Sheba’s heat season is finally over and Dennis Mugu is back at Ishtar’s Ark, after spending nearly two weeks with the lovely Donja, my brother’s dog.

He was happy to be back and instantly made himself at home under our big jiga tree.

For a dog that doesn’t like to bathe (and that would be all dogs I know, with the exception of Sheba), digging a whole in wet sand in the best way to keep cool during  Niger’s hot season, which  has been particularly ferocious of late.

Seeing the perfect spot he had dug for himself, I had to bring out my camera. It is not every day that our Mugu boy is this cute, but oh, what a teddy bear!

Unfortunately, both heat season and hot season have taken a toll on the male dog’s appetite, but I am glad that Dennis is at least eating his portion again. Hopefully, he’ll have those ribs covered in a month or so!

Over at the Eden Office, Baghera is making small progress. We call him the little prince! He is loving the attention and would not leave our side if it were up to him! He truly is the most alert guarddog I have ever met, and he just has the sweetest face with the sweetest eyes and the lovliest tail in Zinder! Eating is still an issue, but Anette and I make sure to spend enough time with him so that he’ll eat at least half his portions. He’s always been skeptical around food, and I remember my mother used to spend a lot of time just being there for him so that he would eat, which he would do, not for himself, but for her.

That said, Sheba on the other hand is showing some growth activity. I’ve known many females who went through heat season in Niger and then set about preparing for the arrival of puppies that were never to come, and some of them even produced milk. Aslan and Baghera’s mother Bamse nurtured a squeaky toy for many years before she finally had her own set of live puppies. Anette however, whose mother bred Tibetan Spaniels for many years, is convinced that it’s not only the milk production unit that is expanding, but neither Sheba nor Baghera are talking. Whether or not they manage to get it together despite the odds or if it’s just Sheba’s body playing a trick on her, only time will tell. Of course, any puppy of Sheba & Baghera’s will be warmly welcome, but I was definitively not planning on (nor wishing for!) a teenage pregnancy at this stage. So I’m hoping it’s a hormone thing and that Sheba will soon be practising motherhood on a large litter of squeaky toys.