Forget Paris

I realized this morning that I forgot to post a blog entry yesterday, it was such a busy day that it totally slipped my mind. We did the puppy microchipping which suffered a little bit of trauma. My parents get the vet to do them and I think in future I might to that because it's just such a hassle to do it yourself. You can order the chips from the CKC and implant them - the needle is HUGE - but I was having a lot of trouble stabbing the giant needle through thick Ridgeback skin. I don't mind stabbing them (I know that sounds a little sadistic) because needles don't bother me and the reason I do it myself is because my philosophy is "if you can do it yourself, why not?" The answer is sometimes it's just easier to pay someone!  Big thanks to my parents for once again going above and beyond helping me do the chipping and photographing them for their stacked/show photos. The puppies were not at all cooperative and the photos don't really reflect the true quality in the litter, especially the one of Emma who looks like a rocking horse!

Today is vaccination day and boy are the puppies excited. Another stabbing coming right up, only this time the needle is teeny tiny. They won't even notice it after the monster gauge needle. Speaking of monsters, Raylan is aspiring to be like his Dad. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing but how cute is he with his baby foot on Boy's giant foot? Avert your eyes from the dangly bits if you must.

Boy is becoming more tolerant of the puppies as they learn social cues from the adult dogs. He is a good teacher since he is very calm, doesn't freak out, and has a quiet discipline about him that they learn to respect.

 He lay down on the deck thinking to get some sun-bathing in but with nine puppies on the go I'm not sure why he thought it would be possible. Boy is not blessed with a many deduction skills so it's no surprise that his 'invitation' to be climbed was accepted by the bravest of the puppies ... Emma.

Oh my. She then invited herself for a cuddle and Boy said 'No.' It looks a lot worse than it is, he lifts his lip and she prostrates herself in apology. Sometimes the apology just annoys him more though! There's only so much penance a dog can take.

She probably shouldn't put her nose actually into his mouth but she doesn't know that. Boy has never snapped at a puppy and although I trust him, it's not implicitly. I am not completely naive and realise what could happen if he did - he's just too big to even make a warning snap in case he connects with puppy body. He was getting soft corrections from me as I took these photos and although the photos don't reflect it, he would look to me to be sure that what he was doing was okay.  

After a moment or two Emma backed off and allowed him a little more space at which point I asked Raimi to go inside out of the range of nosy puppies ... but not before I caught this little gem. I actually trust Boy more in the 'don't break the puppies' department than Leeloo, who is now allowed access to them since her milk dried up. She is quite certain they are for mauling and chewing and grinding into the ground with no thought to her considerable size/strength advantage. Cora can certainly attest to that!