Our puppies don't get to play with other puppies very often. We don't know many people with dogs who wouldn't mind playing with five rambunctious puppies. So our puppies play a lot with each other but not much with other puppies. Occasionally we meet other dogs in Petsmart, and we try to let the puppies say hi when possible, but that's about it. 
Lately though, they have had the opportunity to see other puppies. Mom's sister (Aunt P) got a new furry kid recently, and the puppies really want to play with her. She is a blue healer, and is as cute as can be. So far Miss M and Mr. C have met her. We are taking the puppies to meet her one at a time because she is still little and is  intimidated by our puppies.
Miss M just really doesn't understand why she doesn't want to play with her. I think Little Miss Z would like to play but is still a little scared. So mostly, she just stays in her mom's lap while our puppies are there.

Miss M gave up on playing with the little puppy and decided to tear the squeaker out of a toy instead.

Then she decided to go help Grandma in the kitchen. Surely Grandma would understand her dilemma and give her something yummy.

Grandma always has just the thing to make little puppies feel better. She was making chicken and dumplings and let Miss M be the official chicken taste tester. Miss M of course needed to take several bites to make sure the chicken was seasoned right. She's always glad to help out in the kitchen.

Miss Z wasn't sure how long Miss M was going to be in the kitchen and wasn't taking any chances. First she tried sitting in Grandpa's lap. Then she went back to her mom's lap, and finally decided that sitting on the back of the couch was the safest place.










Once she was certain that Miss M was busy elsewhere, she ate some of her mom's hair and then cuddled up for a nap- on the back of the couch. Being that cute all day wears a puppy out.

This Christmas we decided to do something different. We decided to get another place- one that's close to where Mom works and super close to Grandma and Grandpa. I didn't really know what to expect bringing the puppies and the cats to a different house and then staying there. We had never taken the puppies anywhere to spend the night. I expected that they would be a little nervous and that they would pace up and down and not be able to sleep.
But, once again the puppies surprised us. They settled right in. Of course, it helps that they now have stairs to play on. They LOVE the stairs.

The cats completely surprised us. They don't travel well. This is not a surprise. They pooped their cat carrier on the drive to the new place- also not a surprise. Once we got there though, we put a baby gate up in the doorway to the upstairs bathroom so that they have a safe place. We put them a cat tree on the stair landing so that they could come downstairs and still have a refuge to get away from Mr. M. Before long, the cats got bold enough to even venture downstairs and come into the living room. They discovered the little window on the stairs and have been sitting in the window to look out. They found our closet and have been chilling out in the closet. They have actually been acting more at home than they did at home. 

Besides the stairs, the puppies' favorite part of the new house is that they get to run down to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Pretty much every time we go outside, they go to the back gate so that we can go to Grandma and Grandpa's. It's the best game ever. Christmas Day they got to take turns going down and visiting with everybody. Miss S got to play with kids for one of the first times. I think it was her very first time playing with kids where she even got to be off leash. Mom's nephews are 4 and 6 and are a little shy with dogs, but it only took them a few minutes to completely warm up to Miss S. Miss S was extremely polite and didn't jump up on them or try to steal food off of their little table- which was at a perfect food-stealing height. She was interested in saying hi to everyone, but for the most part, she just napped on the floor while all the present opening was going on. We were very proud of her.

I didn't have any pictures of Mr. M on Christmas Day, so here is a picture of him from last year. What a difference a year makes! He was so tiny!! 

August and September are full of birthdays in our family. This weekend, Mom had her birthday on Saturday. So the puppies had a very full day. We took them for a walk in the morning so that they got their exercise. Then we bathed them and took them with us to Grandma and Grandpa's house. The puppies immediately offered their bottle crushing services.

Grandma was cooking, and occasionally Grandpa would go into the kitchen too. The boys decided that it would be best to stick around the kitchen so that they could help in case anything fell on the floor. They love helping in the kitchen.

