Puppy Camp

Yes, puppy camp started today for Joey and his friend, Barkley.  Joey and I drove down to the SEGD campus, where Barkley’s raiser works part time.  We traded dogs and beds, exchanged info about medications, and I headed home with my little camper.  In the car, I was surprised at how much Barkley looked like Joey when looking straight into his face.  Joey is a goldadore and Barkley is a full lab.  Barkley’s profile shows the classic squared muzzle, while Joey’s is more pointed.  But looking straight into their faces, they look very alike, at least to me.   I will have to see if Barkley’s raiser, Leslie, notices the same thing. 

After getting home, Barkley checked out the house and yard, then starting acting exactly like Joey, staying right at my feet.  The kids came home from school and played with him a little bit, happily surprised that he is so much calmer than Joey.  When they went into their rooms to do homework and play on the computer, Joey, I mean Barkley, laid in the hallway, exactly where he, I mean Joey, always does. 

I hadn’t told the wife yet that we started puppy camp.  She came home this evening after a very long 13 hour day.  The kids were biting their tongues, just waiting to see when she would notice it was a different dog.  I, of course, knew she was barely keeping her eyes open as she ate dinner.  She wouldn’t notice anything until she sat down in the living room.  That’s when Joey would normally be right in front of her with a toy, moving back and forth, and whining for her to play with him.  To my surprise, Barkley came over to her with a toy in his mouth, wagging back and forth exactly like Joey, but not whining.  Cindy was too tired to notice the difference.  I could tell that the boys were busting at the seams, trying not to give it away, but dying to say something.  Before going to bed, Colby, our youngest, just had to tell her that it was Barkley, not Joey.  She was very surprised, and embarrassed that she hadn’t noticed.  She got down on the floor to play with him and found a big difference in the dogs immediately.  Joey loves to have his ears rubbed and Barkley definitely does not.   I hope Leslie reads this or Joey may have a difficult time, going at least two weeks without his ear rubs.