I thought it might be time to give a little update on Ruby-Keat.
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(two months old)


The dog who believes she is a lion cub.


She might be, actually.





Ruby-Keat is four months old now. Ornery as a baboon and scared of absolutely everything.


Seriously, last night she was barking at my new sleeping bag. Before that it was the reflections in the window while we were sitting on the couch. And before that it was our house guests... who have been living here for two weeks already.

We bought this silly bone on one of our first trips to the pet store. It had the label "Boerboel Bone" , to which we laughed and laughed, thinking of how they expected her to ever fit in to this enormous rawhide. Apparently, the joke is on us because it's only a few weeks later and she is doing quite well with the bone. By next month , there might not be much left of it after I take her picture.
(three months old)

Last week she ate a bee. At least that is our best guess. It must have been a vicious African bee because she swelled up instantly in welts and bubbles, squeezing her

eyes shut and giving her a bugs bunny sized lump on her head. I took her to the vet saying "my dog is kind of exploding in slow motion" and he gave her an injection of some strong anti-explosion medication.

Even though she barks her big scary bark at anyone she doesn't know... She is so attached to people... I mean, she climbs up on the couches and sleeps on our laps and makes certain she is very close every time we might possibly have food. Our friend calls this "cupboard love" - incredibly appropriate. She is completely well mannered if she thinks there is a slice of apple or a piece of meat available. Once she realizes we are empty handed, all civility flies out the window - literally. Out the window. She is sleeping outside at night though - which I really appreciate since I can't watch her around our table legs or trash bin while I am sleeping. And apparently she is going to be able to reach the counters without any assistance by like next week or something- so keeping her outside when we aren't around might be the best way of keeping her honest. I'm just saying. Every single night... when Billy and I are closing up the house, we say to her "time for bed Ruby-Keat" and every single night she pulls herself from whatever couch she is snoozing on and gives us this hopeful look while she blatently walks over to her blanket by the fireplace and plunks herself down with a look like "please? Just this once, okay?" Last night Billy tried to cajole her up and out and she got up, turned herself around and flopped back down with her backside facing him as if to say "maybe if I can't see him, he'll forget me and let me stay." He didn't.