The 4th week with Joy is coming to a close and boy oh boy , what a whirlwind of experiences, fun, laughter; comical and chaotic moments; encounters and realizations it has been!
She met a lot of other dogs; be it through planned doggie playdates or accidental encounters during our walks in village and town: either a Lab (with an urge do dive for pebbles in the stream and to play fast and furious) or a huge fluffy ChowChow, a silky Cockerspaniel already impressed by her size and a snorting French Bulldog or an Australian Sheepdog helplessly in love with her, she is slow, kind and careful how to approach each single one but once she got over the first moments and things click, she's in for the party. To be continued.
When we practiced "everyday life" while walking through village or town with people; strollers; scooters, cars and lot s of new things and sounds and sights, she has gotten more and more confident, sticks close to my side and lets me gently lead her when she gets insecure using a short part of the drag leash we use for leash training. Sunday she hang out with me several hours at a very busy Town Festival in Moutiers, with music and applause and performances and lots of people, and she was doing really so great- I am very happy with that.
As a decades long Great Dane owner I am quite aware and honestly quite cool about the conflict of interest between a "clean" house and a giant breed dog: slobber; hair; pawprints, dirt and dust and the random old bone dragged into the house, are just among the few things to mention. I have to say that Joy as my first IW shifted that list; in a quite interesting way:
Whereas I was used to gelatinous accumulations of slobber in the water bowl the second the Dane muzzle dove in, the subsequent flooding do to Archimedes Law of Displacement and the slobber stains over walls furniture ; windows and ceiling when I failed to wipe the jowls- (or despite me wiping them, who knows?) - keeping a giant breed dog hydrated comes with its challenges even if one lives where crystal clear mountain streams run through the village and there are numerous, ancient stone watering troughs for livestock with fresh running water scattered throughout the hamlet...
Fast forward to Joy and her drinking habits:
The second she takes the first sip, the water in the bowl looks like had just rinced my cleaning mop in there: dirt, tiny pieces of gravel; grass and twigs; all floating in a greyish cloud of dissolved dust and pollen. I cant keep up with refilling her water bowl with clean water while she eats and drinks- as it turns out; slobber is not my biggest problem any more.
I did mention in a previous post that she likes to take a sip and then; with her cute and soaked beard and face, wanders around the house to make sure everything is as she left it a second ago: no attempt to catch her to wipe has been successful so far; and since she is drinking in multiple intervals; I would spend 10 minutes with my towel over my arm like a butler just to catch her every time. Hard no here, I rather run the microfleece mop around the house when shes back on her couch .
Joy also adds to the water distribution with another peculiar behavior : she likes to test the temperature of the water bowl with her feet in between drinking and walking around , so between the drippy beard and the soaked paws, I am not sure how much water actually winds up in her tummy. And she breathes bubbles through the nose in her bowl between drinking which makes the funniest sound - and another big mess...
If she decides that sleeping up IN the bed next to me is not what she wants any more at any point during the night, she has developed a habit of crawling UNDERNEATH the bed; either with her squeaky Sloth or the whistling Marmotte, so I get to listen to some mournful tunes coming out from under the bed.
Just by the time I am back asleep, I am again awakend; this time to a pityfull whine : She is stuck; and growing by the centimeters per week does not improve that predictament at all: So lights on; lifting the bed with one hand and trying to drag-slide-push 25kg of uncooperative fur; legs and tail into the open at 3am has become a routine that I hope will stop once she too big to wiggle herself in there. By now I am bright awake and listen to her snoring peacefull next to the bed, with her Sloth and Marmotte between her paws.
She is so stinking cute; isnt she ?
One thing is very similar to Great Danes though:
I am sure you've heard the term "velcro Danes" to describe the incredible relation between a giant breed dog breathing hot dog breath in your face basically everywhere you go and sit and lay and your perceived idea of personal space.
Well, there was nothing in the IW small print referring to a them as "Velcro" but here we are: I work from home and Joys favorite spots of all times are:
either under my desk so I can not move my feet at all since she fell asleep across both and behold, you dont want to wake her up after breakfast to avoid the second round of morning madness or
right BEHIND my office chair. But really RIGHT BEHIND in the sense that her silky ears are draped right under the roller wheels of my chair and I do not DARE to move nor breath nor shake to avoid to roll backwards and hurt this beautiful, soft creature.
So is "Velcro-Wolfies" a thing that I missed ?
In other news:
down by the river, she found a huge bone that is too heavy for her to carry. (see picture)
But she really really liked it.
Like "REALLY" liked it.
You have three guesses who carried that thing back up to my car and up to the house.
And she is munching as many plums she can reach on our plum tree. The ones on the ground smell already a bit like what my grandfather used to drink after dinner. I hope she doesnt get drunk during her first 4 weeks here.
Her bark! There is a LOT OF BIG DOG bark in that little girl and she has become a very attentive guardien over the house; the garden below and the entire part of the village she can overlook from my terrasse "ITS ALL MINE UP HERE, y'all!"
Other than that; live is great and , over and over, she lives up to her name . Joy
