Kitty S and Kitty P have been making themselves at home. They really like having their own safe space in the bathroom, and really like exploring in the house. The puppies are practically beside themselves. Every morning now, they run straight to the bathroom door to see if we will open it so that they can play with the kitties. Kitty S is really warming up to the puppies and loves the opportunity to play with them under the dining room table. Kitty P is warming up a little. She doesn't mind being in the same room with the dogs, or even inches away- as long as they don't try to lick her or play with her at all. She's not that kind of cat...
Today, Mr. M got to play with Kitty S for a little while. This was his first time really up close with the kitties, so Mom wanted to give them her full attention in case he got a little too excited- hence the lack of pictures. He did surprisingly well. Then Miss M got to visit with them again. She really didn't understand why Kitty S didn't appreciate all of her puppy kisses. After all, they hadn't seen each other all night. Miss M did the logical puppy thing, seeing Kitty S first thing in the morning- she chased her under something and then licked her, tail going wild. She was soooo excited to see her kitty friend. 
A little later in the morning, Mr. C was allowed to play with the kitties for a while. This time, we got out the camera since we were convinced that he wasn't going to eat the cats.

We decided that the cats were doing well enough to go ahead and put collars on them. So, they are now officially part of the family. They didn't even mind us putting the collars on, which surprised us, and haven't tried to take them off at all. 
In the afternoon, we decided to go ahead and let Miss S meet the cats. Up until this point, she had only seen them through the baby gate because she was just too excited. We were really surprised at how well she did with them. Kitty P even came out to see her. When Miss S got too close, Kitty P just growled at her and she backed off. After that, she would look at Kitty P but give her plenty of room whenever she walked by. Miss S was content to play with Kitty S, and the feeling seemed to be mutual.

Once the introductions were out of the way, it was time to get down to the important stuff: PLAYTIME.

If you weren't paying attention, you would think that the dogs were harassing the kitties, but as soon as the puppies try to back away from the chair, or walk away, Kitty S goes after them to play some more. She is either a very brave cat, or a little slow in the head. We aren't sure which it is.

Miss S didn't really know what to think about this next pose and just stood there for a minute. I think she was expecting the cat to get stuck.

In true cat fashion, after a few minutes of fast paced fun, she collapsed on the floor under a bar stool. Miss S didn't really know what to think about that and sat on Mom's knee trying to figure out what the cat was doing.

I think we are making definite progress. The kitties are still not comfortable with having more than one puppy out at once- it gets a little too rambunctious, but they are very comfortable with one at a time. This whole cat thing just may work. Tomorrow we may try Miss B. Her first meeting with the kittens involved her chasing Kitty P across the neighbor's yard, so we'll see how that goes.

This Thanksgiving we had dinner at the beach, which the puppies all thought was a great idea. Mr. C felt that if we dressed them all in festive banadas, his chances of getting turkey would be higher. Mom was happy that he was so eager to get into the holiday spirit and picked out some harvest looking material. Originally, we were going to make them all fleece jackets, but the forecast called for temperatures in the upper 60's, which seemed a little too warm for fleece.
After getting to ride in the car for a while- one of their favorite activities- the puppies got to get out and visit with tons of people they had never met and three other dogs. Miss S really really wanted to play with the miniature pinscher, Minny, but Minny disagreed. Miss S can't figure out why all of the little dogs she meets are scared of her and don't want to play. Her two-legged cousin tried to help her out by holding up the little dog for her to smell, but the little dog still didn't want to play. By the time we left, Minny was more comfortable with the puppies, but wasn't quite comfortable enough to play.

By late afternoon, the shade and breeze on the balcony started getting a little too chilly and the littles started shaking. So we held them on our laps to warm them up. The older puppies stayed in the sun a little more and were too interested in what everyone else was doing to notice the cooler temperatures. At that point, we were wishing we had gone ahead and made the fleece jackets. Texas weather is so unpredictable.

It was a very good Thanksgiving. The puppies were thoroughly worn out by the time we left and slept almost all the way home.

Last time we went to the beach, we didn't get any good shots of the puppies from the front. So it was a perfect justification to go to the beach again. After running a few errands- like getting Miss S a new harness since she already outgrew the other one- we piled the puppies into the car and off we went.

