November 7 - Thankful for my puppies

Harlee and Gabby weren't always the sweet pups that they are today.  When we got Harlee, she was the only puppy in her litter who survived and she had learned zero bite inhibition.  Michael and I spent weeks to months pinning our stubborn puppy, who was certain she was going to rule the roost, on her back to the floor, standing over her and growling, and buying her ears (I know this sounds absolutely crazy, but we did a lot of research and that was what the experts said to do).  Finally we had her settled down and learning tricks she was obviously a smart girl and very motivated by food, as most Beagles are.  Then we moved to Wichita and got our second fur baby, Gabby.

Gabby was a stray mutt off the street, only 8 weeks old when we met her.  She was aggressive about food and bit constantly with needle sharp little puppy teeth.  Fortunately, we knew how to handle such behavior.  Harlee took a bit to warn up to the rambunctious new puppy, but she came around eventually and the two of them are best friends.

We wanted to prepare our pups for our kids before Avery and Connor were even a possibility.  We tried to think of everything a small child might do to our around a dog.  We pulled on their ears and tails and fur.  We messed with them while they were eating and took away toys and treats while they were enjoying them.  Anything a child might do, we wanted to know how the dogs would react and train them to allow whatever behavior we threw at them.  And, I have to say, our sweet girls rose to the challenge.

When we brought Avery home from the hospital, the dogs were very interested and always looked for her first when they came in the house from being outside.  It only took Gabby jumping on Avery's face a time or two for her to realize the baby was on the bed.  They kicked her right in the face and Avery opened her mouth and welcomed it, a story I'm sure she'll love hearing she gets older.  By the time Connor came along, having a baby in the house was an old trick.  The pups were less concerned with Bubba and more concerned with staying out of Avery's reach.  ;)

Now or pups are no longer top priority in our lives, something I never thought would happen, even when I was pregnant with Avery.  But we still love them an awful lot.  They are still very sweet girls and great with the kids.  Over the last month Laney had seemed to have been scared by the dogs, but I let them in each day to clean up her lunch mess and now she gets excited when it's time to let them in.  They laid very still and calm today while I pretty them so she could pet them as well.  They really are very sweet girls.  We love them a lot!