New pics! Four months old!

She's probably close to 25 lbs in these pictures, but she has gained even more since they were taken almost a week ago! Her ears, especially, are getting longer and floppier (and more adorable, of course!)

Longer, Taller, yet still somehow sweet....

So Maggie is growing quickly and occasionally overnight. Saturday morning I swear she'd grown 2 inches longer and at least an inch taller. Nadja agreed. She is nearly Hannah's size, but has 3 times the attitude. Why is it that the smaller the dog the bigger the attitude? They have NO idea they're small. Just this afternoon, she was right there in the corner of the yard yapping her growing head off at a huge dog walking past. This is always done with what has become a familiar mantra at our end of the block; my screaming at them "Oh, shut up! No one cares what you think!!!" This gets chuckles from dog walking neighbors and odd "Get the man a straight-jacket" looks from bus-waiters (we have a stop in front of the house). Maggie is a digger, we were too last fall...so now we have lots of dirt...I mean mud for her to play with. For those who've lost count...we now have 12, yes count them, 12 paws to clean and dry now. Stupid or crazy? But, we're in love. As much with our three 'daughters' as with each other. It makes you do crazy things. Like bring new furniture into the house (see houseblog). As far as Maggie is concerned, life is great. She is the single most affectionate spirit I've ever come into physical or ethereal contact with, hands-down. She has all the kisses in the world for anyone who'll accept them be they white, black, orange or green, two or four legged. She is also entering into the wonderful "2 year old phase". For those who've forgotten...she's starting to challenge authority. On that note I'll say that I'm incredibly happy that we made the puppy decision before we had kids...well before. I'd need lots of good drugs otherwise.

Long time no blog...

So, there's been alot going on in the last couple of weeks. The basement kitchen is nearly done, the rest of the basement now has it's subfloor. Tonight it will get insulation. These are the reasons that all has been very quiet on the puppyblog front...sorry. So, Maggie is now 13 weeks old, and very much over her kennel cough. She briefly passed it onto Shadow, who in turn, through frequent visits, passed it onto my mom's dog Toots. On a positive note, going to the vet for the kennel cough brought about the discovery of a narrow trachea and some sort of liver disorder that has apparently been there for a number of years. The puppy-raising skills are still different between Nadja and myself, but we're also learning to work as a team. Maggie has discovered an extremely fun new game. This involves running away as fast as possible when asked to come back into the house after being let outside. The only way to end this game seems to be to just walk back into the house and send Shadow and Hannah out to fetch her. This brings me to the newest bit of news in Maggie's world: she has started puppy classes! Yes, a couple days ago she made her first trek to the Twin Cities Obedience Training Center. In week one of classes, homework included luring her into a sit position (mastered), learning not to pull on the leash (almost there), letting go of toys when asked (working on it), sitting quietly at our feet when needed (she's a puppy), and letting strangers pet her without jumping up or shying away (mastered). She seemed to love puppy play time and was quick to tell everyone that she was the queen bee of the group, but not in an aggressive way. Her personality is coming out a little more everyday, and she is one of the happiest, most curioius, generally well behaved and intelligent dogs I have ever met. Believe it or not, I say this with complete unbias. She loves to play with her older sisters, and they are both doing a phenomenal job of teaching her how to be a good dog. She is taking to the house training well, and our newest 'problem' is chewing everything in sight. Shoes, chairs, rugs, plants, Shadow, Hannah, leashes, even her own knees are fair game. It seems that the bigger her mouth grows, the larger her available chewing apparatus. As I write, she is terrorizing Shadow and Hannah in the Game room on the 3rd floor, and they are ganging up on her. This is an amazing development, since Hannah is lower than Shadow on the ladder, and until recently, she would aquiesce to Shadow in all Maggie related matters. Now she is confident in her position and ability to discipline and play with Maggie, and Shadow seems to definetely approve of the occasional reprieve from 'puppy play duty'. Hopefully life will allow time to write more sooner rather than later!