Puppy Progress

More puppy stuff, since that’s obviously all that’s going on around here. It’s early days yet, but Nova seems to be a very good puppy. (Dogs can change a lot in the first couple of weeks after you adopt them — that’s why I always recommend a foster period to friends who haven’t had dogs before and when adopting adult dogs. You’re already taking a gamble on a puppy; who knows what they’ll turn out like!) I expected a lot of crying during the night, but her foster home (before she was old enough to be at the Humane Society) must have crated her while they slept, because she’s very quiet.

I also thought Nova would be super crazy all day long (it certainly seemed like Birdy was, when she was a kitten), but she has distinct periods of play (usually after eating), then chewing on rawhides, and then she’ll settle down to sleep for long stretches.

Henny and Nova are getting along, although I think Nova will have to grow up a bit more before they can snuggle up together. At the moment, whenever Nova sees Henny, she immediately wants to wrestle. Henny was really put off by this at first, but she’s finally relented, and there’s been some excellent chihuahua play-fighting going on. I had to watch closely at first to see whether it was all a game or whether Henny was just reacting to the constant pestering. But I know what Henny looks like when she’s freaked out about being badgered, and it doesn’t include pointy ears and following the source of annoyance when it’s distracted. She also baits Nova when they play, by ‘stealing’ a toy and running off with it or vigorously playing with it in Nova’s line of sight.

Birdy is wary of the newcomer (but Birdy is also wary of dust bunnies she hasn’t seen before), and Beany is more or less going about her usual routine. Beany is the proverbial honey badger, if honey badgers were super fuzzy and cuddly. In the evenings, I can get both Nova and Beany to curl up on my chest/stomach/lap while I lie on the sofa. They don’t actually touch, but that’s how it started with Beany and Birdy, too (see?).

And speaking of curling up on laps, Nova is apparently campaigning to get her photo in the dictionary under lapdog. If I’ve got a lap, that’s where Nova wants to be. Sometimes she’ll trot away to fetch a chew toy and then return, because I guess I’m just a comfy plinth. I’ve drawn the line at having a dog on my lap when I’m eating dinner, though. I worried that Nova getting attention would depress Henny, but it actually frees her up to do her own thing without my trying to get her to be more affectionate. She likes pets, but she only begrudgingly cuddles, and I’m okay with that. And since Nova needs more interactive play, I wind up playing a lot more with Henny, too. Not too bad of a deal.