Miss B and Mr. C had quite the adventure when they flew out of the car before we could grab their leashes and ran to the beach themselves, but I am going to write a separate post on that.
Once all of the pups were back with us, we had a relatively uneventful and pleasant walk on the beach. They found a nice couple to visit with again, who told us that they had recently lost a male pit bull with the same coloring as the littles. It sounded like he was in their backyard and disappeared. We feel like someone probably took him but don't know that for sure. It reinforced our belief that dogs, especially pit bull type dogs, should not be left outside unsupervised. 

After their long beach walk, everyone was very calm.

As luck would have it, this weekend was Biker Rally Weekend in Galveston. Miss B has a thing for motorcycles and was very excited by all of the motorcycles on the way to the beach. Afterwards, we decided to ride into town and check out the party. We kept the dogs in the car of course. They have never been in this big of a crowd before, and that many people with that much motion and that much noise just doesn't seem like the best time to introduce them to crowds. The big puppies were very interested in all of the people walking around and the bikes. The littles really didn't care much and slept most of the time, except when Mom or Dad got out to take a picture.
It was a very exciting Saturday.

After the last set of puppy shots, the littles were not allowed to go out in public areas for a week. Today that week was up... so we took them to the beach. Rather than let them run around on the 20 foot leashes like we did with Miss B and Mr. C, we decided on a little more organized approach. We decided to keep them all on the regular leashes and go for a long walk instead. It's a little too cold to play in the water right now anyway. 
The older two were acting a little antsy, and the littles went to sleep as soon as we started driving. We got to talking about it, and decided that the dogs probably all thought they were going to the vet. This was actually the first time we have taken them in the car to somewhere other than the vet since we got them. 
When we got to the parking lot, they all started looking around. The older two had been there before and started wagging their tails. The littles just sat very still looking out the window. Once everyone was out of the car, they all got excited. Dad held the big ones and Mom held the little ones. Mom definitely got the better end of the deal on that arrangement. The little ones stayed right by Mom and Dad and didn't really pull on the leash too much. They were interested in the seaweed, and Mr. M would occasionally pick up a little piece of seaweed to carry for  a little while before dropping it. We were surprised at how well they did- especially since it was their first time out in a harness, the first time on a leash and the first time on a long walk. 
All four of them seem very comfortable taking potty breaks on the beach, and I think Mom spent about half of the walk holding poop bags looking for the nearest trash bin. While we were out, they made friends with a nice couple sitting on the beach. Miss B spotted the lady because of the hot pink jacket she had on and kept trying to go over to meet her. She told us that they had had dogs for twenty-one years but that they had lost their last one not too long ago and just didn't have the heart to get any more yet. She was glad when the littles wanted to give her puppy kisses all over her face.
I didn't get very many pictures of them from the front- I was too busy walking puppies. I guess that is a good excuse to go back to the beach.

Lately, the puppies have been growing like crazy. They are all four getting along really well. The big puppies even let the littles snuggle up next to them from time to time without getting up and moving over. The big puppies are still very patient with the littles when it comes to food and let themselves be pushed out of their own bowls by little noses. Of course, whenever the littles go after their food, we redirect them back to their own dishes.

Since the littles have been with us, we have only had family over to the house. Yesterday, they had one of their first visitors and were super excited. They played with her, and jumped on her. Mr. M decided that she was his, and started making sure that he was in between her and the other dogs at all times. I think he has his first crush. He and Miss S fell asleep before she left, so when they woke up, they looked all over the dining room to see where she had gone.
We've been impressed with how well all of the puppies do with people. We are very careful about who we take them around and try to avoid putting them in situations that would challenge their freindliness. I was actually a little surprised last week when we took Miss S to the vet. The last time Mr. C and Miss B were at the vet, they got neutered and spayed. I was expecting them to not like the vet anymore. I thought that when we went there, they might get nervous or try to bolt for the door. Imagine my surprise when they both went running right in and said hi to everyone. Mr. C made himself right at home, stretching out in the middle of the waiting room floor so that the nice vet tech girl could pet his belly. They even ran over to say hi to the vet.