Our Puppies Are Growing Up!

A few weeks ago we started leaving the puppies out in the living room while we were gone for short periods of time. Up to now they’ve been crated in Molly’s oversized crate together because God forbid they’re not together. Molly hasn’t been crated for years, but we just hadn’t been able to leave the babies out yet. They have too much interest in ripping the stuffing out of ... anything.

It’s only been in the past couple of weeks that we’ve left them out for three or four hours at a time. They’ve had a few behavioral problems, but they’re things we’re really working on.

The first, and possibly most expensive, is their addiction to the ottoman. It no longer has fabric or stuffing around the bottom panel, and most of the wood is now exposed. Yes, that’s a very happy face Diesel’s sporting in this picture because he is incredibly proud of himself. “Yep. That was me!”

I hate admitting that our dogs are still struggling with basic obedience. They’ve grown up so much, though, and I have to remind myself that we don’t know their living situations before we adopted them. We know they’re intensely afraid of fly swattters, which really bothers me, and they can’t stand to be separated for any reason. All we can do is love them and keep teaching them what’s ok and what’s not.

The bright side to all of this is that Callie and Diesel are both incredibly fond of Molly. They all run and chase each other, they hang out on the deck together and they even cuddle ... when we’re not looking. Yes, they get annoyed and chew on each other’s ears and feet sometimes, but for the most part they are best friends.

So our goals for the next few weeks are to break them of their destructive bent, and we’d love for them to not bark and jump when the front door gets opened. It’s a process, one that is totally doable. We’ll get there, and the puppies will, too.