Puppy Power

Blurry blue-eyed babes
the big milk guzzlers
with tubby tummies
snagging teeth
always hungry
biting ankles
pulling laces
nipping tails
pouncing
chewing
suckling
barking
playing
pooing
peeing
pups

Our wonderful neighbor Bob wanted puppies. He arranged for our purebred kelpie to meet his purebred kelpie. Thor and Meg got it on.

Two months later, nine blind sausages were born. I saw them on their fifth day. They were either suckling from mother Meg or crawling over one another to create a puppy pile.

I never realized dogs could count. But, over and over, we’d see Meg nervously counting the pups. Watching her eyes, she couldn’t settle down to nurse until they…