Puppyhood x2

Pup-iversary

2009-03-11T16:55:00.000-07:00

Today marks one year since we brought Tessie and Skippy home. It seems like they have been here forever but at the same time it also seems so hard to believe that one year has already passed. Looking back at my first post from the night we brought the puppies home from the shelter, so much has changed about them. Skippy looks so tiny and boney in pictures from the first few months. Now he's a porker who has yet to find a kind of food he doesn't like. Tessie was so scared and timid and now she bulldozes into us like the crazy mutt she really is.

This blog was meant to follow the puppies' first year with us..."puppyhood" and I have been going back and forth over whether or not to stop it or not. I think for now I will leave this blog at puppyhood...with occasional updates about how the crazies, as we call them, are doing. For more on the puppies one year later, check out the last three posts, their one year birthday posts and the Christmas post. We love them so much and we're so happy to have them...Skippy's howling and all!

Skippy is One

2009-01-10T20:07:00.000-08:00

About a month and a half ago, Tessie got her first birthday blog post and now it is Skippy's turn. Skippy turned one on Wednesday. I guess we are officially out of "puppyhood" in our house but this blog will continue sporadically. Skippy continues to be the happy-go-lucky puppy we met at the shelter almost a year ago. He is happy no matter what we are doing. He has an over-abundance of personality and he always keeps us laughing. He loves having his belly rubbed and giving kisses. While he loves to play with and harass Tessie, when we get on the floor to play, he often takes a seat on the couch and watches his crazy sister play with us. When it comes to his parents he would rather sit on our laps and cuddle than play. He is such a good boy and it is so obvious that he wants to make us happy. He loves to be praised and tries so hard, with every tilt of his head, to understand everything we say to him....and even though he's a dog, Skippy understands a lot of words and listens very well. He loves to get in the big bed at night (under the covers of course). He loves food of all kinds (we have yet to find something he won't eat). And he loves stuffed animals (even after Tessie de-stuffs them). On the ride home from the shelter I sat in the back seat with the pups, one on each side of me. Skippy curled up with his nose in the palm of my hand. He still likes to have his nose tucked into/under something when he sleeps (unless he's flat on his back).

When we brought the puppies home last March, Skippy was just over 8 weeks old and liked to lie on my lap and sleep. I could hold him in one hand. When we a

rrived at the shelter he was the first dog we saw, jumping up on the door of the cage to greet us. I took his picture immediately, before we went into the pen, and text messaged it to my dad. I knew he was ours. From his first night home it was evident that he knew he had it good. Prior to adopting these two, I had never had a rescue dog. However, I had heard of rescue dogs having what seems to be a great appreciation for their homes and their families. Skippy fits this to a tee. He is so loyal, so loving, and it really does seem as though he is thanking us....even though I think we should be the ones thanking him.

Skippy has had just as crazy a year as his sister has. He loves her to death, even when she's dragging him across the floor by his neck. He likes to kiss her face and her ears and cuddle up with her. She taught him a lot about interaction with other dogs, as at first he had no idea how to play with her. He gets aggravated when she plays with other dogs and is very protective of her. He thinks he's much bigger than he really is. He thinks he's a human. He doesn't like water but is a very good swimmer when he has to be. He's my poser and has spurred an influx of visits to my Flickr account thanks to his adorableness. He's not as crazy about snow as Tessie is, but he enjoys prancing through it on a warm-ish day when the sun is out. He still needs to wear a coat when it's cold and probably wouldn't mind some boots either. He likes to dress up (devil for Halloween, Santa for Christmas)....probably because it brings more attention, which, for Skip, is always a good thing.

He's Skippy, Skipper, Skipper Lou, Gipper, Kippy, Skipper Whipper, Skip, Skip-a-doodle, Skippy Poopy, Pooper Dooper, Skip-a-dee-doo-dah, Skipster, Buddy, Goober, Goof, Lovebug, Skipaford, Pipper, Skipper-do, Skip to my Lou, Skippington, Skips....but most of all he's just a really good dog and we love him lots.

Puppies' First Christmas

2008-12-28T13:58:00.000-08:00

The puppies have made it through their first Christmas and even though at first they had their reservations, I think they learned that it's a pretty fun day. Their Christmas season started back at the beginning of the month when we had our holiday open house. We put the tree up shortly before it and they did wonderful with it (sans some barking/growling at it when we first brought it inside). The plan for the holiday open house was to gate them off upstairs so they could have their own space and people could go up and visit them if they wanted. That didn't work out as we had thought, as Tessie was freaked out at first and wanted nothing to do with being away from us. They both ended up doing so great with all of the people who came and went that night. They were awesome and we think it did them both really good as far as trusting people goes.

After that they had a few weeks off from holiday craziness. On Christmas Eve Paulie & I opened our presents to each other, as we had a very busy day on Christmas. That night was a little much for them. I think all the wrapping paper everywhere and boxes made them a bit nervous. Tessie opened the bully stick in her stocking and high-tailed it upstairs to chew it on our bed. They both figured out present opening rather quickly.

The next morning they were able to join us at my mom's house for brunch and presents there. Skippy really practiced his present opening skills when he not only unwrapped the rawhides my parents bought him but managed to open the package and take one out all by himself. He also was decorated in ribbons, which he didn't seem to mind at all. Overall they did great with everything went on during the holidays. They continue to amaze us with their go-with-the-flow attitudes.

The puppies' Christmas tally.....

two packages of bacon and cheese treats

two bully sticks

two packages of meaty rawhides

one bag of Dingos

two rawhide bones

one stuffed monkey

one stuffed frog

one big tennis ball

one rope toy

one box of Milkbones

Not bad for their first year!

An Open Letter to President-Elect Obama from Skippy

2008-11-26T08:04:00.000-08:00

With Thanksgiving and our holiday open house coming up, I was a bit busy to write a post this week so I asked Skippy to step in for me. I asked him to write about his recent meeting with Santa but he came up with this instead....stubborn mutt.

Dear Mr. Obama,

My name is Skippy and even though the letters you usually get probably aren't from the four-legged kind, bear with me. I'm here to tell you my story and I hope that will make it clear to you why a shelter dog is the only dog for the White House. I guess you could consider it a campaign of sorts.

I was born a long, long way from where I live now - 1800 miles, give or take. Most dogs don't travel that far in their whole life, I traveled that far in my first 6 weeks! I was born on the southwestern side of Puerto Rico to a dog that, unlike many dogs in Puerto Rico, did have a home and human that cared about her. Even though the human loved my mom, he didn't want us pups. He wasn't happy about her having puppies and he didn't know what to do with us at first. His friends told him to get rid of us. We heard them talk of a place called Dead Dog Beach, not far from where we were born. His friends told him to take us there, put us in a sack, and run us over. That's what many people in Puerto Rico call "controlling the pet population." The human loved my mom too much to kill us so he loaded us into a box one night and left us on the doorstep of a vet.

At that moment I became the luckiest dog in Puerto Rico.

You see, not many people there care about dogs at all. They run free everywhere and people don't hesitate to treat them very badly. Even though we were cold and alone in that cardboard box, we were being given a chance. At the vet, my brothers and sisters and I were finally safe but we didn't know it. They stabbed us with lots of sharp things. Even though we had food and warm blankets to sleep on, it wasn't very much fun. We met lots of dogs there who had been hurt really bad by people who didn't want them. The humans tried to help but they couldn't help all of the dogs. When we were old enough the people who were taking care of us put us on a plane and sent us to Massachusetts. The plane wasn't very much fun either. We couldn't ride with the humans, we had to ride with the suitcases! It was really loud and we were really scared. When the noise finally stopped we met some nice people who took us to a place called a "shelter."

