I used to wake up, go into the kitchen, and hear all six puppies. And they made a ruckus, playing with each other, growling, hopping over the yellow peanut or the 2×4, chasing each other, shaking toys or squeaking balls, running up to the door, six little heads peering out, banging repeatedly, hopefully, against the glass panes of the door, excitedly anticipating human attention. Today… it’s quiet: Gentle Ben just sitting at the door, looking into the kitchen, Tashi, laying half in and half out of the communal bed, looking bored. My heart clutched, missing all my babies.

And Dancer… usually when I let her out in the mornings, she’d run, hell bent for leather, racing down the stairs and around the perimeter of the backyard lawn, looking graceful and regal in her patrol. Today, she glided down the deck stairs, then spent the time walking around, sniffing the grass, here, there, and everywhere, till she returned to the deck, then just gazed out across the lawn, across the green, quietly staring.

Back inside, she would paw at my leg, wanting to be picked up to be held and petted, to have some attention solely for her. She didn’t want to play with the last of her puppies, but instead snapped at Tashi, and lay there, aloof.

What goes on inside the mind of a dog? a good mother, who knew to count her puppies, and comes up short in her count?

Uncategorized Good-bye Puppies Good-bye Puppies... Litter of puppies Mother of puppies What goes on in the mind of a dog