The Sounding Burrows' Litter 2002 B Five Months And Up

This site was last updated 31-12-2003 ©The Sounding Burrows

Henbane and Glee at about five months

As I told you black lakeys don't give the best impression on photographs. They are best seen live!

Henbane on her back, Larousse besides her, holding her in his arms. Romantic isn't it?

The crate has become a safe place to stay, whether the door is closed or not,

but Glee does get a bit bored when she has to wait for Henbane to finish chewing.

Hair still sticking out at odd places, but nevertheless Henbane can't be anything but graceful,

and look cheeky from time to time!

Well, we give her another try!

Glee is a bit more down to earth, but with a charm of her own.
She reminds me of what the owner of her father said about her father:
I bought him because he has no faults.
Well, that's my Glee: no faults.

(later note: at a later point she got bitten in her ear when playing rough
with Henbane and Larousse which resulted in an ear that stands up a bit weird.
Gives her a cute, but not really wanted look)

And the two of them together - as usual.

At Six Months

They still look small, but in fact Glee is a little bit bigger than mom by now
and Henbane is even a little bigger than Glee.
You can see now that Glee is black and Henbane blue.

Ashop (with a sweater, for she is half trimmed and it is pretty cold) and Glee.

They really look alike, don't they?

Tryfan wanted to be in the picture too :-))

Tryfan and Henbane. Both could do with a trim, but it is cold and Tryfan hates to be trimmed, so I can't find it in my heart to put him through it. I just comb him a bit more often. Henbane is not that lucky and when the weather improves, she'll have to go though it!

Retrospect

Looking back on the past year and a half I can't believe it has already been that long! It seems to me they are still pups, but rearranging my website and looking at all those pictures again I realise how much they have grown. And how far we have come ... and that if you ever consider keeping more that one pup at the time : DON'T!!! For me it worked out perfectly, but I have done almost nothing else this past year. I don't have a husband or kids that need attention and time and my work has been scheduled around the dogs, not the other way around! And even though I devote most of my time to my dogs, when a problem arises because of circumstances out of my control (like Larousse who has been attacked when he was three months) I am stuck with the problem that there just isn't enough time in a day to fix it (that is train with other dogs than my own to make him realize this doesn't happen áll the time). I wanted to do a lot of showing, since I am pretty proud of Larousse and Henbane - even Glee turned out to be a very complete Lakeland that might do well in the showring, but showing one dog means leaving the others alone or in someone else's care for an entire day. I fret far too much to make anything of the show at all that way. Since Glee is the most amiable dog I have ever met, making friends out of dogs, horses (she really loves them!), children, the elderly and even cats, I want to work with her by going to hospitals etc. and cheer up the children that are affected by one or the other severe illness. When study and the planned move are done I hope to at least find the time to do that (but the planned next two litters make me fear the worst ...). Being on your own has the advantage you don't have to take someone else into account, the disadvantage is that once you leave to do something somewhere else, there is no one to keep the household going. Since Larousse is a very obedient dog and highly trainable, because of his extraordinary intelligence (Henbane rivals him in that respect) and I always have had a vision of doing rescue work (retrieving victims after earthquakes, lost people etc.) I hoped to go out and work with him and/or Henbane. Unfortunately there are no trainingpossibilities nearby enough to be manageble in my timeframe. Maybe I strike lucky when I have moved, but so far I have only trained him myself in the obvious. Like being able and brave enough to walk over any surface, not fear loud sounds, search and retrieve objects etc. Larousse is a very sensible dog: he was the first to ride me with the bike, because he understands where his position is (on the right!). Henbane also is a natural in that respect, clinging so close to my bike that people got scared looking at her. She does the same when we walk. She is almost always at heel, though I have never required that of her. Glee is the opposite: always pulling to see what's round the corner and if there are any children left to greet. She also has a tendency to make a complete left turn when next to my bike, because there is someone interesting to my left. She is improving now, but it took me a long time before I felt save riding a bike with her. Actually, only the fact that I have been riding a bike with a dog next to it for almost 15 year now has given me the confidence to ride a bike with her at all. I can ride the bike, when almost standing still, my bike has a low frame so I can reach the floor when sitting on it and I have special brakes. (I have to be extra careful since I live in a very crowded place, taking chances is no option here). When you consider taking your dog with you with your bike, you have to make sure you definitely can get to the floor when sitting and practise first by riding some weeks with just one hand at the steer and a weight of 2 or 3 kilo's in your right hand (always keep the dog away from the side where the traffic rides, in Holland that is keep it on your right). If you don't trust yourself, there are special contraptions (Spinger) that can help you. Ask your local petshop or bicycleshop. Back to the dogs: Henbane has been the most important factor in getting over the loss of Tryfan. She looks a lot like him, not just in looks, but also in her attention to all my actions. She is where ever I am, when I move she moves and she is generally more active than any dog I have ever seen. On the other hand she has a quiet stillness that amazes me. When given enough exercise (which is quite a lot, even more that Larousse), she is the perfect pet. Besides all that she has for about 90 % cured my facial pains that I have had just about my whole life, by sleeping under my chin. She seems to sense when something is wrong, because when she and Glee were these tiny pups, she would pick the nicest bits out of her bowl and bring them to Glee. A couple of months ago I got a nasty cut on my left wrist that wouldn't properly heal, till Henbane gnawed off the bandage and cleaned the wound with her teeth and tongue. Because my grandmothers Airedale terrier had done a similar thing when she got an enormous burn on her leg, when I was a little baby, I had the sensibility to let her do her thing. Today it is still a scar, but the wound has closed and there has been no more infection.
Amongst themselves they are quite relaxed, except when something unusual happens. Larousse has had a dominant spell after Tryfan died and tried to bully everyone and everything. I made sure I gave him no support at all and only gave him any attention when he was behaving in a desired way. That did the trick. Only when something happens like unexpected visitors, he can bully the girls, because he wants to be the first to chase them away (the girls want to be first to greet them). He has a special friendship with Henbane, but the two of them can also have the fiercest arguments (I say arguments, because they don't fight, but they growl it out - quite unnerving when you first come face to face with it, but I'm used to it now and they actually seem to enjoy it) over cheewies or toys. Another special friendship has developed between Ashop and Glee. Funny, but Ashop will also play with Larousse and Glee with Henbane, but Glee rarely plays with Larousse and Ashop never plays with Henbane. They can get along marvelously, but no play. Well, that enough talk for now, you'll want to see some pictures ;-)