I met lots of dogs at the shelter. Some were puppies like me and some were older and had lived at the shelter a long time. On my first weekend at the shelter lots and lots of humans came there. They walked outside my pen and some even came in to play with me. That was a strange day. At the end of the day, after all the people went home, all of my brothers and sisters were gone. One by one, throughout the day, they had left with humans. I didn't know why but I was all alone in my pen. I had to curl up on my cot all by myself. I was cold and lonely. The humans at the shelter gave me some toys to play with but it wasn't the same. A few days later the humans put a new puppy in my pen. I was really happy to have another friend. However, this new puppy was really scared. She didn't like the humans and she would try to hide under our bed. The humans called her Skittles because they said she was "skittish." I tried to tell her that the humans were nice but she was from Puerto Rico too and the people there had been very mean to her. You see, Mr. Obama, when she was a baby no one left her at the vet. She had to live on the street, find her own food, and stay away from the people that were trying to hurt her. She thought all the humans were going to hurt her.

Then something really cool happened....

That night, after I had met Skittles, two new humans I didn't know came in with the shelter lady. They walked by a lot of the pens and looked at all the dogs there. I was really hoping they would come into my pen because I hadn't had any humans come in to play with me in a few days. Well guess what...they did! I was so happy that I crawled right up into their laps and kissed their faces! This is the best part of the story, Mr. Obama, because get what happened next...I got to go home with the new humans!

I've lived with my family for almost a year now. I still can't believe my luck. I went from a cardboard box in Puerto Rico to having my own toys, my own bed, and best of all, my own home. You see, Mr. Obama, I've seen what can happen to dogs that nobody wants and that's why I'm so glad that someone wanted me. Some people don't think that dogs are capable of feelings like appreciation but they're wrong. My mom and dad will tell you I am the most grateful, loyal dog they could have ever dreamed of finding. Oh, and so is Skittles, except now we call her Tessie.

You see, even though a lot of scary things happen in this world, there are some really good people out there who help puppies like me find homes. Your dog is waiting in a shelter right now, Mr. Obama. You see, all kinds of dogs need homes, even hypoallergenic ones. You could go buy yourself a "designer dog," a labradoodlenoodle, or you could go to a shelter and get one for just a donation. Afterall, I'm a spotted Puertopointahound.

If change is so important to you Mr. Obama, step up and change the life of a dog who needs you.

Sincerely,

Skippy the mutt (and proud of it!)

Tessie is One

2008-11-23T08:39:00.001-08:00

Next Saturday, November 29th, is Tessie's first birthday. It's hard to believe that our little puppies will not be little puppies soon. Skippy turns one in January. Tessie has had a big year and it is hard to believe that the scared little puppy from the streets of Puerto Rico is the same dog we live with. She has made huge gains in a lot of areas during her first year. She loves to go for walks and play outside. I think that if she could stay outside all of the time she would. She loves going to the beach, especially because she can dig holes wherever she wants. She is a stuffed toy killer and can rip open and de-stuff any stuffed animal in a matter of minutes. She's a great catcher and she loves peanut butter. When she gets excited her whole body wags.

When we first brought our puppies home from the shelter

on March 11th, Tessie was about three and a half months old. When we went into the pen that she shared with Skippy, he was all over us but she sat in the corner and had to be coaxed over with food. On her first night she sat on her dog bed and wouldn't come off. We had to carry her to her water bowl. Over time she became more comfortable. After a few weeks she started playing with Skippy. She was an adorable puppy with very long legs that made her a little clumsy. She loved to chew on strings and would go after shoelaces, strings on sweatshirts, even my hair a few times. We hand-fed Tessie for weeks to try to get her comfortable with us and with eating. At puppy kindergarten she sat in the corner and would not play with the other dogs until the last class. During puppy graduate class she did much better and made a good friend in the Golden Retriever that was in our class.

Tessie has grown to LOVE other dogs. She loves to play with humans or dogs and she is the fastest runner I've ever seen. She "herds" Skippy when they play outside. Tessie is still very scared of people she is not familiar with. As scared as she has been in various situations, she has never snapped or bitten at anyone, ever. She is a teddy bear and even if she was scared of someone, that person could pick her up and hold her with no problem. She is the sweetest dog. Tessie is also incredibly soft. She has a thick undercoat, which we believe she gets from her Border Collie side. She loves to be brushed and would sit for hours if you ket brushing her. She did great at doggie daycare and has had a play date that she really enjoyed as well. I can't wait to see her in the snow. I think she is really going to enjoy it - another opportunity for digging! We are so thankful for Tessie (and Skippy) because we were lucky enough to find two wonderful dogs. We know Tessie's second year will be just as fun and exciting as her first.

Doggie Daycare, Day 1

2008-10-10T14:15:00.000-07:00

Today was Tessie and Skippy's first day of Doggie Daycare. This video is of Tessie after coming home. She was lying on the couch with her head up but she couldn't keep her eyes open. Her eyes would close then her head would bob a little and she'd wake herself back up. It was too funny. She finally gave in and laid her head down.

The doggie daycare process is an interesting one. They are going to Happy Tails Doggie Daycare in Franklin. It's a really nice facility with really nice staff. We went for our "interview" last night. Both puppies were shy but they were accepted. We decided to put them in separate play groups but let them share a pen during naptime. Today when I picked them up we got a "progress report" of sorts. Tessie had a great day. She made friends with three dogs and they formed their own little group - Huck the Jack Russell Terrier, Grace the Bernese Mountain Dog, and Zoey a Lab Mix. They said she seemed a bit nervous at first but quickly acclimated herself to running around and playing with the crew. Skippy was a little more nervous than Tess. It took him a while this morning to begin playing with the other dogs. However, he also made a friend, a Westie named Daisy.

We have decided to bring them to Happy Tails one or two days a week. We are hoping it helps them with their socialization and their confidence. We also want them to have something to do once in a while during the day while we are working. We were thrilled that today went well. They will go for their second visit next Wednesday.

In other news, the puppies have their Halloween costumes. Tessie will be dressing as a witch this year and Skippy as a devil. They tried their costumes on the other night and they look quite cute. Tessie's costume also has a black cape but she's more aggressive about trying to get it off than Skippy is (he likes to dress up). Their pictures will be up on their Flickr pages - links on the right side of this blog. Tomorrow the puppies will take their first trip to Wachusett Mountain for a little hike!

fun pups

2008-09-28T19:27:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow Tessie will be 10 months old. Skippy will be 9 months old next week. They are growing quickly and it is very hard to believe it has been almost seven months since we brought them home. On the other hand, it seems as if they have been here forever. Looking at pictures from when we first brought them home is funny because they look so small...even though day-to-day we don't notice any change. Skippy could basically sit in the palm of your hand. This first picture is from their first night with us (back in Hudson).

They have done a lot since March ...puppy K, puppy grad class, the move to Hopedale, camping, a week at Cape Cod, learning to swim, etc. I was thinking of my favorite moments with them so far. Tessie has come so far from the terrified puppy that wouldn't leave the dog bed in the first days at home. She is still shy but has made great strides. She loves other dogs, her favorite (other than Skippy) being Bindi the American Bulldog that lives behind my mom. My favorite moment so far with Tessie was bringing the puppies to Crow's Pasture for the day during our week at the Cape in August. We walked far out while the tide was out and Tessie loved running around in the tidal pools and the shallow waves.

Skippy has been in a good mood for the last seven months. He is always happy and always wants to kiss. He doesn't like to play rough with us like Tessie does, he would rather cuddle on the couch. He loves to be with people and he's very nosey and curious. My favorite Skippy moment so far was the first night he began his sleeping poses. Paul & I were watching a movie and as it was ending we noticed Skippy sleeping flat on his back with his legs straight up in the air. We took some pictures and then put them together on the computer to make this animated gif that makes him look like he's dancing. We laughed very hard that night.

oops!

2008-09-07T08:22:00.000-07:00

The craziness continues. The puppies have been doing well since I returned to work. They are alone from about 8:30-4:00 each day and they do so well. They have no accidents and other than eating the mail one day, they haven't destroyed anything.

