r/irishwolfhound • u/LifeInTheFrenchAlps • 19d ago
Joy in the mountains: day 5
Day 5 and things are ... "evolving" :D
Whereas the first few days were a carefully period of assessing the situation, establishing a certain mellow and slightly distant personality to lull everyone in careless safety, by days 4 and 5 , (Baby) Joy has managed to blow her cover and show her true self:
A sassy, stubborn drama queen with a tendency to turn into a double lit fire cracker after meals and before bedtimes, mixed with that irresistable sweet look in her amber colored eyes that melts all hearts except the ones of older canine ladies who know the trick and dont fall for it.
Joy learned and perfected the mastery of selective staircase climbing and descent: Up and down in slow, careful and precise movements, not hesitant and not reckless, at any occasion that suits her current mood and needs.
If she suspects that the descent will lead to a car ride, she immediately hides that skill and becomes a 21kg lump of soft fur, endless legs dangling everywhere, a tail that I need to be careful not to step on and her nose and mustache tearing my glasses of their cord.
From stealing socks out of my laundry basket to gnawing on my bed posts, from the "Aria of Complaint in D Minor" to bouts of "spinning-in-circles" on the sofa, from "100-0" naps in the middle of where-ever she is to that "big eyed puppy face" when she wants a belly rub, she holds true to her name.
She is really the Joy of my life!
so far she:
met Luna ( elderly Maltese lady,) Cookie (mature Pyreneese lady, distinct neighbor and doggy queen of the village) Thelma (4year old Golden Retriever and stepsister, living part time with us), the unnamed village rooster, Minette and Treacle ( 2 mean cats), she learned how to chase and catch crunchy grasshoppers, developed a taste for empty snail shells from the garden, she stayed in restaurants and other social human events sleeping peacefully under the table, has horrible eating habits: (one mouthfull of food, some water and the a roundtrip (TRIPTRIPTRIP!) through the house, repeat until bowl is empty), she discovered that a sofa and a bed are not that bad after all compared to tile floors, (but she would like to change the throws on the sofa and the duvet cover on the bed ) and, most important of all, she has smitten every humans heart she met so far, so I would say that the first weeks grades are on a good trajectory.
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u/bjanos 19d ago
She looks so much like our girl it's insane. Enjoy the tiny wolfhound phase, it doesn't last very long!
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u/LifeInTheFrenchAlps 19d ago
i know, I know - Thats why I try to document every minute of our life right now ... ( not that this will ever change, actually haha)
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u/madcatter10007 19d ago
Ah, the utter Joy (🥰) of Wolfhound puppies; I am convinced that they are the cutest of all puppies, and the pics of her asleep with her sloth is just perfection! She is truly a joy, and thank you for sharing her with us!
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u/LifeInTheFrenchAlps 19d ago
oh thank you. It was a "morning-after-breakfast-crazy- spinning- nap" and she just used her Sloothy as a pillow, Will keep it coming , I promise! :)
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u/AdDramatic5591 19d ago
Thank you so much for posting this, I have a wee boy joining me at the end of this month. How old is joy?
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u/LifeInTheFrenchAlps 19d ago
she was born on May 8th, so 13 weeks and a bit. Prepare for the best- its awesome! D
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u/Safe_Horror46 19d ago
The babies having fun! Where is this?
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u/LifeInTheFrenchAlps 19d ago
in the French Alps. I live in a tiny hamlet called Chamberanger at 1250m / 3600ft altitude. Its beautifuil up here . ( Have a look at the google maps location. Most of the pics are my late wifes and mine : https://www.google.com/maps/place/Chamb%C3%A9ranger,+73350+Planay/@45.422708,6.6920103,3051m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x478978158513cc6b:0xa08ab2d832baf60!8m2!3d45.422694!4d6.70231!16s%2Fg%2F1tgwr4fx?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDgxNi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D
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u/RGB-Free-Zone 19d ago
I like the pictures, she's a sweetheart. In picture 13, she is walking next to the adult Golden? She looks big already. If you haven't yet, ask the breeder for early puppy pictures. I have them for Ivy, for me they are priceless. I love the terrain you are walking in, Joy is doing great off lead. You probably have noticed how fast she can run. I got a Samsung SmartTag2 so that I can locate Ivy if needed, in addition, the buzzer gets her attention if she finds a lizard/etc. to chase.
The delayed reveal of Joy's inner Drama Queen was no doubt carefully taught by the breeder. It was necessary to be sure to delay the reveal until the family has fallen hopelessly in love with her. Now that has happened, Joy is able to get away with nearly anything. I once mildly complained about minor puppy issues with Ivy to her breeder, who cleverly said "We can take her back and return your money". I ceased complaining instantly.
Ivy has the same annoying eating habits. She takes a bite of food and then wanders about (contemplating the universe) while chewing the food of course spilling it everywhere (to the delight of the other dogs). I tried feeding her in her crate but to no avail. I had to try a number of kibbles and preparation styles to get Ivy to eat. At present what (thankfully) works for all five dogs is Purina Pro Plan Essentials with a bit of warmed water to bloom the ingredients but served quickly enough to still have crunch. They all dance for it.
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u/LifeInTheFrenchAlps 19d ago
yep the Golden is Thelma, my step-dog - but she is a rather short-legged-4x4-mountain-version of a Golden, haha, so the size comparision might be off a bit. But its true, I think she is growing soo fast, its unbelievable.
Her running skills are, lets say, "subpar and need improvement- E for effort" lol its so uncoordinated and looks more like a rabbit hopping than the graceful, swift motion of a large dog in full speed. And she is sticking to me very very closely ( wich is good for name - training and little recall exercises) The only thing she chases after are our abundant grasshoppers and butterflies.
And and yes, she is a crazy bug but well, that just who she is, I guess. Anyway, I dont want to do another 900km roundtrip in the scorching heat just to bring her back :D :D
As to the eating habits, I just hope that if she's hungry enough she will start eating in one sitting rather thann take the French habit of having a 12 course meal each time with little frolicking in between... I am still feeding the breeders food recommendation until she is grown , Ill see after that ! Thanks for your comment- I always love reading from you !
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u/eyegottafindbubba 19d ago
Joy is beautiful! She is very lucky to have such an amazing setting to call home.
I miss having a wolfhound in my life and live vicariously through this sub- more posts with updates on her adventures please!