Winter 2003

I'll begin where I left off and as usual most photo's are taken at home. A friend has promised to take some "show" pictures in the near future, but for now I only have 'funstuff'. I haven't included any photo's with Tryfan in them anymore for it gets harder and harder for me to look at them. I still miss him.

February 2003: Glee mimicking a honeybadger. She has convinced me!

Henbane and Glee also enjoy mom's garden. It looks like a regular racing track.

Henbane is also still blessed with a wild look
(I like to keep them puppyish for as long as possible.
This time is never coming back and they can look stylish the rest of their lives).

April 2003

Glee, first trim and almost no whiskers ;-)

Henbane and Larousse in one of their particular games.
Henbane has been stripped and a long, very light undercoat is visible.

Ashop and Glee.

Henbane can't stand to be left out and comes barging in.

That's enough to get them all going.

Samojeed is a smiling dog? Well, Glee roars with laughter!

May 2003

Did I tell you about the dog, that was actually a monkey?
Larousse defies all laws of gravity and denies the possibility that there are limits to a body's capacities.

You don't believe me? Take a better look!

He'll wait for you to be convinced ;-)

June 2003 - Life without Tryfan

Larousse becomes a man, he is not a little boy anymore.
His looks are convincing, but he believes he needs to make sure.
It took him almost two months to find out what we already knew.
Now he is not just a man, but a gentleman!

Ashop and Glee. They don't change.

Henbane (who needs words?)

Together, smelling the air.

Balcony could use a new slab of paint ...

Starting to look more Mature.

Henbane and Larousse on Tryfan's all but destroyed little bed.
Is that why they put on droopy faces?

The carpet definitely has gotten a "used" look, but when the culprits are this endearing who would protest?

Henbane trimmed and I couldn't choose (again).

After all the Play

When I finally can get to work I get stuck behind my desk. The only option is to work hard for several hours, for getting up means driving my chair over someone's leg or ear.

Evenings spent

Henbane and Glee

And Henbane and Glee

and guess who ...

and finally ... Ashop and Glee

The Forgotten Photo's

When all was done, my mom had the photo's from her camera developed. Here is a compilation of what she had ...

Henbane and Glee about 5 months old in my basket.
They are so small they can get into one basket together.
Even now they are full size they can be put in there together.

And I forgot all about their ...

Leaving only Tryfan at home (he had seen snow often enough and eating it would make him sick) I took Ashop, Henbane, Glee and Larousse early one morning with fresh snow all together to my mom. Fortunately it was a sunday and all was quiet, so I could drive my packed bicycle with four dogs over to my mom's place and let them discover the pristine layer of whiteness. Oh, what fun!!!

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