I’ve lived in this house for over 25 years, and during that time I have accumulated a lot of stuff.  On a few occasions, I have tried to reduce the volume of stuff by half.  I never really throw out half the stuff, but I have tossed a lot of stuff many times.

The consequence of continual acquisition and dispossession cycles means some stuff gets separated from its collection and stays hidden in the spaces between for long periods of time.  I very recently found a video tape titled: Magnus and Family.  I have no idea how it found its safe space, but it had not only remained hidden for many years, it had also completely escaped my memory.

The ancient tape had video of Simba as a 5-week-old puppy, as a 7-month-old goofball, and as a 3-year-old giant showing his strut in the ring.  The tape also showed Magnus’s grandmother, Tsunami.  For the record, Magnus had only one grandmother.  I’ll let you do the math.

More importantly, the video showed two litter evaluations.  A video evaluation of a litter involves showing each puppy in turn as well as in side-by-side comparisons.  In the voiceover, the breeder discusses the pros and cons of each puppy while the video records both body and head footage.

The two evaluations, in this case, were Magnus’s litter at 8 days, and again at 5 weeks.  It was interesting to see him at that age, but more interesting to hear what the breeder was thinking at those times.  In the first evaluation, Magnus did not stick out much.  In fact, he was seen as less masculine than one of the females in the litter.  At 5 weeks, however, he was referred to at the big black and tan boy and was noticeably larger than his siblings.  I saw him for the first time at 8 and a half weeks, and the disparity in size at that point was even clear to me.

Pictured above is a screen capture of Magnus at 5 weeks.  The video shows him and his siblings at that time.  Magnus is on the far left.  Enjoy.