I’ve been threatening to write about the new puppy for some time now, but the demands of puppy-raising turn out to be antithetical to reflection on puppy-raising. The girlie, Cass, will be a year old in three weeks, though, so it’s high time to properly introduce her. But this is not that post, as the distractions continue.  Since Cass came to live with me, I’ve known in theory that she would eventually become sexually mature, accompanied by all sorts of interesting behavioral changes (for her) and management challenges (for me).  Saturday morning, after roughhousing with her, I noticed a spot of blood on my arm, and theory crashed hard into reality.  I remembered that Luc had been sniffing her particularly intently earlier that morning;…