The puppies love Grandma and Grandpa's fridge. It is very puppy friendly with side by side fridge and freezer sections. At the moment, with Blue Bell back in stores, there is even ice cream right at nose level. Mr. C took the opportunity to conveniently smell the ice cream while pretending to be interested in ice cubes.

Sunday, the puppies got to help Dad pull up weeds in the yard. 

Miss M just had one question. With all of these birthdays going on, where was the cake? She didn't believe us when we told her she couldn't have any cake. She was absolutely convinced that they needed cake too. We gave them puppy treats instead.

The puppies have a routine now that they go through when we go to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Grandma puts all of their empty water bottles that need flattening in the pantry in the kitchen, where they are easily accessible. The puppies know where the water bottles are. So, any time we go there, they go get their water bottles and proceed to flatten, or at least mangle, them. Wednesday, we went to the vet to pick up their monthly heart worm prevention medicine. We still go in every month so that they can get weighed. After the vet, we went to Grandma and Grandpa's for a visit. Mr. M went straight to the water bottles and picked out one to chew on. He got to work right away, making sure to earn himself some treats from Grandma. 
This time, Grandpa had a special treat for the puppies. He had ordered something that came in a big box. As soon as he was done with his water bottle, Mr. M went to work on the box, with quite a bit of help from the other puppies. Some jobs require teamwork. Once the box was taken care of, they went right back to work on the bottles again.

Of course, the puppies were all glad to help with the cleanup efforts.

We made the mistake of playing with Miss B and then with Miss M with the broom when they were small. Now, whenever they see a broom, they instantly slip into playing mode- especially when a woman has the broom since it was Mom's bright idea to play chase the broom.

The boys don't chase the broom as much. Mr. C politely excused himself from helping with the cleanup efforts so that he could help Grandma in the kitchen.

Finally, after all of the hard work, Mr. M just couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. So he decided to take a nap in the middle of the floor so that he could monitor the progress of the cleanup from time to time without actually having to get up.

I know that most people will tell you that cats are easier to take care of than dogs, and in certain aspects, that is probably true. You don't have to take cats outside for exercise or to do their business. You don't need to take them to any training classes. They don't need quite as much attention on a daily basis. But that is pretty much where the easiness ends. You don't usually need to bathe cats. This is true, but when you do have to bathe them, the situation is extremely unpleasant. They seem to hate baths, and on top of that, they were probably super dirty and super smelly for you to want to bathe them in the first place. They also aren't as good with going around to visit other people as dogs are. 
Today was an excellent example of how cats are not easier than dogs. The kitties had their first vet appointment today so that we could get them started on their kitty shots. We took the puppies along too so that they could be weighed for their heart worm prevention medicine, which is given by weight. A short way into the trip, we started smelling something rather foul, and one of the cats started meowing. We were really hoping that one of the dogs was just gassy, but the smell didn't go away. In fact, it seemed to get worse. The puppies all started crowding as close to us as they could- I think to distance themselves from the cats and the trouble they felt would follow. We were very early for our appointment and decided that it would be best to stop by Grandma and Grandpa's to  clean off the cats and wash out the carrier instead of taking poopy cats to the vet- kind of like when you brush your teeth before going to the dentist.
Seriously. Cleaning cat poop off of two long haired cats and out of a small kennel makes you really appreciate having dogs. The smell was so bad that I had to even close the bathroom door and open the window to get the smell out of the bathroom but not let it into the rest of the house. The cats had poop all in their fur. I couldn't just wipe them off with a paper towel because it wasn't coming off. I ended up washing them off in the sink with hand soap. They were not happy at all. I was wishing they were dogs at that point.
Another way dogs are easier than cats is that when you go to the vet, you don't have to keep the dogs in a kennel. Our puppies are a little different than most of the dogs we have met. Our puppies absolutely love going to the vet. They get super happy as soon as we get there and pull us toward the door to go in. When they were young, we couldn't take them in public yet because their puppy shots weren't done. So going to the vet was a total treat. They got to visit with other people and see other puppies. Everyone at the vet's office pays attention to them when they go there. They get petted and talked to, and sometimes they even get treats. The vet office is awesome.
The cats don't really seem to agree. Kitty P was okay with the vet- except for the fecal sample part. Kitty S was not really enjoying her time there. She did not appreciate the exam or the blood sample, and especially loathed the fecal sampling. Other than that, they were fairly indifferent and went about cleaning themselves the rest of the visit. I could hear the puppies in the waiting room with Dad visiting with everyone. Apparently, the puppies were very concerned that Mom took the kitties in the examining room and kept trying to go check on them.
After the vet visit, we went back to Grandma and Grandpa's. The cats pretty much just slept in their kennel the whole time. The puppies made themselves right at home after saying hi to everyone and giving them puppy kisses. They now know where Grandma keeps the plastic jugs that need flattening and went ahead and got all of the flattening out of the way- anything to help Grandma. Then Grandma made popcorn. Mr. C was intrigued by the air-pop machine. It was loud, but stuff kept coming out. It looked promising. After all, Grandmas seem to be very good at sharing. 

