A bit of joy

It's always fun to have a new puppy in the house. They bring laughter and excitement as you get to know there different quirks. This is especially true when the puppy is a breed you've never owned before. Suddenly, you have a whole new set of tendencies to discover.

Sienna was a Lab through and through. She was friendly, tirelessly energetic, and always kid-like. Gus is a herder in every way. He pushes people around when there is somewhere better he thinks they should be, and he refuses to let them move when he likes where they are. He's surprisingly graceful when he runs in the yard, and when he is given a job, he does it with a sense of purpose and tenacity that I can only hope to emulate in my own life. For example, the other day I told him to herd Zoe back to the house. He did. He would stand solid in front of her until I said, "Okay, Gus". He would then let her run a few feet, stop her again, and wait for me to give him the go-ahead. We did this for the entire length of are very big yard.

Zoe is a whole other dog who we are figuring her out slowly. When we first got Gus, I did a post about everything I loved about him. I've decided to do the same for Zoe, so here it goes:

1. If you've never read the comic strip Marmaduke, I would recommend you read it. Zoe is the female version of the lovable but ornery Great Dane. She is full of moments that make us laugh out loud right after we yell, "No, Zoe!"


2. While God gave Gus a nice heavy built-in sweater for our Kentucky winters, he gave Zoe a t-shirt. This means that for the first time ever, I get to buy doggie sweaters. So cute!


3. Like Marmaduke, Zoe is a hoarder. She stacks all of her toys and raw-hides into piles and than lays on them. It is not unsually to see Zoe laying on her stuffed monkey with a rawhide under each paw. She always steals Gus's rawhide and then takes turns chewing them. Maybe that is why he doesn't really like her.
   
4. Great Danes love to sit on people. Zoe isn't aloud on any furniture, but she is aloud to sit on our laps when we are in our arcade chair. She literally plops unto our laps the second we hit the chair. Here is a picture of her waiting for one of us to come hold her. Did I mention she's subtle?


5. When Gus or Tony refuse to play with her, she just sits down a few feet away from them and barks incessantly at them. She is very vocal about her disappointment.


6. She's scared of her own gas. Tonight, she tooted a little, and after staring at her own hind end for a minute or so, she proceeded to chase her tail for about ten minutes. I think she thought the sound/smell had come from there. Great Danes aren't known for their intelligence.


7. Her ears are floppy. I don't feel I need to elaborate on that one.
8. She's lazy. She does have energy spurts, but they are for the most part mild. Most of the time she just wants to be laying around, especially if she can have someone to lay on.

I'm sure there will be many blog post to come on the antics of Zoe, but for now, suffice it to say that she has brought a lot of joy into our house. I know she is just a dog, but she is no less a blessing from God.