Of course, this week they had a bit of a reprieve from staying by themselves. On Tuesday night at about 10:00 we were all up in the bedroom, as Paulie had just mounted the flat screen on the wall. He went to take the puppies for their last out before bed. Skippy followed him downstairs but Tessie, who had been unusually clingy to me all night, wouldn't go. I got up and decided I would walk her downstairs. I got to the top of the stairs and I thought I felt her coming up behind me (oftentimes the puppies will blow by us, practically under our feet, almost knocking us over). I turned to see if she was coming as I was stepping down onto the first step. I lost my footing and fell backwards. I hit the back of my head on the top stair and tumbled halfway down the staircase. When I stopped I picked my head up to see my little toe on the my left foot pointing out sideways.

Paul took me to the emergency room where we found out I had broken the fifth metatarsal - the bone that runs up the outside of the foot into the little toe. They splinted it and gave me a walking cast (that I have yet to be able to walk in). They told me I would need the crutches for at least a week until I could put pressure on it. I ended up missing two days of work - which I was not happy about, especially this early in the school year. However, everyone was great about it and everything seems to have worked out. I returned to work on Friday.

Both puppies are scared of the crutches. Tessie runs the other way when I am using them. They both want to lay with me when I am elevating my foot, which makes for a very crowded couch. On Wednesday I had Tessie lying between my legs and Skippy on my chest. We ll took a nap together. When I had my knee surgeries in high school I learned the frozen peas trick. Frozen peas make for the BEST ice packs because they mold right to your body. When I put the frozen peas on my foot, Skippy enjoys licking the bag. I think if I let him he would try to eat right through it. I wouldn't think that frozen peas have a strong smell but maybe he just likes the ice on the bag.

Both puppies have been very well behaved. We were supposed to walk in the MSPCA Walk for Animals today. Paul and I did it last year for the first time without any dogs and had such a great time. I was so looking forward to bringing Tess & Skip for their first time this year. I know they would have LOVED it. They will have to wait for the '09 walk....it is such a great time, I know we will continue to do it each year. If you want to help, visit http://www.mspca.org to donate. It is such a wonderful organization that helps so many animals in the area.

Cape Cod Dogs

2008-08-17T17:28:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I have updated because we have been on vacation. It was the puppies' first long (one week) vacation and it was to Cape Cod (Eastham). They have been to the Cape before but only for an overnight and never before during the summer. They did a fabulous job of just going with the flow all week long. They really are great, easy puppies and we are very lucky. We still have areas we want to work on but the ease of taking them on vacation really made us see how wonderful they are.

The puppies went on a beach tour during their week away. While the weather was quite stormy across the rest of the state, we only had one rainy day all week. The first beach they visited was Campground Beach in Eastham on the bay side. They visited this beach "illegally" (shhh), as dogs are prohibited from most public beaches between Memorial Day and Labor Day. The puppies came down for the sunset one night though, as this beach was very close to the house we rented. They love the beach and the sand and both really enjoy digging holes. Skippy especially enjoys digging when it results in him digging up something that smells fishy. They visited Nauset Light Beach in Eastham, which is a Cape Cod National Seashore beach. National Seashore beaches that are run by the National Seashore and not by towns (there's a difference) allow dogs to pass through lifeguard protected areas into non-protected areas where they can be at any time. We spent a full day there with the pups and did a lot of walking on that beach at night. They were afraid of the big waves at Nauset Light Beach but they loved playing in the sand and lying under the beach umbrella. The biggest hit with the puppies was Crow's Pasture, which they visited on their first Cape trip back in March. Since Crow's Pasture is on the bay side in Dennis, we were able to walk way out with them during low tide (which we planned our trip there around). They puppies loved running through the tidal pools and Tessie had a great time chasing the birds. They both swam while there and we think they really enjoyed themselves. Overall it was a fabulous trip!

To see pictures of the puppies' first vacation, click here.

Teenagers

2008-07-29T08:59:00.000-07:00

Today Tessie is 8 months old. Skippy will be 7 months old a week from Thursday. They are both officially in "puppy adolescence." Puppy adolescence is a time where puppies act like adolescent kids. They test their limits and try to get away with what they want to do. This period usually falls between six and twelve months. Our puppies have become well aware of their rules and their routine. They know what they are allowed to do and what they are not allowed to do. However, in the past couple of weeks they have begun to take on the mindset of "if I want to do it, I'm going to do it." While I was away the puppies did some chewing of household items such as the leg of the coffee table. T

hey are both well aware that they chew on their toys only but apparently the combination of being seven-month old puppies and having their routine disrupted was enough to spur them on to that golden moment. While reading about this phase I found that one of the common occurrences is mouthiness. Tessie wakes up in the morning and is so happy, like she hasn't seen us in ages. She crawls up to the top of the bed and kisses, kisses, kisses, then gets so excited that she sneaks in a little love bite. It doesn't hurt but it's enough for us to tell her "no bite," to which she typically tries it again.

They are continuing to grow and get bigger. When they play now they are like linebackers. Even little Skippy will take a running charge at Tessie and knock her right off of her feet. They will be going on their first Saco trip this weekend and sleeping in a tent with us for the first time. They will also be meeting Glory, the lab of a friend of Paulie's and quite possibly the most well-behaved dog I have ever met. I have been waiting for our puppies to get to meet Glory because I think they will love her and watching her will be a good experience for them. Glory loves to swim and retrieve balls from the water. I think this is going to have a huge impact on Tessie, who we can tell wants so badly to run right into the water and have fun but is still unsure about it.

On a more serious note, my trip to Puerto Rico really opened my eyes to what our puppies endured prior to being brought to the States. We stayed at a resort during our trip but left the grounds a few times to visit the capital, the rainforest, and do some shopping. The section of the island we visited, the area Tessie was found in, is very poor and animals are treated very badly. We did a kayak tour of the bioluminescent bay and while waiting for our tour we saw numerous stray dogs lying in the street and looking for food. One was limping. We saw four stray dogs repeatedly at the resort we staying at as well. The southern half of the island, where Skippy was rescued from, is supposed to be even worse. There are several unpatrolled beaches there where animals are taken to be abandoned or killed. The Save-a-Sato program is such a worthwhile cause and seeing the situation first hand really opened my eyes to that. In fact, I made a donation as soon as I returned. And if I thought Paulie would have gone for it, I would have returned with 2 or 3 more dogs for us. Please visit saveasato.org

They're Still Puppies!

2008-07-16T10:52:00.000-07:00

I chose the title because Paul & I frequently forget that the puppies are still, in fact, puppies. We have now had them for four months but it seems as though they have been with us for years. When Skippy still has an occasional accident or Tessie doesn't come when called 100% of the time, we often forget that they are still only six and seven months old. Another reason for this is that we are very lucky to have two very wonderful dogs. They have learned commands remarkably quick, they are happy to do whatever we are doing at any given time, and they've graduated to having both the kitchen and living room open to them when they are left home alone.

They went on their first camping trip over the weekend. We spent the weekend in New Hampshire and they both did great. They're very go-with-the-flow type of puppies, which is great. We visited a place called Diana's Baths, where water comes down the side of a mountain over big rocks and creates waterfalls and tidal pools. The picture above is of them at Diana's Baths. There is a wooded path that runs up along the water. The dogs had an awesome day there. There were a ton of other dogs and they did a fabulous job meeting and greeting them....as well as their owners, which was huge for Tess. There was a yellow lab that was running in and out of the water. Tessie loved her and wanted so badly to follow her into the water and play. Every time the dog would run in Tessie would follow about 3 or 4 steps in, then realize what she was doing and back up out of the water. She's coming around with the water and did a great job walking through a shallow river at the campground with Paulie.

This upcoming week I will be away in Puerto Rico. The puppies will be home with Paul for the week and even though I know he will do an awesome job with them, as he always does, I can't help but worry about leaving my puppies! It is funny how they become like children. However, Puerto Rico is the puppies' homeland and it will be interesting to see where they came from. I've never flown over the ocean before, which is another thing I'm a little anxious about...but I keep telling myself if Tessie and Skippy made it, I will too!

