Meet Norah

When I was in East Tennessee Memorial Day weekend, my husband and son were busy with their own "doin's".  Friday evening I got a text from hubby at 6:34 pm which read "Wish i had a puppy to sit w on back porch".

I texted something back like:  "I guess you are missing Gibson (my dog who traveled with me on my trip)".

To which he replied:  "Miss who  wish i had my own puppy" at 6:35 pm. 

With this my mind was far away from puppies.  We currently owned a flock of sheep, two llamas for sheep protection, two outside dogs (an aging golden retriever/lab mix and a border collie/australian shepherd mix), an outside cat, and an inside dog (my dog, Gibson, a miniature dachshund).  Enough to keep anyone busy and who needed more vet bills?  Certainly not us!

Much later that evening at 10:46 pm (yes, I was already in bed and had just drifted off to sleep), my hubby texted me this picture with the caption:  "The puppy i wanted":

I texted something back like:  "Whose puppy is that?"

He replied at 10:48:  "Joseph found her!"

Then at 10:53:  "You should see the big collar he bought that she is dragging around".  Ut-oh!

He sent this picture at 10:57:

I believe I called him at this point.  Enough texts without detailed information, thank you!

Evidently on Friday evening, my son was out with some friends and found a stray or lost puppy on their way home.  He is the one who ended up bringing the puppy home, not his friends.  I guess he knew we wouldn't refuse this puppy.  We truly are suckers for all animals lost and lonely and our menagerie here on farm shows that.  This puppy ended up going everywhere with Joseph for the next four or five days.  They went fishing, visiting friends, and driving to the Meek farm in Tennessee to fish with a friend.  He also let the puppy sleep with him.  And the puppy slept great...the puppy was slap exhausted from his life on the road before Joseph found him and his life on the road since Joseph found him.  The puppy's exhaustion was finally cured with extra sleep and Joseph banned him to his kennel at night since all the puppy wanted was to play.

We checked the newspaper for anyone who lost a puppy.  On Tueday, I called the pound to see if anyone had telephoned them about losing the dog.  After telling the pound that the puppy had been found and was very skinny, he responded, "Missy, it looks like you all have yourself a puppy!"

It has been a little over a week now and she doesn't get to go as much with Joseph.  You just can't take a dog everywhere!  She was finally named last Wednesday as "Norah".  She had her first (maybe?) visit with the vet on Friday.  The vet estimated she was 12-13 weeks old.  She weighed 14 pounds.  She is probably a mixture of Labrador Retriever, Bassett Hound, and Beagle and will weigh around 40 pounds when full grown.  I really didn't notice that her legs were shorter than most dogs.  I guess I have gotten so used to seeing our dachshund that I assume any legs longer than his has to be normally long.  She does have large paws with the webbing between the toes and shorter ears (Labrador), short legs (Bassett Hound), and beagle coloring.  Her bark reminds me of Copper in Disney's: The Fox and The Hound.  Norah absolutely loves our dachshund.  Our dachshund doesn't return the feeling.  He is wore out at the end of the day from the constant playing, chasing, biting, and prodding.  Gibson growls and barks but to no avail.  This puppy just has too much energy.

Speaking of too much energy, Norah was nearly impossible to photograph.  She just won't be still!  I know I have deleted close to 30 pictures just trying to get a clear picture of her.  These are the photos that did turn out clearly:

Notice her tail wagging in this picture:

She chews on EVERYTHING!

And Gibson watches in alarm.

I love her tail.  It looks just like a magician's wand.

After all of the play and chasing, she deeply naps...

And Gibson does too, preferably with me.

Though Norah is quite the cutie, I don't believe she will make it as a total house dog like Gibson.  She has no concept of being housebroken and we have tried for more than a week!  She just has no control for any period of time.  She currently lives on our back porch and comes in to eat, sleep in her kennel, and play if someone is there to watch her.  Maybe as she matures she will catch on to the requirements of living in the house.  I'll continue to post pictures as she grows.

Happy Wednesday!