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Blogs by Vena McGrath
Sunday April 15, 2007 - 12.49 pm 4/14/2007 7:33:45 PM
Kyna - Golden Labrador - Age 10 weeks
Yesterday morning I drove to a suburb not far away, with my granddaughter. We were going to pick up the new addition to my family of furry friends - Kyna.
On arriving at the house we saw Kyna and her 3 brothers that haven't gone to homes yet, playing together in the backyard. Of course my granddaughter fell in love with Kyna as soon as she cuddled her. She is a very cute little puppy and looks quite a bit like Shaye, without the long hair. Her colouring is similar to his too as they are both blonde although Shaye has a darker tone to his coat.
Kyna has been living in a home of loving people where all the puppies have been allowed inside at various times each day, either alone or in pairs. So, she is almost house trained, well to the point that if she can't get outside she will use newspaper. She is used to being handled and cuddled and will go to sleep quite happily in someone's arms.
I signed the papers to have her microchip changed to my name and address, was given a sheet of paper that told the story of her life so far - what she has been allowed to do, what she likes to eat etc etc. I was also given a baby blanket that had her mother's smell, and her siblings' smell on it as a comfort blanket. How sweet was that? She doesn't have papers and it appeared to me that she came from a much better environment than Shaye did (from a breeder) as he arrived here with no story and no blanket and smelly as after travelling by car for about 8 hours that day. Kyna had been bathed, had her ears cleaned out and her nails clipped and she had also been to the vet that morning as she had a little infection that needed medication. No cost to me. She has been wormed and vaccinated.
So, home we came with our precious bundle. Inside the house and Kyna was quite happy to be cuddled in this strange environment. Shaye was outside in the backyard, but sitting at the backdoor looking inside. He spotted Kyna and started barking and acting up. We eventually went outside with Kyna but she was terrified of Shaye and began to cry and yelp. He just wanted to touch her and sniff her, but she wasn't having any. After all, she is a little puppy and he is a huggggggge dog with a bigggggg bark.
I watched in despair. What kind of fantasy world had I been living in thinking that bringing a puppy home to him would be so easy? I wondered what I was going to do and worried about it silently. But, the problem was soon solved as my daughter suggested that Kyna go home with her as my granddaughter is on school holidays and can spend the week with her while she gets used to being away from her mum and brothers.
Kyna went to sleep on the floor under the kitchen table while we discussed the next weeks of her life. With the worry eased for me for the present, I packed up all her food etc and her ointment and blanket, and sent her off with them. I felt sad about it but I couldn't subject her to the fear she was feeling and I couldn't be angry with Shaye because he didn't understand and wasn't being aggressive towards her. He is just too big for a puppy to be confronted with.
My son rang me last night. I had bought the puppy for him, hoping that he would take her once he saw her. He was adamant though when we were away at Forster that he wouldn't be taking her home with him. So I decided that she would live with me, and with Shaye. When he called last night and asked about Kyna, I told him what had happened and that things were okay for a week but after that she would have to come back here.
He surprised me by backing down and saying that he would take her and bring her up until she was big enough to come back here, or that she would stay with him and we would gradually introduce Shaye into her life. That really made me happy. While I had come to the conclusion that Shaye would be very happy with a playmate and I still think that, Kyna is way too small to be around a bombastic pup like Shaye is (all 43kg of him).
My daughter and granddaughter have taken Kyna to the nursing home today to see my ex and then to meet my son. I wish I were there too as I would love to see him with her. She is so soft and adorable that I imagine he fell right in love with her.
My granddaughter rang me last night too to let me know that the puppy had dinner and was asleep on the lounge. She had spent some time in the afternoon outside playing with my granddaughter's dog, Benny. He is a small dog and apparently they got on famously. My granddaughter planned to let Kyna sleep with her last night :) How cute!
Shaye and I slept the night peacefully together and I was extremely grateful to my dear family for helping me out of a difficult situation.
