Napowrimo 2016 Day 20 - Poem for Westley

Gasp! Two-thirds of the way finished? Oh dear . . . I love having the daily prompts from napowrimo and I never know where to find interesting poetry prompts the rest of the year -.

Today's prompt over at napowrimo is to write a poem consisting of kennings. Which is, apparently, "calling something not by its actual name, but by a sort of clever, off-kilter description." When I first read this, I thought my family was made for this! We tend to call things by kennings all the time; for example if you hear someone in my family refer to "Hot Topics Geek Squad" we are actually talking about the popular tv sitcom, "The Big Bang Theory" and just the other day I was talking to my mom and told her my "age card" was going to expire and she knew that I was referring to my driver's license. I think the impressive thing about my family's use of kennings is that even if its the first time we've ever used a particular kenning, we almost always know what we're talking about. So I was confident . . . at first. But then I couldn't think of multiple kennings to describe one person, place, or thing, so I guess we'll see if I manage to come up with anything . . .

Poem for Westley

Wild and crazy guy
Of cinematic origins
Charismatic
Friend to all
Sometimes you're a pillow stealer
Other times you're a laundry sleeper
Often a furious chewer
Always a voracious eater
You who tilt at windmills
Excavator of my bed
Usually quiet, almost to the point of muteness
Startled sound maker
Squeaky toy lover
Happiness you always spread
Sometimes I wonder
If you're a ghost noticer
Or  just a supersonic hearer
You could be called Sir Pants-a-lot
Smartly mischievous
Layer beside me
A velcro dog, you probably are
Company keeper
"Pure comfort" some might say
Probably a foodie
But for sure
The conqueror of my heart.


Not sure these would be classified as kennings; I think they are more like near-kennings. Westley is my puppy by the way; I could explain more, but I think its more fun this way.

-Sharon

PUPPY!!!

As I've previously mentioned, I'm in that time of life where everyone is hitting their big life milestones: graduations, engagements, weddings, babies. And as I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm trying to be happy in my current situation and just enjoy where I am in life.

Well, on Saturday, I had a big life milestone! For the first time since the 3rd grade, I have a dog! A beautiful, fuzzy, sweet, rambunctious ball of fur. Yes, he is absolutely, undeniably my "furbaby." He is a beautiful ten week old, cocker spaniel and I have named him Westley (like from the Princess Bride). Immediately I have become one of those owners who is constantly posting pictures of him on facebook and instagram.

I was worried about how he would transition, but he seems to be transitioning quite well. He does seem to have some separation anxiety which is going to be a challenge, but I'm hoping that he will realize that I always when I come back when I leave. If he doesn't seem to figure that out, I'll look solutions.

We are working on the housebreaking thing. We've developed a sort of rhythm and he has already caught on that he is expected to go potty outside. Of course, his body is small so if I don't get him out in time, he has an accident on the floor. I don't get mad, because it's my fault more than his. I try to stop him and rush him outside so he can finish outdoors.

He is a little mouthy. I've been trying to address this by replacing whatever he is chewing on (me, my shoes, something of mine, etc.) with something that is acceptable to chew on. And it does seem to be helping. I will have to take a stronger approach for when he is mouthy toward me though, because I do not want him to become a biter.

He is already walking on the leash quite well! Though he does bite at it sometimes. And if he decides he doesn't like where I'm headed, he'll sit down and pull back on his leash. I just stand and ignore him til he decides to come walk with me and then I give him lots of praise.

I also discovered that he has a natural instinct to fetch! We will have to work hard to maintain this, though. Sometimes he decides he doesn't want to go get the toy I've thrown or he decides to go get it and stop and chew it half way back to me.

He's also getting very socialized with humans. He is very happy to meet everyone. He gets excited and barks and shakes his little, docked tail (I wish it wasn't docked, but it is the breed standard so it is difficult to find a cocker with in intact tail). He is absolutely sweet and loves people. He believes everyone is his friend. And a lot of people get excited and want to meet him and talk to him when they see him. And who could blame them? He's adorable! I look forward to when all of his puppy shots are complete so I can take him to the dog park and to meet the four legged friends of my family and friends.

Unfortunately, since he is not housetrained and I have to go to class and work tomorrow, I had to get him a crate. I bought one this evening from PetsMart and put his bed and a soft toy in there, then when he was asleep, I carefully placed him in there. I left the door opened and stayed in the room so that he would feel secure when he woke up. He stayed in there for awhile, but eventually he woke up, exited the crate, and has now fallen asleep on the floor. I hope I am able to get him used to it without too much upset. I really do hate crates.

As I mentioned above, once he has had all of his puppy shots, I am looking forward to taking him to the dog park. There is one dog park in town and in addition to being popular with dog owners, I've heard it has some agility training equipment and I'd love to train him.

But for the time being, my heart is full and completely happy in the stage of puppyhood he is in. He is perfect and I love him. Because of him, I know that love at first sight is a thing (but maybe not really with people).

Woof, woof!

Sharon (& Westley)