A Pup’s Tale – Pup

This is our new recruit.

He is very small.  He was found as a tiny pup wandering the streets of Condeixa just before Christmas. The lady who rescued him could not keep another dog and so she sent out a request for a new home on Facebook. I saw that post. I thought that was a very cute dog and I hoped he would get a home real soon.

A month later the request was posted again, but a bit more urgently. I saw the post again and could not believe such a cute little thing had not been rehomed.

I showed the plea to Mr Mista.

“He still needs a home. Look!” I said, as I shoved the laptop under his nose.

Himself looked and nodded and then said something which nearly made me fall off my chair, had I of been sitting on one.

“We can go and look at him.” He said. “But just look you know. See what he is like. He looks small.  I’m not so keen on small dogs so we will just look.”

Well, going to look at a puppy, albeit a small one, is like tealights and Ikea. It is physically impossible to go to one without coming back with the other.

So here he is. Now, as you know, our creatures are known by their nicknames on my Blog. I’m not sure why, protecting their true identity I guess. But this little pup is too new for nicknames yet. He is still trying to understand his real name so to call him anything else would prove too confusing for him. However he does get called Little Bugger quite a lot. As in “Ooooooh, you little bugger, come here.” As you chase him round the garden to get his collar on. Or, “Ouch, you little bugger!” As he munches, with tiny sharp puppy teeth, on your nose or ear. But Little Bugger is not a nice nickname (I can hear Chubs in the background shouting ‘And Chubs is!?). So the only other name he is sometimes called is Puppy or Pup. So Pup it shall be for the moment.

Sock was not initially too impressed with Pup. He curled in a tight ball with his nose firmly up his bottom in protest. He has also expressed concern that as the resident ‘old dog’, he is being replaced by a younger model. Chubs, as the matriarch of the now growing pack, has taken on the role of disciplinarian with gusto. A little too much gusto at times and Pup has now taken to seek refuge with Great Uncle Sock. Boys together. That sort of thing.

But god he is cute. I had forgotten how cute a puppy was to have around the house. It’s been seven years since Chubs was a puppy. He makes these cuter than cute puppy noises. Singing little sleepy puppy bedtime songs to himself. And he is remarkably good. His foster mum had house trained him and taught him to sit, so really the dirty work has been done. For which I am very grateful. He is lovely to cuddle too. He sits on your lap and sings softly into your ear but you can’t look at him when he does that. If you look at him and catch his eye he will suddenly bite your nose. And that bloody hurts.

I am not sure how big he will be or how old he is. He is 6.8kg at the moment and maybe about 4 months, although he seems younger.  He lost a tooth yesterday.  A little tiny molar on the floor.  I think he will be quite small but he is leggy. All bandy legs and flat feet. Like Sock was actually when he was little. Sock couldn’t run without doing a forward roll his legs were so out of sync with his body. He looks like a miniature border collie with his white ruff and gentle face but he definitely has a terrier tail.

We have only had him four days. Sometimes he will come in from the garden or wake up and he will look all confused. As if he has forgotten he is now here, not recognising us. Although he has been very lucky with a lovely foster mum and now us, I hate that he looks so bewildered at times. It must be very bewildering indeed for such a young baby creature.

So. A new addition. I spoke with a friend about my concern for what I had done. Thinking it was too spontaneous. A bad move. I am not good with spontaneity. I like to think things through but sometimes I think things through too much. Way too much and then they have gone. Thought into nothingness. But I was told, and rightly so, that life is too short and if getting a puppy is a bad move, well then really, you may as well give up now.

Oh!  And as for Mr Mista not being that ‘keen’ on small dogs.  I found Himself yesterday napping on the bed with a little silky black and white pup curled up under his chin singing softly into C’s ear.