Lord of War

Raimi and Leeloo now play very well together - despite the ridiculous noise they make. Raimi lies on the couch and entices Leeloo with his manly love nibbles.



Then there's the typical stand off with them eyeballing each other with lips slightly raised and wrinkles in full force. A fake out lunge usually occurs after this sort of display and then the real fun begins.

It's not like she didn't know he was there. I like the crazy ear flap and the open mouth of surprise but the white of her eye is a nice touch. Adds to the drama of the moment.

She got her own back. Thwap! Right in the kisser. Not that Raimi noticed. What is it with Ridgebacks and foot waving?

More eye white and some baby teeth action. Raimi, you may notice, is holding onto her leg, not that it makes any difference considering he outweighs her by about 70 pounds.

Here's the Big Tough Boy demonstrating his big tough show. Her head could easily fit in that great maw ...

And the rawhide bone they are constantly vying for. I don't know what the obsession is with this bone but I'll be glad to see the end of it.

Bring It On

The temperature here is hovering around -5 Celcius which is a bit too chilly for Leeloo and long walks - even being out for a few minutes had Leeloo shivering. I decided that since we couldn't go outside we'd head indoors for socializing.

Those large chain pet supply chains are a blessing because they are huge, have lots of good smells, people freely approach your dogs, are relatively safe, and your dog can meet and greet to their heart's content. A few unobservant people asked if Raimi and Leeloo were the same breed, I got the typical "Is he, uh, large for a Ridgeback?" and everyone always fawns over the puppy. A few treats bought and we were on our way home.

They have established a pretty relaxed relationship now and are very tolerant of each other - well, it's mostly Raimi's tolerance. Leeloo has figured out that Raimi can't reach her if she stands under him and so when they play she is between his front legs grabbing his neck a lot.

This is his annoyed but tolerant face. This was Night One and he was not sure he wanted this ... thing ... lying on him. He seems to have realized she is as much, if not more, fun than Halo because Leeloo will play any time you goad her. Halo won't.





Leeloo blends in with my decor very well indeed. She matches my cabinets almost perfectly - if she stood very still in the kitchen(unlikely) I practically wouldn't see her.

This is her looking adorable. See those big round browns? Her duct taped ear was replaced with purple hockey tape (I ran out of duct), I think it's very pretty. Her cock-eyed ear, which is only cock-eyed sometimes, is being trained to behave itself, much like Herself.

More bone chewing. This particular bone is pressed rawhide, a clear winner in the toy department. Halo can get through almost an entire pressed bone in about 2 hours which is why she is only ever given them supervised. Leelo's teeth and jaw are not strong enough to remove large strips so she mostly sucks on it. It has been interchanged between dogs ad nauseum and the bark bark bark of frustration when Raimi has it and Leeloo doesn't is usually during my favorite shows.

This seems to be a particularly favorite mode of sleep for Ridgebacks. Like fallen dominoes. Puppies amaze me with their ability to fall asleep in almost any position. They are so elastic that they look like they should be incredibly uncomfortable and yet they are comatose. Even Raimi all squished up doesn't look like he would be that cosy but he'll sleep like that for hours.

Tomorrow, assuming my computer is powered again, I will regale the epic battle for the rawhide bone. It was something to behold, and hear, for about 2 hours last night. You can only turn the volume on the TV up so far.

The Dark Knight

Chalk up one almost successful trip to the almost quiet dog park and we are back to walking around the block. Needless to say I am so SICK of other people’s bullying anti-social dogs. People seem to view a roaring snarling approach to Raimi as ’just playing’ and I see it as bad etiquette. A dog approached Raimi, scared him, chased him, I called him in, and as he passed me I roared toward the chasing dogs and headed them off. Meanwhile poor Leeloo’s like WTH? (she’s too young to use big swears yet). I told off their owner and we headed home.

