This weekend, the puppies had homework to do. They learned "this way" in class on Thursday, and we were supposed to practice it with distractions. Specifically, we were supposed to go to the beach and practice since there are plenty of distracting things on the beach- like birds and dead fish, not to mention the seaweed and seashells. The puppies didn't realize we were going to do anything other than just play in the yard today, and were not very motivated to do homework.

We were all a little tired in the first part of the day, so it was naps all around, but in the afternoon, the weather was just too nice to stay home. So off we went to work on their homework. The puppies surprise us sometimes with how observant they are, and today Mr. M surprised us. We don't usually wear our normal shoes in the house. We wear our house shoes, or the shoes that we use to take them outside. I put on some normal shoes to get the car ready to go, and Mr. M noticed them as soon as I walked out of the bedroom. He looked at my shoes, smelled them and started wagging his tail frantically. He knew right then that we were going somewhere. Once the harness bag came out, they all got excited.
When they realized that we were headed for the beach, they got super happy. Miss M started whining a little in the back once she saw the water at the seawall- she loves the beach and couldn't wait to get there.

There were plenty of distractions to practice their homework. Mr. M found a dead fish and immediately picked it up. He was so proud of his treasure, and so disappointed when we made him drop it and move on. There were plenty of distracting people that we had to walk past, and even a dog that was off-leash and decided to come running up to our puppies. That dog's people were not too far away and had to come over to us to get the dog to leave our puppies alone. Dad fussed at them and told them that their dog was supposed to be on a leash.

It was a very good day at the beach. The puppies had a great walk. There were plenty of distractions, but there were plenty of fun things to smell and see that were okay to smell and see. 
As an aside, before I had dogs, I used to hate it when I would go somewhere like the beach and then almost step in dog poop that someone had left behind. Now that I have dogs, I hate that even more. Seriously. You may like your dog and have to deal with its poop, but nobody else wants to deal with your dog poop. Whenever we go out, we keep waste bags handy so that we can pick up after them. It takes a little bit of effort, but it's not that difficult. You just pick up the poop with a bag and throw it away. How hard is that? We passed quite a few little poop piles on the beach today. I suspect that they were from dogs belonging to tourists or inconsiderate people from the city who think that nature is one big puppy toilet. I think that we should be taught more about respecting nature in school.

Today was a beach day if there ever were one, but with weather this nice on a Saturday, there is no way that the beach was not crowded. So we decided that today wouldn't be the best time to go. Instead we played in the yard, and then in the house, and then in the yard again. Miss M loves to sit in the sun and chew on sticks, which is what she did every chance she got. Usually what happens is that she finds a stick and goes away from the others to lay in the sun. Then, one of the others realizes that she has a stick and takes it. That is then followed by a game of chase through the yard involving all of them.

Lately, the puppies have been trying to scratch the dirt/ mud and then eat things out of it. We aren't really sure what they are trying to eat, but we try to keep them from doing it as much as possible. 

After playing, napping and then playing some more, we went out to run some errands. While we were out, we decided to stop at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants for dinner. We had never been there on a Saturday evening before, but apparently, Saturday is where it's at. There was a live band and a lady making balloon things. Dad bought Mom a little turtle bracelet from the balloon lady, which she wore for the rest of the time there.

We were wondering what the puppies would think of the turtle bracelet and showed it to them after letting them out for a potty break. They all wanted to play with her, and we tried to keep her just out of reach of pointy parts.

Shortly after Miss M jumped up to check out the turtle, her foot got caught in a cargo pocket on Mom's pants. When Mom reached down to get her foot loose so that she didn't hurt it, Miss M took the opportunity to grab the turtle. Unfortunately, Miss turtle suffered substantial injuries. Apparently, thin balloons are no match for puppy teeth. She lost a nose, but will will forever be remembered with a nose.

On an unrelated note, last time we went to Trader Joe's, we discovered that they make a Nacho Cheese tortilla chip (i.e. Trader Joe's version of Dorritos). They are really yummy. I haven't had Dorritos in a while, but these taste just like I remember Dorritos tasting. Because they are Trader Joe's store brand, they are non-GMO. On top of that, they are less than $2 per bag, which is cheaper that Dorritos, which are most definitely GMO. 
We are very picky about what we feed the puppies. The obviously dangerous foods like grapes, raisins and onions are completely off limits. We did however give the puppies a few of the yummy chips- not too many because Mom likes them too much to share very many of them- and they loved them. They practiced their very best sit and watch me skills for chips. 

