March in Luberon (France)

 March 2022 in Luberon (France) : 2 black lab puppies

 

   

Fond of puppies, I was delighted to look after young dogs again.  

2 black labradors, this time, 2 sibblings very hard to distinguish one from the other...  In a marvellous property in Luberon.

Toad & Bowser  were only 4 months old but already well educated : they understood a few commands, the most important one : "no". 

These sibblings gently obeyed when they were asked to sit,  to give their toy or their ball answering to "donne" (in french). Almost bilingual...

 Anna, their owner, had to go abroad twice in march,  and her new labs could not fly, yet, with her, being much too young to travel on a plane, much too big  already to be taken in small cabin bags... Not fully vaccinated either.

My own dog having suffered from hyper attachment until he was 2 years old, I was pretty anxious these pups would scream as soon as their mistress would pass the door. But they remained perfectly still, they never cried. Instead they followed me instantly. Leaking my hands, trying to chew my pants (or my books when they read on my lap)... They only protested when I went upstairs, shutting the barrier on the steps...

I had been told Bowser was slightly bigger and had a "bushier" tail, but it was really hard to recognize them. I was never sure who was who as they did not wear any collar at home. 

Their leashes were blue and red but I probably put the red one on Toad when it was Bowser 's one and vice versa !

Both puppies stayed very calm in the boot of the car, but could play rather violently when they were playing together outside.

Being males they often fought, testing their strength. I was very cautious, it was necessary sometimes to put them apart, to avoid any hard bites...

They ran after small Kong balls, but obviously prefered to play with the huge Nike balloon. 

       

 

We made often short walks around the property, between olive trees and lavenders.  Cherry trees were beginning to burst : spring was close. I paid attention when I noticed dreaded chenilles (Thaumetopoea pityocampa night butterfly larvas) crossing a path. These can be very dangerous for dogs if they touch them with their paws or their tongue  !

These young and quite heavy pups were very easy : they yelped only to warn me they  needed to to go out. To get them back home, I had been told by Anna to use a magic word : "Snack" and they would immediately run to me. It worked perfectly !

Toad & Bowser chewed toys, sticks of wood, carrots. I checked when I was working on my computer they did not chew the feet of the furniture or magazines as well... Like all babies, the brothers  fell briskly into sleep when tired, I was aware of when they snored loudly.

Vincent, my husband, came twice to have lunch with me : Anna's home was very close to ours : an only 22  km drive. He took also some photos of the dogs and me.

I was very pleased  to have been invited again to sit there a fortnight later. That second time my husband brought our young dog (a 20 kilos  cross lab/spaniel ). Tahoe played ball one afternoon with the 2 pups, sharing fun.