puppy love

{65 lb Shaddow and 6.5 lb Sophie gently play}


Long time readers will see that Shaddow has aged rather well over the years. She is a little over nine now. She's got quite a bit of white around her eyes; well, actually, her face is showing more white than black now. For the most part, she's very healthy. Her joints sometimes stiffen on her, so that she isn't quite as limber as she'd like to be. It's debatable how her sight and hearing have been affected over the years, but at any rate, she is not quite as sharp now. I can tell that she is not quite as playful as she once was, and that is to be expected; after all, she's getting to be an elderly lady now and fixed in her ways. She doesn't like to be disturbed while slumbering {truly, let sleeping dogs lie}. But she does play some with Sophie when she feels up to it. It's just that Sophie wants to play all the time cuz she's a puppy {fourteen weeks}. So sometimes she gets carried away and tries to engage Shaddow while she is sleeping. This earns Sophie harsh growls from Shaddow and scolding voices from the humans.

However, Shaddow does allow Sophie to play with her at times. Usually that entails Sophie jumping up on Shaddow and "biting" with that wide open mouth that human babies use for their version of kisses. Occasionally, Shaddow will lie down and let Sophie romp on her; the two of them mock~battling. It's really amazing to watch Shaddow let Sophie grab hold of her lip and pull! Sometimes Shaddow will raise her front paw and gently swat Sophie.

This is like watching a bear play with her cubs. When Shaddow's had enough, she climbs up on her sofa and sprawls out for a snooze. Sophie is too small to get up there on her own right now, but I imagine that soon, she will be able to get enough height in her jump to make it. Shaddow will set her straight, that the sofa is Shaddow's domain.

Which is only fair, really, since Sophie can claim our laps and Shaddow can't. And since Sophie can sleep with us up in the bed, while Shaddow finds the bed too high and not quite comfortable for her joints. Picking Shaddow up is not an option now like it had been. She doesn't like it, and I don't do it unless it's absolutely necessary.

I promise the next entry will be non~pet related!