Seasons of Change Blog

Aspen's Favorite Things

In the last four months that Aspen has been a member of our household, we've learned a bit about his favorite things. It's such a quirky little collection I thought you'd get a kick out of them as well.

1) Anything with a motor...he loves to watch airplanes fly overhead, will sit down on his walk to watch a car back out of a driveway, and was completely mystified by the gas powered leaf blower that a gardener had left running in a yard. He looks at the object in question with a focused tilt to his head...as if trying to figure out what it is, why it is, and how it works.

Aspen Joins the Neighborhood Choir

Our backyard neighbors have two large dogs - a rottweiler and a german shepherd I believe. They've been a bit territorial about "their" back fence now that there's a little puppy on this side of the fence. Whenever they hear Aspen in the yard, they lunge at the fence and bark like crazy.

At first I thought Aspen might be afraid of them, and at times they do startle him into a run. More often than not it seems as though he likes to sneak up on the fence to tease them a bit. My sense is that he's doing it purposely to rile them up and get the "escape" run out of the process.

These big dogs also have a consistent habit of breaking into an extended howl any time there's a siren within earshot. We humans may not hear the siren stimulus, but it's got to be somewhere when they howl. Over the years, more dogs have joined in on the siren howl. I can't tell how many dogs join in, but I'm guessing it's at least four.

From the first time he heard it, Aspen has given me a quizzical look each time the howling begins. He's not sure what to do. Many times he'll come close to me and follow me back into the house.

Yesterday as I started into the house as usual and I heard an unfamiliar voice blending in with the choir. I turned around and got to the back door just in time to see Aspen sitting in a perfect wolf pose with his head thrown back. There he was howling at the sky! He moved around several times in the direction of the back door, and each time his instincts took over. He's sit down and be back in position, howling with the choir.

This all happened so fast I didn't get a picture of it...but I'll do my best to snap this image for you all to see. The siren choir is a fairly common occurrence around here so it may not take long.

I'm hoping this will be an outdoor activity only...I'm not too sure how the howling will go over when I'm being interviewed on the radio or conducting my teleclasses! We'll soon see. Part of puppy fun!

A Momentous First For Aspen

This morning I was sitting on the floor playing with Aspen. He'd been alone in the kitchen for an hour, so he was happy to see me and was playfully crawling all over my lap.

Gradually he mellowed out and I was able to roll him over to scratch his chest...and that's when I saw it! He'd just lost one of his insanely sharp baby teeth!

In my mind this is cause for celebration! There are quite a few more to go, but it's great to know the process has started. After he's lost all of his baby teeth, the theory goes, he won't teethe as much.

Now...to put this into perspective, it's actually amazing that I found his tooth on the kitchen floor. The tooth itself was the size of a medium sized grain of sea salt. If I hadn't been specifically scanning for his tooth, I'm sure I would have missed it!

Some Quality Gardening Time

After our recent week of freezing temperatures one of our flower beds had seen better days. As it happened it was the patch of the backyard that had mesmerized Aspen from his first day home. Every day we had to reprimand him for taking bites out of these plants.

On Saturday I took the plunge and started digging out the wilted plants. Of course Aspen had to help! He thought is was great fun to swipe the plants as I pulled them up. Then as more and more dirt got exposed, his digging instinct took over!

I think a picture will say it all!

A Delightful Sign of Spring

This morning when I let Aspen out for some play, I noticed a butterfly wafting around the yard.

My first thought...in January??

My second thought...a Mourning Cloak! I haven't seen one of these butterflies in decades. This particular one looked like a perfect specimen.

My third thought...one of delight as the butterfly nearly landed on Aspen! The butterfly flitted around for a minute or so, landed on the grass for a spell, and then flew over the fence to the neighbor's yard.

In reading the website for the butterfly, I learned they overwinter in the area rather than migrating or dying during the winter months. In some cases they'll hibernate in a tree cavity. An article in the San Francisco Chronicle indicated that a cold spell is what triggers these insects to prepare for Spring. In fact, the mild winter we had last year led to a dip in the population.

Ironically...the site indicated that one of the Mourning Cloak's food sources is Big Toothed Aspen! And at this time in his life, Aspen is all teeth at times!

Sorry I didn't get a photo of this moment...I knew I didn't have a chance...so I just watched and enjoyed the experience as it unfolded.

Reconnecting with Nature - the Aspen Way

In the five weeks since Aspen joined our household, I've reconnected with nature in a way I hadn't anticipated.

Thanks to Aspen, I'm spending time outside each and everyday...in all kinds of weather...at all times of day and night.

• I now know what time it is based on where the Orion constellation is in the sky.
• I've watched the moon go through its entire cycle.
• I've felt the crunch of heavy frost in the morning,
• I know how thick the ice gets on our fountain when the temperatures dip into the 20s and how long it takes to melt.
• I've gotten to enjoy the sound of falling rain while feeling it fall on my upturned face.

I can't wait until Aspen's had his last set of shots so that we can venture out to explore the neighbor and beyond!

Aspen's Work Day

After two weeks of vacation with our new puppy, it was time to get back to work. We weren't quite sure how Aspen would adapt to our need to focus on something other than him, but it's worked out pretty well.

Thanks to the new desk I got before the holidays, Aspen has a bed under my desk. At first we'd move his crate from the bedroom to the office to the family room. Where ever we were, he was. If he'd just been out we let him play outside the crate, but then he'd voluntarily go in his crate for his naps.

A Sign from Sunrise

Yesterday I was sitting in the vet's examining room with my puppy, Aspen. I'd finished filling out the paper work and was looking at the photos of the animals on the wall...All of a sudden I saw a photo of Sunrise, my previous dog, in her older years.

There she was, lying with her head on a big fleece bone that she always used as her pillow. From the time she was a puppy I called her "pillow girl" because she'd always find a way to put her head on a pillow!

"My dog ate my paper."

I now know exactly where that phrase comes from!

I decided it would be appropriate to write my first few Aspen Antics posts as he played in the kitchen this afternoon. I brought my paper, pen, and a box to write on...sat down on the floor with him, and suddenly, I was the best toy in town!

Coming Home to a Cozy Space

Aspen and I arrived home on Saturday, December 16th, after a flight from Dallas. Aside from a near miss with the breeder at the airport, we had an uneventful flight. My seat mates on the plane were quite enamored by him and didn't mind his occasional cries when he woke up and didn't know quite where he was or where he was going.