Lu and Shea -- Best of Friends
Lu here, from Central Oregon (and sometimes the Coast) – last time I reported in I was only a few months old. I finally made it to one year old, and WOW have I learned a lot! I spent my first few months at our family’s “cabin” in Florence. I joined the family as #2 dog, because they already had a 2-year old Golden Retriever girl “Shea”, but I quickly established my dominance and rightful place (according to me, of course) as Alpha Dog and Shea became my favorite chew toy. Still is – but I have to admit I’ve been convinced to be a bit more gentle with her.
Hey Look at me! This is my fave thing to do with this toy!
Not so gentle with my toys, however, and a few pieces of the rug, house, and deck that I could find to keep me busy. The little stopper for the back door that goes “BOING” was a special favorite. Before I knew it, teeth were falling all over the place and all I wanted to do was gnaw, so I was introduced to heavy-duty kongs and such. I love to tease my sisters with them to get her going, and I adore stretching my neck out over my back and holding that position, as you can see from the picture. I took to retrieving right away and loved going on walks in the dunes.
Lu's first swim
Wasn’t so thrilled with water, but right around the 4th of July I was surprised into swimming when my ball was thrown into the lake. After floundering around (and causing much laughter, to my dismay), I became champion swimmer too, and with head held high (don’t want to miss anything) I smoothly zoom through the water. But rain? well, not my best weather.
When we came back to Sisters where we live most of the time, the training continued. When I wasn’t running and sailing over sagebrush, I was allowed to sleep in the sun on the back deck – but, needing a job, I found that picking up rocks got me plenty of attention. I don’t eat them, of course, but carry them around in my mouth and bring them back to Dad proudly.
I love lounging with Shea, and look I am so calm and quiet.
While they are trying to discourage me from doing this, I just can’t resist, because there are SO MANY little rocks in Central Oregon – I honestly think I have a job for life!
So our routine is, after breakfast there is a short rest time, then we get to run and retrieve every morning for about 90 minutes (we meet lots of dog friends in the woods and meadows), then I get to nap and laze around until about 3:30 or 4, when we get to run again for about 30 to 45 minutes. After that comes dinner and snuggle time on the couch. If my sis and I are really good, we get to gnaw on some antler bones.
My parents are very happy with me, as they should be, because I am starting to settle down A LITTLE, except right before running time. They keep looking for a watch on my paw, because I know EXACTLY when those times are, and Shea and I cavort around, running circles and jumping over things, until we finally get to go. I don’t know why humans have to wear so many clothes just because it’s 25 degrees out, it just takes them WAY too long to get ready! When it’s that cold, they even put this “jacket” thing on me with a fleece collar (OK, it’s stylish and keeps me warm, but still….). But I do love the snow, and the sun, and the wind, and – well, let’s just say I love my life!
I did have one shock when I was 8 months old….we visited our vet in Redmond and he helped me take a nap, and when I woke up I was kinda drowsy. Mom said that I had a spaying operation – but not just ANY operation, it was done laproscopically, which meant that I didn’t have stitches or even feel sore – after 3 days and a little bandaid I was ready to go, full steam again. Mom says that’s amazing!
So my lord and master (he thinks) is Dad and I have to know where he is at all times. He takes me on rides, let’s me cuddle on the bed at night before I go into my crate, and generally watches after him (and vice versa). But I have to say Mom is pretty nice, too – she feeds me and gives me good loves. My BFF tho’, is my sister, as you’ll see from the attached pictures.
Lu - True x Benton 2011