Today the puppies had their second day of puppy school, and they had a blast. Mr. C usually starts the frenzy when it's time to go somewhere. So this time, we had him out of the crate running loose in the house while we were getting ready, thinking that if he was already out, he would realize that he was going to get to go too. That only worked partially. As soon as the leash and harness bag came out, he got super happy and started jumping around, just to make sure he was going to go, and even though they were in the other room, the other puppies heard his excitement and started getting excited too. So we let them all out and started putting harnesses on. In the beginning, we thought that if they were all in the crates and we took them out one by one to get their harnesses on, it would keep everything nice and calm. In reality, it had the opposite effect. When we take them out one by one, the ones that are still in their crates get worried about getting left home and go nuts. If we take them all out at once, they get excited but don't whine and bark as much.
So, we got all of the harnesses on and took them out to go potty before going to school. Then we put the gentle leader head collars on and out we went. The puppies love riding in the car and were so excited to be going somewhere that they all took turns licking our ears.
In puppy school, we worked on leash training some more. One thing We've noticed about pit bulls is that they learn things really fast, and they repeat them all day long if they get treats or if they think it makes you happy. Half of the time Miss B doesn't care about the treats at all. She just likes that you are happy with her for doing whatever it is, and that she gets tons of attention.
Miss M remembered their classmate Ms. S from last time, and was quick to go say hi. At one point, she got a little too excited about getting her to play, and the older dog growled at her slightly to tell her to stop, which Miss M did happily, still visiting with her. Mr. C heard the other dog growl and got very worried and concerned that this other dog was growling at his baby. so he started barking frantically. The trainer gave him some attention and treats for being protective of Miss M. 
Mr. C is very calm and laid back, but he is very protective and doesn't like it when he feels like his puppies or his people are threatened. There weren't any hard feelings though, and pretty soon, everyone was having a good time. The older Ms. S started rolling around on the floor like a puppy, as did Mr. M. Miss M started looking for treats and Miss B started playing with Mr. C. Once class started, they all had a good time and had a hard time waiting for their turn to show off. 
We didn't get any pictures this time, so next time, we will try to take some pictures.
Once we got home, we let the puppies run around outside even though it was muddy, just to get some of their energy out. After that, we gave them all a bath and let them play around the house before giving them their dinner. It was a full day.
Here is a picture that our trainer took during the last class. 

Today was a big day for the puppies. We started out by taking the kitties to the vet for their booster shots. The puppies of course, love going to the vet. They got to visit with everybody and got weighed. I think secretly they were making fun of the kitties on the way back because the kitties had to get shots and the puppies didn't. Mr. M slobbered all over the vet's wife- giving her kisses all over her face. Miss M tried to run and visit with a small dog that came in. I think she is just happy when she sees animals that are smaller than she is. Normally she is the small one- although at the rate she's growing, she isn't going to be the smallest for much longer.
After we went to the vet, we decided that the weather was just too nice to stay home. So we dropped off the cats- they were just glad to be home again, had some lunch, then loaded the puppies back into the car and headed to the beach. The puppies' trainer recommended trying the gentle leader head collars to keep the puppies from pulling so much on the leash, and last time recommended a tandem leash to put two dogs on a single leash instead. The tandem leash is actually really cool because now we can hold 3 leashes instead of 5. The gentle leaders are great. They really cut down on the pulling. Today's walk on the beach was unlike all of our other beach walks. Normally they get super excited and pull so hard that I can't wear any rings because the leash handle squishes my fingers together and it hurts. With the gentle leaders and tandem leashes, we had the smoothest walk ever. I was even able to wear rings without getting my fingers bruised up. Once we got the hang of the tandem collar, Mom started working with Miss B to get her to stay on the same side of Mr. C the whole time. 
They did really well. There were some distractions, which is fairly normal at the beach. At one point, Mom looked over and saw a wing sticking out of Mr. M's mouth. He had found a small dead bird on the ground and was proudly carrying it along like a trophy. He really didn't want to let it go. We haven't gotten to "drop it" yet. Mr. C and Miss B are actually pretty good at "drop it." We worked with them quite a bit on "drop it" when they were small, but somehow, we didn't get that one taught to Mr. M and Miss S. So Mom had to reach in and get the bird out of Mr. M's mouth. Although to be fair, Mr. C and Miss B have never been tested with something as tempting as a dead bird.
After our beach walk, the puppies were tired and happy. We were enjoying the walk too much to stop and take pictures. So I didn't get any good shots of us on the beach, although at several points, all five of the puppies were walking side by side in a line. It was great. All I was able to take a picture of was the sleepy puppies in the car on the way home.

