Life with puppies

Happy April!! It has been an interesting week living with two puppies.  While Karl spent the week adjusting to and settling into our routine, we all had to adjust to him being here too.  Mina is happy to have a friend, and I'm hoping she'll learn from this experience so we can foster more in the future.  Peaches would prefer that we not have another puppy in the house, but has slowly begun to warm up to him.  

He is a sweet boy, but he needs training and patience to build his confidence.  We're working on his confidence and training, which is progressing well, but he still has a lot to learn.  When he's not moving around, he prefers to spend his days in my lap.  

I spent a lot of my work days with a puppy on my lap because it was the best way to be productive.  

With Spring now in full swing, the weather fluctuates between warm and sunny to cold and rainy almost daily, but I have started to see signs all around that the world is coming back to life.

With the change in the weather, I've been excited to get out around town more for our evening walks.  Longer daylight hours make it easier for some weekday evening adventures too.   

On Monday we took our evening walk at Fenner Nature Center.  It was a beautiful evening for a walk, and Karl and the girls had a great time.  We saw lots of birds, including an owl, and plenty of deer, but I was most excited to hear the return of the music of the peepers.

Tuesday evening we headed to the Horticultural Gardens on campus for our walk.  While most perennials aren't yet blooming and the annuals haven't been planted yet, I enjoy walking there in most seasons.

We even found a little color with some early spring flowers.   

I have been trying hard to get some good pictures of Karl out on our adventures, but he doesn't always make that easy.

I was especially happy to see the Lenten Rose all in bloom, and we even found some pansies. Both of them are clear signs of Spring. 

I tried valiantly to get a picture of all three pups together, but this is the best I could do.

Wednesday morning Karl's stray hold at the shelter ended and he became available for adoption.  We took some time for extra snuggles.

Wednesday was also Nicol's birthday, and as I do every year, I had the day off.  While Karl was heading into the shelter for the day to potentially find a new home, the girls and I were planning to head out for some geocaching adventures. 

Before dropping Karl off for the day, we got out for a quick walk on the Hayhoe Trail.  We also made a stop at Biggby for a pup cup.

After getting Karl comfortable for his day at the shelter, the girls and I headed out for some fun.  

While the day started gray and blustery, after a short period of rain, the sky cleared and the sun came out.  While it was still cold and windy, we enjoyed the blue, sunny sky.

We spent our day traveling around Williamston, Webberville, and Stockbridge and getting out for some walks and some geocaching.  It was a wonderful way to spend our day.

After a fun day, we headed back to the shelter to pick up Karl for the night.  

Karl had a busy day at the shelter and made several friends while he was there, including Minkus.  Even though he had made lots of friends, he was very happy to see me and to go home.

Thursday morning, Karl headed back to the shelter for his neuter surgery.  It was a quiet day at my house without him.  Without a puppy to fill the day, the girls were happy to spend much of their time outside.  

Karl's surgery went well, and when I picked him up from the shelter at the end of the day,  I completed the paperwork to pull him from the shelter and he officially became an ISR foster dog.  He'll be staying with me for the next week until he moves into a more long-term foster home with the rescue.  

We had a lazy Friday evening of snuggling while I tried to keep Karl calm as he recovers from his surgery, however neither Karl nor Mina understand that he shouldn't be wrestling and rough housing.  It was a LONG Friday!  

On Saturday we made plans to spend time with Vanessa.   She needed some Peaches and puppy love after sadly having to say goodbye to one of her cats, Otto, on Friday afternoon.   

The weather was cold and rainy, so we thought we'd just do indoor stuff, but after a stop at TSC, the rain cleared up enough for us to get outside for a walk and we headed to Meridian Baseline State Park.  We were also able to get out in a few other areas to do some geocaching. It was a nice afternoon of adventures.

After dropping Vanessa off, we made a stop downtown on our way home for one more quick walk before the rain started again. 

Then it was back to the car to head home for the night.  Despite my efforts to keep Karl calm, there were lots of Saturday night wrestling matches followed by some short naps. 

After a two hour wrestling match to start our day this morning, Peaches let Karl climb into my lap with her for his morning nap and she didn't even grumble at him.  That was a first.  

There have been lots of wrestling matches, games of tug, and games of chase today.  Karl is getting more brave outside, and while he had no interest in going more than a few feet from the porch previously, he is starting to venture further and stay outside longer.  He may even have had a breakthrough with Peaches who joined in on the play today with some barking, and she let him jump and play bow without any grumpy old lady reaction. 

The girls have spent lots of time outside today which gives Karl some time to rest and me some time to do some stuff around the house.   But anytime everyone is inside, if I'm sitting down, I usually have two dogs on my lap.  It's not a bad way to spend a sunny Sunday. 

I'm hoping for a quiet and uneventful four day work week and will enjoy the last few days of having a puppy in the house before we send him off to his next foster home on Friday.  Then the girls and I have a busy couple of months of adventures ahead of us.  I'm ready to get out and start exploring!