Raising a Puppy is hard work!

     Boy, Honey is growing. When we look at the pictures we took in the beginning of the month we are amazed at her rapid growth. Of course, she is eating - 4 times a day as the directions on the food suggest. She sleeps a lot too which then gives us a break.
    She really likes the snow. B has been making snowballs for her, throwing them and she eats them. Because of this we found out she likes ice cubes too. She enjoys going all over the yard and back in the woods by our driveway smelling all the smells and checking everything out. Of course that means we do too as she is on her leash. She often brings a stone or a twig back into the house with her. She attempts to pick up rather large branches and I'm sure shortly she will be carrying them around but they won't be brought in. She still has her puppy teeth and bites but that's usually just when she wants to eat or go out. She really is a good girl!

    We got her this bed the other day as she was falling off the pillows. She also was biting on the pillow's zipper and has pulled them off (they are in the loft on my list of repairs). So the bed was our next try and since it has no zippers it's working. As you can see, she is growing.
   But taking care of and training a puppy is hard work. My rule - no up on the furniture at all. However, we are still following "don't ask, don't tell" as B tends to let her up in his lap on his chair. She is getting better about getting down. A piece of kibble and the word DOWN as she moves off what ever she is on is an ongoing lesson. And then, as you can see below, my efforts don't always work out but the results are very cute!!!

Gosh, SNOW

It was a snowy day. Last night they changed the forecast to several inches of snow. OK... So we did outside duty around 9 and then went to bed. And I was sweeping the steps as the snow was light and fluffy.
Then, when Honey and I went out around 6 AM it was....a snowy wonderland!! WOW, snow and more. Well the sweeping had helped and we went out and she did her thing. Then back in for coffee and then breakfast. Yes, I can make breakfast and have been thanks to Honey!!!

Then B fired up the snow blower and hit the driveway. The snow was fine and he had used the leaf blower yesterday. We ended up with about 6 inches and here he is with the super dooper snow plow with gears and headlights (a guy and his toys).

He had it well cleaned off and the sun did help so now the driveway is just about cleared. And we should get warmer later this week. But the trees are back to making noises and for little puppies it's scary. Well, I'll keep her safe!!!

It's been a busy couple of days. Had family over on Sunday and we really enjoyed seeing them. We took a quick trip to Scranton on Wednesday to do some shopping at Macy's and also to Wegmans for a hoagie and some veggies. We left Honey in her crate and she was fine. We take short trips knowing when we need to get home to feed her or take her out.

Yesterday and this morning I was baking and then, after lunch, we took a trip to the library and then the pet store to exchange a harness for Honey. She is growing so much that we knew the harness we got was too small. We want her to use this when we take her for a trip in the car. The harness will attach to the seat belt in the back seat. Our other dog sat in my lap or was on the back seat. She also was a lab and 95 pounds of dog in you lap in a car doesn't work! It's also not safe. So, this one will use the harness.

Honey has her good times and bad - right now she is biting B's shoes. She tends to bite when she needs to go out or when she is hungry. Since she ate a while ago and went out just a short while ago.... well, she is now playing with her toys so I guess the biting was just a distraction.

She does come when you call her and will sit to get a treat. I'm trying to teach her to get down. I don't want her up on anything but that doesn't always happen.

Gee, Mom, this chair is nice!!!

I love my bone!

I just can't go down those stairs!!!  :(

People sit in chairs - NOT puppies!

When we first got Honey, we resolved we would not have a "Bad Dog, Marley" dog. I also am adamant that she not get up on the sofa or chairs nor sleep in the bed. Sooooo the other day she started eying B's lounge chair. She tried to jump up but was too small. However, we knew she would grow. Well, grow she did and here she is sitting in the chair. I took the picture then said NO in my Stern, Alpha Mommy voice and removed her from the chair.

It's raining out and is rather warm at 41. So while it's often heavy rain at least it isn't snow. However temps should drop tonight and we may get an inch or so overnight.

