Puppy!

Isn't she adorable?!

No, she's not ours.  We aren't that insane to get a puppy.  We are puppy sitting for Carole (Steve's mom) while she's away at a funeral in Georgia.

This dog is VERY sweet and a smart little girl.  She's learned very quickly where to go potty (pee pads).  She has made very small some potty mistakes on the kitchen floor, but those are our fault, of course. 

She slept 6 hours last night, and wailed this morning to be let out of her little area to play.  We gated her into a small area with her crate and pee pads.  After I fed her breakfast and let her play with our two doggies, I put her back in the gated area so that I could go back to bed.  She WAILED.  That's when I kicked Steve out of bed to go get her. 

Naturally, he brought her back to bed with us.  She crawled around, let us pet her, we cuddled her, rubbed her belly, and then she found a spot at the foot of the bed where she settled down until the kids made it well known that it was time to pay attention to them!

The kids have loved her presence.  DJ, in particular, loved watching Napoleon and Cocoa play (read: establish dominance... more on that in a minute).  He would squeal and screech in delight as the dogs would chase each other and bark.  He wanted to chase with the dogs, but we didn't let him.  I sat him in my lap so that we could watch but let the dogs play safely.  Meanwhile, Elektra would stand in one spot and turn in circles watching the dogs run around her.  She loved petting Cocoa's soft curly hair.

As for who won pack leader position (dominance): We think Napoleon won, but it took over 24 hours!  She put up a good fight and gave Napoleon fits!  Napoleon would chase Cocoa around the train table, and although Napoleon is faster, Cocoa turned the corners like a a little go-kart (then hide under the table) and Napoleon would continue going straight.  Napoleon barked and barked and barked, and we were happy to see him get some exercise. 

After a round of that kind of play, Cocoa was wiped out.  We'd put her back her in her area, and she crashed out in her crate for a couple of hours.  Rinse, repeat.  :)

 IO, well, he is still low dog on the totem pole, and we think he knew it.  He never re-challenged for pack leader.

Meanwhile, Aunt Sue picked up the little sweetheart to care for her while we're at work tomorrow until her Mommy gets home.