Adventures With Ruby

Ruby has stayed largely out of trouble this week. Well...except for the muddy paws...and the peeing (just once)...and the roaming the neighbors' yards...oh and that whole incident with the bananas. Sigh. Life with a giant puppy does keep me on my toes.

They say that as dogs get more comfortable with their surroundings, they are likely to start expanding their boundaries. Ruby is definitely living up to that theory as we spend more time outside and she pushes the boundaries on a daily basis. So far she comes back every time, but her ability to be out of vocal range increases every day. On a dead run, this dog can cover some ground in a hurry. Because of that we will be installing a 6' fence in the backyard, as soon as finances allow. That project will make life a lot easier for everyone.

Last weekend we took full advantage of the good weather and did some hard manual labor in the back. Ruby 'helped' as much as possible. Part of our project was removing a line of shrubs that left behind a giant patch of dirt. It took Ruby about 27 seconds to find it and earn herself a second bath for the day. And Sophie fell into the 'let's play in the dirt' trap and had to have two baths in the same day as well. Ruby doesn't mind the bath so much. But for Sophie, a bath is torture. That's what she get's for following the dorky puppy's lead.


I've probably relayed this before, but Ruby has NO ability to catch. Not a ball, a piece of popcorn, or a scooby snack. And now, I have proof (this 'training session' had been going on for about 30 minutes):



The puppy tooth fairy has been very busy here this week. I think Ruby lost at least 3 teeth in one day, always while chewing on something or in a tug-o-war with big sister Sophie. She keeps it up, she'll be gumming her food.

Her growth is steady. We haven't been to the vet (knocking on wood) for several weeks, so no official measurements, but Kevin got on the scales with her this weekend and came up with just over 50 pounds. She is 26" to her collar on my unofficial measuring wall. It's worth noting that 18" of that is leg. When I invite her to jump on me and stand on her hind legs, her head comes almost to my chin.

Big change this week. Starting tomorrow, Ruby is going to spend a couple of days a week (on non-kid weeks) at doggy day care. I know it sounds silly to some, but I think it will be good for everyone. Especially her. She gets to run and play with dozens of other dogs from 6:30am until 4:30pm. They have an in-ground swimming pool, will feed her lunch, and she'll get endless attention. And there's no committment, so I can take her every day, once a week, or once a month. I'm thinking we'll start with M/W and see how it goes. We'll be taking a summer vacation with the kids in July and she and Sophie will both have to go to 'camp' for 8 days. This will help her get used to the place.

Oh yeah...bananas. When left to her own devices for what couldn't have been more than 4 minutes one night this week, Ruby did some counter-surfing and ate a bunch of bananas. Dogs don't eat fruit. Apparently she missed a memo.

That's all for now.