The Sparky Chronicles

I dropped Sparky off with my parents about 2 weeks before Thanksgiving, so I didn’t have to wait too long to see him again. I went back to Kansas for Thanksgiving. One brother from Loveland, CO came as well. My other brother, his wife, and three sons came down from Kansas City, so my parents had a houseful of people to carry around the puppy allll day and make sure his little paws never hit the ground.

My nephews are 9, 7, and 5 years old and they aren’t used to being around puppies but they all were very gentle and picked him up properly. They did a great job!

Nathan seemed surprised that his grandfather John had a new baby in the house.

Alex and Jacob, just hangin’ with their new homie.

Sparky made sure that the instant a lap became available, he was sitting on it.

“Moose! Dude! I say this with love, but man, get a Tic-Tac or something!”

Lots more holiday pics coming up over the next week or two - stay tuned!

After November 11, Sparky took a few weeks and settled into his new home. At first, he had to be next to mom or dad at all times. Then later, he started venturing out and getting more daring at running around the house on his own.

From the beginning, Sparky’s philosophy was: “If you sit down, the minute your legs form a lap, there I must be!”

His favorite hobby soon became chasing leaves in the yard. He was actually bummed out when the first snow fell and he couldn’t get at his leaves.

Houdini dog (aka Sparky) made it clear - as I was driving on I-70 at 80mph - that he was not going to stay in his pink puppy purse. I was fearful that he would strangle himself in his escape attempts (see previous post). So, I tried putting him in a dogbed on the passenger seat. He kept climbing right over the middle console and in my lap. So in my lap he stayed, until the sun started shining in his eyes. Then he decided he needed to ride on my shoulder. (Yeah, it was Sunday morning and I didn’t have makeup on; wanna fight about it? )

“This new guy seems legit. I guess he’s worthy for one of my patented cuddles.”

It’s been a long day for a little puppy.

“New mom seems OK as well. Ya gotta like a dame who can pull off horizontal stripes.”

As a new parent, dad tended to hover a bit.

And off mom and dad drove, back to Wichita with their new puppy. As I was driving back to Denver, I missed Sparky. It was up to mom and dad now to make sure Sparky was raised to be an upstanding member of dog-ciety.