28 Thursday, October 31, 2024 BATTLE CREEK SHOPPER NEWS http://www.thebattlecreekshopper.com
See DRUM on 29The Calhoun Intermediate School District
is seeking bids on
Waste Disposal and Recycle Servicesfor the six school districts participating in our waste consortium consisting
of: Battle Creek Public Schools, Calhoun Intermediate School District, Harper
Creek Schools, Lakeview Schools, Mar Lee School and Pennfield Schools. Speci-
fications may be obtained by contacting Kori Rafferty at the Calhoun ISD, 17111
G Drive North, Marshall, MI, 49068. Phone (269) 789-2437 or email raffertk@
calhounisd.org. The RFP is also available on our website http://www.calhounisd.org
(click on Your ISD/Current Bid Requests). Bids are due on Thursday, November
14, 2024 at 12:00 p.m. at the above address.DIFFERENT
DRUM
WITH KRISTY SMITHDifferent Drum
with Kristy SmithDifferent
Drum
with Kristy SmithDifferent Drum
with Kristy SmithWhen I was a growing up, my
mom kept what she referred to as
a ‘baby book” for all four of her
children. She recorded many of ourWoman’s best friend
reaches new milestonesmilestones in our
respective books
and often referred
to it for data on
immunizations,
when we lost our
first tooth or began
talking. Not only
were my sisters
and I benchmarked against the Dr.
Spock-designated milestones, but
also against one another.
I’ve tried to do something similar
with my dog, Gus, sans a cutesy
puppy book.
According to paws.org, which
details the developmental stages for
dogs, from birth to seven weeks a
puppy learns how to behave appro-
priately with other dogs through the
time spent with his mother and lit-
termates.
When we went to the farm where
Gus (before he had the name “Gus”)
was living, he looked to be having a
high old time learning a lifetime sup-
ply of dog on dog behavior courtesy
of his family of origin. However, his
old puppy-mill-pace-breeding mother
had already checked herself out of
the parenting department with him.
That could probably explain a few
things, the pup’s separation anxiety.
Things on the sibling front were
a little different for Gus when we
brought him home. My kids’ dogs,
Copper and Fennec, were around 16
months old and did not accept Gus
in the same, unconditionally loving
manner he had experienced toddling
around with his puppy sibs.
Instead, his “welcome to your new
home” greeting from them was more
of an open-mouthed nip on the rump,
accompanied by a sharp warning
bark.
But that didn’t deter my little
7-pound ball of fur. Gus simply
learned to dish it right back as soon
as he got a little steadier on his feet.
For my part, I thought to warn
Copper and Fennec, “You might
want to take it easy on the little guy
because judging from the size of his
paws, already, I get the feeling he’s
gonna be bigger than you all in no
time.”
And I was right.
From 2-4 months, Gus learned to
answer to his name, catch and fetch
toys, follow verbal commands and