Pepper

I have pictures to post, but my camera is out in the car, in the garage, with a sleeping puppy. No thanks!

Well, we named the puppy Pepper. Her mom's name is Sage. So, it only made sense that we wanted her name to be a spice name as well. Pepper is a mainly black German short-hair, with gray and white and black smears...that look like pepper. Oh, we are a clever bunch.

Pepper is seriously the cutest and sweetest puppy. She would have to be for me to be this insane. This is a pretty BIG adjustment for me to alter my entire lifestyle and nature! Her breed, by nature, is very smart and easily trainable. Leave it to me to fall in love with the type of dog that can easily be bossed around. I wasn't born yesterday.

We spent our first day with her literally every second, finding out what destruction she would ensue on our virgin back yard. Within an hour, we had her trained to not eat my flowers and leave the shoes alone. Now, if we could only train her to pooh in the dirt. We are getting pretty good with a shovel.

I (and this shouldn't surprise any of you) mother a puppy, much the same as I mother Chase; over protective, dramatically, and with plenty of guilt. Friday, our first day with her, she was hit by a bicycle. Sunday, she got her head royally wedged under the fence, while trying to get into her old yard. Monday, Jeff stepped on her pretty good. We thought her leg was actually broken. Neighbors, I am so sorry for all of the yelping you have had to endure these past couple of days. I will try to suffer more silently in the future.

Chase has really enjoyed Pepper. He still wakes up and wanders outside first thing. I keep catching him muttering, "I can't believe we have a puppy!" The feeling is mutual, kid.

I am by nature, pretty scared of dogs. Even poodles and little yappers full of fur can get a rise out of me. I had enough bad experiences in the mission field to seal the deal. This is a huge step for me to enter this world. I still have a lot to learn...and a few nerves to grow. Sunday, Chase and I took Pepper for a walk. Well, a "drag", maybe. She is still getting used to a leash. Our neighbor's dogs started charging us. Sadly, my first thought was literally,

"Here!! Eat the puppy...but LET ME LIVE!!"

Like I said, I am a work in progress. At least she knows I think she is pretty cute. I am the only one she wants when she gets hurt. We have had a lot of practice with this in 4 short days. I instinctively rock her back and forth. She nestles her head under my chin, or on my shoulder, and lets her yelping turn to a whimper. Then her whimper turns to a low murmur, which then turns into a sigh. It is seriously heart melting. I have been whooped by these puppies since they were born. Pepper is the runt of the bunch. It would be nice if she would stay this small and cuddly forever. My wish didn't work on Chase. I don't think it will work on her either.

The only reasons that we have been able to survive our transition into puppy-dog-dom, are the facts that she is so stinkin' cute...and she is kennel trained. Our neighbors did a great job with this. Pepper instinctively wants her kennel at about 9 pm. She nestles in there and stays there, clean and dry, and without a peep (or a poop), until 7 am. Her kennel is in the garage, which also helps my insanity level.

Well, that is Pepper. Does that help answer all of your questions? Does it raise any? Like, seriously, why doesn't someone rescue that poor thing? Don't worry, I will be okay in a few weeks.

Pictures to come. I hope. The first time I turned a camera on her, she tried it out as a chew toy and ripped a hole in my pajamas. Chase asked if we should take her back and buy a different one. I had to explain to him that we have to be patient with her and help her learn. She is only a puppy and doesn't know better yet. I further explained that if we wanted to exchange something just because it made a mistake, he wouldn't be here right now. I just let him chew on that one for a while.