Puppy Ice...

As I type, it must be nearly 100 degrees outside.... I have just taken Savannah for a walk up the road. Clearly, she does not like the heat (that's the Pyrenees part of her) and she tends to finish up quickly outside when the sun is at its hottest.  The Great Pyrenees dogs do like cold weather, so heaven help me if we get a good cold-snap this winter... she'll have me out there shivering for an hour while she basks in the Eskimo-ish temperatures.

When we got back into the house just now, Savannah stretched out on the tile floor and I put some ice cubes into her water dish. She didn't notice me doing that, but she did hear the crick-crick as the frozen cubes started to melt in the room-temperature water that was already in her bowl. At the first sound coming from her water bowl, she jumped up and walked cautiously towards the corner where her food and water dishes are kept.  As she got closer, the crick-crick sound continued and Savannah stuck her nose into the bowl and discovered the floating cubes. Without hesitation, she put her mouth down into the water, scooped up an ice cube and dropped it on the kitchen floor. Crick-crick-crick. Her mouth opened up in that puppy-smile, and she gave the cube a nudge with her nose, moving it a few inches on the floor, and of course leaving a small trail of melting ice in its wake.

It took about three seconds for Savannah to realize she had a new toy.  She took her paw and swiped at the ice cube, sending it flying halfway across the kitchen, with her at close pursuit. When she got up to it, another swipe in the opposite direction, another trail of water, and by that time the ice cube was very tiny. Back to the water bowl... another ice cube... repeat the above. In less than three minutes, half of the kitchen floor had a cold drizzle of water from one end to the other, and Savannah was so proud of herself that she sat down in the midst of it and gave me her best puppy smile.

Don't you just love puppies?  The littlest things become treasures and the tiniest bit of fun becomes the highlight of the hour.  I took a just-washed cleaning towel and rubbed her dry... then I got out the mop and cleaned up the floor..... followed by the emptying of her water dish and re-filling it with plain old tap water, hold the ice cubes.  Savannah is exhausted now... and sleeping in the corner of the breakfast room... in the same spot where she always naps when she's not in her crate, so I'm guessing that her king-sized puppy bed will go into that same corner when we buy it. (Location, location, location.)

My husband gave Savannah a blue rubber ball today.... he rolled it on the floor towards her and she let it keep rolling till it stopped against the wall, then she pushed it back towards him with her nose. I guess that will be Savannah's favorite way of getting things to move just like the ice cubes.... shove them a bit with her Great Pyrenees nose.

Neighbor G stopped by this morning with a new-puppy gift for Savannah...... a big puppy teething-ring covered in heavy and colorful cords. Savannah has carried it around, managed to get her paw through it and then back out, and then she put the pink Peep bunny on top of the ring: Just. So.    I will eventually need a larger basket for her toys.