Day 3. Saturday, August 31

Two pups are not the same as one. So off to Petco to assess crates, carriers, pens, and while we’re there, to get some collars and pig ears. We put them in a cart, listened to all the oh’s and ah’s from people who realize what cuties they are. They behaved great. Relaxed, alert, interested. Then they spied a bulldog. The terrier personality came out. Let me out of this cart, they squealed, we’ll rip off that mash faced ogre’s hip within a minute. They heard some “shhh’s” and “it’s okay’s”, and settled down. Good girls.

Home from Petco, we didn’t buy a thing. Pups were tired. So were we. Feed time. Poop time. Nap time. And we still had not decided on names for them.

And then my heart sang. One of them, we think it was “no-collar” went to the door to signal she needed to go outside to poo…and pee!

Doggy door sessions aren’t going well. It’s a double flap door with an eight-inch space between flaps. It’s like a cage. It’s scary. And anyway, the weather has been cool and the sunroom doors are open. Who needs a doggy door? We’ll tie up one flap for a while until they’ve mastered one flap.

Not started leash training yet. But soon. Frankly, they’ve kept us too busy to do more than what we’ve accomplished.

Tah Dah! We have settled on names. They are named after Joyce's mother, Mary Frances. So, Collar has become Frances and No-collar is now Mary. Done!

Day 2. Friday, August 30

The pups really like being outside. They were born and confined to a small area. It has been a joy to watch them run, just for the thrill of running free. I hooked an old sock onto a rope tied to a slide on the clothesline. That has become a favorite. Up and down, back and forth, with just enough jerk and resistance to be perfect. They didn’t even mind the drizzle and wet grass while they played today. Everything in the yard had to be smelled, and tasted, and nudged. A busy day for pups. I secured the fence holes. Same feeding experiences, running from bowl to bowl.

I got on one side of the yard, Joyce on the other side, for a lesson on coming-when-called. They are smart pups and caught on right away that getting petted and “good girls” praise waited at both ends of the yard. Got that done.

We were having trouble telling them apart. We thought we could distinguish them by their ears. One pup has ears that stand a little more erect. And the other one has ears that are more pink. Who has time to study ears when the pup is about to squat and pee on the floor? So we found an old collar and put it on one pup. Still no names for them, so one became ‘Collar’ and the other one ‘No collar’.

Barking is a hard lesson. Lots of new noises are startling and scary. Shhhh, is the word they hear for that. Not much response yet. That’s a hard instinct to control. A sharp handclap to get their attention helps. Shhhh. Reassuring them the situation “is okay”. Sometimes it works. Depends on how loud and scary the noise is…garbage truck noise isn’t “okay”. Big black dog walking beside the fence isn’t okay. Motorcycle, definitely not okay. Gpa’s drill and bandsaw (making a doggy gate) hurts ears and requires yelping.

Day 1. Thursday. Aug 29

Woke up earlier than I remembered was a time of day. Heard the sound of yelping, whining, yipping. What greeted us was almost overwhelming. A lot of poop and pee. What have we done?

We cleaned up the mess instead of having leisurely coffee. Got that done. They were starving. Got that done. They needed to be taken out to pee and poo. Got that done…but couldn’t leave them because of gaps in the fence they could squeeze through. They needed something to chew on. Got that done. Old sock knots. Done. Tee shirt snakes with a knothead. A coke can. Yes, a coke can. Just like Ditto. We laughed as we watched them skitter their coke cans across the sidewalk, and run through the grass holding coke cans in their mouths. I realized it was the first we’ve laughed about a doggy antic in a long time. Ditto had been so very sick and old for a long time. They needed to take a nap. So did we. Recliner time. Got that done.

One little pup was aggressive about the food bowl and would bully the other pup from eating. Can’t have that. Joyce solved that by making two bowls of food about 6 feet apart and showing the little bullied pup that she could have her own bowl. The aggressive pup ran over to the other bowl and bullied…so Joyce showed the bullied pup to run over to the other bowl. The “little” pup, (one is just a wee bit smaller than the other), caught on to the idea right away. Within minutes it was almost like needing traffic control as they switched from bowl to bowl. Got that done.

Noticed right off that if the bully pup was aggressive toward the other pup, chances are she would be aggressive toward people or kids with her food and snacks. Can’t have that. So, more training. Joyce reached down to take the pup’s food away. Joyce knew exactly what to expect and was ready for it. When the pup nipped at Joyce’s hand, Joyce flopped that pup onto her side, held her down by the neck and hip, and they had a chat. She learns fast. We can now take her food, snack, toys and she’s submissive. Training is easy when a person acts likes a mother.

We started considering names. I sent out a FB query for names. A lot of responses and most were cute ideas. But we delayed choosing names, waiting to see if a personality would shine through.

Night of day one, Joyce got smarter and put newspaper and their bed in the breezeway, to confine them to a smaller space. It worked. Not near as big a mess to clean up, the newspaper was good, despite some of it was shredded, and mopping the smaller area was quicker and easier. So, got that done.

Westie Girls

We lost our precious little Westie Ditto recently. We were bracing ourselves to the fact after her veterinarian told us a couple of years ago that she had an enlarged heart and a limited time to live. The vet said three to six months, but she made it about two years. And then she was gone.

So, the saga of two old people with pups or too old people with pups begins.

Let me explain how this happened. For those of you who knew Ditto, you’ll understand when I say her death left a really big hole in our hearts. I needed another dog to fill that hole.

We gave serious consideration to a rescue dog. And an older dog, like us. A different breed of dog. But we’ve had a Westie in our home for over 30 years. We know Westie behavior, traits, good and bad. We needed something familiar, we’re too old to learn much new. Joyce was fairly emphatic about we get a Westie and fairly emphatic about it being young so we could train it from the beginning.

We got Ditto in cold weather. Shivering in the cold while waiting for a pup to do its grass business is not pleasant. This seemed like a good time of year, so we began looking.

We found a little Westie pup ad on-line that was older than just weaned. Twelve weeks old! That age can hold their pee longer. That age doesn’t like to soil their nest. That age learns really quickly. That was Ditto’s age when we got her. That Westie might be the one.

We went for a short Pumpkin trip and just happened to be passing through the town where this little girl on the Internet had been born and was waiting for a home.

That morning, drinking coffee, Joyce said, “I’m going to suggest something to you and I need you to talk me out of it. When she suggested we could stop and see the little Westie, I didn’t talk her out of it. I felt my face smile, and my heart lighten. I told her, "Let’s do it."

When we got there, the seller knew her business. She had two Westie female pups. She said to us, ”I just happen to have two Westie girls and thought I’d let you choose.”

We watched them scamper and play together, they come running to both of us and then Joyce made the mistake of asking the seller if she’d make a special price for both. I could go into a long description of the back and forth, but will simply say, we got them both for an exceptional price. And it simply is that Ditto left such a big hole in our hearts that it took two to fill it.

On the way home, the car sickness hit. Funny how one puked and almost immediately the other did, too, all over Joyce’s lap where she was snuggling them for reassurance. They were so little and so scared…and Joyce was so yucky.

Our sunroom is the perfect place for little untrained puppies. We got home early evening. They were hungry and thirsty so we watered and fed them and got them settled in. Put them on Ditto’s big cushy pillow. Turned out the light. Dropped into bed, exhausted, just like the pups.