Back home....

We are back home and into the after-holiday routine.  "Pebbles" was gone to visit her grandparents in CO all last week, but she's back now.  So the biggest change this week has been juggling her and the puppy.  It's been hard because he gets so wound up in the morning, just when she comes.  So I have to crate him when she comes so that she has a chance to get in the door.  I also have to crate him when she gets picked up because it's just too much to try to handle.  I hope that gets better soon - but not exactly sure how to go about making it better, other than just waiting til he's older.

Pebbles is also pretty short....so Hans' head is well above her waist and easily knocks her down when he's excited.  I'm working on getting him not to jump up, but it's hard when she's SO little because it's not like he has to jump up far.  A good thing to work on with the dog trainer this week.  We start Puppy Kindergarten with him this Thursday.  It goes for 6-8 weeks and hopefully they'll have some tips for us.

The nights are going better.  Hans gets very tired about the same time the kids are getting into bed so he's asleep in his crate by 9.  We can't seem to keep him awake past that.  Last night he slept until 4:30 - I got up to take him out because he started barking.  He's in his crate in the living room while I was asleep in the bedroom upstairs.  I can't hear him whining from up there, so he has to bark.  I'm not sure that's a good idea because then he gets FULLY awake and is hard to get him to go back to sleep when we come inside again.  Last night he barked in his crate until I layed down on the couch, and then I spose he could smell me.  He still didn't fall asleep for another hour because I could hear him playing in there and rolling around.  By 7 he was more than ready to get back out and be up for the day.  It made me realize that there will NOT be a day (weekends included) where I can sleep in again past 7.  And I was JUST getting used to staying up to watch Saturday Night Live.

Now you say - well, you have kids - you must have done that before.  Yes, you're right.  The kids are up by 7 on the weekends.  But there is this wonderful invention called "tv" that lets me sleep til 8.  And of course if the dog hears the kids awake, he'll be damned if he's going to stay in his crate.  TV does not seem to appeal to Hans.