What happened to Spring?

It was cold here this Spring. Temperatures averaged 10-15 degrees below normal. As late as last week there were frost/freeze warnings, and it got down to about 30 degrees one night a couple weeks back. It was cool and rainy earlier in the week, too. But Summer has arrived with a vengeance. Yesterday it was 90 degrees, sunny and humid, without a breeze to make it more tolerable. Today, it was 95 degrees in the shade, less humid though (thank heaven!) and there's a nice, if not steady, breeze. The Big Sister and the Goofball are napping quietly in their crates, enjoying the central air-conditioning; the Youngster and the Senior are relaxing in the shade of the big pine tree out back, enjoying a frozen venison bone.

The Youngster had a big day, yesterday. He's been here a month, but we haven't done an awful lot of socializing yet. I've been teaching him some manners both at home and in controlled-distraction environments, and teaching him to walk on-leash. He led a sheltered life his first few months, and there's a whole big world of things he's never seen before. He was very cautious when I got him, but he's been gradually overcoming that as he's bonded to me, learning to trust that I won't deliberately expose him to something scary and I'll handle the situation if something does turn out to be scary. My little town is having an annual Spring festival this weekend, there are lots of activities and lots of people around and I thought it was time the Youngster got out and did a little socializing. So I gave him his first bath (and he did very well, relaxing once he realized the spray hose wasn't SO very scary and there was lots of skritching involved), trimmed his nails, grabbed a slice of Natural Balance roll out of the freezer and put it in a baggie in my pocket, and he and I went to town.

He is a delight on a leash. He learned very quickly that rushing ahead or pulling off to the side wasn't permitted, and he did very well at walking along by my side on a slack lead. I have him in a martingale collar, and when I did need to give him direction with tiny tugs on the leash, he responded beautifully. He's naturally a very polite fellow, it doesn't take him long to catch on to what's expected of him in the manners department. We stopped and watched kids on a pony ride, and on little carnival rides. Then we walked the length of town and back, through the car show. (There were 104 cars entered in this show! That's huge for such a little town!) He met lots of people who wanted to say hello, and was very polite - didn't jump up, and either stood or sat politely for petting. He met lots and lots of children, and it was love at first sight (on both sides) with every single one. His soft kisses generated a lot of giggles. He saw bicycles, and wagons, and scooters, and strollers, and roller-bladers, and running kids, and wheelchairs, and canes, and walkers - lots and lots of new and potentially scary (or reaction-provoking) things. He responded to all with a reserved curiosity but no spookiness or shyness. He's got a lovely, solid temperament and he's going to grow into an absolutely awesome adult. He's got the makings of an exceptional therapy dog, he's very sensitive to peoples' size and strength. Sometimes he really had to struggle to keep all four feet on the ground as I've been teaching him, but he always managed to do it without prompting from me. Even when one man sitting in a lawn chair wrapped his arms around the pup and was smooching him, the Youngster kept his front feet on the ground. He acquitted himself well yesterday, and I was very pleased with, and proud of, him.

Wednesday, the Youngster lost two of three remaining baby canine teeth, an upper and lower from the same side. I was checking out his teeth, saw that those two baby canines were very loose, so I pinched them out with my fingers. Along with the baby tooth he lost the day I got him, that makes three I've gotten. He's got one more baby canine still, even though the adult canine is half grown-in already; I'm watching that and hoping the baby tooth will fall out on its own. Sometimes they don't, and need to be removed by a vet. Maybe that venison bone he's gnawing on will do the trick. I'm keeping an eye on his baby pre-molars, maybe I'll be able to get one or two of those when they fall out, too. He's got the first of his big-boy molars - holy cow are they BIG! And very, very white. He has a beautiful bite, he's going to have a very nice, correct mouth. He's beautiful, period, and going to be breathtaking. (You don't think I'm in love with this pup, do you? I'm wondering if he's The Man reincarnated.)