I’m terrible with names. I recognize faces all the time. Sometimes, even when there isn’t a reason to. But names? It’s probably a character flaw.
Jed and Ruby are what I’m using to describe the cute cousins to Pippin who live around the block from us. Abby and I went on a walk Sunday and stopped by to see them. I hadn’t seen the dogs yet, but Susan and the kids have. The couple who own them seemed extremely nice and they were helpful. They have two: one 8 and one 4. The biggest surprise for me about this rare Lakeland Terrier sighting was that at those ages, the dogs were no larger than our almost-5-month-old Pip. In fact, Pippin looked bigger than they did.
I wanted to stop by to ask where they had their dogs groomed. It’s getting close to the time Pip will need to get a trim. Susan and the girls washed him Sunday and he’s really getting cute (he always has been) and fluffy (the first time we saw him).
The unfortunate news - for us - is that they trim the animals themselves. There’s a special technique to doing it (it can require quite a bit of hand stripping). They’ve had Lakies for years and showed one of their earlier dogs for a time.
We spent time chatting about the peculiarities of the breed and about feeding. We’re getting a little more adventurous in feeding Pip. In the mornings, he mostly turns up his nose at his kibble, pumpkin and canned food breakfast, unless we add a raw egg (shell and all), then he eats most, but usually not all. In the evenings, he’s eating all his meat patty and vegetables and licking the bowl clean. I added a single sardine Sunday night and he gobbled that up, too. It does wonders for his breath (not a good thing).
Jed and Ruby are former show dogs and have a somewhat different take on Pippin and his youthful exuberance. They were calm in their masters’ arms, while Pip was coming out of his skin to play. It must have been interesting to see from the street as we all held our dogs.
As Pip grows, it’s becoming apparent to me that we’re going to have to get him a playmate and a fenced back yard.
For now, though, we’ll visit his new friends around the neighborhood.
Comments 2
The worst behaved dogs at PetSmart are mine. I envy those folks whose doggies just walk at a respectable distance and don’t try to crawl UNDER the displays for a good sniff at whatever lurks there.
We should get a trainer, Herb. Maybe it’s cheaper for a group?
Posted 19 Feb 2008 at 11:33 am ¶A couple of downers might do the trick.
I’m all about training. Let’s try to work it out. Trying to fit it into the endless schedule is the problem. The owner of Ruby and, not Jed but Jen (two females and I’m not lifting legs to check) mentioned a class not at Petsmart. I did hear Petsmart was pretty good, though.
Posted 22 Feb 2008 at 12:48 am ¶