It has been 3 months since Salty came home with us. At 8 weeks old, I could carry him in the crook of my arm and now at 5 months his back is the longer than my forearm.
His first night when he wouldn't fall asleep in his box, I discovered that after a few minutes rocking in the hammock, he'd drop peacefully off. In those early days, he'd drape his little body across my chest and eventually roll on his back. Well, he still likes to sleep in the hammock. Picking up a 20 lb dog and maneuvering him into the hammock to leave me some room to lie down requires some logistics. The other night when it was raining hard with booming thunder and sky filling flashes of lightening (we get spectacular storms almost every other night), I found him lying down on the terrace under the hammock waiting for a lift up. He hasn't learned how to get into it by himself. The day that he learns that trick, it'll be pretty funny.
He doesn't really like to sleep alone though as he matures, he is accepting the situation that he sleeps on the terrace while we sleep inside. Sometimes I'll still lie in the hammock for a short time in the evening, however the mosquitos are voracious. I "suit up" with long pants, socks, long sleeve shirt, a sarong for a head scarf as protection. He's takes up so much room now that I can't get comfortable so I'll wait until he falls asleep then head upstairs. As I leave, he usually is lying on his back with belly exposed and 4 paws in the air. He loves belly rubs and will readily roll over on this back for the opportunity of a good tummy massage.
While we were away, Salty stayed with his sisters, Pinta and Soosie up at Jorge's. We heard from Roy that Salty would come down to the house every day, search about for awhile and howl. Even though he was missing us, he was still having some quality time with his sisters. He gets along so well with them that they now visit our property on a regular basis. Jorge's property is only a few hundred meters up the "farm road." There is no vehicle traffic except for the occasional motorbike ridden by either Roy or Lilo. The puppies are very alert to motor vehicles so we don't have to worry when Salty walks up to visit his sisters. Or when Pinta and Soosie come tumbling down the road to see Salty. Usually, they all stop near the bottom of our driveway to take a quick paddle in the pond. They enjoy splashing about and cooling down. Sometimes when Salty is overheated, he'll trot down the driveway, sniff about and take a dip in the water. One evening when it was raining and stormy, Pinta was still here after sunset. So she stayed the night. They curled up under Salty's chair and went to sleep. In lieu of building a dog house, we opted to "give" Salty plastic patio chairs with chewed up seat cushions (thanks to Salty) wrapped in a towel. He has 2 "chair houses." One on the downstairs terrace and one outside the sliding door to the kitchen.
Chewing and nipping are still an issue. He is developing a "soft mouth." We discourage him from play biting but when he does, he is gentler then before. Chewing shoes and taking items to bury is hilarious as it is frustrating. I have a travel pillow that I keep in the hammock. The other day I found it lying around the side of the house compliments of the "Salty Moving Company." I picked it up, laundered it and put it back in the hammock. What was I thinking? A couple days later, I noticed that it was missing again. I walked around the house and looked under the terrace in the area where Salty likes to bury his treasures. No luck. Then yesterday, Salty and I went for a walk around the property and down to the quebrada on the other side of the chicken coop. He and I had never walked down there together before. Evidently, he visits that area regularly. He ran ahead and dove into the undergrowth, I could hear him moving around, and he emerged proudly carrying my travel pillow in his mouth. He ran back up to house and left it in his buried treasure area. It is now freshly laundered and stored out of Salty's reach.
M and I have to be mindful still of leaving shoes, work gloves, fresh eggs on the terrace or stairs. Salty devoured 4 eggs that M had harvested from the hens. It was our habit to leave them on the stairs leading up to the kitchen to carry up the next time one of us was heading that way. We won't do that again. Yesterday, I absent-mindedly left my "going to town" sandals on the terrace and went upstairs for awhile. When I came down I found pieces of one of my shoes strewn about the terrace and driveway.
These are little issues that can be remedied easily and are just one aspect of the multi-dimension of affection and laughter that Salty brings to our lives.
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