Willie’s New Baby Brother
Yes, we did it last weekend — adopted a nearly 7-week-old black lab puppy! He’s adorable, very small and quite young. We named him Taj after the blues musician Taj Mahal.
I only have a moment to sit and write this blog because literally I am running to take care of all Taj’s puppy needs while attempting to keep our house in order. I have two weeks until I return to work, which is fortunately just part-time and done from home.
I can tell you it’s been both an emotional and physical strain for me. He’s so little and quite fearless, unlike Willie, our 6-year-old chocolate lab. I wake in the middle of the night worrying that I can keep him safe and train him to be as wonderful a companion as Willie. I have a lot of arthritis and all the time on my feet and carrying him around has flared it up a bit. I’m hanging in there though.
Willie is a little bent out of shape over the new critter in our household. I think he’s wondering when we send him back home so his life can return to normal. The first night Taj howled at the top of his lungs from his upstairs crate ,which upset Willie so much he actually laid with his head on my face in bed between my husband and myself. In the middle of the night a huge pack of coyotes made a noisy appearance in our backyard. They must have thought one of their own was in trouble. I was wondering if every coyote in the county was there to rescue my howling, unhappy puppy!
Each night there has been a marked improvement and Taj’s separation anxiety has lessened. He’s sleeping longer hours and is thrilled by his big yard and plentiful toy allotment. We do tend to spoil them!
Taj and Willie are getting acquainted. Willie has been a remarkable big brother with his very gentle nature and caution around Taj. He knows that Taj is too little to play with just yet, but needs to be guarded constantly. Willie even helped to bring Taj’s “blankie” the other night. So the “nigh nigh” blankie ritual will continue in our household. Look for more Taj Tales in the future – off for more puppy playtime.
Love your pets ~nan~
Nan
Moved to Clark County in 1981. Spent our first year of marriage in Alaska and childhood and college years in Ohio. Happily married for over thirty years raised four dogs, two cats, and one son...life is good!