Munsoon season

Day 16 of the new season of Two and A Half Men (canine edition) continues as Munson slowly gets house trained. My pup runneth over every other hour, followed by a mop throughout the house. The wine-rack is mostly stocked with rolls of paper towels so I can station them at appropriate points around the house. Really, there's 2 places I should stick them just to catch any unwanted output... I had a vision last night of corking him and then calling the bomb squad twice a day to clear the street for an explosive decanting...

Bondi's adjusting to his new companion but has a new tactic of getting more attention from me: howling like he got run over, every time he gets a bump, or fluffball removed. He's definitely overdoing it as I make sure that Bondi gets preferential treatment - first feeding, extra attention, solo time in the park. Bondi's the only one who gets extra treats ... which reminds me that he's put back on some of the weight he lost in quarantine in recent weeks. I suspect that his medicine was suppressing his appetite somewhat. It's 4 weeks now since the meds ran out, and I'm still seeing more dark guard hairs regrowing on his sides - a total turnaround from the way he looked at the end of 2007.

How's Bondi doing?

Pretty good as you can see.



Munson meets my nieces, and then is taken home, snoozing under the glove-box.

It's like a jungle sometimes

Eight legs relentless, two legs tired

The new kid enters the saloon

I pleased to report that, torrents of puppy effluvia aside, Munson is settling in very well and Bondi is adapting to his presence. I on the other hand, am exhausted from the amount of canine attention received and demanded. Not since Napoleon's retreat from Moscow have so many legs bearing hungry bodies devastated a (household) ruler with their demands for sustenance.


The Old Fish* Shop Cafe (blur due to water) [Munson luckily escaped being called 'Old Fish']

I'm strangely reminded of another yawn...

Introducing Munson

Breakfast kippers

After being woken at dawn by the crimping of very fine fangs on my ear, accompanied by a gust of puppy-breath, I began introducing the formerly anodyne "puppy" as Munson, soon to be diminutivized as Muns, Munsie, Munchkin, Munster, Muncher, Mun Ami, ...



This afternoon, I took him to the vet for his first puppy vaccinations and to be microchipped. He was weighed as 8.8kg (19.4lb).



So today, 6 months to the day since I touched down in Sydney again, the family has expanded to become el loco y los lobos. Bondi is increasingly relaxed about the situation, but I take care to reinforce his position with treats, belly-rubs and solo walks.

And then he licked me

The plane was due to touch down at Sydney's domestic airport at 5.15pm and its cargo available 20 minutes later. Before heading out, I checked the QANTAS website to confirm this, and found that it was now delayed until an estimated 6.35pm. When it finally touched down after 7pm, the "real time" information service I was checking on my phone still said 6.35.

Also waiting at the cargo depot were the prospective parents of one of my puppy's brothers, travelling on the same flight. That puppy was to be known as Commanche.

Finally the carrier kennels arrived and we got our first glimpse. My initial thought was omigodhe'ssomuchbiggerthanBondiwasatthatage!!! and then I reached in and pulled out a big softly furred bundle of wet-kisses.



Bondi was waiting in the car, completely oblivious to the meteor hurtling through the void into his life. I placed the pup at his feet, eliciting a bellow of surprise.



For the short ride home, I had a laundry basket lined with the blanket I got from Tony & Maureen.



After snoozing all the way home, the pup was quick to find his feet inside my house. Bondi charged off to find a squeaky toy, either to welcome the new arrival, or to underline the fact that he was still my super-pup.




Bondi wasn't terribly happy that the pup was going to be staying the night - but this was just like what happened when Dougal was brought home 7yrs ago. My intention was to let the pup sleep on a rug next to my bed, and get Bondi to sleep on my bed to establish his seniority. That didn't really work out - Bondi wouldn't get up, and the pup was lonely on the floor, for the first time in its short life facing the prospect of sleeping away from his mother and 6 siblings.



I scooped the pup up from the floor and brought him into the crook of my arm, where he snuggled happily. Bondi then jumped onto the bed and monitored the situation from the far corner, making sure the up didn't savage me with his needle-like teeth.

And so the night progressed, with the pup being moved around slightly every 1-2 hours so I didn't inadvertently roll on it, and Bondi moving on and off the bed and around the house in varying degrees of consternation.

Puppy @ 6 weeks

Brother & sister; brother & puppy


Puppy @ 6 weeks


Those cunning baristas from St Trinian's are at it again.


Puppy @ 2 weeks