A Non-Traveling Kind of Adventure

Some adventures are made in traveling miles and others are created by leaps of faith which can't aways be measured except with the heart.

(The following comes from chief "puppy sitter" and new friend Remington.  He observed and interviewed Lark exclusively for this post!


Meet "Lark" she came to live with us this weekend.

She is an eight week old Golden Retriever.  How easily I forget how small they start out.  I rode over with the GHL (Gray Haired Lady) to pick her up and got to meet her first.  I figured that I had the most puppy raising experience and could keep her company on the ride home without her siblings.   I just positioned myself next to her crate and stayed there the whole 20 minutes.  She appeared very brave.  

She comes from long lines of performance dogs on both sides of her family with a few conformation Champions mixed in. Some are/were pretty highly decorated when I read the small print. It looked like alphabet soup at both ends of their names to me.  Stuart said he had heard about dogs like that. They are known for having brains and looking good.  I don't know about much of those things because I seldom get to leave the area where the RV is parked at the shows to check it out.

Lark got to come to our house because when the GHL completed all the paperwork from the Golden Retriever rescue group that saved my dear sweet Herschel, after they had completed the reference checks, and after they made a home visit......they sent a letter saying that they didn't think our home would be a good placement for one of their dogs because we travel too much in the RV with the GHL.  

I think Herschel may have howled up in doggy heaven when he heard that. As a result of that disappointment Stuart and I told the GHL to just go for it and she did. We promised her we would help with the puppy training as best we could.  We knew better than trust Josef to the task. So back to Miss Lark.

First I had to show Lark the big yard that will someday be hers. She just needs to grow  up a bit more so she can keep her legs going in the same directions.   Now she can only come out with supervision but the GHL put up a double x-pen on the back deck and I get to hang out in there with her with sunshine and shade as long as we want.   (I don't do rain though...)

I showed Lark where her kennel in the office was.  Hers in the small blue one but it is under the desk and there will be more room for the other larger kennels if and when  she might need them.

I demonstrated our favorite sitting chair because we can watch for squirrel invasions coming into the yard.

I introduced her to Stuart who wasn't all that interested as soon as she agreed to a verbal agreement to leave all squirrel chasing to him.  

Later she spent a little more time getting familiar with her digs. She also figured out quickly that Josef moves a lot faster than the rest of us find necessary sometimes and when in doubt she can find her kennel.

"But please Mr. Josef, the GHL gave me that white squeaky in the car on my ride home. Why can't I have it?" questions Lark.

"You can't have it because....because, well you just can't. It is mine now."  explains Josef.   "Remington explained to me later that it would only remain Josef's until Audrey decided it should be hers.  I think I am figuring out who is in charge of what."

"Remington said that it won't be too long till I can climb up here in the squirrel viewing chair by myself!" said Lark.  "The GHL helped me for now so that I would know why the big dogs like it so much. Though I sort of suspect that part of the reason they like it is because I can't climb up here by myself, yet."

"Sigh....squirrels.... Do I even know what squirrels look like? I will need to ask my friend Remi."

"I already when through it from end to end. Stuart, what happens when I jump on the middle?"

'Remington told me not to bother trying to get anything from Audrey when she climbs to her perch with her "find".  Someday the office couch will be all mine too, but Remi warned me that I might  not fit on the back ledge when "someday" comes!  Luckily there are so many interesting sniffs around here."

 "And I got to go visit at the neighbor's house.  They are currently puppy less, which I said I could help with. The GHL sat in the grass and talked and I got to wander and chew on grass and sticks."

"I didn't want to go too far away. I didn't have any siblings or my new friend Remi to protect me."

"I played as long as I could but my eyes started getting heavier."

"And heavier...."

Remington here. 

I will keep you posted on Lark but for now she has some growing to do.   It won't be long before she will be able to run with us all in the back yard but for now I will have to have some patience.