Lota

 

Scott and Lota (low-ta) are both passed out. That’s a rarity for Lota at this hour (9 pm) but we think it may be a reaction to his second round of puppy shots. Usually this is his witching hour when, no matter what amount of exercise we’ve just given him, he’s hyper and shows no signs of settling down. Ever since we got Lota, Scott’s just been a zombie. Waking early, working hard at work during this busy salmon season, and then staying up at all hours with Lota.

This is our fourth night with our new pup but it feels like it’s been way longer. I knew when we got him I’d finally be experiencing one of those rites of passage, one of those things everyone talks about that I’m now just starting to understand. Having a puppy truly changes your life. It changes your sleeping pattern, your work pattern, your thought pattern. It changes everything. And I’m just talking about a puppy. I know I want to have a kid someday; I just can’t even imagine the energy that will take. A puppy is enough for me at this point.

In just a few days, Lota is already adapting. On his first day with us, he wouldn’t go up or down any stairs. On his second day, he started going up and down the outside stairs in the back of the house. Third day he went up and down the inside stairs in the house, and today, the fourth day, he’s started to go and down the stairs at KTOO.

 

 

And he has this amazing personality. He’s brave. Lota has no problem going up to the biggest dogs at Sandy Beach and sniffing all around them. Already he has no fear of water. We took him to Sandy Beach the first day we had him and he went into the water on his own. Last night, Scott said he was jumping into streams. Around people, Lota is friendly and cuddly but knows when enough is enough.

Being a puppy owner takes some adapting to as well. Coworkers pay Lota (and me by default) random visits throughout the day. Strangers come up to us and say how cute he is. A tourist took a picture of him today. Since he is with me at work, my productivity level has significantly dropped in the last few days either from taking him out to the bathroom every hour, watching as other people play around with him, or just from wanting to stare at him.

 

Being a puppy owner is one thing. Being a puppy owner with Scott is another. Watching Scott around a puppy is just about as endearing as Lota himself. Being a dog person is an integral part of who Scott is as a person; anyone who knows him understands this. But by the time I met Scott in Wrangell, Cyrus was already six. So to raise a puppy alongside Scott is an incredible experience. I get to see a soft side of Scott I don’t often see. He talks in his puppy voice all the time to Lota. And he pets Lota’s ears the same way he used to pet Cyrus’s ears.

I’m writing in a lot of generalities. Raising a puppy is not a unique experience; I know that. But it’s a whole new world for me and one I’m happy to be in.