Merry Christmas!

The pups and I had a very nice Christmas Eve and Day. Wednesday morning, we were up and out the door early so we could get to Mom’s in time for lunch. Ronnie emptied out their shed so that the pups wouldn’t have to stay in the truck during the visit. Josh, Steph, Peyton, and Cooper were also there.


We had Mom’s Texas chili for lunch, and then we opened presents. Cooper was fascinated by a rattle that Mom and Ronnie gave him.


After lunch and presents, we all relaxed and visited for a while. Well, not all of us. Ronnie and Peyton were off playing. Mom and I made sure we had a picture taken together.


Josh and Steph headed out to Dad’s a little bit before me. I knew the pups needed some time to run around after hanging out in the shed. After burning some energy, the three of us went on to Dad’s for dinner. For a few minutes, there was a possibility that the pups would be allowed in the house while everyone was there, but it just wasn’t to be. Stephanie had Cooper on a blanket spread out in the middle of the floor and she didn’t want the pups any where near him. To top it off, Peyton is apparently scared of dogs. So, outside they went. There’s a deck right off the room we were in, and Reyna spent the entire evening lying in front of the door so she could keep an eye on me. Duncan wandered around a bit, but once it started raining, he stayed on the deck under the roof. After all, he wouldn’t want to melt on Christmas Eve.

We opened presents before dinner. Peyton got some fancy costume jewelry, which she immediately modeled for us.


Dad didn’t even mind the constant reminders that he needed to check the tenderloin to make sure he didn’t overcook it. Again.


As a minor Christmas miracle, we sat down to eat around 6:30. Steph almost has Dad trained (for years, it was common to start eating at 9:00, and occasionally even later). After Josh and his family left, Reyna and Duncan were allowed in the house. They checked out the room, Reyna rolled around on one of the couches, and then both pups settled right down. Reyna decided she really liked the flannel sheet the Krysti had put on the floor for them. Dad, Krysti and I chatted for a while, and then the pups and I walked up to the cabin in the pasture where we were spending the night. Dad mentioned that he’d seen several coyotes during the last few months, so I should check the pasture before letting the dogs out. The only problem with that theory was that there weren’t exactly any street lights around to show me what might be in the pasture…

The three of us really enjoyed staying in the cabin. The pups were even allowed to sleep on the bed, although Duncan seemed a bit offended that Reyna and I dared to take up as much space as we did. Dad and Krysti both agreed that Wolfie did well enough in the pen that they wouldn’t mind having us stay for a couple of days at a time. I don’t know when we’d be able to go back up, but its definitely an option to keep in mind.

The absolute best thing about the trip was that Reyna was feeling exceptionally good. She would limp a bit right after getting up from the floor, but the stiffness typically went away after a few minutes. We tromped in the woods for about an hour after breakfast. Reyna had a little trouble with a few obstacles, but she always figured out an easy way to go around instead of over. We went for a walk with Dad before leaving, and I noticed that she would limp occasionally and swing out her hips, but she still handled the two miles very well. Of course, it helped that there wasn’t a bit of pavement around, so she had much softer surfaces than usual on which to walk.





We stopped at Mom’s for lunch on the way back to Raleigh Thursday. Reyna was still feeling pretty good.


Before we left, the horses in the pasture next door came over to the fence for a visit (they did this on Wednesday, too, but this time I had my camera ready). Reyna and Duncan both went to the fence to say hello.

Notice that Duncan’s tongue is still out from giving the horse a kiss...



Reyna was so interested in the horses that she went into the pasture to check them out. I got her out of there fairly quickly the first time because my heart couldn’t take the strain of waiting for one of them to kick her. Especially since she kept running up behind their back legs. The second time she went into the pasture, she actually tried to get the horses to play with her. I was across the yard talking to Mom and Ronnie, but I could see her play bowing and bouncing around them. Talk about heart strain...




By the way, John – I think Reyna and Duncan will be fine around your horses, as long as we can keep Reyna from trying to play with them…

Lucky for me, both of the pups were exhausted after two busy days, and they both slept almost the entire drive home. I didn’t even stop at our usual rest area just because I didn’t want to wake them up and have them get wound up again. As fun as the trip was, we were all happy to get home. I was also happy to see that the cats hadn’t destroyed anything while we were gone, and Niko was chirping himself silly in his cage.

Today has been a quiet recovery day. Reyna and Duncan have both slept most of the day, and I even had a nap earlier in the afternoon. Tomorrow, I’m off to Mary’s to work on Duncan’s scrapbook.