Mornings around this place are not calming and meditative — at all. After I roll out of bed, I pick up Tater on the way by the puppy room. I put him the kitchen with the big dogs so he might have some rough and tumble time to begin his day. I dish up breakfast for all of them — they leap into crates to eat. Then it is serious play time. This morning Holmes was teaching Tater to play tug and the monkey toy was pulled in half. Tater was treated to his first toy disembowelment. There is white stuffing everywhere, I did rescue the squeaker and toss it in the trash. Tater is prancing through the kitchen tossing the stuffing in the air and then running away with it. Nola is playing keep away with a split antler — so that makes Tater forget the stuffing and take off after Nola. Old Inca is looking for some crumbs of food that someone might have dropped (fat chance).
After about an hour of the frenzy, everyone flops down for a short nap. That’s when I take a shower and get ready for the day. Eventually Tater goes back to the puppy pen (he’s still too little to be unsupervised with the big dogs). Beginning Friday, Nola and Holmes will be separated. Nola is in season and I don’t believe year old girls should have puppies. Holmes will disagree with me. I’m expecting a week of a very unhappy Holmes.
Holmes and Nola are entered at the Pueblo shows. It looks like Holmes still needs three Grand Champion points. I’ll show Naughty Nola in Bred-By. Tater is coming along because the Southern Colorado Kennel Club is having a B match on Friday night. At 4-1/2 months old, it’s time for our little red boy to learn how to be a show dog. Inca will stay home and my neighbor will feed and play with her.
Holmes and I are again signed up for a Basic Novice Class — this is number three or four. Dog shows have always caused us to miss too many weeks. This time we’ll only miss one during the Pueblo shows. Holmes loves to work with me, so this will be fun for us both.
Do mornings remind of you when your kids were little? Minus the stuffing, of course. Or maybe not!
We finished Inca from BBE. It could be easier for the reds, to help them stand out. Maybe. I hope.