Little Boy Blue
Little Boy Blue
This adolescent tangle of huge paws, long legs, and floppy ears landed on our premises last Sunday. Meet Blue, our new Great Dane puppy.
Estella the cat’s introduction to Blue was rather a histrionic affair complete with arched back, perpendicular hair, and a cautionary grimace. Blue soon decided that she didn’t want to play. Estella has since regarded Blue with pragmatism, though she continues to give Blue wide berth. Clumsy dogs, her contemptuous glare seems to say.
The shitzu dog Lilliputian* (“Lilly”) is still quivering with affright. This is no wonder, since playful Blue likes to chase and paw her. Although he is only two months old, he stands an impressive 18” at the shoulder. (Accordingly, we are teaching Blue now not to jump on or to paw at us or to throw himself against the French doors or to climb furniture, since that will cause trouble when he grows to stand 30” to 36” inches at the shoulder.)
As for us humans, we appreciate Blue’s clumsy affection, his beautiful color, his silky ears, and the fact that he came potty-trained. The only time we think ill of him is in the wee hours of the morning when Blue has a propensity for loneliness. Last “night” he barked, full-force, for (what certainly must have been) an hour. A Great Dane, the king of dogs even as a puppy, has a majestic voice to match his kingly physique. Mama says that his mournful voice traveled through the air-conditioning vents into her bedroom. The girls, who sleep (or don’t) only yards away from Blue, resorted to classical music played at an elevated volume. Bedtime Beats never fails us.
*We have been surprised by the number of people who don’t know what a Lilliputian is. The term comes from Jonathan Swift’s eighteenth-century classic Gulliver’s Travels during the course of which the protagonist visits the kingdom of Lilliput, inhabited by people only six-inches tall. The term can be used to describe anything trivial or small, which describes Lilly rather well.
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LILLY (as told to LA MATER) said...
I take umbrage at your description of me. I may be small, but I am NOT trivial!
Saturday, May 8, 2010 10:04 AM
LITTLEST SISTER said...
I completely agree. She is not trivial.
Saturday, May 8, 2010 10:53 AM
HANDMAIDEN said...
If Lilly makes your lives happier, I will not grudge her. ;-)
Saturday, May 8, 2010 11:01 AM
Friday, May 7, 2010