Bohemian Mama: Puppy Love

   Yarrow loves Luba with an amused, fascinated sort of love. Luba loves Yarrow with a worried love. Luba, usually pronounced L’ba, was Yarrow’s first word, said with joy, while a hopeful little hand reached out towards Luba’s unenthusiastic face. Luba worries when Yarrow pets her face, she prefers to offer up a side, a leg, anything but her ears and nose to those grabby hands, but she will sometimes come when asked, to lick Yarrows face or flip her onto her back with a quick scooping paw. She’s not really allowed to flip Yarrow, but Luba worries when she can’t see Yarrow’s face easily, and she has trouble remembering what she is and isn’t allowed to do.

We got Luba - a Lab-Pit-and something else mix the summer before Yarrow was born. She was barely over a year old when she finally met Yarrow, and we were a bit worried. Luba is emotionally needy. She needs more love than God can give her, let alone us, and we were worried she’d resent little Yarrow for stealing away the attention. Not to mention Luba’s enthusiastic love of all creatures has resulted in the deaths of at lest two frogs, numerous grasshoppers, and one very large spider. She means well, but not all creatures are able to play the Pounce, Bit, Fling, Repeat game for long. I kept a close eye on her for weeks. At night, Luba was crated, when I went to the outhouse, Luba was put out as well. But Luba was as careful as she could be with Yarrow, almost reverent. She was afraid to touch her, but loved to smell her and always looked to us for permission. She doesn’t ask permission anymore, and she has no fear of touching Yarrow, but she’s still careful with her, still frets over her, and though she tries to avoid letting the little hands catch hold of her ears, I’ve seen Luba sit nervously with her mouth half open and a small hand reaching inside.

I like seeing Yarrow loving Luba. She’s fearless around dogs - from giant Great Danes right on down the line. She laughs to see them bark and jump. Obviously there is a time to learn caution, but right now, she’s just enjoying them. She has a big friend and nursemaid in Luba, who is the first one there when Yarrow falls out of the cradle, who gives me reproving looks when Yarrow is done crawling around, and sits protectively by her when I step out to bring water to the chickens, bring in wood or collect eggs.