All of his patience paid off. Again and again and again. As it turns out, the puppies really like popcorn.

Mr. M got a little sleepy but didn't have his normal nap spot. So instead, he cuddled up next to Mom's purse and outer shirt. Miss B crawled up into Dad's lap but found that it was just too small to make a good napping place.

The puppies were very concerned about the kitties and kept walking over to their kennel to check on them. When we got home, the puppies went straight to the kitties' area to check on them and make sure that they were still there. I think that they were worried that the cats might not be there anymore. Even though the cats don't always want to play with them, the puppies have decided that the cats belong here. The kitties were okay about seeing the puppies too. Kitty P even played with Mr. M through the child gate. I've never actually seen her play with the dogs before. So I guess they are okay with the puppies too.

After such a fun trip to the beach, we decided to take the puppies to Grandma and Grandpa's house on Monday to celebrate Grandpa's birthday. After all, nothing says Happy Birthday like 5 rambunctious puppies running wild through the house trying to figure out why the cat is not inside. They all know the ropes at Grandma and Grandpa's now and know just where to go to find toys (and just who to talk to to get treats). Miss M is big enough now to partially climb into Grandpa's lap to say hello. Mr. M and Miss S know what corner of the yard to look in to find cat poop, and Mr. C and Miss B know how to run down the driveway for a walk around the block (with Mom and Dad this time). 
The puppies would have liked it a lot more if there would have been more sharing of the birthday cake. For some reason, Mom and Dad don't seem to want to give them any sugar. Something about being hyper as it is. The puppies don't totally get that, but people can be hard to understand sometimes- like with the insistence of them not eating cat poop thing. What's up with that? The cats obviously left it right there for them knowing they would come visit.
Anyway, after a while, the puppies found out that Grandma and Grandpa had empty water bottles that they needed to flatten. Hoping to earn themselves some treats, the puppies volunteered to help out with the water bottles, being the helpful puppies that they are. Mr. C also helped with the piece of bacon that fell on the floor while Mom and Grandma were making clam chowder, but none of the other puppies were in the kitchen and didn't find out about that.

All of their hard work eventually paid off. Grandma was amazed by how well they flattened the water bottles and made them some eggs as a reward.

