Catie and Baby Brandon :)

How cute are these two little ones! :)  

(Sorry I talk through the whole thing....) I just love how Catie says Doggie -"doh-doh"- and Baby! She is absolutely adorable!!!!!!! And Brandon is the sweetest, quietest little guy. Luckily I get to see them again in 2 weeks or I would be going CRAZY! :) 

Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks...

So my sister and I have both embarked on a seemingly impossible task...training our adult dogs! As we were discussing the challenges of a multi-dog household (especially with her soon-to-be multi-baby household), we decided to make some changes! She has had a trainer come to her house and is working with her 3 girls ... and Taylor and I have enrolled our little troublemaker (NEMO!) in a beginner "puppy" class for adult dogs.  It is a really amusing experience, to be honest, with a group of 6 adult dogs who have no clue how to do anything remotely resembling good manners...amusing, but exhausting! 

Taylor and I were spoiled by our first little one, Gamer, who was the star of her puppy class, learning almost too quickly, to the point that we didn't even feel a need to finish the class! Maggie and Pumpkin have kind of followed in Gamer's footsteps, and sweet old Tubbie had a free pass at his age! Nemo, on the other hand is a Marley (from the movie)... he knocks things over, chews things up, stirs the other dogs up into barking frenzies, etc... But he has the sweetest, most innocent personality that makes it impossible not to love him! We've just come to the realization that he isn't the brightest dog in the world, and that's ok :) He has very little recall ability, and even the dog trainer commented on is inability to catch on to tricks (making his mom so proud ;)). He also has this inconvenient, yet somewhat uncontrollable habit of peeing whenever any new person acknowledges him...but with his crooked pelvis and hind leg and the way we sit with our dogs on the floor at puppy class, I am somehow always in just the perfect position to get peed on. It's awesome ;)  haha-- I'm not complaining at all...He has me and Taylor both laughing all the time... he's just goofy and always getting into trouble! I now carry a spray bottle around with me to stop him when he starts chasing Pumpkin or howling at the invisible mailman that must come on Sundays in his mind, and it's working! We're still working on the long term fixes, which is a challenge given his lack of retention :)  So, here's a video... proof that even a 4 yr old boy like Nemo can learn new tricks!! I am so proud :) And yes, we know, Gamer is a genius...