Four Months

2008-07-09T12:03:00.000-07:00

Friday will be the four month anniversary of the day we brought home Tessie and Skippy. They have had a busy four months and they both have learned a lot and grown a lot. The picture this week is of the puppies in their new life jackets. We decided to buy them to make them feel a little more buoyant in the water. They both did great when they swam but I think they will like having these. We will try them this weekend on the puppies' first camping trip in NH.

Tessie makes small improvements everyday. She is now 7 months old. Our trainer, who we have been attending class with since late March, tells us every class how impressed she is with how we've been able to help Tessie. She continues to come out of her shell and show more and more people why we love her so much. We plan to try agility training with her in the fall. I brought it up to our trainer a few weeks ago because I thought it would be something she would enjoy. Tessie has boatloads of energy and in my opinion she needs a more strenuous outlet than a walk or two each day. Our trainer thinks it will help her gain a lot of confidence, as it helped her shelter dog immensely! We plan to enroll her in an intro class to see if she liked it. We also have a few things at home to use to get her started. She knows sit, come, shake, wait, stay, with me, and down - which she does like there is a incoming missile (quite funny). She also just mastered heel, which only took her about 40 minutes to get. I just finished reading the book Marley and Me by John Grogan. It was a great book that I would immediately recommend to any dog lover/owner. There were so many little quirks that Grogan described in Marley that we also see in Tessie. She is a big, goofy lab when she feels comfortable enough to be herself...hopefully as time goes on that will happen more and more (and not just at home).

Skippy is Skippy. We have yet to find another dog like him. He was 6 months old this week. He loves to kiss and cuddle. He knows how to play fetch and when he wants to he's quite good at it. He's still a little protective of Tess, something we don't want him to feel like he has to do. When we enroll Tessie in agility class I think we will enroll him in the next level of training to give them a little away time from each other. Skippy knows sit, down, shake, wait, stay, come, with me, and I'm working on sit up. He does much better with the cutesy circus dog tricks (sit up, shake), while Tessie is better at the good old originals (come, stay, heel). He loves being the center of attention (still) and continues to interrupt any attention that Tessie is given. He loves to eat and contrary to what I believe, he has grown. It is hard for me to notice day to day but looking back at his first pictures he looks so small and boney! I love looking back at the one-a-week photo albums and I am so glad I did that. The differences in them are hard to see day by day but looking at how they have changed in four months is incredible!

Water Pups

2008-06-26T12:09:00.000-07:00

Tessie and Skippy have been having a great summer (even though we're only a week or so in). We've been taking 30-60 minute walks in the afternoon, which they absolutely love...and sometimes they're lucky enough to get a second walk when Dad gets home! As I think I mentioned in the previous blog, they both are so well-behaved when I am home with them compared to when I come home after being gone all day. Granted there's not much we can do about that once the school year begins but for now it's working out really well.

They both continue to do really well with their training, socialization, etc. Tessie's new bad habit is barking when she sees a dog. She does this completely out of excitement because she wants to play with every dog she sees. However, she comes across s

ounding a little psycho so we bought a training collar last week at puppy class that has really been helping her. Skippy goes up to people who come to the house now, sniffs them, and typically lets people pet him. Tessie's still a bit shy with people but is making so many huge strides from when we got her in March. We see a huge difference in her when we go to puppy class especially. She loves playing with the dogs now, especially Odell, a Golden Retriever I mentioned in the last post. I think she knows other Retrievers because she definitely seems to be more excited when she sees one compared to other dogs. A few weeks ago I had Animal Planet on and a special about Flat-coat Retrievers came on. She sat right up and watched the tv for quite a few minutes.

Last weekend the puppies took their first pool swim. Neither one was very thrilled with it but they both did a great job swimming! Tessie is a splasher. She kind of flails when she swims and makes a lot of splashing because her legs are so long. Skippy looks like a little wind-up toy dog when he swims. No splashing and he moves pretty quickly for a little guy. Towards the end of the afternoon there were a few times where Tessie looked a little curious about jumping in but she didn't. I think if she had an area that sloped in like she would at a lake or ocean, she might have ventured in on her own. It's a start! There will be a lot of exposure to water for these puppies over the summer so we will be interested to see how they do with it. There are more swimming pictures on my flickr stream.

Skippy the Spaniel?

2008-06-19T08:42:00.001-07:00

Today's Daily Puppy was a Brittany Spaniel named Marley (one of the names I liked for a dog). He's the puppy in the lower left hand corner. I checked the page this morning and had to take a second look because Marley had a lot of similarities to Skippy. His hair was longer but he had the same colors, the same freckles on his face and ears, and he had two small light brown spots around his eyes, like Skip has around his right eye. He also had the same collar as Skippy but that's not relevant. I googled "Brittany Spaniel mix" and found the picture of the dog in the upper left corner. Her name is Faith and she's a Brittany mix (not sure what she's mixed with) but I could see a lot of Skippy in her face. He's been a mystery to us so far. In fact, I had kind of come to think he was the only dog like him out there. However, these Brittany dogs have quite a resemblance. Brittany Spaniels have much longer hair than Skippy does but as you can see in her picture, Faith's hair is also short. Both pictures on the right are of Skippy. It's the closest I've come to finding a match to him so far.

Over the weekend we went to the Cape. The puppies went to Crowe's Pasture, which is a beach that is part of preservation land in Dennis. In Dennis dogs are banned from public beaches between Memorial Day and Labor Day but they can go on preservation land any time so we brought them down for a walk on the beach. Tessie even braved the ocean and went in up to her belly. Skippy wasn't so sure but he did get his feet wet. Crowe's Pasture is on the bay side so the waves are typically very small, as they were this weekend, similar to a lake. However, every time there was a little wave that came in, he backed right up like it was going to bite him. There were a bunch of dogs there, including a Bassett Hound who only had three legs. The puppies are doing really well with socialization overall. Tessie has made huge improvements and was the life of the party at puppy class last week. She loves Odell, a Golden Retriever puppy that is just a tad bit bigger than her. Last week the two of them were having a great time during play time at puppy class. It was so funny to see the difference in her playing with a dog her own size vs playing with Skippy, even though he holds his own!

Both puppies seem to enjoy having me home for the summer, even though today is only day 2. It so interesting to see the difference in behavior when I am home with them all day. Typically, when I come home from work and they have been alone for 6-7 hours they are off the wall for at least two hours. If I take them for an hour walk, Tessie is still bouncing off the walls when we get home. Right now they are both sleeping soundly on the couch. We'll go for a walk later, they will play with their toys, take another nap....it will be such a different day.

sum-sum-summertime

2008-06-13T13:29:00.000-07:00

The puppies are enjoying their summer so far. I have a feeling they will be enjoying it even more after I'm out of work for the summer on Tuesday. We're going to the Cape for the night on Saturday and we're taking them to Crow's Pasture for the first time so I'm sure I will have plenty to write about here after the trip but today I just wanted to share some pictures of the puppies outside enjoying summer!

and one just for fun.......

Breaking the Shell

2008-06-08T06:20:00.000-07:00

Tessie had a big day yesterday. It began at puppy class. The play time, which lasts about 5-10 minutes each class, was at the beginning of class this week. Everyone takes the puppies off leash and then they get to run around the room and play with each other. Our trainer's three-year old Standard Poodle was there, as well as two of the other puppies in our class, a Cockapoo and a Golden Retriever, who are both really sweet dogs. Tessie usually stands off to the side with us and doesn't play. Last week Paul went out into the middle of the play area and she followed which was big for her. This week she took it upon herself to go out, play with the dogs, and have a lot of fun. She was playfully barking at them and playing with a tennis ball that belonged to the Standard Poodle. We were so happy to see her relax and have fun with the other dogs. She loves the Golden Retriever puppy and gets so excited when she sees her each week. She did so well and it makes me so glad we decided to continue the puppy classes after puppy kindergarten ended. The socialization aspect of the class is really helping her. Later on in the night we had Swilly and Sue over. Tessie did so well going over to them, letting them pet her, and being so much less tense than she has been in the past. It is so good to see her enjoying things a little bit more.