We've decided that our cats are a little off. We're pretty sure that Kitty S thinks she's a dog. They both follow us around like the puppies do- at least when the puppies are not all in the same room with them. They are getting more and more relaxed though and part of the time, the puppies don't even pay any attention to them anymore- which is excellent. The kitties have started bringing us presents some mornings. Grandma and Grandpa have cats that spend part of the time inside and part outside. When they bring presents, it's usually in the form of something dead- like a squirrel or a bird or a bug. Our cats are inside all of the time, and thankfully, there isn't much to hunt inside. This is Texas, so we do get the occasional tree roach, which we call cockroaches. They are horrible! They are about 2-3 inches long and fly! Mom isn't scared of spiders or snakes or any of the usual offenders, but cockroaches.... That's a different story all together. Anyway, the cats have killed a couple of those. Luckily, the puppies chase them too, so Dad has a chance to get them before Mom comes across them unexpectedly.
Anyway, back to the cats bringing us presents. Since there isn't much to hunt, they bring us dog toys instead. We try to put the dog toys in their toy box most evenings, but lately, we have been waking up to toys just outside our bedroom door in the morning. The puppies don't mind, and immediately pick up the toys and carry them back to the kitchen, where they get dropped in favor of checking out kitties instead.
Yesterday, the puppies were playing inside ( it rained again so playing outside wasn't an option) and Kitty S went to sleep on the edge of the dining room table. Mr. M was playing and then noticed the cat. He got quiet and went over to sniff her and make sure she was still okay. As soon as she moved a little, he went back to playing with the other puppies. We are constantly amazed at how sweet the puppies are with each other, the cats and us. Miss S got fussed at the other day and went and laid down on the floor in the kitchen- sad at having gotten in trouble. Miss M went over to try and get Miss S to play. When Miss S didn't act interested in playing at all, Miss M got a very concerned look on her face and started licking Miss S as if to tell her everything was going to be okay. She licked her muzzle and then went about cleaning her ears. She did the same thing to Mr. C when she found him napping in the dining room. They are such sweet dogs! The more we get to know them, the more I wonder how anyone could believe all of the negative hype surrounding the breed.

This is the reason they couldn't play outside yesterday. The entire yard pretty much looked like this. I was surprised they didn't have a ton of accidents in the house. I mean seriously, I wouldn't want to potty in that!

Today, the yard is still a swamp. It isn't raining anymore, but it will be a while before everything dries out. I really wonder if this is any indication of how summer will be. Some years, it rains a lot in the spring and then turns into a desert for like 5 months with little or no rain. Some years, it rains in the spring and then again in the summer too. I guess we will see. 
For now, though, we have been playing inside.

When the kitties sleep or play on the dining room table, Mr. C likes to stay right beside them, and chills out on the rug underneath the table.

Mr. M decided it was time for a cuddle. When Miss B saw that he was getting cuddles, she didn't want to be left out and came to get cuddles too. Mom of course loves it when the puppies want to cuddle and was happy to oblige.

With the yard as wet as it is, we can't always take the puppies out together because they will run around in the mud and get dirty when they are feeling playful. Dad took the puppies out a couple at a time this afternoon, and the ones that were inside paid really close attention to what was going on outside.

As an aside here, we kept wondering why the glass kept getting all smudged up on the lower part. This explains that mystery.

