There’s a Reason Why They’re So Cute

bonnie-6-weeks-blog

Bonnie, 8 Weeks. Photo Courtesy of Laura Gilchrist.


Blogger’s Note:  I know I haven’t posted in a bit.  I have good reason, and the story is below.

Steve and I had one last stop to make on our epic-1,900+ mile trip we called a vacation.  As you may know if you’ve been following my blog posts or subscribe to my newsletter, we lost our 15-year-old female Basenji, Aspen, in March.  Her passing left a huge hole in our pack, er, family.  It was a hole we needed to fill.

We contacted Tammen’s Basenjis, and soon, we’d put a deposit down on a puppy.  She was born in June, but we knew we’d have to wait until August to find out which one of the black and white girls would be ours.  Then came August 12 when we got the picture above.  We named her Bonnie, and at eight weeks, she was adorable.

At the end of September, she became ours.

Oh, my goodness.  What had we gotten ourselves into?  If you know anything about puppies, they’re pretty darned cute and for good reason.  If they weren’t, they wouldn’t last too long because they can be such brats and attention hogs.  Everything I’d forgotten about when Wallace was a puppy nearly fifteen years before came rushing back in an instant.  What are they?

  • Puppies have a ton of energy. Bonnie is a complete spaz when it comes to energy.  Get her going, and she can do what we call the Basenji-500, or B-500, in no time flat.  She’s brimming with life, and it’s sometimes overwhelming.
  • Puppies poop and pee—a lot, a whole lot. Yes, I’d forgotten that.  Something goes in, something has to come out, and usually, they don’t give you a whole lot of lead time to figure it out.  We’ve had to relearn the signs that it’s time to go out.
  • Puppies have to go out a lot. See the poop and pee bit above.  And yes, that includes the middle of the night.  Because they’re so little, they can’t hold it a long time.  So it’s up to us to make sure she gets outside.  But that’s part of house training.  Fortunately, Bonnie’s been a quick study.
  • Puppies test your patience – big time. This especially goes for Basenji puppies.  Because of their crazy amount of energy, they want to play, play, play, run around all of the time.  And when training happens and as they hit adolescence around 8 months, you’ll feel like you have a teenager living in your house.  Don’t worry.  You do.  Just the canine variety.  So as I mentioned above, there’s a reason why puppies are so cute.
bonnie-4-months

Bonnie at 4 months.

BUT, the biggest thing I remember is this:

  • Dogs color our lives, especially puppies. When we left Maryland to head to North Carolina, the emotion surging through me shocked me.  And each day, I continue to be astonished at the way that we have so quickly bonded with Bonnie.  She’s a love, and she’s learning how to be a part of the Haynie pack.  I know that with time, she’ll grow and mature very quickly out of the crazy puppy stage.  She’s already grown a bit (see photo on left).  And when she does, I know we’ll have a mature young lady who’s ready to take on the world.  She gives love freely, and it’s a joy to return that love to her.

So stay tuned.  I’m sure I’ll have many more posts about her.

This post does not mention any products.  Therefore, I am not receiving any compensation for writing this post.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR Part 255:
Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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