Twas the Saturday before Christmas and all through the house... there was activity! The pack went off during the night when Ric took Shiloh by our bedroom door so Shiloh could use the backyard. INTRUDER ALERT! Then when I got up Zenith went into the kitchen in front of Ric's closed door and tried to declare an ALERT at 5:30 in the morning. That rebellion was quelled, but the tone was set for the day. Aurora was initiated in Dealing with Family! Ric and Geoffrey went out shopping early, leaving the pack +1 with me. More whining and pacing! Most [...]

Aurora definitely likes chewing the back yard. Aurora Tasting the Greenery on the other Side of the Yard, over by the Lemon Trees This morning she started out in the middle-back on the side of the lemon trees. She hadn't thoroughly explored this area before, so I hovered over her to see that she didn't discover something poisonous or particularly icky. Fortunately, there was just the normal garden detritus which Aurora thought was yummy! Soon Aurora returned to the way back where Apex hangs out. Both girls happily munched on stuff. Aurora had her fallen tree to explore and gnaw [...]

Aurora was kept from her mid-day play routine today because I had to go to a 12:30 meeting. She made do, though. When I got home the sun had already gone past her backyard, but the far outback was still warm and fragrant. Day 72 -- Afternoon Exploration in the Way Back Aurora must chew everything, while Apex is very happy tackling just one of her balls. Because Aurora had a good lunch, we weren't worried about a late dog dinner due to the humans having a date night. When we got home, the adults chowed down quickly [...]

Today Aurora reminded us of another home feature we used to have but which proved incompatible with puppies: a sprinkler system. Day 71 -- Examining the Roots Aurora has consistently (so far) focused on chewing plants and their roots. She's left the plastic bits of sprinklers alone. However, this picture reminds us that previous puppies chewed enough parts to make the system leaking and unreliable. For a while -- a few years, actually -- we dutifully replaced the tubes and connectors gnawed by our beasts. But, we've stopped. I'd like to say we stopped because we became more [...]

Aurora's adventure today was deciding that the back yard -- all of it -- is part of her domain. She's been pretty bold for a while about wandering all over the bricks and going back to the lemon tree to sniff and chew. Day 64 -- Exploring the Backyard This evening, Aurora took the path between the bushes and went out to the Outback! Day 64 -- Aurora In the Way Outback Of course I went with her, looked ahead to make sure that there were no evil predators lurking around, and generally did nervous parental [...]