Monthly Archives: March 2022

Themba at six months

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The half birthday

Dear Zak,

Themba has gained his half birthday! No more midday meals, he gets what the others get now. That doesn’t mean that he’s slowed down growing. I used to think he wasn’t going to be a big dog and I still don’t think he will be as tall as you but I do think he’ll get to Roxy’s size. We have no idea how heavy he is but he has long ago surpassed Tia – mind you, she is not a heavy dog.

We got a trainer in this week as we were having difficulty getting him to jump into the back of the truck, which he can do easily enough when he feels like it, when we are going somewhere. Coming home is another story; he just sits and looks uninterested. I have taken him to work on two occasions and had to get Fabian to lift him into the cab when it was time to come home. He struggled with the stairs too. Did them once and never again. Not like you – you were so pleased with yourself for working it out (actually, it was Kharma who showed you how) that you kept going up and down them until I called you off.

Now we are using the upturned crate to get him into the truck that we used for both Kharma and you when your cancer got too bad. He’s got the idea and even got into the truck at the Wag Zone on Thursday morning. We’ll see if the trend continues as the trainer said that now he’s becoming a teenager he’s likely to get difficult. A Ridgeback difficult? Never!

Actually he’s pretty good. We had two long recalls at the Wag Zone which we were impressed with. Now I just have to get him used to the idea that not everything is his!

Are you sure those are not for me?

He had his first bone this morning. There’s no real reason we waited this long. We made sure Roxy was not around and Marianne said she did her usual drama queen act; carrying her bone around the house and whining until it was taken away. I did watch Themba in the garden in case he thought of going to see what Tia was up to (she’d have given him plenty of warning to push off) but he was engrossed in his and made a good job of sorting it out. Then we did a tour of the garden where I picked some mealies that he thought he’d like too (above).

Giving his first bone the attention it deserves.

We are coming to the end of the rains although there is a bit predicted for later in the day. The fence around the muddy corner of the garden has been taken down and the trees have grown well over your grave so it’s a really shady spot now.

Miss you as always.

Themba the otter

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Webbed paw and all…

Dear Zak,

We think Themba might be crossed with an otter. He even has webbed paws (actually all dogs have partially webbed paws) and has taken to swimming like, well, an otter!

We got the fence around the pool taken down a couple of weeks back as he wasn’t looking like he’d be very keen on swimming and I thought that even if he did fall in he’s big enough to easily get out at the steps, we’d just have to keep an eye on him. He was certainly interested in the fish ponds though. When Tia swam he’d dip a paw or two into the water at the steps but nothing more. Then one day he got right into the pool – all four paws. Then he was right in and he’ll swim most days after tea in the afternoon. He gets quite carried away and will swim right to the deep end and back.

You were never a fan of water and Kim hated it but would swim after me if I went into a dam. Jenni of course would run through any puddle she could find and though she’d go into the night storage dam I never actually saw her swim. Kharma was indifferent to water.

Waiting to go, anywhere will do.

Themba has also picked up on the waiting in the car tradition started by Tina. So far I have only taken him a short way into Avondale to pick up seeds from my supplier. Like you he likes to come along for the ride. This afternoon he barked at the person who came to delver the seed. I pretended to be a bit cross but was secretly quite pleased that he was feeling a bit territorial. He can get into the front of the truck easy enough and into the back if he feels like it, which is once so far!

He will be six months old in three weeks time. We haven’t weighed him recently but he’s at least as tall as Tia and I should think 25kg or so. I don’t think he will be as tall as you. He has a bark that I think will match yours and uses it a lot when playing with Tia but with Roxy he’s completely quiet.

Love you as always.