Puppies and Bears, Oh my
We haven't chatted about the puppies lately. I not sure they are still puppies. Lizzie is now the biggest dog in the house. Did you notice I said in the house? She has become quite comfortable in the house; unless it is raining, then she prefers being outside in the rain.
Lizzie likes to roll in the mud outside. That works really well for keeping the house clean; she brings in about 75 lbs. of mud into the house after every rain. We let the mud dry and then shovel it back outside, giving Lizzie the opportunity to bring it back in after the next rain. (I might have made some that up). Ok, we don't use a shovel. We use Elaine's Dyson vacuum cleaner. I think in about five years, Lizzie, will have brought every available bit of mud into our house and she will need to start importing mud from the neighbor's property.
It was important to mention the Dyson vacuum. Elaine bought a Dyson vacuum about ten years ago. It was this plastic, multi-colored space-age looking thing. Something happened when she bought that vacuum. She started vacuuming everything. Shoes, car parts, chunks of wood, even small children. If it was on the floor she sucked it up in her Dyson. It is now held together with Velcro strap and duct tape, which gives Elaine cause to shop for a new one, the DC28 Animal. (Sorry folks, not making this one up)
Other than transferring mud from place to place I'm not sure what else Lizzie is good for. She is a good eater. Her size is a proof of that. Her size makes it really helpful when she wants to pull something off the cabinets. She likes to show someone what she has taken off the cabinets and hopefully someone will chase her.
Lizzie doesn't seem to want to protect anything. She seems to be everyone's friend. She will bark if one of the other dogs barks first. Not right away, it takes her a while to wake up. I'm not very hopeful that she will turn into a great livestock guardian. She is just too friendly. If she should get much bigger I think we might be able to ride her in parades.
Maggie is also bigger than the adult dogs. However, while still a puppy, this dog is different. Maggie is content to leave things on the cabinet. She will try to take from Lizzie whatever Lizzie has removed from the cabinet. This usually takes place in the middle of the living room. Not to be left out, Walter will get in the dog tug-of-war, with Emma standing back most likely thinking, "you guys are gonna be in trouble."
At dusk, Maggie will bark at the door to be let out of the house. She lies outside on the deck watching and waiting for something to bark at. Lizzie will usually follow her out, but Lizzie has found out if she gets to the couch before Emma or Walter she has a pretty comfortable place to sleep. Plus, Lizzie doesn't need to involve herself with all that guarding and protecting crap.
Maggie tells us when the coyotes are near. If you are going to come up the driveway at night, Maggie is going to tell us. Maggie is quite good of keeping us aware of what is going on outside. She seems to know what is welcome at the ranch and what is not.
Several of our neighbors have been visited by bears this fall. We have not been so "lucky". We have not had bear visits. I would like to think that Maggie barks and the bears go to the neighbors.
If bears should visit, they better think twice about taking something off our cabinets, that's Lizzie job!
Our crazy lives!
Monner
