house hippo

 Frenetic is the word that best describes my mornings. Gone are the days of a quiet coffee while I read my email and catch up on FB. All gone. Instead the whirling dervish zooms around with Adia hot on her heels. Playful struggles to own the toy have me constantly on the alert for rough play. Adia gets shouted at a lot for getting too excited. Trips outside every 15 or 20 minutes ensure that I get some fresh air, whether I like it or not! (thankfully Carm takes over some of those outings which gives me 5 minutes of stillness. 

I am a person that is slow to wake up and get going which is perhaps part of the reason that one little grey dog is driving me insane!

Last night Pat came for a supper of ragu with meatballs. All from the freezer because I’m rarely cooking these days. Who has the time or energy after a day of perpetual motion? People's visits are welcome and imperative for socialising the little barking monster.

Lupa is 11.8 pounds today, up 0.6 pounds from last week. She seems to grow before our eyes. I fear that we are growing an Irish Wolfhound. The growth calculator has her topping out at 16.4lbs when full grown - we shall see!

Remember that commercial from years ago that had the house hippo (I found it on youtube), well, it isn’t a huge stretch of imagination to see Lupa in that role as she looks just like a little hippo or rhino.

In an effort to tire Lupa out, I hid kibble around the house for her to find. I showed her the first few and then she caught on and started searching. It took her several minutes to find the dozen or so kibbles, next time I’ll hide them a little better to give her more of a mental workout. ‘They’ say that tiring them out mentally is just as good as getting them to run all over the place.

Speaking of kibble… Lupa is almost up to a full serving at each meal. She’s still getting chicken and rice but that’s being phased out. Still solid poops!

Awesome!

“safely inside while a snow squall obliterates our view”

“both dogs quietly chewing their bene-bones”

“brisket hot from the instant pot”

a prayer

 The snow was coming at me hard from the east… my icers were on, but on the snow covered areas the cleats got packed with snow so there was no grip; on the glare ice, where the wind had whipped away all traces of snow, they kept me upright. 

What a day to have a puppy that has to go out every 15 minutes after her breakfast. 

We picked up 2 slow feeder bowls for the pups. Adia usually downs her supper in about 45 seconds, with the bowl it took her 10 minutes! Lupa enjoyed her challenge as well.

We have been watching too much of the horrors in the Ukraine. I can only imagine (and unfortunately spend far too much time doing so), what it must be like to be in Kyiv waiting for the Russians to come.

Awesome!

“stepping into a warm house after being out in a blizzard”

“knowing we have nowhere to go today while the blizzard rages on”

“Dad’s soup”

“kneading bread dough”

“I won't let you go! I love you, Dog!'

'There will be other dogs and friends, and loves' whispered the Dog. 'You have found your family, your heritage, and you have earned a high place in the world. I love you too, but my time with you has passed.”

― Garth Nix

icers again

 The icers are back out of the closet. Several hours of freezing rain have glazed everything with ¼ inch of ice. Oh the joy’s of winter!

I think I’m going on 5 nights of uninterrupted sleep! Lupa is still getting mainly chicken and rice and I have started adding kibble, a tablespoon at breakfast and lunch yesterday. I’d love to get her onto proper puppy food so that she’s growing strong bones etc. Hummm… I wonder if I should add a tiny bit of ground egg shell to her meals so that she’s at least getting some calcium.

Trudie & Leo came by for a bit of a visit and some Lupa socialization. She barked for a minute or so but was soon eating chicken out of Trudie’s hands. A good sign.

Adia had her mani/pedi with a new groomer yesterday. Laura was competent and got the job done quickly, bonus that her place is just 5 minutes away. She does other grooming but at this point I plan on doing Lupa myself. I’m having a go at ‘hand-stripping’ which may or may not be working out well. I don’t need her to have a proper schnauzer style - a bit scruffy will do. I’ve got the grooming table in the living room so it’s easy to pop her on every day for a quick brush or scissor trim. I do most of the stripping while she’s asleep in my lap. A bit of a hack job!

Everyday things are getting easier with her, although she got into everything while Carm was watching her this morning, including 2 pee accidents. But things like sitting at the door and waiting to eat are improving. ‘Leave it’ is a work in progress, made harder by having to use high value chicken as the lure. A piece of kibble would be easier!

It seems my posts drone on and on about Lupa, but seriously, she is the only thing happening in our lives right now!

Awesome!

“knowing the icers will give me firm footing”

“icy coated branches”

“puppy asking to come up beside me on the sofa for a nap - this is a double awesome: she’s wanting to cuddle, and even more awesome, she’s asleep!”