When Lulu the three-legged wondermutt died last May, we knew we wouldn't last long without a dog in our house. It took a while before we were ready, and then it took a while longer for our new puppy to be born, and then it took what felt like forever for her first eight weeks of life to pass, but then, finally, yesterday, she was big enough to come home to us.
Which she did last night. Welcome Belle, and welcome to anyone who happens upon this blog and wonders why there are a lot of pictures of a giant furry white blob. That's Belle, our new Great Pyrenean mountain dog. She is eight weeks old today.
When I first started thinking about a new puppy, I had only one real candidate in mind. Sylvie grew up in the French Alps, and has spent much of the past decade boring my ears off with tales of her wonderful Pyr, Taika, whose role in my wife's childhood clearly matched her mountainous size. I knew that Sylvie ached for another Pyr, so I thought, hey. Why not ? It'll save us having to have a pony or another baby....
So I began to search for a local breeder, and was lucky enough to stumble on Brian and Gloria Daniels, whose spread in Kenbridge, Virginia, turned out to be Pyr Heaven. A more committed and passionate pair of breeders you couldn't hope to find. As luck would have it, their breeding pair, Dublin and Murphie, had just had a successful roll in the hay. A new litter was expected in mid-July.
As even more luck would have it, Sylvie's birthday happens to be July 19th. I was able to announce in advance that her present this year would be a four-legged fluffball. And lo, as the best luck of all would have it, Belle was born - on Sylvie's birthday. Some things are just meant to be.
Previous readers of this blog need not worry that I'm going all gooey. The lacerating wit and rampant ignorance that marked the blog's previous incarnation remain defiantly intact. Indeed, my first inclination, anticipating the puppy training battles ahead, was to rename this blog War and Peace, but someone else had taken the title. Then I thought of Crime and Punishment, but that seemed to have been taken, too. Somehow Crime and Punishment Part Deux didn't sound quite right.
So Raising Belle it is. Brace yourselves for at least a year's worth of blob shots, and lots of stories about half-eaten furniture, maimed Barbie dolls and well-chewed children. You needn't adjust your exposure - the puppy really is that blinding white. Until, of course, she goes outside and rolls in the mud.
Happy Birthday, Sylvie. And thank you, Brian and Gloria.
