New Arrival

Puppies are always fun! I realized it has been 10 years since we had a puppy around here, which is good news -- the last 3 dogs we've had have lived on the farm for 10-13 years. We went through a spell there where we lost too many dogs at too young of age, after Gus (12).

Here is our last "new puppy," Omar:
Photo taken 2.26.2001:
Omar (12 weeks?), Boris (3)

Boris tolerated 'Omar the energetic,' but only because he had to. He was lost without a companion after we sent Tasha to live at Louis and Margaret's house. Omar was just lucky he could outrun Boris ...

I thought Omar's reaction to a new puppy here would either be delight ("Finally, someone who wants to play!") or hostility ("I am top dog here.") but I thought he'd probably do just fine. He doesn't like any other dogs that show up in someone's vehicle, but for some reason puppies and little kids are OK with him.

We brought both puppies home on March 17 after picking them up at the airport in the afternoon and having a brief meeting in the park with Ben and Kelli and the boys (who were in Spokane for a family event that night). When we opened the back of the van and Omar saw the carrier, I was glad when I saw his tale gently wagging, rather than stepping back and barking at the little strangers. We let them out for a bit and then they stayed here together the first night. Lou and I built a little puppy pen out by the old shop for a safe place to keep a little one while learning what is dangerous and where not to go around here. They had each other and that was good.

The next morning they were in the old dog house (instead of their carrier) like two peas in a pod. Kelli and the boys came later in the morning. We were going to let Nicholas choose which puppy he wanted at his house, but he was more or less indifferent so we decided the 'lead' pup would go to their house (she is more outgoing) and the follower pup would stay here and become a good watchdog for the farm. Already each had barked at Omar when he walked at a distance, so it might not matter a lot either way. Mastiff - Great Pyrenees pups should grow up to be good guardians of the family and flock. (the breeder called them 'maspyr' puppies)

Our big decision was what to name them. Kelli might tell their story so I won't talk about that here. We all agonized for a few weeks over lists and lists of puppy names, none sounding quite right. Our choices were between about 5 names, but since we both tended to call little animals and kids (and each other!) "Babe," Lou said we should just name her Babe. I said OK, but I realized today that I can't call her that as a NAME. Yes, I'll still say it as a nickname on occasion, but it doesn't feel like a name that is uniquely hers. So we are rethinking her name ... I'll fill in here when we settle for sure (I think Lou is OK with the name I have suggested; it wasn't on my previous list but works better than any of those, I think, and it came to me just this morning).

She is still sort of shy of loud noises and big people walking toward her, which is to be expected with so much of that going on around here, but she really likes Omar and runs out of the pen to follow him. Once sister went home yesterday, she was pretty sad all by herself and saw the need for a new friend. Omar hasn't yet warmed up to the curious pup all that much -- if she gets too close, he gets up and walks away, much to her dismay. She'll keep trying, though, and I think they'll do fine together. I am so glad he is not the jealous type. I think he got used to having to wait his turn for attention since Boris was such an attention hog and kept Omar away as much as he could.


It will be fun to have this little one, after such a long stretch without a new puppy here. We figure she'll only fit in this little dog house for a week or two, not worth repainting the name above the door!