Sprout…

Simon, co-founder of Window to the Wild, husband to Lindsey and future father of our granddaughter-to-be, camped all night outside the Richardson Animal Shelter to get a Great Pyrenees puppy in preparation for their move from the bird refuge to their own piece of land.

We met Sprout at Brain Dead on Lower Greenville the following day and she was such a sleepy pup,

Sprout

“She’s just been spayed so probably still recovering from the anesthesia,” our son explained.

Initially she was small enough to take to work but that didn’t last…they are fast growing dogs.

He brought her out to the property to help Hubs put up the ceiling tiles on our newly extended back patio and she and I took a walk down the driveway,

“She loves running through tall grasses,” Simon told us; he’d sent us video of her wading, slow motion, through it on their evening walk at the dump.

Charlie came up to meet her,

SproutCharlie

and they frolicked in the long grass,

SproutGrass

until it was time to return to the back patio.

I called her but she wanted to follow her new friend home…so I summoned Charlie and Sprout turned round and ran to me, tripping over the grass and falling down the pot-holes.

A good girl that time!

“She loves being outside…” our son told us,

and now she’s even bigger she has to sleep outdoors in a large crate at the bird refuge where she lives.

She can’t spend much time in the tiny house with two and a half humans and a couple of cats (not to mention Pigwidgeon the screech owl) in residence.

This past week we’ve had the pleasure of her company at Footlights while Mum & Dad went to Mexico.

“She doesn’t respond too well to her name,” he admitted when we picked her up at a Starbucks after the musical, Mamma Mia, in Garland.

I’d noticed that from the time before.

“No problems with her off leash at your place?” Simon texted from the resort a few days later.

Well, I’ve had a few days to figure her out!  She’ll come half-heartedly to any number of names including her own and Kendra, Flopsie, Charlie…

…but she is very reluctant to heed me and usually chooses to go off the other way.

Not such a good girl now.

Imagine her wandering off into our adjacent fields?  How would I ever find her?  I think.

“No problems,” I texted Simon back, “we’ve got it handled with Tites the police dog!”

SproutTites

As her stay lengthens she is becoming more comfortable and with the comfort comes curiosity as she wanders off to explore the trees on the perimeter of our property.

This morning she defied me and walked purposefully towards the barn when I took chase.  I obligingly opened the large sliding door and in she went, tail wagging, tongue hanging out.

The door clanged shut behind her and she was left alone to consider her plight.

Hubs let her out when he went up for some tools and leashed her to a glider where she did what she loves to do best, laid down and zoned…

…Zen-style.

Shads is enjoying her company…probably it’s the chance of extra food that he’s enjoying but Sprout loves attention and she doesn’t mind sharing one bit!

SproutShads

They have become quite good friends,

SproutShads2

as long as Sprout stays in the prone position!

Initially I was excited to have a walking companion and since it’s summer early mornings are best for me…but, as I soon found out, maybe not for her!

She’s a dead loss at long walks.

On the first day I was literally dragging her up the hill just outside the gates to Footlights and on day two she protested roundly by sitting down and refusing to budge an inch.

SproutWalk

She’s too heavy to pick up but look at that irresistible face…I had a problem if I wanted to continue my morning  exercise.

I stopped for a breather and a passing car galvanized her into action and we resumed our amble for a few more hundred feet before she started lagging again.

Somehow dragging a dog on a walk didn’t seem right; This was no fun for either of us so we went home.

Now we have a new arrangement.  I let her out as soon as I wake up, once she does her business I let her back inside where she flops down on the floor to recover from the pre-dawn exertion while I go for my walk unhampered.

She’ll trot down to the mailbox with me a couple of times a day but digs her claws in at the 3 1/2 mile walk!

Hubs can relate.

When mealtime draws near she’ll position herself as close to the kitchen table as she can without actually getting on it…

SproutMagic

Yes, that is the same dog as the one sitting in the lane refusing to move a couple of days ago.

I swear she’s growing right before my eyes!

She eats well, twice a day, no scraps or snacks, a few milk bones if she’s obedient and comes when I call.

She has lots of itches…I tell myself it must be grass allergies for she’s on three flea medications…and snuffles loudly into her paws and tail and scratches to ease the irritations.  Normally it would drive me crazy but she’s not my dog and I can give her back in a few days.  I just pull out the brush and give her a once over to remove the burrs and distract her.

She sleeps a lot and I am enjoying her mostly restful presence especially when she sprawls on the cold tile floor dead to the world!

SproutSleep

She’s found her voice…

“To let everything know she’s in charge,” said Simon of her random barking.

She’ll warn off the propane tank, the hay bales lining the fields, the tumble dryer, the septic solutions truck and the cannas in my front flower-bed; once she gets going she’ll bark at the wind in the trees.

A hide chew or pigs’ ear at this point is the only thing that will silence her,

like her itches, she gets on a roll and doesn’t know when to stop!

“She’s so pretty,” said Hubs one evening looking at the symmetrical markings on her face.

He is rewarded with a hug,

SproutElRay

“Are you having a good time with her?” asked Simon from his beach cabana.

“Yes,” I texted back, “we all are!

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