For the past week or so, the weather hasn't cooperated with our picture taking plans. Every time the back yard starts to dry out, it rains again. This has been going on for a while now, so our backyard is a slippery muddy swamp at the moment, making it hard to take any good pictures outside since we can't let the dogs out for their normal running, jumping playtime. Instead, we have been running around the house, which doesn't make for very pretty pictures.
Yesterday, Miss M had a vet appointment for her next round of puppy shots, so all of the puppies got to go for a ride. Since they are all growing so fast, we have to take them all in regularly to get weighed so that we get the right dosage on their heart worm prevention. This time we were shocked. We know Mr. C looked a little bigger than before, but we thought that he might be around 60 pounds. As it turns out, he weighs 71.5 pounds! Miss B went up to 51 pounds, Miss S is already at 49 and Mr. M is lagging a little behind at 43.5. Miss M is over three pounds heavier than Miss S was at her same age. She weighs 16 pounds already- at 10 weeks old.
The puppies were all very happy to visit everybody at the vet's office. They got all kinds of attention. After that, they got to go to Grandma and Grandpa's for a while, where Miss S tried her hardest to convince Grandma that she needed to sit in her lap on the couch. Mr. C took up residence on the kitchen floor- where Grandma always hands out stray bits of whatever she is cooking. This time, she was making chicken and dumplings, which was good for Mr. C since he really likes pieces of chicken.

Miss B decided that she should play with the cat's toys since the cat won't play with her. The cats at Grandma and Grandpa's are very much against all forms of dog, which of course gets the puppies even more excited. They didn't even notice the cat being very quiet on the back of the sofa when they first got there. The cat watched them, being very quiet and trying to blend in with the wall behind her, but eventually, one of the puppies spotted her and they all decided that they should bark at her- except Miss M who was more interested in the puppy toys that Grandma had on the floor ready for them. The four bigger puppies are all more than capable of jumping up on the couch and going after the cat, but they stayed back and just barked. The cat hissed her disapproval at them, and they thought that was the funnest game ever, so they barked some more so that she would hiss some more. It's like an interactive squeaky toy with claws. They don't have any toys like that at home.
Eventually, Grandma rescued the cat and put her outside. Grandpa wasn't in the house at the time or he would have probably waited a little longer to see what the cat would do.

I think the puppies are getting very comfortable with Grandma and Grandpa's house because they used the bathroom more times than they ever have before. Thank goodness for newspaper and poop bags! Mr. M had a good time when he realized he could go up the stairs. Unfortunately, once he got upstairs the first time, he was afraid to come back down. Mom had heard puppy feet on the stairs but got a little suspicious when she didn't hear them come back down again. She went upstairs to see what he was up to, and boy, was he glad to see her. He led her straight to the bathroom (the only room with the door open) and tried to convince her that he should get in the tub to play in the water. (He would have already been playing in the tub if he knew how to turn the water on). She disagreed and led him back to the stairs where she had to work with a little bit to get him convinced that he could go down the steps by himself. Once accomplished he was very proud and went up a few steps again so that he could come back down. It was a good visit.
Sunday morning, Miss M decided she needed to help with the blog to make sure there were pictures of her.

Mom and Dad decided to take all of the puppies along with them to Grandma and Grandpa's house for Christmas. After all, how could the fuzzy kids get left alone on a day filled with boxes to chew up and turkey?
As soon as we got there, the puppies each went about their normal business. Mr. M found his favorite toy and went to work on it- after the gift bags he was interested in were relocated to the coffee table.

Miss S and Mr. C decided that the smartest thing to do would be to keep Grandma company in the kitchen just in case she needed any help with the turkey (or any other people food). They are always eager to help.

Miss B decided that the safest thing for her to do ( and the least likely to land her in time out) would be to find something to chew on near Mr. M.

Miss M is still trying to find her groove at Grandma and Grandpa's. This was only her second time there, and she isn't big enough to jump in Grandpa's lap to give him kisses like Miss S. She doesn't know where all the good toys are kept yet and hasn't realized that keeping Grandma company in the kitchen always gets you treats. So instead, she tried chewing on Mom's shoe.

Then she went to the kitchen to see what Miss S was doing.

Miss M finally realized that there were toys to chew on in the living room. That Mr. M is pretty smart- and rarely lands himself in time out. She decided to follow him more.

The day after Christmas was just a nice quiet day at home. We all played in the yard for a while so that the puppies would be good and tired when Mom and Dad went to the grocery store.

