Hanging out in the break room.

Just a quick one this morning before I go outside for some yard work. While sitting in the den reading the news and my email I became aware that it got very quiet all of a sudden. I have gotten so used to Ruffin and Bessie playing everywhere and following me around while doing it. I turned around and spotted them napping on the floor behind me.

I put Bessie on the scale this morning and she weighed 28 LBS. I am still impressed how brave she has gotten outside even when she has no backup from one of the big boys. She firmly stands her ground and lets out her little puppy bark challenging everyone she sees. And when Ruff is out there with her he immediately begins to bark too, even when he doesn't bark when Bessie isn't with him. Bessie has definitely taken over Sassy's spot. She was the Early Warning System and the leader of the choir and Bessie is doing everything that Sassy did.

  

The games continue. They never really stopped.

Baby Bessie is turning into a bad girl. She is now big enough to jump up and put her paws and her chin on the kitchen table where we sit to eat our meals. If I wasn't paying attention she would have snatched some food off my dinner plate last night and this morning she grabbed the paper towel that my toast was laying on and almost dragged it onto the floor. I'm adding that problem to the growing list of things that need to be corrected.

This morning we resumed the games with a slight change in the strategy. Mr. Ruffin anchored himself like a couch potato and battled his young attacker without leaving his comfortable couch. And take not of the 3-month old Rottweiler puppy standing in front of him. Now you can see how easy it is to reach the table.

How quickly the "violence" turns to love.

 

Now, Deja Vu times 3.

I hate to keep using the term Deja Vu over and over but I am being reminded every day how similar the relationship has become between Bessie and Ruffin as it was with Ruffin and Sassy and Ruffin and Mocha. I just spotted the two of them laying together in the very same spot where baby Ruffin was when I took a picture of him and my old girl Mocha 7 years ago.

By the way, it is very handy to have a few pairs of old shoes laying around, just in case you have a puppy that like to toss them, chew them and carry them around.

And where is Moosey? Yep, we still have him. I added him to this later photo.

A quiet night together watching a movie

My little girl Bess spent most of the evening laying next to me on the couch watching a movie. And Ruffin slept through the whole thing on the floor. This was quit a change from what has become the norm these past weeks. There was no play fighting or attack-puppy finger biting and no hyperactive house-wrecker puppy. Just a nice quiet puppy and it almost seemed like she suddenly was all grown up. After the movie Bessie posed for some cute pictures, including her own version of Mocha's famous Porno Puppy shot.

The little one is getting big.

Just took these pictures a few minutes ago and it is pretty obvious that little Bess is starting to fill in her over-sized feet. I have been weighing her almost every day because I also noticed she feels heavier when I pick her up. Bess is closing in on 30 LBS and she won't be 3 months old for a few more days.

Bessie likes to lay in her Mom's lap in the family room and she gives Mom wake-up kisses every morning. And when I put her up on the bed she sometimes runs up to her sleeping Mom in leaps and bounds to deliver those kisses.

It's Deja Vu again and again.

First off, I have to establish a birthday for baby Bess. I can't keep saying she is 6-weeks old or 9-weeks old because I only had a vague starting point. When I adopted her from the Kenton County Animal Shelter the paperwork said she was 7-weeks old when she was given up for adoption on August 19th. So backtracking on the calendar it would make her birthday around July 1st, so that's the date we will have her future birthday parties on. So that means Bessie was 3-months old yesterday. 

Now here is the other reason for this date and the title of this post because I am comparing Bessie's growth rate to our big boy Ruffin. On March 15th, 2007, one day before Ruffin was 3 months old, I took his picture when he was hanging over the gate to the kitchen. Here it is.

Today I took this photo of baby Bessie doing the same thing Ruffin did but with a different gate.

I think baby Bessie is going to be a big girl when she grows up. She has already doubled her weight since we brought her to her forever home a month ago. And she has begun to fill the place our previous girls occupied. Ruffin adores her and she spends almost all her time with him. Axl now likes her enough to give her kisses once in awhile. And she is a very brave little girl. When I take her outside she challenges everyone who walks past our house with a defiant little pose with her feet spread apart and her tiny bark. And inside the house she has become our Early Warning System like Sassy used to be. When anyone walks down the street or comes to the door she barks as loud as she can and immediately this is followed by Ruffin also barking. I made a comment about this a few weeks ago saying how quiet it has become around here after Sassy went to the bridge. Ruffin didn't bark until Sassy did. Now the chorus is complete again.

What goes around, comes around.

Last night it was Deja Vu all over again. Baby Bess just taken a long nap in my den when I picked her up and carried her into the living room to watch the 11 o'clock news on TV. I had just finished watching Godzilla. How appropriate was the title of that movie. Ruff had also woken up and came over to lay on the other couch. Bessie was full of vim and vigor from her nap and wanted to play with Ruff and it was like suddenly being transported back 7 1/2 years ago in time. This was the same place where it all started when Sassy was teaching discipline to baby Ruff.

Exact time and date 1/22/2007 9:03:02 PM 

And this is what happened last night.

Then they paused for some big wet kisses.

And continued, half on and half off the couch.

No puppy was injured during the taking of these pictures.

I think they're in love.

Maybe not yet.

 

This story is just so sweet.

I received a new movie from Amazon.com today and stayed in the living room tonight to watch it. At first I had Ruff and Bessie with me and Ruff went right to sleep on the floor. Bessie had ants in her pants and didn't want to stay with me on the couch and when I put her on the floor she kept getting into things. This is the room where I have my home entertainment center and a bookcase full of nicknacks so it is normally off-limits for the little mischief maker. That's why there are gates at both ends to keep her out. I paused the movie and put Bess back in the family room with Mom and Axl. I didn't hear any barking so I knew she wasn't bothering the old man.