Tessie's new thing is shoes....if she could have her way she would spend the day chewing every shoe in the house. She chewed a hole on the back of my sneaker and she loves Paulie's slippers. But she really isn't picky, she'll chew any shoe she can get in her mouth. She even tries to chew my father's sneakers while they are on his feet.

We went to the vet on Thursday and the puppies both did well. Skippy weighed in at 21 pounds and Tessie at 29 pounds. It is funny to look at pictures of Skippy from when we first got him. I think he looks so little and boney in old pictures. He's such a good boy and he listens so well. I think he knows that he has it good here and he's very happy. He really just wants to make us happy - except when he tries to eat goose poop at the pond.

Next weekend the puppies will be going to the Cape again for the night. We are buying an off road beach sticker for the summer because the drive-on area of Chapin Beach is conservation land and is dog friendly. I can't wait to bring them on the beach this summer. With a full day on the beach Tessie will probably have a moat dug around the car.

Tessie's Turn

2008-05-31T12:59:00.001-07:00

Tessie is the Daily Puppy today!

http://www.dailypuppy.com/puppies/Tessie-the-Labrador-Mix_2008-05-31

Changes

2008-05-29T09:02:00.000-07:00

This video is of Skippy's newest hobby. He is turning into quite a copycat, or copydog as it may be. He has taken up a lot of Tessie's habits after watching her - digging, eating things he finds outside, etc. Last week at puppy class the trainer's dog was there and she was spinning in circles. 10 minutes later Skippy was doing it too. Now he does it at least a couple times a day. The trainer's dog was doing more like excited circles but Skippy's has turned into chasing his tail. It's actually quite amusing to watch.

I haven't written in a while because we've been getting settled into the new house. I can't believe how well the puppies are doing already and how they seem to like it here so much more. They love running up and down the stairs and I have to pull them off sometimes because I'm afraid someone will break a leg. Tessie has no fear and if I am climbing the stairs behind her she has, at times, turned around and tried to jump up into my arms. I think she finds it amusing that I'm at a lower level than usual. We set up a kiddie pool in the backyard and surprisingly neither wanted anything to do with it. I thought Tessie would be all about it, given her love of hoses and sprinklers. I think reminds her too much of a bath. We're going to work on it though. They've enjoyed getting acquainted with the birds and squirrels in the front yard and they love being around the corner from the pond!

We return to the vet next Thursday. I can't wait to see the new weigh-in totals. I'm predicting Skippy has surpassed the 20 pound mark. Not sure about Tessie since she's very lanky. I have been looking through their week-by-week pictures and even though I don't notice changes in them on a daily basis, it is fun to look at the pictures week by week. Here are the links to their albums -

Tessie's pictures

Skippy's pictures

Also- you may want to check out the Daily Puppy on Saturday, just a hint ;)

Month Two

2008-05-09T15:08:00.000-07:00

On Sunday it will be exactly two months since we got our puppies. I did a post like this a month ago after our first month together - kind of like a reflection. Both puppies are continuing to do very well. Together they are very entertaining. Even though it may not always seem this way, they love each other very much. When they are apart and are reunited they always get excited and begin kissing each other. I love to watch them play with one another, especially as they are getting older. They are more into their toys now and are very aware of what the other is doing. Many times they want to play with the same toy at the same time but occasionally they will each be entertaining themselves without antagonizing one another. They are both Puppy Kindergarten graduates and start the next phase of obedience school (what I like to call Puppy First Grade) next weekend. They both know "sit," "paw," "down," "wait," "drop it," "take it" and "leave it."

At times it is hard to believe that Tessie is the same puppy we brought home in March...other times it is very easy. The most common

comment I get from others about her is something about her being shy. Typically it is people who I don't classify as "dog people" who make comments like, "why doesn't she like people?" I feel bad when people make comments like that because I feel like they miss out on seeing what an awesome dog she is. She is the sweetest dog I have ever met and may come off as skittish but she would never hurt a fly. At five months old she has made great strides with us. When she wants to give us kisses she doesn't just give us kisses, she comes full on and attacks us with kisses and hugs - yes, she hugs. You could be sitting on the couch and then all of a sudden have a lap full of lab. When we come home not only her tail wags, her whole body does. It's the Tessie wiggle. She's a riot. She loves to be outside and she runs and runs and runs. She falls right into Skippy's trap when he starts to antagonize her.

..even though she almost always ends up on top. In my opinion she knows he's smaller and there are times when I think she will intentionally let him get the upper hand. She loves to dig holes in the dirt and she loves to be dried off with a towel. She loves meeting other dogs, something we probably couldn't say for sure two months ago.

Skippy continues to make us laugh. His latest exploits include getting an ice cube stuck to his tongue. At some point during every Puppy Kindergarten class Skippy would go out as far as he could on his leash, sit down, and stare at the trainer as if he was listening. This fits him to a tee. He has so much personality. His favorite thing to do at night is crawl into bed (we let them on the bed now) and curl up next to Paul on his back. He will fall asleep with his legs straight out in the air. I love it. His ears still stick out, although it seems to change everyday. One day the left will stick up and the right will stick out, the next day the left will be down and the right will be up in the air. He's gaining weight quickly and he's a little tough guy. At Puppy Kindergarten he felt that he needed to protect Tessie from the other dogs, since she was hesitant when playtime came around. He loves his stuffed dog Squeaky and has learned to play fetch indoors - yes, only indoors. When he's outside he runs away with the ball.

Overall we have two very well behaved puppies and I couldn't imagine having a four-month old puppy and a five-month old puppy being any easier. We got very lucky.

Party Animals

2008-05-05T13:23:00.000-07:00

The picture on the right is Tessie. The picture on the left is a dog I found when I did a Google image search of "lab border collie mix." I showed the picture on the left to Paul this morning without saying anything and he said, "that's a good picture of her." I said, "it's not her." It looks strikingly like Tessie, even more so when the pictures aren't right next to each other. I think we might have figured out her mix. I had looked up a few different possibilities. The shelter had thought lab/spaniel but many lab/spaniel mixes have curly hair on their ears or bellies. My aunt used to have one that had the coolest fringe on his ears. Tessie's hair is very straight though, no curls or fringe. We thought maybe lab/dalmation because of the spots on her belly but her hair is too long for that mix. Lab/collie is close but her hair isn't long enough and I don't see it growing. Lab/border collie seems to be the closest we've come...and I think it's pretty close! Many of the other pictures resembled her but this dog looked so much like her! Now for figuring out Skippy, ha!

Skippy & Tessie had a big weekend. After graduating from puppy kindergarten on Saturday, they attended their first party. We wanted to bring them to try to help them with socialization. They both do really well when they meet new dogs now but people are a different story, especially for Tess. They were both a little nervous but Skippy did great coming out from under the table and meeting new people. Tessie wasn't so outgoing but we think just exposing her to people was good. On Sunday we all went up to Paul's mom's house for Paul's birthday. The puppies got to hang around with some kids which they don't get a chance to do that often. Skippy also played his first real game of fetch. Both puppies have chased the ball but bringing it back and actually playing a game of fetch hasn't happened - until Sunday. We have a blue ball that both puppies love and Skippy was chasing it, bringing it back, chasing it, bringing it back, etc. His dad was very excited :)

Growing Puppies

2008-05-01T04:23:00.000-07:00

This video is of Tessie's ever-growing hole in my mother's backyard. It's in a spot where there used to be a garden and my mother doesn't mind her digging. Tessie has been working on this hole since her first visit to my mom's house, almost two months ago now. Over the past week or so Skippy has become interested in digging to. In the past he would watch her like she was crazy and not join in. When we went to the Cape Tessie was digging like crazy, Skippy was happy trying to eat washed up crab legs. Now he helps her but he hasn't quite figured out how to push his way in and dig so he ends up underneath her like he did in this video, or behind her with her pushing all her dirt into his face. Another time she was scooping dirt behind her and then he was scooping the same dirt out of the hole.