My dog is in danger all the time at the park. He is always under threat because of his testicles. Raimi is generally submissive but recently I’ve seen his behaviour and approach to dogs change because he gets challenged by most males he encounters. I realise he is growing up and into an adult intact male Ridgeback which makes me more concerned because one day, if he gets pushed too far, he may use his considerable strength and size and challenge back. It also concerns me that my big sweet boy’s personality is being altered by external circumstances.

Can’t have that.

So, back to the school yard, the walks around the block and the pull pull pull of him wanting more. He’s not the actual problem but he’s the one who has to pay. The bullies get to do whatever they want. I hate that more than anything. I guess I have a choice – I could neuter him right? Oh that’s right … can’t because he’s a show dog and his ‘job’ requires him to have testicles. He has just as much right as any other dog to go to the park; he is well behaved, listens to me, is social, friendly, generally submissive, and non-threatening … but we are segregated.

Since it’s getting so cold and it’s so damn dark it’s not much fun at the park anyway and if it were summer we’d just head to the lower park where there are very few dogs. Right now that area isn’t lit at all so no way I’m going there. Leeloo can only go for short trips because she gets cold and tires fast so the combination of circumstances has us grounded. This weekend we’ll head out for a big romp and hopefully my inner banshee will not be required.

Sleepless in Seattle

Last night - night two of hurricane Leeloo - was interesting. We had our first walk on lead which, in retrospect, was maybe not such a hot idea considering the freezing rain/mist/snow thing we had going on. With a non-lead trained puppy and a pulling sniffing Raimi it was a recipe for slippage and broken bones.

Leeloo was very good. I had treats to lure her but I only needed to employ that a couple times. What is it with puppies and their inexplicable need to put the 'absolutely no damn way' brakes on when you're crossing the street? She followed Raimi happily most of the time but a couple blocks from home she got a bit cold and tired and was braking pretty often. Fortunately she responds to treats in almost every scenario.

She is the very first puppy who has happily gone down the flight of stairs into my suite. I carried her the first night home however yesterday she trailed behind Raimi like she'd been doing it for years. The entrance to my suite is a flight down to what would look like a dead end to a dog but down she went and into the house no problem.

It sure is simpler with Raimi for her to follow and learn from. She cues off Raimi for most things like going out to pee, waiting for food, relaxing on the couch. I have never owned a puppy without another dog to learn from ... ever in my life. There has always been an established dog to teach the rules of the road to a puppy.

Bedtime was a bit interesting. She seems to be unsure of what she wants. She dug around by the pillow for a few minutes so I pushed her underneath and she lay down and went straight to sleep.(Yes - I did blog some time ago how I just could not have a dog under the covers but ... she's a baybeeeeee ... we'll have to see how it goes.) I could tell she was hot but she stayed there, gradually working her way down to my feet and then through the night she moved back up the bed to the pillow.

That's when things took a turn. For whatever reason in her puppy brain she could not get comfy. Again with the moan groans and shifting every couple seconds, then a huge sigh, then more whiney moans, then shifting again, then sighing ... then ... I sat up and took stock.

Problem: she loves the pillows. Love them. When I sat up she threw herself down onto the pillows the second I was out of the way. I get it ... okay I get it. They are down pillows, the good fluffy awesome warm kind. I can understand why they would have a lot of appeal to a little baby seeking ultimate comfort. However, I can't have her sleeping on my pillows because she will quadruple in size so I picked her up and popped her next to Raimi and miracle ... she fell straight to sleep again.

She has the same lack of contrite expression that Raimi does when she's being told off for something except hers is more "Why?" and his is more "Guh?" Although, Christina, with Leeloo's sister Boo, commented that her other Ridgeback Arwen gets upset when Boo is disciplined and Boo just goes "What?" Raimi is the same way ... his expression is a mix of "But but but but ..." and "You like her more than me." I am trying very hard to give him big loves since he sees her as a bit of a usurper.

Leeloo thinks he's the greatest ... so we are in agreement on that point anyway.

Twister

Well, shortly after I posted the previous blog about Leeloo the power cord to my laptop was severed by puppy teeth and now I have no access to anything stored locally on my computer such as photos, downloads and unopened emails. (So if you sent me an email I haven’t replied to be patient … it’s coming).