So, today the puppies had their first day of school. We signed them all up for the beginners class and today was the big day. The weather has been so bad around here, that they hadn't been anywhere in about two weeks. Needless to say, they were all more than ready to go have fun. So when we brought out the bag with the harnesses and leashes, they started going nuts before they even saw the bag. It didn't take very long to get everyone ready, but it did take a while to convince them that they should go outside for a potty break first. 
When we got to the class, it was still a little early, so we walked around for a few minutes just to get some of the energy out.
Miss M was the star of the class and fell in love with the older dog that is in their class too. It's an older chocolate lab that was dumped in bad condition and then rescued by the lady who brought her to class. Mr. M tried flirting with her a little and then gave her owner kisses. Miss M loved the big puppy and gave her kisses and tried to play with her. It was really cute. 
Miss B and Mr. C worked with Mom, while Mr. M and Miss S worked with Dad. The teacher worked with Miss M to demonstrate the different skills we would be working on. We had a really good time and can't wait to go back again next week. I think if it were up to the puppies, we would go to puppy school every day.

Of course, our gangster puppies are already familiar with the idea of stealing lunch money. So when Miss M saw the instructor squat down to take a picture, she wasted no time in trying to take the treats our of her pocket. I think Miss M was paying closer attention than we realized. 

We were very proud of our fuzzy children at school today. There was supposed to be a beagle puppy in our class too, but I think that her owner was scared off by the fact that there were going to be pit bulls in the class. I think that's the funniest thing. Our's probably would have been the best class for the other puppy because our dogs like other puppies so much, but when you are too quick to judge books by their covers, you miss out on a lot of things. Our puppies all really like the other dog that's in their class, so I think they will all do well.

With all of the rain from last week, our backyard has turned into a very scary place. The humidity is so high that even though it stopped raining a while back, the yard has still not dried out all the way.

Your guess is as good as mine as to what the green sludge is in the picture above. Notice the mud slick in our usual hammock hanging area in the picture below. I'm thinking now wouldn't be the best time to use the hammock.

We've been having to play with the puppies inside instead of outside for obvious reasons. We are hoping that the yard will soon dry out so that we can play outside again without having to worry about the puppies drinking anything that might make them glow in the dark. I'm not sure what it is about mud that makes them want to dig and eat things out of the ground- which is really scary. The funny thing is that puppies lick each other's nether regions, and I'm okay with that. But licking the mud in our backyard.... Now that's some nasty stuff. At least I know what goes into the puppies normally. So when they lick each other, at least I know they are licking other healthy puppies. The mud on the other hand... Who knows what's gone in there over the years. I know for a fact that the jerk behind us sprays his yard with heavy chemicals against weeds and mosquitoes, chemicals which I'm sure run into our yard when it rains.
I don't really have any cool new pictures of the puppies, but here's one of Miss M getting reassurance from Dad when she met the kitties for the first time. They were scary...

Now that the kitties are official, we decided that they needed something to climb on and scratch. We found a cool cat tree at Petsmart that we really liked, and as luck would have it, it was on sale. So far, they only sit in the top level when we put them up there, but they like the lower rest. They haven't totally figured out the climbing part yet. I guess we'll have to play with them a lit more on it.

The puppies like the cat tree too. The lower shelf is just the right height for them to look at the cats. Kitty S likes it because it is higher than the dining room chairs- so she can swat noses and play without them pushing her off the chair or getting too rough. The puppies, and by puppies I mostly mean Mr, M, sometimes forget that the kitties aren't puppies and that they don't like to play as rough.

The kitties and puppies are all making a lot of progress. The kitties are even starting to venture into the living room when the puppies are in their crates. Yesterday evening, Dad brought Kitty P into the living room and put her onto his chair. She just rolled over and went to sleep. Today, he brought her in while the puppies were all out. They didn't quite understand why they couldn't get up into his lap to visit with the cat, but were pretty good at staying down while the cat was there. The cat stayed there until we took the dogs out to the yard. We have had the cats for two weeks now and haven't' rushed things at all. Every once in a while, we have to intervene when the puppies get too excited, but usually the cats come right back out again for more. We are surprised at how calm the cats are and at how much the puppies like them.