Fragments From Floyd

Here you have it: the "before" at seven weeks old and Tsuga's first day at home with us. And "after"-- which is by no means the ultimate after but only a very intermediate one-- at almost four months of life -- and about half of that here with us. The changes have been evident daily, sometimes between morning and night of the same day. He's growing like Kudzu. The younger pup could stand between the legs of the elder and he's lost those round infant features that make puppies and other babies so lovable.

We've entered that in-between stage where not everything he does is cute, much of it is mere attention-seeking with the additional weight and strength of a dog half his ultimate size and (oh I hope) only a tenth of his final intelligence. His personality (dog-ality?) is beginning to appear now that he is gaining confidence in himself, trust in his caregivers and familiarity with his new domain. And we can't help but compare him to Buster, our second black Labrador who left us in July at only four and a half years.

We used to say, because of his open acceptance of strangers, naivete and innocence to the larger world, and limited social exposure, that Buster was our 'home schooled' dog. Well, Tsuga seems to have been born with more of a James Dean 'reform schooled' attitude -- not mean, just a bit self-important and mildly rebellious. Buster was a big-framed dog with a massive chest and head, but he always had a chihuahua self image and he did not tolerate change. We first realized this when, at Tsuga's present age, Buster went bonkers the morning he first saw the "for sale" sign we had put in the yard the night before. Tsuga is a smallish dog yet (maybe 40# at 15 weeks) but imagines himself to be worthy of the Serengeti and a pride of lionesses. He is very much in touch with his Inner Wolf. If we pretend to be sneaking up on him, rather than slink back to the porch like Buster would, Tsuga goes into full stalk-and-attack mode. But when the attack comes, at the last moment before we would become the limp gazelle pulled up onto a low limb against the sunset, he pulls back and does the lick-and-wiggle display of appeasement. But I think in Tsuga we will have the dirt road watchdog we never had with mild-mannered Buster, and that is a good thing. Tsuga is much more like Zachary, our first lab.

So. He's passed through his cute stage and the thrice-weekly pictures have stopped-- I'm sure you've noticed. Who wants to look at a gangly teenager? Oh, we're trying the "Click and Treat" method of training, just started yesterday, actually. Now all my pockets have a half dozen crumbly kibble in them, just ready for Tsuga to accidentally do something right and get a reward. Funny. The kibble supply doesn't seem to be going down very fast. But the pup is becoming a member of the family and our daily routine once again has a warm tawny pup in the empty place that big black Buster left. I am confident (well, hopeful) that Tsuga will grow into those big paws. His boldness and confidence will become wonderful assets someday, and if we play our cards right, he'll allow us to continue living with him here in this glorified crate called home.