Silas Is 4!

Silas has a birthday this month, but we are not sure of the actual day. The day we brought him home, we were not expecting to get a new puppy at all! Jeff and I were on a regular trip to a Petsmart store to pick up dog food for Saffy. At the store, I took the cart to get the food and lost track of where Jeff was. I figured he would be looking at the birds and fish, or something. Well, I soon spotted him, grinning like a little kid, in the middle of a large litter of tiny black puppies that had been dropped off at the store. He was clutching a puppy to him and when he looked up at me I knew we were in trouble as he was giving me the 'can we keep him' look! I knew I would be the main puppy trainer and caretaker, so it was really up to me and I'd just gotten Saffy to a point where she knew the routine and was easy. Jeff put the puppy on the floor and it galloped over to me, skidding out on the slippery linoleum floor, slid up to my foot, opened its mouth wide and bit my sneaker and hung on.

Well, Saffy was used to us returning from the pet store with her food and perhaps a soft toy or new bone. She was not expecting a puppy! She's a very easy going dog, so her first reaction was surprise, but also excitement. Then, Silas saw her feet and ran over to her and started nipping her toes! Poor Saffy was frantically dancing about trying to keep all her feet out of reach at once! Silas definitely had a thing for feet and he still does to this day, although at least he doesn't bite them anymore. He licks them or lays his face on your feet. Silas wasn't shy and basically claimed as much as he could for his own...Saffy's toys, Saffy's bed and Saffy's treats. We had to give Saffy a lot of extra special attention! She was very good with him, but I worried that she might resent him and like it if he would leave, but anytime we separated them, she would look for him.

Silas didn't really know what to think of Bandit. He sniffed him and sneezed at all the cat hair. Then Bandit discovered Silas had a long wiry puppy tail and used it as a toy to pounce on and sometimes nip! So, Silas was wary of the cat, who was actually the same size as him at the time! They get along well now, although they sometimes challenge each other on the pecking order a bit.

Saffy is a very quiet dog, but Silas we learned from the start was going to be vocal. Not barking. Just all sorts of peculiar whines, whimpers, moans, sighs and blowing noises. When he was just a tiny thing and we took him for walks, he would make a little grunt or squeak with every alternate step. He sounded like a wonky box spring. There was some snow soon after we got him and he would sit on my feet and squeak at me until I would pick him up. He really wanted to be a lap dog and still does. He doesn't understand that he is huge now!

Silas is a very strong, athletic dog. He loves to chase the laser pointer dot around the yard in the evenings. It's certainly an easy way to exercise him since all I have to do is stand there holding the laser pointer! He also likes a made up game of Doggie Croquet. He drops a tennis ball in front of me and I kick it toward him trying to get it to pass between all his feet while he tries to block it. He never gets tired of this. He also loves to jump high, as you saw in the snow pictures from a few posts ago. He'll jump for snowballs, toys or treats. He's a very intense, energetic dog, so he keeps us busy trying to tire him out! Fortunately he and Saffy like to play together too, so they've developed their own games.


Oh, speaking of dog birthdays, there is a very funny, comedy series of 10 minute shows called Posh Nosh and one of the episodes, "Torta di Castagne e Cioccolata", includes a dog birthday party. It's so hilarious if you love dogs and spoofs of cooking shows! I've seen most of the episodes on PBS lately.