Tis the Season

This pic makes Cormac look disproportionate!

I always said I wouldn't be the kind of person to buy their dog a sweater, but when I noticed Cormac and Maddy shy away from a chilly night, I knew what needed to be done. Sweater time. :-) I giggle every time I see them now. Maddy is so boyish it's great to see her in pink..haha

Fall 14 weeks?

raising 2 puppies at once time

Basically, I'm starting to understand why everyone says not to get to puppies at one time...these pups are handfuls. I love them dearly, and no matter what people say online, I would never "get rid" of one. But I wish I had some good, solid advice about how to raise two puppies and still get that special owner/dog bond rather then having two puppies who are just bonded to each other.

Everywhere I read, it says that letting them stay together too much will kill the potential bond that I could have had with the dogs. Of course, I want to be their leader. I want them to love me most. But I also want happy healthy dogs. I wish there was some way of knowing, some guarantee that told me the outcome with letting them stay together all the time. Buddies for life. I just started doing EVERYTHING separate with them this week. Separate rooms to sleep in, separate eating, separate walks, separate play, bla bla bla. I am sooo exhausted. I don't have any time.

I hope I didn't do a bad thing by getting two puppies. help. :-(

Pet Expo (12 weeks)

Today Dan and I went to a Pet Expo with the puppies today. It was so much fun! By far the best socialization they've ever gotten. So many different people and dogs to meet. They even met rabbits. Everyone seemed to think they were just the cutest things...Made Dan and I feel like the life of the party. hah.

Right when we got there, we saw a massive Great Dane - we were on our way to ask if we could let our puggles meet him, when it's owner actually approached us and asked the same question...I guess he was learning manners around puppies, while our pups were learning about big dogs. The whole thing just went great. By the time we left, they were PROS with new people and dogs... such a great turn around.

Interesting thing I learned about Great Danes: If you neuter them too young, sometimes they can experience an unusual growth spurt and actually grown TALLER then they are supposed to be. I wonder if it cuts into their life span? I could see people taking advantage of this fact and breeding even bigger Great Danes...They already have such a short life, it would really be a shame.

Back track to 8 weeks - the lost puggle video!

"say hello" she has such a monkey face :-P

Snuggle time w/ puggles

10.5 weeks - getting old!

Puggle Haters... Racists?

I learned tonight that there is an INTENSE dislike for puggles circulating on the internet. I had no idea puggles could cause such hatred, nor do I really care that much...but it makes me laugh to hear these people obsess about the fact that "puggles are not a true breed".

Well no shit sherlock! So they aren't a registered breed, but didn't all breeds start as mutts? I only love them more - and I find their qualities, no matter how unorthodox, quite endearing. No matter how they came to be, the point is that they are here to stay. Go puggles!

10 weeks

Gracie still watched from above. It's like the "hot lava" game we used to all play as kids. She has a 6th sense when they are in the kennel, and she'll go on the ground, but other then that she lives on top of furniture, window sills, and in my closet! Poor gal.

8.5 Weeks!

Puppies finally made the 8 week mark last monday. They are getting a little easier to take care of and we've started feeding them by hand to teach them that we are the source for all things good. hah. Cormac is getting to be a bit of a puss though...he whines at almost anything, especially when Madison bites on his ears. Poor little guy, he can't help that he's got big ears! He shows so much more beagle in him than Maddy, she acts all pug. We really do need to get them on schedule - it's 3am and they are going to wake me up in a few hours. bleh.

Madison ^-^

Waiting..Waiting...Waiting..

Still no word from our landlord about the pups.  I've been spending hours on and off looking at craigslist for alternative living...just in case. :-( 

I think I took for granted what a great deal we are getting with this place. It's affordable and a great location. I don't want to move!

Welcome to the Family

Madison (above)

"I'z bites you" -Cormac (above)

Didn't See It Coming

So darling little Cormac fell asleep between dans legs...SO adorable, I even took a picture.  Then Dan proceeded to fart on him on and off for about 5 minutes! ...lol, then after I was like, "Dannnnn...stop, he doesn't deserve to smell that!" - he asked me to pull his finger, and he farted on him again! 

Poor lil pup couldn't have seen it coming.  hehe.

"PULL MY FINGER"

Establishing Dominance

So today Dan and I read a book that said one of the things to do to a new puppy to establish dominance (and also see how passive or dominant they are) is to hold it down on his side and see if he is passive or not.  It he struggles, then keep holding until he stops, then lavish with praise.  If he doesn't struggle from the start, then it probably means he is already passive and might even need some confidence training later on.  ANYWAYS, we both did this to Madison and Cormac at separate times.

At first they both struggled.  Madison especially.  But we both proved ourselves to be the dominant ones "in the pack". Good stuff.

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Leash training started tonight.  They aren't too bad. I have to keep reminding myself that they are only 6 and a half weeks old and most puppies don't even see a leash until their 8 - 12 weeks.   At this point we just keep trying to enjoy them for what they are: puppies.  Training will come.  As long as they realize us for that we are, the pack leaders and caregivers, we'll be great.

Right after we put the pups in their kennel for an evening nap, Dan grabbed me and pushed me to the ground laughing. I knew what he was doing.... pretending to establish dominance!! We laughed and I struggled to get up. I've never been even close to as strong as Dan, so eventually I gave up.  "Now the puppies will NEVER respect me!" I giggled. :-P  They watched from their bed as he fake praised me. hah...sure hope they aren't THAT good at observational learning!

Too Early

day one of my puppy blog.  So its past 4am and the pups wake me up again.  Last night dan got them early, so this time it’s my turn.  Except THIS time its 2 hours earlier. How did that happen?

They both pooped outside right away, so kudos to them.  But going to bed seems to not be an option.  At least they are entertained by each other and my pants to realize I’m not actually paying much attention to them. (please, please don’t go to the bathroom inside tho)

Poor guys, I noticed the last night (earlier) that they have flees, but noting I can do about that until 9am 

Our Greek landlord finally called us back for the first time in over a month. We’d been trying to contact him about all kinds of things.  Stove (that never worked) screens, wiring, a copy of our LEASE (that we never got) our tub and other misc drainage problems, the mysterious smell on our carpet…and the ultimate question of allowing puppies... Well I’m pretty sure he only go tback to us because he heard from our neighbor that we had gotten puppies.  So apparently puppies aren’t really his thing.

 I can respect that. Renting out property can suck sometimes.  People can really disrespect property that is not theirs.  Dan and I, however, have done nothing but make this property better.  We’ve increased the value for sure, despite the obvious landlord flaws in preparing the property.  

Anyways. Now I’m searching craigslist for a possible apartment to move into that’s super close to us now. JUST in case our landlord drops the bomb on me.  He said he’d talk to his mother – maybe it’s a Greek thing?

All I can do now is keep the pups quiet. The ideal thing would have been to put them back to bed after going to the bathroom, but now that I’m on guard about noise, it looks like I’ll be having a lot of these kind of mornings.

All I can do now is tire them out.