Pupp - ies?

As you'll recall, I mentioned before that we would be getting a new family member. The cute little pup below was the sweet creature we drove all the way down to Baton Rouge to pick up. We took this trip a mere two weekends ago and because of the decision that ensued, we've been a little tied up lately.

That decision was the choice to not only get her, but her sister too!!!

The story behind this decision is as follows ... I decided a few months ago that I wanted a dog. Since we moved to Ruston and I was working much closer to home, it now seemed like a responsible decision that we could make. Before, the poor pup would have been kept in a crate for 8-9 hours which just seemed cruel. Living much closer gave me the idea that we could handle a puppy. That and I'm not really a cat person and our cat isn't really a people person, therefore it was obvious that we needed a puppy.

Anyways, Grayson said this would be my decision and it was totally up to me. I took this to heart and when the breeder sent pics of the litter, I decided on the apricot colored pup above. Suddenly out of nowhere though, Grayson decided that he wanted to add some input in choosing "my dog". He, of course, didn't love the apricot one as much as I did, rather he loved the black puppy. Well, eventually he told me I could get whichever puppy I wanted and so we were set to pick up the apricot colored pup I showed everyone in the previous post. The only problem was that when we arrived at the breeder's house, the black pup was still around and she darted straight for Grayson's toes ... it was like they were already connected on some weird level. The next problem was when he made the decision to hold the sweet girl for about 30 minutes too long which resulted in the purchase of a second puppy for the Allen household!!!I hope you can hear the sarcasm dripping off my words. It really was a GREAT decision to buy them together. They never even realized they weren't with their litter anymore because they have each other. They only cried the first night we kept them in their kennel and it was only for 5 minutes at that! Brinley Bea was the runt. She is mild-mannered, calm and very mellow!!! Barkley Lou on the other hand, was the biggest in the litter, has paws the size of a golf ball and is our extravert! She sets a rather powerful example for little Brinley to follow (unfortuantely it's not always the smartest choice).

They love to play outside, roll around on each other and pretend growl. They are quickly learning commands including sit and potty (thank goodness!). They are sweet, but a challenge. We are getting adjusted to our new schedule and have since purchased baby gates for the kitchen! Anyone is welcome to come over anytime to see them as we're trying to get them socialized and into meeting others!

The only sad part in all of this is TC.

Unfortunately, she has reverted back to her former self. She is now a fully outside cat which makes me sad. We had worked so hard at trying to socialize her and get her adjusted to life and just when she was doing her best (ie: sleeping on my chest, cuddling up with visitors and all around not attacking me) we got the dogs. Bottom line: she hates them/is scared of them. She has lost at least 2 lbs probably due to stress and all the other fat/mean cats stealing her food! She is skiddish again and doesn't come around the house all that often. It makes me sad which is ironic b/c I didn't want her in the first place. If you'll recall from my initial post when we first got her she wasn't my first option. But I've come to love her and now she's mad at us and living outside. It's okay b/c the puppies are sweet and make up for it (also Grayson reminds me that we paid for them and not TC so we need to "protect our investment". He's ever the logical one of the two of us).

Anyways. That is part of why I've been MIA from the blogging world. We are now getting settled and situated so I plan to update you on all the other fun stuff and share pics as our puppies begin to grow. We think Brinley will be around 8lbs and Barkley might get to a whopping 13 lbs! More to come later on this week b/c we are expecting some very special guests this weekend. They are our VIP friends and we are anxiously awaiting a seriously fantastic weekend with them!