April 2018 – Golden Kali

If you were expecting a post about Star Wars or the Millennium Falcon you will be disappointed. If you were expecting a post about an adorable five month old Golden Retriever named Chewbacca you are in the right place. Although the hair color is the same between the two aforementioned Chewbaccas, and they both go by the nickname “Chewie”, the similarities end there.

Chewie the pup came by The Golden K today for a meet and greet with my girls and will be back next month for an extended stay when we puppy sit while his mom is out of town.

Kali, as expected, was a little stand offish when Chewie arrived. She barked a bit as if to say, “Who’s this whipper-snapper and what’s he doing in MY back yard?” Kali is not a fan of change so when another dog enters her “space” it takes a while for her to adjust. The same thing happened two years ago when we brought Kloe home at 9 weeks old. Kali made it clear that she was not pleased but within an hour they were cooing, playing Tug-O-Dog, and spooning. Today, Kloe eventually settled down and was accepting of Chewie especially when I assembled the trio for biscuits. When Chewie returns in a few weeks I’m sure Kali will be a good pup-sitter and embrace the young Chewie just as she did with Kloe.

That is if Kloe gives her a chance! Kloe was smitten with Chewie the moment he arrived.

Kloe has not been around a dog younger than her so I was anxious to see how she, now two years old, would play with a young pup a quarter her age and half her size. When Kloe herself was a wee-young pup playing with Kali, Kali always used constraint and seem to instinctively know she could not use the full force of her size and mature skill set. So I was pleased today to see Kloe exhibit similar constraint with Chewie. When engaging with a dog she has not met before Kloe always assumes a non-threatening posture, usually in a attentive down position, waiting for the other dog to initiate play. It was no different with Chewie. Kloe seemed to immediately give Chewie the respect she shows older dogs and allowed him to get comfortable before assuming a puppy-pose and an invitation to play.

And play they did. Keep away. Chase. Stick chewing and fetch. Jumping, running and rolling. So yeah – they were acting like a couple of dogs.

And I think those couple of dogs, and Kali too, are going to have a great time next month when Chewbacca comes back for an extended stay at The Golden K.

Chewbacca “Chewie”

Kloe and Chewie acting like dogs

Kali got into a dog fight this past week. On the other hand it was more of a spat between cousins than a real fight. But I saw some spunk in Kali that surprised me. It lasted only a few seconds, and although I wasn’t happy that Kali and Jaynee “got into it” I was glad to see the spunk.

Kali and Kloe usually spend the day with our friends Marty and Jen when we’ll both will be gone for the day. And so it was this past Thursday when we went to the Bay Area to visit my cousin. Marty and Jen have two pups -Jaynee and Sadie – and our girls are very familiar with them and they all get along fine.

When we arrived to pick up the girls we were standing around chatting with Marty and Holly had some high value treats (HVT) in her pocket and was doling them out to the gang. I guess these HVT’s were HV enough that they were worth fighting for. In a flash – as it usually happens – there was a scuffle and Jaynee had gnashed teeth on Kali’s muzzle. Kali swung around and grabbed Jaynee’s ribs with her teeth. The fight was quickly broken up. It was no one’s fault and, just like with kids playing together all day, the pups were all tired and a little cranky. So no harm and no foul and Kali and Jaynee went about their business in peace probably instantly forgetting the scuffle and only concerned about whether there would be anymore HVTs doled out. They weren’t.

So while I was not glad to see Kali and Jaynee in a conflict – I love Jaynee almost as much as my own girls – I was pleased to see that Kali at nine years old still has some spunk in her. And after all kids will be kids and pups will be pups. This was a scuffle between canine cousins. They each got their licks in (no pun intended) and it was over as quickly as it started.

So yeah, Spunk. Kali’s got Spunk.

Pictured left to right: Cousins Jaynee, Kloe, Sadie, Kali