Ten Minutes With Tuc: Life with a Puppy

Ahhh.... life with a healthy, confident, inquisitive puppy! :o)


I had a meeting yesterday morning, during which I kept Tuc, Pinot, and Ridge crated (Kenya was at the vet's getting her OFA x-rays done, and we don't crate Elsie anymore except when she's in heat). When I came home from my meeting, I took the gang outside to do their various businesses, and then to throw a ball with them for some exercise (sweet Elsie-the-Waddling-Wide-Load opted out).

Pinot and Tuc ran hard, non-stop, retrieving over and over again for at least twenty minutes.

Then nature (for human-types) called. Time to go in.

So, back in the house we went, the kids all plopping down panting. Tuc started happily slobbering over a bone, and I walked into the powder room for my quick "potty." I thought it was safe.

For the entire less-than-a-minute I was occupied on the throne, I heard this rustling on the other side of the closed bathroom door.

What harm could Tuc possibly do in sixty seconds, especially since he was contentedly chewing on a bone when nature called me away?

Just FYI, our food pantry is outside the bathroom door. ;o)

So, lo and behold, I walked out of the bathroom and turned the corner, and there trots Tuc proud as proud can be with a freshly retrieved-from-the-pantry-shelves box of Cheerios. Without breaking stride, he leapt up on the couch, Cheerios in tow, to settle in for a nice mid-morning snack (he never even dropped the box).


I, of course, interrupted his brunch (naturally pausing first to capture a photo -- priorities, you know), but while doing so I got to thinking: if this is Tuc in less-than-sixty unsupervised seconds, what might Tuc be capable of in ten minutes?

I decided to follow the Tuc-meister around for ten straight minutes (I timed it), just for fun and with camera in hand all the while resisting the urge to run interference for him.

Disclaimer: no animals were put at risk or injured during making of the following images (notice I didn't say a word about humans - hehe).

And the italicized comments are what I imagine occurred in Tuc's head.


So here goes. Ten minutes of Tuc:

Harrumph. Mom took that yummy-smelling box away. But this plastic thingy with all the bumps on it will do instead. Maybe if I sneak it out to my hammock, Mom won't know I have it.

Double harrumph. She found me. And she took that away, too.

Hmmmm... This big blue thing smells awfully yummy, maybe I'll try this. Who cares if I knock over the bigger thing is sat on top off. It just smells so good! I better get it back to my hammock fast!

Geesh. She took that away, too. Harrumph. Mom's no fun.

Okay, so here come's Ridge. I'll go pounce on him and see if he wants to play.


Wait, time out, Ridge!

Is that Pinot I hear at the door? I better go look.


Yup, there she is.

But...whoa, what's that I smell? Eureka! Who cares about Pinot when I can snag Mom's shoe! I better take this to a safe place where I can enjoy it in peace. I'll try hiding on my hammock again. Maybe it will work this time.


She did it again. Mom took my treasure away!

Oh...wait... I hear Pinot coming in.

Maybe she'll play keep-away with the Kong with me.



Guess not.

Well, since she doesn't want to play keep-away, I'll just chomp and pester her until she pays attention to me.


Oops. I didn't really want this much attention. Okay, Pinot, you win.



Since Pinot won't play, and Ridge won't play, and I can't find Kenya, maybe I'll just try these papers on the end table next to the couch.

Whoops, I only meant to grab one. I really didn't mean to knock them all on the floor.

That's okay. I got the one I wanted.


Yeah, this tastes pretty good. Mmmmmmmm....I love to shred paper.

Geez, Mom! You're taking away paper, too?

Now what am I going to do?

Maybe I'll trot out to the laundry room and see what Ridge is doing. There he is napping on the rug.

Hah! No nap-time for you, Bucko!


C'mon Ridge, play!

Okay. If you won't play, then I'll just pull the rug out from under you.



Oh, wait. What's that in there? There's a bone hidden in this fold. Wow! A bone. I like bones! And Mom even lets me keep them. :o)



Oh... wait. I hear Elsie. Her she comes. There she is! I think I'll go tug her ear!


Ah shucks. Elsie doesn't want to play either. Since she got so fat she never wants to play.

Harrumph. Guess I'll go try Ridge again.

Ridge won't play. Bummers. Guess I'll try the rug.

Hey wait, where's everybody going?

Oh, there's Mom. Why are you taking all those pictures, Mom? And where's Kenya? I really want somebody to play with me. Will you play with me, Mom?



And that was then end of our ten minutes.

Not to worry. As I followed the Imp around, I did correct him and take things from him that could hurt him or that he shouldn't have. But before I could get that thing (whatever it was) taken care of or put away, he was on to the next thing. In fact, some of his transitions were so fast, I didn't even have time to focus the camera (like when Tuc went from garbage-can-lid to leaping on Ridge or trotting from the end table with newspaper in mouth).

People often don't realize what they're getting into with puppies. But these antics (and others like them) are exactly as they should be. Tuc is just doing what puppies do. And he's learning and growing with every correction and stage in the process.

What a guy.

Oh my. As Winnie-the-Pooh would say, "Oh help and bother!" We have puppies due in less than ten days. And we have Tuc and Pinot still in puppy-dom. :o)

I say again, "Oh help and bother!"

It kinda reminds me when my three human kids were 3.5 years old, eighteen months old, and new born (yes, I had all my kids within 3.5 years). It was nuts. But in hindsight I really wouldn't do it any other way.

Same goes for our Labs. It's crazy, yes, but fun. :o) And it keeps me on my toes.

And people wonder why I never seem to get anything done!

'Til next time,
Joan