There’s a puppy in my lap. His name is Scout. His sister, Darcy, is lying nearby on a blanket on our sectional. Scout and Darcy are the dynamic brother and sister puppy duo who arrived at our home in January at the age of six weeks. Now they are five months old. They have grown so much from the little fluff balls they were when we first brought them home.
Scout and Darcy were part of a litter of pups that belonged to a friend of mine. The momma, a terrier mix, and the daddy, a beautiful Brittany Spaniel, belong to my friend as well. It was an unplanned pregnancy, but turned into a blessing for us all.
Our family had been searching for just the right puppy for almost a year, without success. Then I heard about my friend’s litter of puppies, free to a good home. Our family decided to take a look at them.
When four members of our family went to pick out one puppy to love, we picked out two. We had just lost our much loved golden retriever, Ellie, and our dog-lonesome hearts decided that we needed two pups instead of one. It was the right decision.
Puppies…they are a lot of work. And puppies…they bring a lot of joy. Scout has a low-to-the-ground stocky body, the shape of his mother. He has a white wiry coat with large brown spots, a terrier nose and beard, and floppy brown ears. He has lots of brown freckles on his otherwise pink tummy. Scout’s white paws are huge.
Darcy looks more like their Brittany Spaniel dad, only much daintier. Her features are fine and her legs are long. She has jet black, soft fur, except for the whitest white fur that interrupts her shiny black coat in places. Her paws are dainty and small. Darcy has a lot of energy, whereas her brother, Scout, is much more laid-back, an enjoyer of sitting quietly in our front yard watching a butterfly flutter by.
Darcy likes to run and run and run and run. Scout likes to run and then sit…while Darcy continues to run and run circles around him.
Scout likes to wander off into the woods for a great explore. Darcy likes to follow Scout. They both have learned to accept the bath time that they need after a great explore into the woods, where they find all sort of smelly smells to adopt as their own and bring back home with them.
They both prefer to eat our cat’s weight management cat food to their premium brand puppy food. They both like our cat, Chris (long story about the cat name). Chris the cat tolerates the puppies, often with much hissing and spitting and tapping a pup’s head or nose. But, Chris the cat has not scratched either of them…yet.
Scout likes to lick. He seems to like to lick anything, but human limbs attached to his people’s bodies seem to be his favorite. He especially likes to lick feet. Darcy doesn’t lick as much as her brother. She does like to stand on her hind legs and ask to be picked up. She likes to be held and comforted, which is fine for now, but could be a problem if she gets much bigger.
Scout likes wearing a bow tie on his collar. Darcy likes to look at Scout when he is wearing the bow tie on his collar. Both of them could do a better job of coming when they are called and they still don’t let their people know every time they need to go outside before they go inside. But, they love their people and their people love them. That is why this morning, there’s a puppy in my lap.
pieces and ponderings 