the room, crashing onto the floor or into the wall, depending on the momentum involved.
Well, being a scientist, I’m rather proud of her choice of study and her learning potential. <g>
It has been an entertaining experience, as it always is, watching Parker (the most recent adult) get a different perspective on puppyhood. As Newfoundlands mature, at least with the development that comes from partnership and socialization, they take on a more dignified and graceful personality, with occasional relapses. Then along comes some bold new thing, and suddenly it’s surprising that a creature would be so bold, other than themselves. <g>
Puppyhood does inject new exuberance into everyone, and spring is a good time to enjoy puppyhood, with the flowers blooming, the birds singing, and T-shirt weather outside again.
Now, if only those spring rains would come, so we would have a creek to swim in. (Yes, I know to be careful what I wish for, but it is unusually dry for our area. That can change quickly.)
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