The puppy shots are finally over! We have been getting puppy shots off and on for the past 4 and 1/2 months. So now, we are finally finished with all of that. The vet visit was rather uneventful. The littles got their microchips while we were there. With the older two, we had the vet put in the microchips when they were getting spayed/neutered, so we didn't see the size of the needle, and they didn't feel it at all because he did it while they were already asleep for their surgeries. Had we realized how huge the needles are that put the chips in, we might have waited until the littles were getting spayed and neutered to put theirs in as well. They didn't flinch when he gave them their shots, but they yelped and squirmed when he was putting the chip in. The insertion site was even a little bloody- the vet had to put a little glue on both of them to stop the bleeding. But now at least that's over with, and they even have the bling to show for it.
After the vet, we stopped by Grandma and Grandpa's for a visit- and to invade their kitchen to see if the treats there were any different than the treats at home. Grandma had peanut butter and muffins! What happens at Grandma's stays at Grandma's.

It was a busy day.

This weekend was non-stop vet visits. We started off by getting the second round of puppy shots for the littles. Miss B and Mr. C got to come along to get weighed so that they could get the right dosage for their heart worm prevention. It was very exciting. They got to visit with the office staff at the vet's office, where they are always super popular. Then they got to visit with Grandma and Grandpa. Miss B still wants to make friends with their cat- the cat still disagrees with that idea. Mr. C tried getting close to the cat, and the cat swatted at him. After that, Mr. C rolled on his back, trying to make friends with the cat. He swatted at the littles, who yelped and started shaking. Keep in mind, that the cat doesn't have any claws...
Mr. M found a nice basket to chew on.

I'm not sure where he learned to chew on baskets.....

Sunday was a very difficult day for Mom. Dad had already decided before bring the littles home that he wanted their ears cropped, and today was the day. We took a long time researching the best place to have their ears done. Unfortunately, there are a lot of underground operations out there who are not qualified to crop ears. Ear cropping is fairly serious. It's surgery, which means that the puppies are under anesthesia when having it done. The main problem with this is that if a person is doing this who is not a licensed vet, it is really easy to mess up on the dosage of the anesthesia. I didn't realize how much of a problem this was until I started researching it. Apparently, quite a few puppies die every year having their ears cropped because the people doing it are not legally licensed to do so and mess up on the anesthesia.
I wasn't totally gung ho on this whole thing anyway, but if the puppies were going to have their ears done, there was no way I was going to put them into the hands of an underground cropper. We settled on a place and took them in. Miss S and Mr. M were not used to going anywhere without the big puppies, and got nervous stomachs in the car on the way over. (You should read that as: the car smelled really bad by the time we got there.) We filled out the paper work, chose the ear shape we wanted and left our puppies in the hands of total strangers. It really hit home when they handed us their collars. I may or may not have cried in the car when we left them there. It was going to be a few hours, so we went to eat lunch and get our grocery shopping out of the way while we were waiting. We didn't want to have to leave them alone to go grocery shopping after we got home. When we got back to the clinic, they were just waking up so we had to wait for a little while longer. I may or may not have cried again. (Twice). They brought Mr. M out first, and handed him to Mom, who immediately cuddled him. He licked her face and perked right up. The vet told us that they had been the best patients that they had had all day. They had been really quiet and calm. But as soon as Mr. M had Mom to back him up, he decided he was done with that place. When the vet assistant came to take off the material that was holding his cone of shame in place and put his regular collar back on, he growled at him. He then growled at the vet when he took off the bandage on his leg. Miss S wasn't quite as vocal as Mr. M, but she didn't want to hold still for them to put her regular collar back on. They were both ready to go home.
When we got back, Miss B and Mr. C were very concerned with the littles being in cones. They were so preoccupied with checking on them, they wouldn't even go outside to go to the bathroom without them coming along too, despite having been in the crates all day. After some investigation, it was playtime as usual. All of them were happy to be back together again and calmed down quite a bit.