Monday pupdate

My husband and I don't ordinarily talk on the phone during the workday, but that's changed since bringing home little Luka. We call one another throughout the day with *pupdates* as the need arises. Since he works close enough to home to drop by at midmorning for a potty break for the puppy, and I'm temporarily working in an office where I can make it home on my lunch hour for another potty break, and then the DH can be home from work by 4pm or so, we have Luka's bathroom needs covered at 3 hour intervals. That's helped him to be pretty successful with housetraining so far. In the evenings when we're at home is another story - you know how puppies like to wander off and get into trouble... mainly on the new wool braided rug beneath our dining room table!

On his first workday alone, Luka had busted out of the kitchen by midmorning and was napping in the spare bedroom beside Peeper's cage. By the second morning he had figured out how to plow through the gate blocking entrance to the porch where the big bunnies live like a little bull, forcing me to call my husband to come home and rig something up just so that I could finish getting ready for work. Peeper's used to living in close quarters with a dog, but the big bunnies are not so enthused with a yappy puppy on either side of their gate. I think we have the puppy containment issues handled, for a while at least, until he's big enough to jump over the gates...

He's as mouthy as you'd expect from a Lab pup, but we're working on that. He tends to go for my husband's toes, yet he favors the backs of my ankles, or worse, the meaty part of my calves. Youch - he's all teeth! And baleful looks when corrected.

We had our first appointment with the vet tonight, for his second round of shots, and he did quite well when distracted with a handful of biscuits. I asked the vet if he wouldn't mind filing down those shark teeth some, but he says that's part of the price we pay for having a cute puppy.

Puppyhood is so short-lived. I'm trying to endulge myself without spoiling him too much. I bring him up onto the bed at night for a quick snuggle only. I carry him down the stairs and across intersections on our walks while he's light enough for me to lift. I inhale his puppy breath as often as possible. Caress the soft pads of his paws as he sleeps. Laugh at him when he encounters a wheelbarrow or bicycle for the first time. I'm forever pulling rocks and flowers out of his mouth. He's obsessed with the refrigerator and closets. But he's so adorable that my heart sings.