Category Archives: puppy

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.

Themba – Where has the puppy gone?

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The gas machine is no longer a puppy

Dear Zak,

We haven’t weighed Themba this week – he is simply too heavy for Marianne to pick up. That makes him over 20kg, so really he’s not a puppy any more. The behaviour is still there though and he has developed an alarming affinity to steal and destroy toilet rolls which are no longer safe on their holders (or anywhere else for that matter). He’s also starting to chew furniture which reminds me of Kim, my first Ridgeback, who chewed some borrowed furniture when I was working in Chinhoyi way back in 1991. I was mortified but fortunately the owner found it funny. I suppose this is just the start of the teething process. He’s lost a few of his milk teeth but I can’t easily see any adult teeth coming through. It doesn’t help that holding him still must be a lot like holding an eel still, nearly impossible.

Since the last blog there has been a few altercations (one sided) with Roxy. I thought she wasn’t herself so we took her off to the vet and yes, she was in pain from the spondylitis in her spine and that was likely making her grouchy. So she’s been on anti-pain medication and CBD oil which helped Kharma so much in her final months. No more punch-ups. So far so good.

The training is coming on well. He can now jump up on a log on command and will leave a treat for a while at least. Not up to your record as yet but he’ll get there. His obsession with food does exceed yours though and is a bit of a problem when it comes to getting him away from the kitchen door at meal times. We are going to have to work on that one as getting past him without him barging through must be controlled. Kharma was of course the Barge Queen!

We got in a slow-feeder bowl from South Africa which has slowed his feeding down considerably but he has not learned to respect other’s food. Last week it was raining at meal time so Tia was given her bowl by the kitchen sink. Themba left his food, ran over to Tia’s, and stuck his nose into her bowl. Unfortunately she did nothing. Roxy, as you found out, would not tolerate that. We haven’t even risked giving out bones on Sundays so far but I’m going to persuade Marianne that we cannot put it off any longer.

I developed the Covid ‘flu this week. The symptoms are relatively mild but I’ve had to isolate into your bedroom. Themba was delighted as he gets to sleep on the bed with me. In the main room we have discouraged that, not least because there will be no room on the bed once he gets big but also Roxy is not keen on sharing her sleeping space. During the day it’s not a problem but night time – no! The downside for me is that he farts a lot. Marianne has been buying chicken “matumbos” i.e. guts, in an effort to reduce the meat bill which is substantial but we’ve decided to give it a break and see if that makes a difference. They smell bad enough when cooking never mind after being processed by Themba. Right now I’m thinking we should have called him BOC or HandiGas.

I was looking at the background photo on my phone this week. Of course it’s of you my boy, looking regal as ever. I wondered if I could ever change it – I certainly don’t have the courage to let you go just yet.

Love you as always.

Four-square

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Themba standing four-square and showing his potential

Dear Zak,

Themba has had a busy few weeks since I last wrote. We went back to see Fynn who was delighted to meet us again and they had a boisterous time until Themba suffered the ultimate indignity of being “beaten up” by a cantankerous old sausage dog! No contact was made but Themba yowled long and loud. How embarrassing. Well, that was the end of the play date and as it was a Friday afternoon it was time to make out way back home again.

We also had another play date with a Labrador, Ollie, of six months. He was clueless. It didn’t start well with both him and another adult Lab mobbing both of us before we’d even got out of the pickup. It took a while for things to settle down.

Ollie is not much bigger than Themba but has absolutely no idea about play etiquette and kept running straight into Themba and knocking him over. Themba eventually got fed up and told him so. Not an entirely wasted session as he has to know how to deal with dogs who are like Ollie!

Where has the little puppy gone? 16.5kg and growing…

Themba is still maintaining a weight gain of a kg per week. Now he’s 16.5kg and the little puppy of eight weeks ago is long gone. He still has that cute puppy waddle but is running more like an adult dog now – no scampering. We got him a special bowl with lumps in it to slow down his eating which I think was even faster than yours. It’s slowed him down a bit but he’s working out how to speed the gobble up again.

Roxy and Themba seem to have come to an agreement; she growls when warning and he takes notice. There haven’t been any confrontations this past week so hopefully the snap-and-yowl is mostly behind us. We are careful when food is around to keep them separate but have yet to cross the bone bridge. We’ll get to it along with swimming pool awareness training.

We took the whole pack to a newish dog park in Highlands yesterday to get a bit of exposure to meeting other dogs and for quite a while were the only ones there. I guess it was early for a Saturday. Some Beagles arrived just before we left and all was fine though Roxy seemed a bit anxious. She’ll get used to it.

A warm, hairy chin-rest in the form of Tia. Life cannot be too bad.

Training is going well though Themba has learnt to anticipate when he is going to be called by either Marianne or myself. We’ve even tried code words such as “Thursday” or, “after this command” but he even recognizes those and bolts to the next person before we’ve finished. A clever little boy. Mind you we are using very high value treats; biltong bits.

Let the games begin – (again!)

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The first chase

The first chase

Oh yes, this is fun!

It took you 8 days.

Well I think she might be worth it even if she is a little slow.

Team players

Team players

And even Kharma is enjoying it!

Yes, bless her, she’s staying well within Roxy’s limits.

Peaceful interlude - all friends!

Peaceful interlude – all friends!

Well I’ve got to give it to her – she’s got a fair bit of stamina for one so small.

And she’s only going to get stronger.

Yes, I think she might fit in to the family.

You are so gracious.

I know!