Raccoons on the porch...

...after midnight, of course.

Savannah didn't really wake me up this time. I heard a very low bark from her, nothing frantic, but she did that twice and I decided to get up and come downstairs because I wasn't sleeping anyway. When I looked out on the porch, I could see wet tracks of a raccoon, right on the porch near a plastic cat toy that's been out there for months now.

The toy is a round plastic circle with a deep groove along the sides... a plastic ball is in that groove, and the cats spin that ball around and around without being able to release it. The raccoon, however, was able to get the little ball out of the groove and it was left on the porch. That's what Savannah must have heard, and I'm actually surprised that she didn't give forth her roaring bark. In the morning, I will put that plastic toy into the recycle box.

Savannah has been very good these past couple of nights. She barked last night (probably more raccoons on the porch) but I did just what the Great Pyrenees web-site suggested--- I came downstairs, looked out on the porch, then reassured Savannah that everything was okay. I gave her a hug and then she settled down and went back to sleep and I didn't hear another peep out of her for the rest of the night.

This afternoon, one of the neighbors had an outside party with lots of people and hours of music. Savannah was sitting on the porch and just watching the world go by before the music started, and as soon as it did, she wanted to come back into the house. I think she has become accustomed to the relative quiet out here and when that's disrupted, Savannah is not at all happy and her 'safe place' is inside the house, not out in the yard or on the porch.

The neighbor's party lasted all day long and the music didn't stop till after dinner-time. During the day, I had to take Savannah outside to visit the grass, and she walked right towards the backyard each time, not wanting to go down the driveway and towards the road. That was fine with me, because I've been trying to get her to use the backyard grass instead of the grass along the side of the road.

Some of the music today was Mexican, and when Savannah heard that, her ears went back, her tail went down, and she quickly used the grass and then ran up the stairs of the back deck and headed for the door. This isn't the first time she has reacted that way to Mexican music or people speaking Spanish. When we adopted this puppy, the two women we met from Savannah's previous family were Mexican.  Both seemed very nice, and the young girl even gave Savannah a big hug before we left to take Savannah home with us. It's possible that the other family members didn't treat Savannah as well as the two women did, and when we first brought Savannah home, she would have nothing to do with men, even my husband. I don't think this Princess Puppy was treated as the princess she wanted to be in that previous situation.

I couldn't sleep tonight because I was thinking about Gatsby, our outside cat that we had to put to sleep a few days ago. Gatsby used to follow me around the porch and the yard when I was outside, and I was constantly tripping over him or having to walk around him. I can't even count the number of times I would tell that cat "Kill me now, Gatsby, just kill me now!" as I tried to avoid stepping on him as he weaved himself around my legs as I walked.

Our inside cat Sweet Pea has been sitting by the screen door and meowing, and I'm guessing that he's calling for Gatsby and wondering why he isn't on the other side of that screen anymore. Our other outside cat, Mickey, is now sleeping in Gatsby's bed instead of his own. Mickey spent three days walking around the yard and positively howling as he looked for Gatsby. No one can convince me that animals, whether domesticated or wild, do not have feelings and emotions.

I don't know if Savannah realizes that Gatsby is gone. This puppy was very friendly with Gatsby right from the start, and that's probably because Gatsby was the first of the cats to accept her and make friends.  Gatsby followed us up the road when we walked Savannah, and never failed to walk underneath Savannah when she was out in the yard. If Savannah is missing her walking-buddy, she has given me no indication that she's aware that we have one less cat in our family.

As I've been typing, Savannah has bothered me twice to go outside. I've been determined not to walk her on the road or along the driveway at night. There's a good-sized patch of grass by the back porch steps and that's where I've been taking her at night. The first time I brought her outside a little while ago, she was trying to pull me towards the driveway, and I just stood there and pulled her back towards that smaller patch of grass. She looked at me, sniffed the grass a bit, but didn't do anything.

I gave her about three minutes and then brought her back into the house. Then I resumed typing. About ten minutes later, Savannah again gave me her signal to go outside. Back on went my coat and her leash, and I took her to that same small patch of grass near the steps. When she gave me that puppy-look of hers, I just stood there with my hands on my hips and told her if she had to go, then that grass was her only choice until the sun came up.

Success. Savannah made a big show of pacing back and forth in that small patch of grass till she found the perfect spot and then she squatted down to pee. It's these little things that make puppy-mommas proud.