Life

Manny at 5 months

It has been over 3 months since I posted. Manny had been with us two weeks and my Mom was still with us. A month later on May 27th a bear sauntered into the yard. I usually don't remember the exact date bears visit us but it was the day after my Mom passed. Manny was about 14 weeks old. Since then life has been like a time machine. I have seen folks that I have not seen in 30 to 40 years. I have helped my sister (a bit, she and her family do the heavy lifting with all of this) sift through the time capsule Mom left us. The time capsule contained over 150 years of family history; maybe more, we (my sister mostly) are still sorting. I am making some career transitions. Life is truly a roller coaster but I would not trade my spot on the ride.

Training Manny

The past couple weeks have revolved around training Manny and a bit of Manny training us. I haven't been taking many pictures of our bird visitors. When you are accompanied by two dogs every time you are outdoors the birds vanish. So I have been taking pictures of Joey instructing Manny about boundaries, showing him where to look for chipmunks, and when to take a break. She has also been working with him on dog etiquette. She has trained him on when it is okay to steal a toy from her, how long he should expect her to romp and wrestle and when he needs to just go away for a while.

Manny has been doing independent investigations. He has located the toilet brushes in both bathrooms and is doing his best to keep them coralled. He barks fiercely at them and drags the bathroom rug out to show he means business. Who needs rugs in the bathroom anyway? He is mystified by reflections. When we walk up to the back door he looks pleadingly at my reflection begging to be let in even though I am standing next to him. He is learning to walk on a leash. It was fun to watch his reactions when I took him to the park down by the lake. We didn't do lots of walking because it was necessary to sniff things thouroughly. We'll get to the walking thing eventually.

Joey Meets Manfred

We are on day four with the newest member of our family, Manfred, a.k.a. Manny. He is 8 weeks old today and the Grandson of our 11 year old girl Joey. They are American Water Spaniels and the breed is Wisconsin's state dog. The initial meeting went well but by the end of day two Joey figured out he was staying. She wasn't sure she liked that and showed her displeasure by banning him from the toys. That didn't last long because I put them up. He continued to try and charm her by pouncing at  her, yipping, following her around whenever he could and snuggling up to her when she sat still. I think he has won her over. She is still having to rumble at him now and then to keep him in line. Things are heading in the right direction though and they have the toys back.

Taking a break after a romp outside.