Freyja

I haven't written in my blog much this week. This is mainly due to the fact that I've been bonding with my new puppy, Freyja. I wrote a while ago about how Kirsti and I were debating on whether to get one or not, and even then it was pretty clear that we were going to go ahead and get one.

We've had her for over a week now, and she's been fitting in just fine. Of course, since she's a little puppy, she's pooping and peeing all over the place. Sure, she gets the idea that it's time to go when I go outside with her, but she has to go more often than I can remember to let her out. Luckily, most of our house is covered in laminate flooring, so cleanup is quick and simple. This isn't a surprise, of course, as Argos had the same problem when he was a little guy. It's something that will likely not be an issue as she gets older and is better able to hold it in a little bit better.

She was instantly accepted by our other two pets. Ever since Oliver (the cat) started to get along with Willy, he pretty much made up his mind that he likes all dogs. It was nice to see that this amity extended to puppies as well. He probably didn't count on the fact that this little girl would constantly tackle him and put him in a bear hug every chance she got. He endures it all pretty well, and he even plays back. Of course, it gets a little too rough with Oliver either hissing or the puppy yelping, but it's all much more dramatic looking than it is. I just have to make sure that I referee and break it up when things look like they're getting out of hand.

There was a bit more concern with Willy, considering his history with Argos. The two of them got in a really bad fight years ago, and we had kept them separate ever since. I wasn't as worried with Freyja though, as Willy has shown that he gets along fine with dogs so long as they're smaller than him. Also, he's okay so long as they're not too hyper and they don't try to dominate him. Basically, we're just going to pay really close attention as she gets older. If he starts showing any signs of dominance - even minor ones - we're going to put the kibosh on it right away. Honestly though, he's a much older dog now than he was then, and he's mellowed quite a bit. I think that between that and the fact that Kirsti and I know what we're doing, everything should be just fine. As of right now, the two of them play with each other, and that never gets out of hand.

Where did we get the name? Freyja is the name of the Norse goddess of love. Kirsti wanted to name the puppy Zeus if we got a boy. Basically, we decided that we were going to pick one based on personality. The one we picked just happened to be a girl. She had walked up to me and laid down beside me, and Kirsti held her a while as well. To tell the truth, we probably would have done all right no matter which one we picked. They all seemed pretty good.