Changing Faces

With two new puppies in the house, I'm very aware that my other pups are grown up. They're six years old now although even Dr B still calls them the pups. Sunday I took some new photos of my kids.

Morgan is the old timer at 13. She moves slowly when we call her and sometimes doesn't respond at all, but you should see her chase a squirrel. She can really move when she wants to.

Fudge is next oldest. Does that seem possible? He'll be eight next week but still acts like a silly puppy most of the time. He and I have gotten closer since Samba died.

Then come the pups. Tess is the oldest. She's actually a day older than her siblings as she was born before midnight. She doesn't like having her picture taken and usually hides so this is one of the few photos I have of her.

Lola is next. She's a bit of a loner and likes to just go off and do her own thing but she'll join her sisters in a run around or a game.

Bailey takes my breath away. She looks so much like Samba that it brings tears to my eyes. She used to be a loner who just wanted to hunt or dig, but recently she's become very cuddly. She hangs around us and wants lots of hugs. She still carries one of her stuffed toys with her most of the time.

Noah is my little peanut. As the smallest he was always spoiled by the humans in his life and by his mama Samba. He knows he's a lap dog and he's also the dog who alerts us that someone is at the door or that the Fedex man has driven up. He likes to run and play with his sisters, especially Tess.

Norma Jean is our bigger than life superstar. She is a people dog and though she'll run with her sisters, she stays as close to me as she can get. She's ready for anything I want to do. She excels at swimming and with luck we'll get back into school this year so we can compete at Rally.

It's hard to think of Sebastian as younger than the others. At two he's still a puppy. He's quiet and well behaved and I forget that he's still a baby and needs some special attention. I'm going to try to get him into school too. I think not only can he compete in Rally, but he might be a good therapy dog.

Here are Lola and Bailey in a rare shot together. They seldom sit still together long enough for me to snap a photo.

Then, of course, there are Sydney and Mackenzie. They are making themselves part of the pack.

We're changing our internet carrier today. Hopefully it will go smoothly and I'll check back in later today, but there's always the possibility that the minute the tech leaves, the whole thing will go down. If you don't hear from us for a couple days, you'll know that we're working on getting back in touch. Wish us luck.