Every Couple of Sunflowers I Pass

Johny Gets a Bone

I should first explain that "Johnny" is my three-month old Lab puppy. He's been with me about a month. He was probably too young for real bones in his parent's puppy home.

I cooked ribs in the oven, and the meat fell right off the bone. Just wrap the ribs in double aluminum foil, put 'em in a metal pan, and let 'em cook an hour or two. If you have time, wait about six hours and put the oven on 350 degrees for another hour and a half or too. Geez ribs are fatty meat. My part of the dinner is still sitting between a couple of layers of paper towels.

Between the two dogs, things went well. Did I mention I also have an eleven year old German Shepherd? The puppy is too boisterous for her, but she usually puts up with him. She's only growled at him a couple of times. The first few nights the pup was with me, the German Shepherd slept in the bed to protect me. After three night, the pup was more trusted, though he still was contantly biting.

He's better about that now. He has different rawhide for his little teething issues, and he thinks squeaky toys are fun. I can tell the cat and the other dogs don't argree. Too much squeak will ruin a mood.

I'm recognizing my pup's personality, and he knows "no." It was a rough month getting to this point. He's destructive, or rather he's causing the need for extensive house cleaning. That's another story.

So tonight when I put on my new Michael Jackosn CD to put me to sleep, along with some sleep spray, Johnny the pup will crawl into bed, stretch his near forty pounds of white Lab next to my back, and the warmth of his body feels good against my sore back. He's getting to be home, where the heart wags.

It's amazing to watch my puppy work on his first beef rib bone. Puppy love!

Sunflower