A new job - assistant puppy raiser

Hope doesn't know it yet, but she has yet another new job...

Last night, puppy #5 arrived home from CCI, but not my home just yet! I'm doing things a little different this time around, getting yet another black dog, but this time trying a male out. The biggest change is that I'm also going to be co-raising with a couple of good friends of mine, Kathy and Gloria. I think it will work out nicely and they were good about taking him the first two weeks since I will still have Zuleika for another week.

Hope has some big shoes to fill since I no longer have my Molly to show the pups the house rules. I know I'll never have another dog that will be able to fill that role, but I hope she will have some good influence on Nick. I have watched a friend's young pup, Gerrit, the past couple of weekends and she seems to enjoy having a pup around, so hopefully she will like her new role as the "Big 'Sis".

The "little" guy is not so little; at 8 weeks old, he was over 16 lbs a week ago, so he's probably getting close to 20lbs! This is huge by my standards, Zucchini was 11 lbs and most of my girls were 12-14 lbs. He comes from a litter of nine pups, he was the last puppy born, so his collar color was orange (same as Rolie!). I'm just glad I moved down to the 1st floor at work, I usually carry my pups outside as long as I can to avoid potty accidents when they wake up after a nap. 20lbs is usually about my limit for carrying pups down the stairs. Knock on wood, I haven't had any accidents at work yet, although I have some close calls (like right outside the entrance!). Let's hope we keep our streak going with Nick!

Here's a litter picture that was taken last Sunday and a picture of Nick with his wonderful dog-mom, Niobe:





Isn't he adorable?!!!!!

Zucchini's turn-in has really started hitting me the past few days, so its nice to know I will have Hope at home waiting for me when I get back from Santa Rosa and Nick will come stay with me right after that too.