Leeloo was playing with the velcro attached to the power cord to wrap it all nice and tidy when not in use. She bit into the cord while I was shoving her away and saying “No!” which she of course ignored. The battery indicator came on the screen and then when I was shoving the puppy away yet again I noticed the cable was unusually hot. I assume it had shorted and a fire was imminent. Anyway, once the replacement cable gets dropped off by my super awesome geek squad friend Phil I’ll be up and running again.

The laptop is on it’s last legs anyway and needs to be replaced. It has a large amount of crumbs, dog drool, and animal hair under the keys, is missing the ‘Pg Dn’ and ‘CapsLock’ keys and doesn’t have enough memory anymore for the amount of crap I pile onto it. I was hoping it would last past Christmas and get replaced in the new year. As long as one naughty puppy stays away from it I think we’ll get through the next 7 weeks.

Leeloo is like a hurricane on Speed. There is little in her path that goes untouched. Cats, chairs, coffee tables, slippers, Raimi legs, bath mats, socks, couch, kitchen towels, live power cords … it’s all fair game. I was so tired last night I couldn’t think but wanted to give her time to wear herself out before bed. She, unlike Halo, never looks contrite, when you tell her off for something she looks at you like"Are you SURE?" and then tries it again just for good measure. Raimi was losing patience so eventually I said “Enough” and off we went to bed.

I was a little concerned because while she sleeps through the night in a crate without peeing I wasn’t sure about how she’d hold it for her first night on a bed. I needn’t have worried. I got settled in bed, sat her down, had a few words with her, made her lie down, had a few more words and it’s like the light just went out. She curled up in the crook of my legs and was asleep in seconds. It’s like when you’re running all day and you don’t realize how tired you are til you sit and can’t get back up.

She was so good all night, she woke up once to climb up really close to my head and … lie on it. We shifted positions so that she was not actually smothering me and was back asleep in moments. She makes the same moany groany noises that Raimi makes when he settling to sleep … sort of low rumblings and sighs and then contented sleep.

Basically I’ve owned Leeloo for about 24 hours and she’s already taken over the joint. Tonight is going to be our first official walk on lead and I’m sure she is going to embarrass me … good thing it will be dark out.

The Incredible Journey

Leeloo is currently sleeping on Raimi after creating hurricane force winds through my house for the last hour. Halo, Raimi and I drove to Helena to meet Erin and pick up Leeloo, it was an uneventful ride as usual and Erin and her friend Betty made it safely with Leeloo and a few other dogs in tow, including Zero who is looking like a 15 year old boy(All limbs and no brains ...) The hotel was not aware of the numberof dogs we had but ... it wasn't exactly The Ritz ...

Introducing herself to Raimi with deference.

Feigned dis-interest in the bone.

Raimi trying to steal her bone 'on the sly'.

He manages the theft and she uses her wiles to get it back.

We headed back to Calgary and after 6 hours driving we arrived to 3 inches of snow and cold. I don't think Leeloo has ever seen snow but she doesn't seem to care much about it - for now.

It didn't take Leeloo long to figure out how the roll-a-treat ball works.

Raimi watches her antics with a baleful eye ... "What have you done?"

The New World

We are two days away from going to pick up Leeloo and drop off Halo. Both girls are in for a surprise!


Erin told me that Leeloo likes her food. She was a chubby little chicken because the litter was group fed and she clearly knew how to get more than her fair share. Now it's easier to monitor her food so controlling her gluttony should be simpler.


I can't show up with a fat puppy at the park because I've been hassling a couple puppy people about getting the weight off their dogs! Hypocrisy abounds!


The evidence of a chunky monkey - take a good look - she'll never look like this again! White toes! So cute! I just want to squeeze them!

She has an itch. Raimi is a pretty good nibbler and I'm sure he'll be so in love he will do that for her.

When you're this chubby it's easy to roll around. That's her sire Bing in the background trying to ignore his daughter's silliness.

What up Leeloo? Get used to having your picture taken.