B A B E..hva med en godbit???
by Linda Wolden Alme, Elverum, Norway
Babe og storebror Ferdinand
Babe is my first RR-girl. She came to our "pack" when I already had two RR-boys, and her feminine character has always amazed me. Everything - well, almost everything - she does is graceful and careful. She has developed a special "look" designed to melt hearts - in order to get love and affection - not to mention treats of all kinds. I met this look for the first time when Babe was five weeks old. My good friend Susan Claybourough, Madahiro's Kennel, and I went to see the litter because Susan was interested in a puppy. Well, I was interested too, but it was not a good idea for me to buy another dog, Ferdinand being only one year at the time. Anyway, what can you do when you are a complete fool and fall helplessly the very instant you look at a puppy?

Babe has always been a pleasant family companion. She was a happy and content puppy,- full of life but yet very calm and sensitive, almost a "good blend" of Ferdinand and Bagheera. Her puppyhood was more or less trouble free - if we look past all the mattresses that was chewed into small pieces whenever she was left home with her brothers. I believe she got a bit help from Ferdinand, but her chewing capacity was tremendous. Other items she really loved to destroy was shoes of all kinds, pockets which used to contain liver and books(!). She actually ate larger parts of "A Man in Full" by Tom Wolfe, which we have to agree IS a really good book.


Agility = fun!!Babe differed from her brothers in many ways. However, the first sign of "female mood swings" appeared just before her first season and was a big shock to me. Babe was at a dog show and all of a sudden she wouldn't let the judge touch her. A couple of months earlier, at her last show, she had been licking the judge and loving the extra attention. She always enjoyed meeting new people - but now - with this judge - no way! I was told that this was rather common behavior from young bitches, but I was still puzzled by ths change in her behaviour. Anyway, time went and her first season came and passed - and now my active little girl turned into a lazy lady with no energy at all. She didn't want to join us on walks, and when I hauled her out, she moved extremely slow and with a look on her face saying "is this really necessary?". Forget obedience or agility - all she wanted was to stay home and relax - and EAT! Suddenly she turned into a thief - a FOODthief. Babe had never stolen food from me, but now... Where did the potato chips go? After searching everywhere, an empty bag under the coach revealed the truth: Into Babe's stomach! This explained why she all of a sudden drank enormous amounts of water. She stole bread, dog food and all kinds of eatable stuff until I got used to store it all in safe places.
After a while I got used to this half dead, bulimic dog, and got really surprised again: One morning my Babe was back! It was like she had collected energy for a month: She was running like crazy, bouncing and jumping, having a private party to celebrate life...!

When she went into her next run I was prepared, and the mood swings seemed to be a bit less dramatic. Poooooooh - no wonder it is hard for men to understand us women!


What are you up to down there?

With her dignified and somewhat arrogant behaviour Babe is the family's self declared prima donna...