Lathe of Dreams

Today is Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009, which means that Kiyomi, our little Sheltie celebrates her 20th week today.  It’s easy to remember Kiyomi’s birthday as she is a “Cinco de Mayo Sheltie”, born on May 5th, 2009.

Kiyomi started her puppy training 2 weeks ago, so her third puppy training class will be this Saturday.  Seeing other puppies in the class and Kiyomi’s own willfulness in listening to us, I now wish that we started her training sooner.  At 5mo, all dogs become a little more stubborn, a little more willful, and will weigh your command against “I’d rather sit here or play with that puppy over there” than “Watch me! Sit! Stay!” The younger puppies in the class sometimes seem to listen and obey before Kiyomi does.

Kiyomi has lived a sheltered life thus far.  Vicky & I live alone in a 3-story “luxury townhouse” (2400 sq ft) with a fenced yard and 2-car garage.  Having the house and yard to herself, she hasn’t seen as much of other people or dogs as we’d like.  During her first week of puppy training, she was timid around the other puppies.  During her second week of puppy training, she was “alpha dog” of the class… even around a labradoodle puppy twice her size! Kiyomi would much rather bark at the other puppies or play than listen to her silly Mom & Dad.

These last 20 weeks weren’t without their share of difficulties or scares.  Kiyomi has proceeded to chew up several corners of carpet on our third floor.  She’s mistaken rugs on the hardwood floors as alternate puppy pads, enough so we’ve removed floor mats and rugs from our floors.  While she’ll normally return to her puppy pads from wherever she is in the house so she can poo or pee, when she’s excited or lost, going on carpet is as good as any puppy pad.

Kiyomi’s expressions of anger and anxiety usually involve tearing a puppy pad clear off its plastic base and shredding it across the floor.  Once deprived of a puppy pad, she’ll usually squat on or near where the puppy pad was.

And when she’s on her good behavior, Kiyomi is an angel.  Others have complimented us on having a “beautiful little puppy,” “what a cute little Collie” and “she’s an angel!” Children usually come running to Kiyomi at a full sprint when they see her, which either scares her so she runs behind our legs, gets her to sit promptly and await their onslaught, or a wild frenzy of barking that scares the child half-to-death (usually followed by “what a bad dog!” or “what a mean dog!” from the child).  I always feel bad for Kiyomi during these latter times since I feel that Kiyomi is neither bad nor mean, maybe if the kid didn’t come running at her like a screaming banshee she wouldn’t be so “bad or mean” to them?

…and so it goes.  There are times it is frustrating and we wonder what the hell we got ourselves into.  There are times where she is cute and well-behaved that it just breaks my heart, wishing I could just freeze that moment in time.  No matter what or when, Kiyomi is a blessing in our lives.  I wouldn’t trade a minute with her for the world.  Kiyomi is our family.