A Walk and then a Nap

After eating at the diner this morning (yea!) we took Honey out for a walk. As we were coming up the hill Jenny, our neighbor, drove by. Well, Miss Honey has another friend for life!

Right now she is asleep in the kitchen on the blanket throw we got for her. She has been playing with her toys, some of them new ones thanks to Miss Merry and her family.

She is really growing fast. We weighed her yesterday and she is 21 pounds.

Her new "trick" is getting into B's chair - not something she is allowed to do. He said she jumped up into the chair this morning when he got up to get her a toy. Any time she attempted to jump up on something we have pushed her down and said no. And, she was too small to jump up. Well, guess those days are gone.

Here she is ready to go outside. I keep my shoes on the crate as she would eat them on the floor. Sometimes it's just easier to have things out of sight out of mind.

Around the House & outside

Boy, has Honey grown. She is now 21 pounds! So much bigger in just 2 weeks. We went to the local pet store yesterday to get her some new toys. This thing is a "cow" toy and she really is enjoying it.

While Honey does the steps out the front door, she just won't go down the steps to the lower level. This is where I iron and have my main computer. so if B isn't home, I don't go down. She has gone down 1 stair and then backed up. We aren't forcing her. The funny thing is B will walk her around and come in the back sliding doors and she is fine. But she then will not go up the steps - he has to take her out the sliding door. Well, sometime she will figure this out.

Another picture of the turkeys. They were really BIG

For shooting out the window this isn't a bad shot. It does give you an idea of how big they were. Well, not for our dinner!

Turkey Visit

I was working in the kitchen around noon yesterday. And just happened to look out and see a flock of turkeys These guys were BIG! There were about 7 in all and they were around the car on the back drive and also the septic mound. I think the acorns are a big draw!

It was amazing how big there were - a late Thanksgiving dinner, that's for sure. We figured maybe 15 to 20 pounds.  Well, not our dinner!

A snowy day

We had snow off and on all day with temperatures in the low 30's. When I took Honey out she slipped down the steps. We were both careful. It's 25 right now. That's cold.
B was out doing things today and I had doggie duty. We put the tree up. Now this is a 4 foot tree with lights. It is on a table in the living room it does look nice
Got to check on dinner. Good day.

The rains came

What a rainy day! It started yesterday with winds and warm temperatures. And the rain kept falling - over night. And we found out Honey does not like to go out in the rain. I think it was because the winds were so high the trees were swaying and making noise. It was the noise and the rain sideways that spooked her. Well, you gotta go so out we went (I get night duty). She is better only needing to go out twice. She was very good and after a wiping down she went willingly into her crate. She was up at 5:55 and since I've been getting up at 6 we got up, went out and I had some coffee.

We had a visitor yesterday, our neighbor George. She greeted him at the door but didn't jump up. When he sat down she did go after his shoe laces but was generally well behaved and while George and B talked, Honey lay down on one of her pillows. Today we had someone doing routine maintenance of the HVAC and while the guy was mostly downstairs, when he came up for some info she just looked - no barking or jumping. Soooo good!

Right now she is on her pillow sleeping. The temperatures are dropping and I hope it won't get icy as she has a bit of trouble going up and down the steps to the driveway. She hasn't tried the steps in the house. I went down for something a bit ago and she looked over but didn't go down. Here she is after she took a look and decided not to head down. They are rather steep steps but we know she will venture down very shortly.

We had the last of the turkey soup for lunch and tonight we are having hamburgers and baked beans. I got sick of turkey and then I made a ham over the weekend. So we will have something simple and good tonight.  Since I'm cooking breakfast for a while, I made a Lynn Mac Muffin with egg, cheese and ham on an English Muffin. That was, if I do say so, good! I've made pancakes, scrambled eggs, eggs hash browns and bacon and a bagel (purchased from Price Chopper and frozen). I'm not sure what tomorrow will bring. Probably scrambled eggs or maybe an omelet. I do miss the diner!