Wednesday night was our last puppy vet visit (hopefully). Both puppies got their nails trimmed and Skippy got his last puppy shot (Tessie was already done with them). We had gone to the vet just two weeks before and last night we found out that Skippy gained 3 pounds in 2 weeks! They've grown a lot in the seven weeks we have had them....

Visit One: Tessie-15 lbs, Skippy-7 lbs

Visit Two: Tessie- 18 lbs, Skippy- 10 lbs

Visit Three: Tessie-23 lbs, Skippy- 15 lbs

Visit Four: Tessie- 25 lbs, Skippy, 18 lbs

That's where we stand right now. Skippy's body is definitely growing quickly but his legs and his head seem to be staying the same size, ha. Tessie has very long legs and she uses them when she tries to get up on things. She climbs like a monkey. Also, when we pick her up she holds on like a monkey would. It's kind of funny.

Skippy had his first meeting with a kitty last night at the vet. An older couple had a cat in a carrying case and put in down on the floor so Skippy could see. He was very interested even though the cat was not pleased about being face to face with him and kept hissing and showing her fangs. He didn't seem to mind.

A Taste of Things to Come

2008-04-27T09:28:00.000-07:00

The puppies have been spending their weekend in Hopedale. We have been working almost non-stop at the house since Friday morning. We are almost done with the kitchen and dining room. After that we will move upstairs to the bedrooms and bathroom. The puppies have done well in their new home, even if they've only been visiting so far. There is still a lot of clutter around because of the upcoming yard sale. Their favorite thing about their new house is definitely the stairs. They love to run up and down them. We've also been able to take them for a few walks around the pond that is right around the corner. They love going into the Parklands and sniffing around. On our last walk we met the cutest Beagle puppy who was the same age as Tessie but smaller than Skippy.

The puppies have both come pretty close to mastering the "wait" command that we've been working on at puppy kindergarten. When they're focusing I can walk the whole length of my mother's backyard with them sitting at the other end "waiting." Of course, if they don't want to do it or are distracted by something then we have a problem - which is what we have to work on now. We practiced this command at puppy K again this week and both puppies got complimented by our trainer for how well they did with it. Next week we will have two puppy kindergarten graduates. We have signed up for the follow-up class, Puppy Graduates, which will begin on May 17th.

I started something new on Flickr to kind of go along with this Puppyhood blog. I began a new account where I will be uploading all of my pictures (I got fed up with Picassa's space limitations). Each puppy has a "one a week" album where I will upload one picture a week of each of them. I think it will be a fun way to look back at their growth. As I was starting them this morning I realized we have only had them for a little over 6 weeks. I couldn't believe it, as it seems like they've been here forever. Here are links to each album:

Tessie - http://flickr.com/photos/kris10brown/sets/72157604754731030/

Skippy - http://flickr.com/photos/kris10brown/sets/72157604754737292/

Skippy the Superstar

2008-04-25T06:02:00.001-07:00

Skippy is the Daily Puppy! Visit http://www.dailypuppy.com to check him out. I submitted both puppies but I have many more pictures of Skippy for one reason - Tessie doesn't stay still. I've been trying to get good pics of her all week while I've been off but she's a tough cookie to catch.

Vacation Week - woohoo!

2008-04-19T06:32:00.000-07:00

This picture is of Skippy and Juma, the Mastiff that lives in the house behind my mom's. I mentioned him in another post and I've been waiting and waiting to get a shot of them together. There is a chain link fence between the two yards and every time I let Skip and Tessie out over there the first thing they do is run to the fence to see if Juma and Bindi are out. Bindi is an American Bulldog that the family also has. Their mom tells me they do the same thing. They love coming out to see the puppies. Bindi and Tess will run up and down the fence together over and over and over.

This week I am off from work so my plan is to do some training with the puppies. It's hard to work with them when I'm at work all day because 1. I'm tired and 2. they want to play not work. At this point they both know "sit," "down," and "shake" but we say "paw." We haven't gotten to "Stay" at Puppy K yet but that's definitely tops on my list for this week. Skippy has been starting "sit up" because that's his natural inclination when he's sitting and I'm holding food over his head. Tessie seems less inclined to learn the fluff commands. She took to "down" right away but getting her to give me her paw was like pulling teeth. I'd like to work on the leash walking too but that has to be done when I have someone else to help me. The puppies and I will also be working on packing things up for our move to Hopedale. I'd like to be able to bring a load of stuff down their each day but we will see how it goes. We should be into the new house by the end of May. I can't wait.

Another thing we've been working on is getting the puppies to stop eating mulch. I've never seen two dogs that want to eat mulch more than these two. I think Skippy took to it after watching Tessie but now they both do it. It's particularly bad when I take them to their mom's. I don't want them ingesting it so I end up having to chase them to get it away from them. Yesterday my dad put up garden fencing which seems to work so far, although Skippy stuck his head through it a couple times.

Other than the mulch issue, we've had a great couple of afternoons going down to Milford to play. They love seeing Bindi and Juma and they love being outside. Yesterday was pretty warm so I put some ice cubes in their water, which Tessie loved! It looked as if she was bobbing for ice cubes and when she would get one she would lie in the grass and eat it, she loved them! It distracted her from the mulch for a while too, which is a very good thing.

Here are a couple videos of the puppies shaking paws....

Spring Fever

2008-04-12T15:24:00.000-07:00

The forecast for this weekend was grim. Rain, rain, rain. It had me wondering what we were going to do to keep two energetic puppies busy indoors for the whole weekend. And when we were on our way to puppy kindergarten this morning it seemed like the forecasters were right. However, when we stepped foot outside after puppy K, it was a much different story. The sun was shining and it had to be close to 70 degrees! We headed down to Hopedale to get the puppies acclimated to what will be their new walking trail around the pond. They loved it! We even let Skippy off leash for a while (well, on leash but no one was holding the other end). He did great coming back when he was called and staying right with us.

After that we headed over to Milford to run around in the fenced yard for a bit. Tessie did some digging, Skippy did some fetching, and they both got sprayed by the hose - which Tessie loved! In fact, she even took a few steps in

to the pond today while we were there. I had heard that many Satos can be frightened of water but fortunately that doesn't seem to be the case with her. She was running back and forth through the hose and she loved getting wet! We can't wait to take her swimming this summer. She is most definitely lab.

I wanted to share some pictures from the afternoon....

I was able to get a really good shot of each puppy:

Here is Skippy with his curly tongue:

And Tessie with the hose:

pup-itude

2008-04-04T13:06:00.003-07:00

Our puppies will be 17 weeks (Tessie) and 12 weeks (Skippy) this weekend. Next week we will have had them

one month but it seems like they have been here forever (in a good way, haha). It is so much fun to watch them as puppies. Even though they have their moments they are both very good puppies. Looking back on the time we've had them - 24 days to be exact - they've already changed a lot. They have such interesting personalities and in the past few days have been developing a lot of attitude - or pup-itude as I call it.

The night we brought them home Tessie stayed on the dog bed and watched. She watched everything that went on around her but she wouldn't get off the dog bed. We carried her to the water bowl and we carried her outside. We laid on the floor next to her and tried to make her feel comfortable in her new home. 24 days later Tessie can be seen running as fast as she can from the bedroom to the living room, barking when her brother has the toy she wants, and jumping with excitement when we come home. She will let me chase her when we play outside and she loves it. We're still working on a few things like walking on the leash, not being scared of new people, and playing slightly less rough with Skippy but she has made so much progress since March 11th.

Skippy is a champ. He's a big dog in a little body. I know he wishes his legs were a little longer so he could keep up with Tessie better but he definitely holds his own for a little guy. I still have no ides what mix he is or what size he will end up being but we will find out soon enough. He still loves to be held and give kisses. He's getting a little more wary of his surroundings, which he could be learning from Tessie. When we first got him he was kind of oblivious and happy-go-lucky. Now he notices noises a lot more and is a little less inclined to go and cuddle up to a new person. It could just be him getting bigger and more aware though. He's very curious and will follow me around constantly to see what I'm doing. His favorite - when I unload the dishwasher. He'll sit and watch until I finish.

