Another Puppy Week

Friday the 13th came and went yesterday. The Thursday before I received a text message from Frances my daughter telling me that the pup needed to get another one of his puppy shots and it was best to go early. The clinic is located on Gaffey in the 900 block north. We live just south of 22nd Street so the trip is about two miles during the morning rush hour. We don't do much rushing these days, the we being the puppy and me. He has only ridden in his carrier in the rear of my Nissan three times and that was for less than a mile because he was crying too much.

Inside clinic

In the morning in San Pedro all the traffic is headed north to get on the freeways and the cross streets around schools are clogged with parents letting their kids off at school. I made a mistake of going up to Gaffey past a elementary school and after the recent rainy spell it looked like walking school just wasn't happening.

Monster Paws

We finally got to SNP|LA (spay neuter project of los angeles) after a few minutes of driving that seemed like hours. The grass around the parking lot was wet and the hill across the street was bright with the fresh grass.

We signed in with Happy Tails and was greeted with cheery faces that remember him. They remarked about his growth and his tail tip. Early at the shelter the other puppies had decided that his tail was a chewing bone treat and the tail end looked like a rat tail. I see his hair growing back on his tail tip but his size increase is less apparent because he is with me 24/7 but picking him up is becoming a chore.

self feeding

On December 8 the clinic records show him weighing 5 lbs. and 8 oz. 36 days later he weighs in at a new fighting weight of 22 lbs. (ready for the ring) which is close to 1/2 pound a day increase.

He continues to like all humans large or small but is still shy with other dogs that are larger that him.

Happy is not interested in the morning skunks we have seen during a 5 AM wake up walk or the black feral cat that hangs out in the parking lot where the divers (boat cleaners) park feed the negro gato during the week. The cat actually follows the divers in the morning when they walk over to the tackle shop to get coffee.

Happy is climbing around the boat top side which my former first mate didn't. He has been on two other sail boats when their crews come back in from a sail.

My son Dylan keeps nagging me about borrowing the pup but I don't think the pup is ready yet, he has never been in a house or apartment before (the pup not Dylan). In the video below you can see Hucker riding the trails with his dog. Dylan has plans to do this too.


 His head habits (boats don't have toilets) are improving and it is much easier to get him outside with it is not pouring down rain. I refer to the morning routine as a Chinese Fire Drill when before 5 AM he starts making noises under my V-Berth. The race is to get dressed and bundled up so he can pee on the shore. We don't have any doggie-door but drop boards that must be removed and hatch opened, a ladder to be climbed up and a cockpit to cross, dock steps to manage then a dock ramp to climb and gate unlocked. This was getting too much not to have my morning coffee before setting out so I stopped drinking coffee (cold turkey) and placed my Mr. Coffee in one of my shore lockers.

Happy Happy

Everyday something has to be removed or relocated to prevent chewing or him getting into the trash. He has two stuffed toys, a small reindeer from the adoption shelter (with matching reindeer blanket) and a stuffed dog that is now missing a nose.