Just after Christmas we decided to put in a fence. This is a totally uncompensated plug for Orme Fence Company and Wayne Orme who did an amazing job installing a beautiful fence at a great price and with excellent quality. Wayne’s a hell of a nice guy, too and his team was quick – I left one morning on a business trip and returned around midnight the following night and lo and behold, had a fence. I couldn’t be happier. It’s been great for the dogs and was the final key step in getting our puppy housebroken.
Clover was plenty annoyed, never having been fenced in before. In fact, on the first night of the fence, Mark caught him wearing a hat with a light on it and investigating the perimeter for escape routes.
I’m also happy to report, not only are our dogs penned in for good, making them safer and less of a hassle to chase down or stand outside with, refusing to pee on the end of a leash, they now seem to be genuinely getting along better.
I attribute this to the Couples’ Retreat we sent them on over the holidays while we undertook the Great Midwestern Road Trip. They returned on better terms and are often seen spooning.
Not that Clover isn’t completely mortified any time we see him appearing to enjoy Starbuck’s presence.
Starbuck (more nicknames: Star Trek, ShamWow) was looking shaggier than ever. We sorta remembered her having eyes under that mop. It was time, at eight months old, for her first haircut.
Doesn’t she look gorgeous? Much more like a Wheaten-Poodle mix than a dustmop.
Starbuck is the color of lightly toasted marshmallows.
This is what you have to see; what I’ve been trying for days to capture for you.
Just LOOK at those eyelashes, will you?
They slay me.
She’s like Laugh-In era Twiggy.
Her hair is in a constant state of bedhead.
Someone needs to come over and take over rubbing this puppy’s belly so I can actually get something done around here.
We’ve had Starbuck for a week.
Today, when my husband came home, I said, “Welcome to la maison de la merde.” So goes the puppy training. It’s not that I’m really losing it, but I guess I’m a bit impatient. It has been eight years since I’ve trained a puppy, and of course, since I work from home, the training, and the accident cleanup, largely falls on my shoulders. And after about the fifth time of taking her out and then having her pee on the carpet within a minute of being back in the house, I get a little annoyed. Like I said, it’s a good thing puppies are cute.
Clover is tolerating Starbuck a bit more every day. He’ll let her get within a few feet of him without growling her off or running into the next room. She still enjoys chasing him around the house, though. We were all surprised when she climbed the entire flight of stairs by herself. It was, of course, to get to Clover.
Starbuck is pretty smart, despite the potty training issues. Here she is helping the girl with her Algebra. She hasn’t mastered differential equations yet, but give her time. She’s only three months old.
Tonight she discovered that, yikes, there’s a dog outside the sunroom when it’s dark out and (Woof!) she looks just like her! That was pretty entertaining.
The boy is completely nonplussed by the puppy. Wait. Who am I kidding? The boy is nonplussed by darn near everything. This dog, included. He has referred to her alternately as “dog number two” and “Satan.” He ought to be grateful for one thing; at least the new puppy smell has distracted me from the odor emanating from his room.
Our new puppy has arrived.
We have named her Starbuck. Of course, there’s the obvious coffee megabrand, but that’s not really where the name comes from.
Battlestar Galactica fans will know the other blonde, female Starbuck.
The original Starbuck was the first mate to Captain Ahab on the whaling ship the Pequod in Moby Dick.
Yes, we’re geeks.
Without further ado, and naming explanations, here is our new puppy, the Whoodle (Wheaten Terrier/Poodle mix) Starbuck.
Clover is not too thrilled with this new development. He’s trying to ignore his new little sister as much as possible. If she enters a room, he leaves it. If she tries to get him to play, he runs in the other direction. It’s pretty funny to watch him be chased by a tiny puppy.
We’re awash in a sea of cute right now. She has a long tail which she wags in a slow, lazy way that makes me think of Southern women and afternoons on verandahs. Her eyelashes are outrageously long and her hair (it’s hair, not fur; she does not shed) is in a permanent state of bedhead. She’s been a very good dog so far; no accidents and training is going very well. She didn’t even cry the first night and has really started to warm up to everyone in the family.
Now, if she can just get that Clover guy to pay her some attention.