After the movie was finished I went looking for her to take her out and at first I couldn't find her. She wasn't in the family room or the hallway or the bathroom. Then I looked in my den and found her sleeping curled up around the base of my chair, just like she does when I'm working on the computer. This room must be her safe place where she knows I always go and she was waiting for me. I picked her up and carried her back into the living room and she was so sound asleep that it took a few minutes to wake her up. Then all I got was yawns and face kisses. Tomorrow I'll show you the pictures I took afterwards. It was Deja Vu all over again.

After dinner tonight they all took a nap ..... together.

I feed the Rottweilers before my wife and I sit down for our dinner. Tonight I wanted Bessie to be in the kitchen with us so I could keep an eye on her. I walked through the house and didn't see her, the I found her sleeping in a pile of Rottweilers. Looks like the war is over and everyone made peace.

Finally - Some Peace.

Earlier today Mom and Bessie and Axl posed for a picture on the couch. 

 

Persistent Bessie Has Won and I got the pictures.

I said a few days ago that Bessie was turning her attention on old man Axl, otherwise known as Grumpy Grandpa. Well tonight Bessie won him over and it literally happened right under my feet and the camera was only inches from my hand. Bessie has been hanging out with me in the den, curled up at the base of my chair while I surf the Internet. I have gotten in the habit of looking down to see if she is in the way when I roll the chair back. I took this picture a few days ago.

Well tonight when I looked down this is what I saw. At first I thought that she was laying next to Ruffin but then I noticed the blue collar and realized it was the old man Axl and he wasn't complaining. And she was touching his feet!

The little sweetheart couldn't understand why the big old Rottweiler didn't like her and that made her try even harder to win him over. And she did.

A little angel or a little beastie or both?

I took more photos today of our little beastie wrestling with Ruffin. Aside from Bessie getting bigger and stronger, Ruff is still as gentle with her as can be even if it doesn't look that way. At no time in the last three weeks has she ever cried out so I know he isn't hurting her. Then I put Bessie in my wife's lap. The smile that came over Jackie’s face says it all. And on a few occasions I have heard Jackie talking to Bessie while she was holding her. Bessie has some remarkable traits for an almost 3-month old puppy. She can be either an angel or a little devil, but I prefer to call her a beastie since it rhymes with Bessie.

This looks like face slap or a boxing match. I wonder where she learned this.

Daddy's Girl.

The den has always been a favorite place for the Rottweilers to hang out. At times it has become very crowded when Ruff and Axl come in to keep me company. Now we have a new addition and Bessie has picked two favorites, me and Ruff. For the past few days I have found little Bessie curled up at the base of my office chair taking a nap while I work on the computer. Sometimes she even wants to lay in my lap. This morning while I was checking my email, she kept jumping up to see what I was doing so I picked her up and sat her on the desk chair.

And in a rare, quiet moment Bessie even laid down in the den next to her big hero, Ruff.

And, by the way, she has almost doubled her size since we brought her home on August 28th. Bessie now weighs 22 lbs., a gain of 9 lbs in 17 days, and her feet are getting big, too. And she has gotten to be a very brave little girl. Since she learned how to bark a week ago she now barks at people out on our street. OK, its a little bark but the way she stands, legs apart and ears cocked, she looks to be a very promising protector. But there are limits to her courage. The other morning I took her out around 8 AM before Ruff even woke up and the school bus came down the street and scared her. It was the largest vehicle she has seen and it was very loud. Bessie stood her ground while it approached our house but when it went past she ran right for the front door.

 

Bessie has turned her attention to Axl in a good way.

Bessie has a new interest. Her seemingly non-stop hand-to-hand combat lessons with Ruffin have really slacked-off and now they have a sweet little friendship going on between them. She nuzzles Ruff a lot and follows him around (like a puppy dog) when we are outside. Watching the two of them going for a walk together is very funny. Ruffin has a huge gate because of his size and Bessie has to continuously run after him to keep up. And when she runs her ears go flapping up and down. 

Now Bessie seems to be fixated with turning Grumpy Grandpa Axl into another big buddy. And Axl doesn't seem to mind when Bessie lays down on the floor next to him as long as she doesn't bite his feet. It hasn't been completely quiet today, she had a few rounds with Axl and Axl made her back off with a few loud barks. But it was very sweet to see her taking a nap next to the old man when she got tired from all the exercise.

I had to work outdoors today and take advantage to the mid-70s temperature. The grass needed cutting real bad. We had almost 5 inches of rain in a week's time followed by some hot, humid mid 90s temp and the grass was soaking it all up. When I get a chance I'm going to catch Bessie getting close to Axl and get some pictures.

 

The games at home are better than what's on TV.

Hard to say if Bessie's training is getting anywhere but she is giving Ruffin a good workout. She is fearless, as any puppy is, especially when it is all pretend, at least it is for Ruff. Bessie's bites are real and they must hurt sometimes. There have also been some cute examples outside when she heard another dog barking she ran to Ruffin for protection because she was frightened. And then she stands behind him like little girl. And she likes to be with him and follows him around the house both indoors and out. The indoor games tonight ended at bedtime and she must have gotten worn out as much as Ruff. She fell asleep as soon as I put her in her cage and Ruff went off to bed at the same time. So I have snoring coming from three rooms now, Axl was already sleeping in his Mom's room.

Who has the biggest tongue?

Funny how quiet she gets when Ruff pins her down.

I think Bessie is in love.

Breakfast at the Big Dog feeder.

This is a slight improvement over leaving Bessie's food dish on the floor. At least it stays in one place. But Ruffin eats so fast I hardly had time to get back and pick up the camera.

Wanna play with me?

No words necessary.