Monday, April 17th – it snowed. Yup. 4″. Tuesday and Wednesday brought a wee bit more, but not too much. Thursday, it all started to melt, my pathways widened… OH JOY!!!! It’s melting away, and I don’t have to shov…. oh. wait. There’s still the driveway. Meh, I WAS working on a path down the driveway, but today I decided to do the entire width of the driveway at the point where I had ended. It’s still a solid block of ice over the path where I had trod frequently; the rest of the snow isn’t too bad. I figure maybe 2-3 more days of frequent but short shoveling sessions and I should have a clear driveway in which I can drive up, park my car near the house… but most importantly? It’ll be easier to load the puppies in the car come their next vet visit!

Marley’s Umbrella Academy Update:

Bacon is settling well with his new family. They continue to update me on him, which I am super appreciative of! However, I did forget to weight the pups yesterday, and ask them for Bacon’s weight! Something to do tomorrow. As for the rest of the pups? They’ve all got their first round of vaccines and dewormer this past Friday. The vet said they all were in great health and doing well developmentally. They need more socialization, though – I’m working on it, as it’s been a while since anybody could even reach this house!!! Couple folks gonna be up here, and I’m taking one of them with me to the store or to meet the UPS/FedEx drivers at the end of the road, to get them used to car rides and meeting strangers. It WAS a hassle to carry each pup down to my car, 1 by 1, in the deep snow on my driveway, walk Marley down to the car, and repeat when I got back. UGH. Snow, melt faster, so I don’t have much to shovel, please!!!

I’m looking to find a home for Numbers 4 and 6 still. I’m gonna start posting on rehome and my friend’s parents’ nextdoor account in a well-off area. Hopefully Number 3 will be going home in the next 2 weeks… It’s like, hurry up, somebody adopt the rest of them and take them all off my hands already BUT at the same time, I wanna keep them all! (minus the poop/pee cleanups, trainings, food cost, and vet costs… pipe dream, I know!) I’ve been going through a 20lb bag of puppy kibble in A WEEK. They’re costing me a pretty penny to keep well fed, tired and spoiled.

Oh yeah, Friday when we went to the vet? I fed the pups 1/8th of their breakfast. They all puked on the drive to the vet. 1 hour 30 minutes of hella curvy, hilly road… fun. The vet said they could go outside here, since they have their first round of vaccines, so I got to work on housebreaking them all. I leashed them one by one and walked them back to the house… some didn’t wanna walk in the snow yet. As soon as they all were inside, and fed, it was time to figure things out. I planned on using leashes to bring them outside 1 or 2 at a time, but… nah, I leashed Mama Mar, filled a bowl of puppy kibble, and let them outside. They were nervous about stepping foot outside, but after a while became super excited! They sure enjoyed their freedom and explored the area near the house. Since then, I’ve been taking them all outside like that every 2 hours, and the only accidents are overnight. They’re still new to this, but doing pretty damn well! Now I only have to mop the floor once or twice a day… muddy paws, that. The living room is smelling so much better… except when the puppies are super muddy and wet. Yeah, no, gotta take my wins where I can!

This week is gonna be in the high 70’s-mid 80’s. WOW – I can’t wait to start hiking regularly with the dogs again!!!

Winterfell, don’t you dare come back ’til next year…!!