Savannah and Jack

My friend Cindy came here yesterday afternoon with her puppy Jack, who is part Black Lab and part Great Pyrenees. My husband actually found that puppy on the Internet after Cindy saw Savannah and told us that she and her husband were probably ready for another dog. (Their dog Kate had passed away over a year ago, after being part of their family for 16 years.) We thought Cindy could adopt Savannah's brother and I tried calling and eMailing the people who sold Savannah to us but they weren't answering my messages.

Gary got on the Internet and found a litter of good puppies fairly close by, and we eMailed the puppies' pictures to Cindy and the next thing we knew, Cindy and her husband were in their car and headed two towns over to have a look-see at those Lab/Pyrenees puppies. The puppies that were left were mostly all black, but the puppy that Cindy picked out has a teeny bit of white on his chest and the tips of his front paws. He was just one big roly-poly ball of black fur when Cindy and her husband brought him home and named him Jack.

Cindy's puppy was barely 10 weeks old when they got him, so needless to say, Jack was quite a handful and there were days when Cindy was ready to call my husband and tell him to come and get his crazy puppy.  Jack is about four months old now, and still a bit crazy, as are all puppies at that age, but he's as cute as a button, so he can get away with a lot even on his worst days.

I had suggested to Cindy that she bring Jack over to play with Savannah in our backyard over the weekend. Jack and Savannah had seen one another before, just about a week after Cindy brought Jack home. With Jack growing in leaps and puppy-bounds, we thought Savannah would be able to play with him more now than she did when he was still so small this past summer.

Jack is a very friendly puppy, and unlike Savannah, who is so cautious with strangers, Jack runs up to everyone he sees and quickly becomes their best friend. Not so with Savannah... she has to see someone at least 10 or 12 times before she will even go near them. But in Jack's case... Savannah ran up to him and quickly established that this was her yard, her grass, and her property. The two puppies played and jumped and ran, but it was Savannah who was in the role of Alpha-puppy, which surprised both me and my husband. And Jack, who is usually a take-charge puppy, let Savannah be the boss-of-the-backyard yesterday. That just surprised the heck out of both me and Cindy.

We've had some gloriously warm and sunny days lately, and yesterday was one of them. The puppies were running after tennis balls, running after each other, and just enjoying being puppies. Other than that first time meeting Savannah a few months ago, Jack hadn't seen or played with other dogs, which may be the reason why he was so submissive with Savannah. After about an hour, Savannah was clearly getting tired, simply because she was the one doing most of the running, and she was also jumping right over Jack if he didn't move fast enough.

As I type this, Savannah is sleeping in her bed and I can hear her snoring. This weekend has been a busy one for Savannah... her first Christmas Parade in our own town, a drive to the dog park, another drive to the town of Burton when we went to a cafe there to pick up homemade soup, and then a visit from Cindy and her dog Jack. Savannah looks to be just worn out a little bit after an exciting weekend, but if right this minute I said out loud "Want to go to the park, Savannah?!" she would be jumping up quickly and walking towards the back door so I could put her leash on her.

I still remember that first day when we put a leash on Savannah... she reared back, her tail went between her legs, and she bucked like a mule. This puppy has come a long way since then.