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Jan 02, 1997

Teething

Tonight as I write this, Raffi and Gambi are asleep on one couch spoon-style, and the pups, in various poses, are asleep on the other couch. One of the pups, Shadow (my sweet tri with dark brindle points) has wandered into the office to stare at me and figure out what I'm doing. She's dragging around a pig's ear that's bigger than she is, and clearly wants me to protect this munchy of hers from all comers.

We barbequeued ribs last night, and the pups had their first taste of real beef. You've never heard such a chorus of growls as when they waked from their chewing trances and thought the grass was greener under the other puppies' bones. Things seemed to get a little hairy, so we took the bones away.

We also discovered where Raffi's name originated. I know it's supposed to be from a Swahili dialect (meaning companion); but it REALLY is Ruffi. We discovered when Raffi's bone is threatened, he makes this very un-basenji-like "Ruf" sound. Normally when he's aggravated by a pup, he makes this kind of growly chewing noise that sounds for all the world like "leave me a-lone". But last night he just said "Ruf" whenever a pup tried to swipe his rib, or "Ruf" when one jumped off a couch on to his forehead or "Ruf" when a pup tried to sneak off with Raffi's stuffed dog, Duffy. Ruffi and Duffy. (sigh)