Puppies Update

Yes, things are a little nutty at our house right now!

Four puppies, all at around two months, is a lot of work! But, we are starting to get into a good and regular routine.

Quincy, Chloe and Buck have had their first vet appointments and are weighing in at 2 lbs 4 oz, 3 oz, and 2 oz, respectively. Chloe had a case of tapeworms, but that's been taken care of. That was an interesting (and gross) experience! Chloe is now sleeping with Kyndal at night. And the other cuddle-bugs, er "whiners", are sleeping with Rick and I. The first couple of nights they were up and down a lot and slept wrapped around my neck. But now they each only got up about once in the night to potty and are sleeping mostly in their little bed on our bed. Even Clifford has been sleeping right next to the puppies on our bed. Yes, we have a king size bed. And, thankfully in this instance, Rick and I are not cuddlers at night. There are now three bodies in between us at all times. Buck is the only one doing well with pottying. He seems to have a concept of going to the pad at the back door. I often find poopies and potty spots right outside their potty cage, on the pad. He even comes from another room to do it there. One down, two to go. When it gets warmer we'll be able to transition them to going in the potty cage outside.

And speaking of Clifford, he has mixed emotions. He has taken a liking to the little puppies, although he would never admit it! He sleeps right next to them on our bed. But he does like to sit on the landing of the stairs while they stand on the floor and bark at him, because they can't climb the steps yet. (Sorry to tell you Clifford, but it won't be long before they can!) He's not quite as fond of Crusoe, however. Crusoe noticed him for the first time on Tuesday and chased him through the house. There was hissing, and barking, and Clifford ended up on Rick's desk in the office.

Crusoe is just a playful puppy in a big body. He doesn't know what to do with himself! I can already see him understanding that he needs to obey me, though. Dawson is just as playful as Crusoe, so he's having a more difficult time commanding him to do anything. I'm trying to teach Dawson how to do it. He just doesn't understand yet that the best way he can be Crusoe's buddy is to train him to obey and behave. On a real positive note, he does potty pretty good if you pay attention to him. He doesn't squat and pee every 40 seconds like the little puppies do. And, when he goes to bed at night (snuggled close to Dawson), he sleeps soundly all night. Yesterday, though, Dawson spent a lot of time with him outside running and playing and they went on a long walk/run! And Crusoe even spent some time downstairs a couple of different times with the little puppies. He's getting better about not mauling them, and even laid in the floor and let them jump all over him. I call him "my little housework buddy" because in the afternoons when I have been doing my housework, he has just followed me around from room to room.

So, that's life in Taulman Puppyville. Things are going well, in my opinion. They are cute and fun and everybody is in love. I told Rick today that, although they are a lot of work, I am really enjoying them. I have been really bored this whole school year. It's nice to have someone(s) to take care of and who need me to take care of them. My mom said that she knew I would love it because I need someone to nurture. And who better to nurture than these little furry sweet babies.

** I spoke too soon! Apparently yesterday Crusoe chewed through a wire on one of our furnaces in the storage room. Not wanting him to shock himself with a live wire, I draped it up onto the furnace. When I did, the wires touched something and zapped out our furnace. ** sigh ** Now he is living in our pool house in the garage. There is NOTHING in there he can eat.