We decided to get our puppy Caya earlier than expected, so I flew over to Melbourne in early December and thanks to Sue and her family for letting me stay at their place for the night. Oh my god, I was in puppy heaven. When I arrived, only 1 puppy had left, so you can imagine my delight when 7 puppies came bounding up to greet me along with Mum Cassie & Auntie Hope and Dad Snow from a distance. It was great spending time with the pups as I got to see how they interacted and how amazingly different their personalities were. Our girl, well she was and still is a little treasure, loves to play, but loves a cuddle just that little bit more - great temperament - Sue did a great job. Sue also taught me so much about them in the short amount of time we had but it was invaluable information I would have never gotten had she just been freighted over.
Then came the time for the long journey back to Perth, the day before Sue had bathed her and she was looking gorgeous and fluffy, she wasn't allowed to have breakfast that morning because of the long trip, so she was beside herself when they ate without her !! She lay down next to her mum just before we were about to go almost as if she knew she was leaving.I held her in the car to the airport, and I think I was more scared than her when we checked her in at the Freight Terminal, here she was, this tiny little thing, yanked away from all that she knew and shoved in a cage in a big shed and then on an aircraft. Fortunately for me, I worked for Qantas for many years, so I know how well they take care of the animals - I wasn't so worried but when the captain advised on takeoff that it was going to be quite a rough takeoff then i was worried. I got chatting to the flight attendant opposite me, and told her that I had a puppy underneath and she said they had seen her as they boarded the aircraft and she was crying and they could hear her underneath in the back galley. All I wanted to do then was just go and cuddle her. I just wanted to get her home and make sure she was ok. Four hours later we landed in Perth and waited at the Freight shed for the cargo to arrive, and there she was - she was a little scared but there were actually about 4 dogs on the flight so she would have been near them and hopefully that eased the anxiety a little.
We got her home, and then had the task of introducing her to our Malamute Anook and 2 very cranky cats, he was over the moon and wanted to play with her straight away, the cats? Jury is still out on that one, although I did spy one of them smooching up to her the other day, she was bursting with excitement and all she wants to do is be friends with them. She wasn't so sure about everyone but as the afternoon progressed they seemed to get on quite well.
That night we built "Puppy alcatraz" as we liked to call it (a little pen where we put her and Anook couldn't get to her but they could see each other), she cried most of the night and the next night, so we decided to lock Anook in the same area as we live on 2 acres and he tends to wander around the property at night time. She didn't cry again, except for when we let them into the full 2 acres, and of course Anook disappeared off doing "dog stuff" and she couldn't see him in the dark and cried and cried. But one whistle for Anook to come back to the house , soon fixed that, she was fine and didn't leave Anook's side. I would get up in the morning and peer outside to see this little white bundle of fluff cuddled up with the "big bad wolf" we couldn't have wished for things to go smoother. Even the neighbours commented on how quiet she had been.
Day after day, she seemed to grow overnight, one day we'd wake up and she looked like her back legs had grown, and then she'd get chubby and then she'd get skinny and so the cycle goes. I look at the photo's I took now and then and see how much she has changed. Very intelligent little dog, we were amazed how quickly she learnt. She was sitting on command after about a week and our mally doesn't eat dinner until he's given the command to and she learnt that straight away as well. During our hot summers, she discovered the clam shell pool and lives in it on hot days, always got her feet wet when she comes to the back door and of an evening the pair of them run around like little kids under the sprinkler - barking and carrying on. Then one morning, we heard the "gruff" bark and it was the "who goes there?" bark - unmistakable and we knew she was slowly developing her Maremma personality. When she barks like that you know something or someone is around and you'd better pay attention.
Her fluff is slowly going, replaced by her soft white hair, her puppy teeth are going (thank goodness) replaced by big teeth but the puppy is still there. She started obedience 2 weeks ago and seems to be going ok, except for the birds at the RSPCA headquarters, she doesn't like them (inherited from her mother I believe) and seems more interested in them than actually paying attention in class.
One thing's for sure, she certainly has brought us lots of joy and laughs and the journey continues......
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