I've been looking at pictures of the time we've had them and can already see differences from the first days and our latest pictures from the Cape. We love them both so much. Thinking about how things happened on the day we decided to go to the shelter in Sterling makes me really believe that these puppies were meant to be ours. There were just so many things that happened that day that normally wouldn't have that I can't help but see how we were brought to them. I'm glad we were.

Cape Cod, Part 2

2008-03-30T15:01:00.000-07:00

Day 2 at the Cape went a lot like the first: running, digging, and playing on the beach. Today we took the puppies on a little beach tour. We went to Chapin Beach, Lighthouse Beach in Chatham, and back to Sea Street Beach. They both love the beach but Tessie is a true beach dog. She would stay on the beach all day. She loves to dig holes in the sand and it's pretty amusing to watch her do it.

The puppies have been acclimated to the Cape, which is good since they will be spending time there. They both like the beach and it will interesting to see how they do with water once the weather becomes warmer. They both got their feet wet this weekend and after they got over their initial surprise at waves coming in, they seemed pretty okay with it. I know Skippy will enjoy the beach much more when he isn't shivering too.

We're on our way home now and both puppies are fast asleep in the back seat. They both do awesome in the car which is another nice thing. Tessie gets very excited when the back door opens up. She runs right over and puts her front feet up on the seat like, let's go! We had a very successful trip to Cape Cod and I think the puppies will be happy to return.

Pictures - click here

Cape Cod, Part 1

2008-03-29T16:33:00.000-07:00

I'm writing this entry from the Cape, as we came down today for an overnight trip with the puppies. It's their first trip to the Cape and as far as we know, their first trip to the beach. They are having a ball! They loved playing on the beach this afternoon. We had to pull Tessie off because she loved running and digging in the sand so much. Right now they're both curled up sleeping on the couch, completely exhausted.

We came down after this morning's Puppy Kindergarten session. We walked them down to the beach and at first I think they both were a little like, whoa what is this? It was actually a pretty nice day, not a lot of wind and very little surf. In fact, neither of them noticed the waves until we walked down closer to the water. Tessie was sniffing some shells when a wave came in and got her paws wet. She was startled at first but then started jumping around and wagging her tail like, that was cool! Skippy kept finding crab legs that he wanted to chew on which gave us great opportunities to practice the "leave it" command we worked on at Puppy K this morning.

We went down to the beach twice this afternoon and I think we will be spending some more time there tomorrow, it is supposed to be a little warmer. I will update again with the second installment of our Cape trip. Here is a short video clip of Tessie digging in the sand....

Satos, Juma, and Kindergarten

2008-03-22T14:06:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post this before but it slipped my mind. As I think I mentioned, both our puppies are from a program called Save-a-Sato, which brings animals to the States from Puerto Rico for adoption. There are huge problems with strays in Puerto Rico and many times animals there are abused or killed very inhumanely (click here). We are very thankful that our two puppies have survived their time in Puerto Rico and are doing so well. There is an online petition that you can see by clicking here. It is an effort to get the Governor of Puerto Rico to step up and take responsibility for the horrible crimes being committed against animals there. For more information about the program you can visit saveasato.org.

Now onto the puppy news. On Friday the puppies met Juma, the mastiff that lives in the house whose yard backs up to my mom's yard. Juma is huge, I'd say he's pushing 120 pounds but he's a big gentle giant. There is a chain link fence that separates the yards. I was out with the puppies and they were running around when Juma came out into his yard. Skippy saw him right away and started barking at him. Skippy still has a very high-pitched puppy-ish bark. Juma came galloping over to the fence to check them out and let out a nice big bellow of a bark. I'm pretty sure he was just saying hi to them but Skippy went flying the other way. I don't think he's ever seen or heard anything quite like that before. It was quite funny. Tessie just sat down and took everything in but I think she did give a few barks at him towards the end. As soon as Juma turned around Skippy ran right back towards the fence, barking his "brave" little head off.

This morning was our first session of Puppy Kindergarten with the puppies. They did awesome! They were definitely two of the most well-behaved puppies there. Skippy was an excellent example of the command "watch," used when you want the did to look at you and pay attention and Tessie was just the huge sweet-pie that she is. I had talked to the trainer last week about Tessie and her shyness and she had told me about her own poodle who had been similar as a puppy. The trainer was awesome at modifying a few things to make Tessie more comfortable and towards the end she was doing great, going to sniff the other dogs and make new friends. We worked on "sit," "watch," and calling the dogs by their name and having them come. After that there was a little playtime. There were a few puppies who got very into playing, much like our two do at home. Skippy was content to go around the room and sniff the other owners and check out what kind of treats they had brought. This little Golden Retriever followed him around the whole time. It was very cute. Tessie sat back and checked everyone out, giving the dogs that came over to her a good sniff. She wasn't hesitant or nervous at all though which made us very happy. By the end of the class they were both asleep! We got some new toys to play with while we were there. We got some "bully sticks" - suggested by the trainer, which they are doing a job on chewing right now. We also got a ropey tug-of-war toy that Tessie loves. She's been really into strings lately (shoelaces, sweatshirt ties, etc.) so we wanted to get her something similar that she could play with - big hit with her. It was definitely a good Saturday for these two puppies!

Energizer Puppies

2008-03-19T13:34:00.000-07:00

Two puppies are twice the kisses, twice the cuteness, twice the love....and twice the energy. Tessie and Skippy are only alone for about 6 hours a day during the week. Paul set up a web cam and he watches them during the day. They basically eat a little, play a little, and sleep a lot. When I get home in the afternoon they are ready to let loose. Yesterday was nice out so we went back down to my mom's house to run in the backyard. On a nice day they will run and play for a good hour and a half. This is why I can't wait until we move to Hopedale and have a house with a yard! We are definitely fed up with the apartment living. You can see Skippy's new fashionable lime green coat. I got this for him because he shivers after 5 minutes out in the cold. Tessie doesn't have one because she doesn't seem to get cold (she would stay out all the time if we let her).

Today was a different story. It was raining out today so we couldn't do too much time outside. When they came in they were wild. They were playing with so much energy that I was afraid someone might get hurt! Tessie is a lot bigger than Skip and while she would never intentionally hurt him she gets very excited when they play, as he does. I broke out the rawhide bones and we laid on the futon all together (no puppies on the couches). They chewed and chewed and chewed for about 45 minutes and now they're both passed out next me. Yay for mom finding a fun rainy day activity.

Saturday is our first session of Puppy Kindergarten with the puppies and I am very happy to say that both of my babies now know how to sit. We've been working on it the last couple of days, alternating carrots and bananas as rewards. My grandmother loves the fact that the puppies love bananas. I can't wait to see how they do with Puppy K and with the other puppies. Hopefully the socialization they get with each other will help them.

We've been trying to figure out what the mixes of our two puppies might be. Tessie was called a "lab mix" when we got her and she is definitely a lab. However, she has black spots on the white fur of her belly which made us think she could be lab/dalmation. After Googling that mix we found a ton of dogs who were lab/dalmation mixes that have the same speckled paws that she has so we are leaning towards that as her mix. Skippy is a puzzle. He is definitely part English Pointer judging by his coloring. Everyone tells us he looks like a Jack Russell Terrier but the vet thought he would be much smaller at this age if he was. She agreed with the shelter that he will grow to be at least 40 pounds. She seemed to think he was part hound, perhaps Basset Hound because his legs are a bit on the shorter side. I see him having a lot of characteristics that Emma had which is why I wouldn't be surprised at all if he was part hound, maybe even Beagle. He definitely has a Beagle-ish howly bark and he will also eat anything he comes into contact with. But I guess for now all we can do is guess. Feel free to let us know if you think you have an idea.

First Weekend

2008-03-16T18:10:00.000-07:00

Our first weekend with the puppies is over and it's back to work tomorrow morning :( We had a great couple days with the puppies. It was so nice for us to be able to spend two full days all together. I think the puppies enjoyed themselves this weekend too. On Saturday morning they both really started to liven up. They played with each other all morning, wrestling mostly which is pretty cute to watch. It seems as if they are really starting to love having one another around. They are constantly cuddling up together and we haven't had any issues of snapping at each other or anything like that.

