Life with the new puppy continues.

Moonshine, our 13 year old black lab, seems to have accepted the little one. He’s not overjoyed at the prospect, but she learned that the big black dog is not a chewtoy and he has stopped slamming his paw on the ground and barking when she forgets that he is not a chew toy.

Sophie, the beagle-dachshund mix, is not thrilled about Maggie’s presence in her home, and still growls when Maggie gets in her face. However, as long as the pup leaves her alone, she is happy to leave the pup alone. Basically, she is playing an extended version of “The Floor is Lava” as she hops from one place the pup can’t reach yet to another. Maggie cannot seem to understand this. I mean, she is small and black, Sophie is small and black, so the hostility is confusing.

Ellie, the beagle-lab mix, wants no part of all this. When Maggie tries to follow her, Ellie actively retreats, usually while expressing one form of canine profanity or another. I’ve never heard Ellie growl like this before, but a quick pet on the head and some attention calms her down. However, Ellie now prefers life on the back deck or in the basement where Maggie isn’t allowed. Maggie tries to initiate play with Ellie, but I think this is going to take some time.

I’m trying to train myself to remember that Maggie will not always be small enough to be a lap dog, and if I train her to be a lap dog, I’m going to need a bigger lap. However, there are few things in life more relaxing than having a puppy fall asleep in your arms.

The fuzzy thing appears outwardly and by temperment to be a black lab, but she had one litter mate with a lab body and german shepherd coloring. Another litter mate was a yellow lab with blue eyes like a husky. So, either she’s a complete mutt or her mama had several baby daddies. Only time will tell.

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The weather in Kentucky continues to be as psychotic as it ever was. The past few weeks have been hot and muggy, which is to say it’s been typical for Kentucky in July. Yesterday afternoon, the temperature dropped 20 degrees in 20 minutes, then it rained hard for about 10 minutes, and it’s been quite pleasant ever since.

The weather daemon says that it’s going to be like this for a few days before another heat wave comes in. I’ll just enjoy this while it lasts. I just keep reminding myself that every wake-up is one day closer to fall, Kentucky’s best season.

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A friend recently remarked that one of the reasons he does not do appendix carry is that he does not want to walk around with a pistol pointed at his junk.

After careful consideration, I think I will be trying out appendix carry.

My junk has gotten me into so much trouble over the years that I no longer care about how it would feel about staring down the barrel of a 1911.