Tittle Tales

So by now, I am sure, many of you know my family and I have many animals. Well we surprisingly just added four new little additions to our ever growing family. Four little puppies we found at the Amish farms about a week ago.         The Amish man was giving them away and because of the breed and colorings and, of course, our kids “pleassseee” faces, my husband and I could not resist. We are now proud owners of four adorable and sweet little girl border collie/ Australian shepherds. My husband and I were going to get our three children puppies for Christmas this year and knew we wanted dogs good with farm animals and good temperaments and affectionate.
Being that these little cuties were free to a good home and great work dogs also marked up well in color, we decided to go ahead and bring them home. Our kids were ecstatic and so was I, the only difference being that I knew and understood the work ahead of me with these little pups.
The first night was a little rough, so the next day I decided to create some type of schedule during the day so they would be so tired at night– and they would hopefully sleep the night through. It’s really hard to keep a sleepy puppy awake, just a quick side note. So the following nights still called for 4 a.m. outings to potty. So there I went down the hallway, stumbling in my PJs to find my glasses, finally getting to our little laundry room.
I crawled over the baby gate carefully, without stepping on a tiny tail or paw. Due to our steep and high steps out of our back door, I gently piled them all up in a large laundry basket as quickly as possible to finish my wee morning mission. I’m sure my neighbors wonder what in the world I’m up to, if they are even up that early.
The nights have gotten a little longer each passing night. Besides a few accidents here and there from not getting them out fast enough and them trying to chew on the computer cords and my socks, they are learning quite fast, but having four to tend to at the same time is quite a challenge. One of the pups that we call “Ole Miss” is going to my mom and then we will keep the other three, so I will only have the responsibility of four pups for just a little while longer.
I have been told by several people that they are a very smart breed. They already signal me with several whines to let me and the kids know its potty or feeding time and we have only had them for a week.         So I do feel they are catching on but not fast enough for me to catch up on my sleep. It’s all in time, as with anything that requires patience and consistency, it does pay in the end.
I know like any adult how much work and time you must spend with your animals depending on which kind they are and their specific needs, so I knew the responsibility before me when we committed to love these sweet little girls and give them a good home.  I am excited to watch them grow and see their talents and personalities blossom, including sleeping all night.