numero quatro

Don't be deceived: he actually hates snuggling.

So we did it. We got little Trapper. We renamed him Lisek because a) all our dogs' names start with "L" and b) it means "little fox" in Polish (and as we've established, he looks like a lil' fox).

He's been a great addition to the pack. He's super chill and what Braed and I call a "low impact, high reward" pup. Since he's so old his energy level is pretty low, which means he does a lot of laying around in different parts of the house.

In front of the stove.

At the foot of the bed.

On top of clean laundry, because, why not?

 But he also has secret old man energy, especially when it comes to food. The reason he's such a chunkster is now clear to us. The first week we had him he figured out how to knock down the containers of the other dogs' dry food (remember, he has no teeth so he only eats canned food) and found him down in the basement sniffing around in their kibble trying to gum it down.

At night we don't keep him in a kennel like we do with the other pups (we tried it the first few nights and he would wake up at about 2 am and bark for an hour) and at night he'll wander around the house a little. One night Braeden woke up to him trying to knock over our puppy basket tower to get at the sealed treat bag he knew was up there. None of other other dogs have ever done that, not even our wiliest Liza pup.

He's not the snuggliest pup (that award goes to Lilly for sure) but he does love head scratches and if you stop scratching him he'll nuzzle your hand back on to his head to let you know he's still into it. Sometimes he and Lilly will play together and while she's our strongest dog for sure she's super gentle with him and it's cute to see them pawing and waving their open mouths at each other, his just empty gums and hers full of strong teeth. And, if Lilly ever does get a little too aggressive in her play Liza is always right there to jump in and save Lisek. I really love how our little pack has expanded to accept him into it.

Basically, we just love this little guy and can't remember a time when he wasn't with us. He's such a sweety and when we're out in the yard and he gets all revved up into a little trot while the other pups zoom around, it's basically the best ever.

adding to the pack...?

I'm sitting here on our couch with three puppies snugged around me. Liza's to my left, all stretched out; Loki's on my right, leaning in, slowly sliding down as his eyelids droop into sleep; and Lilly, of course, is flopped across my lap with her stubby legs stuck out straight, taking up as much space as possible.

Here they are, claiming the couch as their own, Liza curled up on a pillow, and
Loki and Lilly staring at the camera like, "Wut? We're just chillin'. NBD."

More typically they are all snuggled together under the blankets, on top of my legs.
Classic end of day situation.

Three dogs is a lot of work, especially as those in our pack can be a little temperamental when on leashes (meaning we have to avoid pretty much everything on our twice-daily walks around the neighborhood). Fortunately most of our neighbors are older and while there seem to be a lot of dogs in the area, none seem to be on our same walk schedule.

Braeden and I have spoken quite often about adding another dog (every time he sees a cute dog on the internet, for example), but we recently decided that three dogs is really all we can handle. Between Liza's toy and leash aggression, Lilly's crazy energy, and Loki's need to be with you as much as possible, they can be a lot to handle. (And this is coming from the puppy parent who never walks all three by herself.)

And yet, we're thinking of upsetting our delicate balance and adding a fourth dog. We met this sweet little old man at the animal center yesterday.

Look at that smile! Doesn't he kind of look like a little fox?

His name is Trapper and he's a 13 year old Pomeranian mix. He's shaved down because when they found him as a stray his fur was all matted. They also had to pull most of his teeth since they were rotted so now he can only eat soft food. They think he's a bit hard of hearing and might be going a little blind, too. He's got arthritis and would need some medicine for that, as well as regular exercise to keep his joints as healthy as possible. He'd also need regular grooming, something we've successfully avoided with our short-haired dogs so far. He's 25 pounds and would need to slim down to a healthier weight, which, sadly, shouldn't be too hard with his now-missing teeth.

He would be a lot of work. And he's definitely a lot different than any of our other dogs. A part of me thinks that we would be foolish to take him in to our home and mess with the good stuff we've got going. But a bigger part of me thinks that we would be good for him and he would be good for us. His mellow nature and sweet disposition could be just what we need...

in this moment

There are puppies everywhere!

Also smiles and good food and interesting conversation, and an airstream parked outside.

Right now, in this moment, life feels just how it should.

puppy heaven

We went to the Iowa City dog park for the first time today with our friends Kyle and Claire who are visiting us with their dog Joshua. I was pretty nervous since I'd not only never taken Loki to a dog park before, but I'd never even been to a dog park before: I had no idea what to expect.

When we got there what I found I'd discovered was in fact puppy heaven. We went in through the front double gates and took Loki and Joshua off their leashes before letting them into the park. I was worried that Loki would take off and I wouldn't be able to see him or get him to come back if I needed him, but he kinda hung around close-ish to us for a bit, then started to explore the park and meet other dogs and their humans. He was so comfortable and everyone was so friendly! It was like the exact opposite of our dog-filled neighborhood where just the other day someone yelled at me while I was picking up my dog's poop from their yard and I feel like everyone hates our dogs because Liza barks so much. It was sunny and lovely and even though it was my first time I felt such a sense of dog-loving community. I seriously could have stayed there all day, but we'd left Braeden and Liza at home (we weren't sure if it would be Liza's thing) and I wanted nothing more than for all of us to be there together. I'm now determined to take both our pups back every Sunday afternoon for some lovely family outside play time. Just thinking about it makes me feel happy inside.

Loki was having so much fun I couldn't get him to sit still for a picture.
He was so worn out he would flop down next to me,
but as soon as he saw another dog run by he just had to join in the fun!

Thanks, Kyle and Claire, for helping me see the light and showing me that doggy heaven was closer than I ever imagined. And thanks, Iowa City, for having the best dog park Kyle and Claire have been to in all the ones they've visited in over 20 states. Seriously. Great work!

puppies

We have two puppies. Loki, our Puggle, loves being outside. Whenever he is inside he finds the nearest window and rests his front paws on the window sill as he looks outside longingly, watching the little outside creatures running around without him and he just wants to be out there so bad.

Then we have Liza, our little Bugg from the shelter, who is very much an inside dog. Everytime she's outside she barks her head off at anything that moves, especially other dogs. We usually only leave her outside long enough for her to relieve herself and then she's back inside. On the few days we do leave her outside for longer--when the weather is particularly nice and none of the neighbors or their dogs are out in their yards--anytime we look out the window to check on her she's sitting, staring at the house, biding her time until you come back to rescue her from her backyard hell. (Unless, of course, she sees a bunny in which case she's barking her head off like she's being attacked and barking as loud and for as long as possible is the only way to stave off death.)

They're very different pups, but we love them both. We love Loki's energy and how he loves to cuddle and how he gets along with everyone. We also love how zen Liza is when she's inside and how in the morning she's super flirty and begs for belly rubs.

We just love our little fur babies. An embarrassing amount of love.