I went to the puppy kindergarten orientation on Saturday morning. The first class was no puppies because there was a lot of discussion. The trainer is great and I think that the puppies are really going to benefit from this class. The trainer had her dog, a standard poodle with her, as her "demo dog." I was talking a little bit about how Tessie is often scared of new noises, people, places, etc. She asked me a few questions and then told me that her poodle had been the same way when she adopted her. This gave me a lot of hope for Tessie because the poodle was walking around the room, checking everyone out, acting very comfortable and calm. She is actually a service dog who goes in to visit at nursing homes. Tessie is such a special little dog and I can only imagine how awesome she is going to be once she knows she is safe here and she can gain a little confidence.

On Saturday afternoon we took the puppies up to Haverhill to meet lots of new friends and family. They did great. They were also able to meet their first doggy friend, Coco. Today we went down to my mom's house for dinner. The puppies ran around in the yard (which they absolutely love) and played with each other and us. The biggest part of the day for them was probably getting their first taste of Nana's meatballs! I let them split a meatball because they were so good while we ate. They both LOVED it and scoffed it down pretty quickly. They also tried banana today with Paul, which is definitely a favorite of Tessie's - Skippy will eat anything (and I do mean anything).

I will leave you with a video of the puppies playing together. This is one of their new favorite pastimes. I had a couple of others but unfortunately I deleted them off my camera before they downloaded (duh).

yay for the weekend!

2008-03-14T16:27:00.000-07:00

It was hard for me to pick a picture for today's entry because we've had such a big day! Today was Tessie & Skippy's first day home alone. They only end up being alone for 5 or 6 hours while we are at work since I leave early and come home early and Paulie leaves later. However, it was a big moment (for me more than them maybe)....I was a nervous wreck all day because my babies were home alone. When I came home though they were curled up together in their crate, happy as could be. They did great!

It was nice and warm today so when I came home I loaded them up in the car and we took a ride to my mom's house. She has a good sized yard that is fenced in! The puppies LOVED running around off their leashes. Paul & I have done our best to get them running around on their leashes - Tessie loves to run up and down the hills out back....however, the fenced in yard was awesome. They had an absolute ball and I know that that will be a place we will be frequenting.

It was hard for me to get good pictures of them because they were in constant motion, running, jumping, playing, sniffing. However, I did get a movie of them playing together. This was a big moment because they have yet to really play together. Tessie had tried to start playing with Skip a couple times but he just kind of seemed like he didn't know what to do. Today he instigated and they had a ball together! I think he wishes he had a few more pounds on him (we found out at the vet that she's twice his size) but he held his own and they had so much fun. Right now they're exhausted, curled up together on their bed, Tessie's leg around Skippy's head, which is the picture I had to pick to sum up today's fun!

I'm trying to upload the playing video and there are more pics up on Picasa -

http://picasaweb.google.com/kebrown47/TessieSkippySOutdoorAdventures

A Few Updates

2008-03-13T13:06:00.000-07:00

That picture is of Tessie lying on top of Skippy. They do it to each other a lot. Here are some updates on the pups....

Health

We went on our first vet appointment yesterday afternoon and found out that both are doing very well health-wise (which we kind of already knew). Everyone at the vet loved them and they did pretty well, although both were scared. Tessie had to get a shot and is almost done with her puppy shots. Skippy is still too young for most of his so he got off easy this time.

Housebreaking

They're both coming along in this area, considering it's only been about 2 days. Tessie is awesome and has only had a couple accidents in the house. The little man seems to be a bit more carefree about where he relieves himself. At first he was going on the newspapers we put out and he always goes when we take them outside. However, he has no problem popping a squat on the living room rug. I think we're still getting used to the timing of when to take them out as well.

Walking

We definitely have some work to do with walking on the leash. Tessie loves to go out and run around in the yard. However, she does have moments where she gets very skittish outside (such as if she hears a loud noise) and gets scared very easily. Skippy has no clue about walking on a leash and I don't think he really likes the idea of us telling him where to go. I think he'd much rather be the one in control. Hopefully puppy kindergarten will help us out with this.

Night Time

Our puppies are great sleepers! Last night they slept from 11 to 6:30 without getting up once. I even had to go over and wake them up this morning at 6:30 so they could go outside. They sleep on their beds together on the floor next to our bed and they have had no issues at all during the night. I almost can't believe it. The first night they slept 11:30 to 6. I think they got more sleep than I did though, as I kept waking up to check on them.

Behavior

Tessie is the absolute best behaved puppy I've ever met. She is so calm and lovable and I think she's going to have much more personality to show us once she comes out of her shell and knows that she is safe here. Skippy is on 10 whenever he is awake. He goes and goes and goes and then crashes wherever he happens to be. He loves to sleep on us. He also loves to sleep curled up in a ball with his nose tucked under something (his leg, Tessie's leg, a blanket, anything).

Food

My goal with food is to have them eating out of their own bowls without any problems. We have yet to have any issues over food but I am working on getting them familiar with which bowl each of them eat out of. Last night they seemed to do pretty well. Skip will not eat from his bowl. He takes a piece of food into the living room, eats it, runs back to get another, takes it to the living room, eats it, runs back, etc.

We Have Names!

2008-03-12T06:13:00.000-07:00

The puppies have been named!

Our little labby girl is now known as Tessie. Inspired by the Dropkick Murphy's song. She is very shy when you first meet her but when she warms up to you she is a sweetheart. She is very calm and mellow and loves her new bed. Last night she was sprawling out, leaving her new brother hanging off the edge (which he didn't seem to mind). She is about 13-14 weeks old and is very alert about everything going on around her. She had been in a foster home for a while and her foster mother wrote a nice note to her new family about how loving and loyal she is once she warms up to you. We love her already.

The white pointer is named Skippy, Skip for short. He earned himself a lot of nicknames last night as he pranced around the apartment and tried climbing into everyone's lap. He LOVES attention. He will come right up to you, climb into your lap and give you tons of kisses. He's very little and at first we didn't think he would grow to be very big. The ladies at the shelter think he will get to be about 40-50 pounds. He is definitely part pointer though, we can tell by his coloring. He has tan freckles all around his nose and ears. He's a handful but he's very adorable.

They're both from a program called Save-a-Sato, which brings puppies to shelters in America from Puerto Rico so they can be adopted. They're very well taken care of and we can't wait until the weather gets a little warmer for nice long walks - Skippy shivers when we go outside.

They are both very playful and curious. They slept great last night and are now sprawled out on the dog bed taking a morning nap. They follow us everywhere and want to know what's going on at every second. Tessie is doing awesome with housebreaking already, I think her foster family got her off to a great start with that. Her personality is coming out a lot this morning, I think she is much more comfortable than she was last night. Skip is still Skip, he's a little ball of fun. He's had a few moments of jealousy with his sister but she just ignores him.

I have some pics up on Picasa already, more as the day goes on -

http://picasaweb.google.com/kebrown47/TessieSkippyHomecoming

Puppyhood....version 2.0

2008-03-11T17:32:00.000-07:00

We did it. We were so frustrated with the long distance adoptions. We found an animal shelter in Sterling on Petfinder and went there this afternoon. We adopted two puppies in about 40 minutes. No home visits, no transports, no dealing with people. We brought home a 14-week old lab mix and an 8-week old pointer mix. We wanted siblings but they didn't have any. These two were in a pen together and seemed to get along well. He's very outgoing and loves attention. She's shy but loves to cuddle with you once she gets used to you. We are very excited and I will update more info tomorrow for sure - maybe with names. Right now we're enjoying a few quiet moments while they nap.

I deleted the other posts because I wanted this blog to be exclusively for these two little ones. We loved Reesie and Ringo without even meeting them but now we know that this process was all meant to be because we have our puppies home with us tonight.