Category: Ranch Life

Back when I first met the puppies, I was all, “We are so not getting puppies”.  And then when they came to live with us as foster puppies, our chubby Labrador, Cage, was all, “I am so not down with the puppies”.  And even when Bella made it her mission to win Cage over, and Lucy was working hard to win my vote, we were both all, “No way, puppies, our hearts are made of stone”.

But then, you know, well, I have good reasons, and… *picture hands behind back, eyes averted, toe of shoe drawing circles in the dirt* I caved.  Cage nearly disowned me when I announced we’d be keeping Lucy.  There was a look of disgust on his face each time I offered him a biscuit, for days.  Not that he didn’t eat them.  He is, after all, Cage the chubby Labrador.

However.

I looked out the window the other day and discovered Cage and Bella like this:

This morning, looking out of a different window, I found Cage and Lucy like this:

I’m the mom of two girls.  They’ll never have a brother to tell them the ways of the world, to protect them from jerks who only want one thing.  And when they’re teenagers, who are they really going to listen to: their old fart mom and dad, or some smoove-talking guy with an itch in his pants?

But I’ve got a plan, people.  Here on the ranch, there’s always a bit of Love In The Air, shall we say, among the animals.  Today, Jeremy put the bull in with some of the cows, and I got the girls all lined up to watch the herd. 

Of course I didn’t narrate, because I want them to draw their own conclusions.  But I’ll go ahead and narrate here, because it’s more fun that way.

He’ll pay lots of attention to you, honey.  Call you beautiful (and you are!).



He’ll follow you around, swearing he’s in love.



You’ll feel like you’ve got a lot in common.

I didn’t want our resident loaner puppies to grow up with that whole twin stigma of people assuming they are the same, so I decided to give them names.  I named my favorite, “Lucy” and Alison named her favorite, “Bella”.  Now that I’m making a concerted effort to tell them apart, the differences in their personalities are quite striking.

Although she engages in some crazy-puppy behavior occasionally, Lucy enjoys a quiet visit with her humans over a wrestle with dogs.  She often sneaks through the slats in the fence to watch us swim in the pool, or lay her little chin over my foot.  A quick learner who aims to please, she has mastered several commands and automatically sits when she wants a treat or a pat.

On the other side of the spectrum, Bella enjoys the occasional belly rub from a human, but would rather hang with the dogs.  She has made it her goal in life to win Cage’s affection.  Yes, Cage.  The old bachelor dog who thinks young pups should be seen (from a distance, of course) and not heard.  Bella is ceaseless in her effort to coax him into playing with her.


“Hmmhmmhmm… don’t mind me.  Just chewing on this stick.”


“Maybe he won’t notice if I sneak a little closer.”


“C’mon, dude!  Don’t GO!  Just play with me… please?”


“How ’bout if I give you a kiss?”



She almost hit her mark, that time.  And look.  He didn’t run away!