When Alvaro came back to the Quinta to spell the Old Gringo for a bit, he brought a little bundle from Heck in the form of a Labrador puppy. It was, of course, the thing that we absolutely needed above all else.
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| Bebe with his new friend from next door |
It is the kind of thing that an old fool needs to have running around trying to be friendly and important and becoming lost in the invisible line of the bifocals during the middle of the night. But, he is a Labrador, and he has all those endearing characteristics that a Labrador brings to an issue. With luck, he will outlive me.
He was kept inside during the first couple of nights, and he did not whine or whimper. He only made one small mess and after that was essentially housebroken.....pretty good for a dog....He seems to prefer playing in the front yard and lounging on the "long west-facing corridor" like the rest of the tourists.
We did lose Trouble, the dog one sees at the entrance with the Old Gringo when he was caught up in a contest of alfa males....Trouble was a dedicated beta male, but failed to move when two really stupid males were fighting and they both pretty much took him apart. I was informed after the fact, having been in the Austin area at the time. It was about a week later that Sylvester, our resident black and white tomcat was found quite a ways away.....about a half mile....on the paved road. He had been run over, so Alvaro brought him back and gave him a decent burial as well. So....don't have pets or animals around unless you have nerves of putty.
Anyway, New Puppy a calico Heinz of about 7 months age and Bebe who is about 3 months hit it off well and so now they are en situs. Bebe had to come inside during the day because of the heat....102 f outside and 81f inside.....he found the master bathroom where we keep a bowl of water for the cats. The dark, adobe cooled room was much to his liking, so he slept long stretches, sometimes with his paw in the bowl.
The "general purpose dogs", Prince and Pinto have given Bebe the "benign neglect" treatment, with only Prince growling at him one time. It was noticed however that both of the older dogs are spending the nights over at Anastacio's house behind the Quinta. They still gallop out barking and growling at night whenever a real or imagine interloper comes into the nasal radar range.
Bebe has given considerable effort with some significant success towards making peace and friendship with the cats. Cleopaetra has become "used to" him, while the other two seem to be a bit more concerned with making sure that he knows who is who, and what space belongs to whom.
Just a bit of estrogen dosage for that portion of the OROG community.
El Gringo Viejo.
ps. It was decided to hang Alvaro by his toes for three days when I make it back to the Quinta.....or force him to sell raffle tickets to raise money to feed the new dog.
