Penny-Penelope-Pug, Oh my!

This is our new addition! Why did we buy a pug puppy? Well in Evelyn's words: "We are adopting a baby. But I can't wait that long." Evelyn definitely needs companionship and practice being responsible. She's been doing a great job being a puppy trainer.


  We named our puppy Penelope, but we call her Penny. I think I have had the song "Pennies From Heaven stuck in my head for 3 weeks straight. It keeps me awake at night longer than Penny's protests at being put in bed.

   Really it's the perfect time to get a puppy. Evelyn is just old enough to be...well...mostly responsible and helpful. She even takes Penny out in the morning and plays with her so I can pretend to get more sleep. In the background of my snoozing I hear, "Penny! No! Don't eat my toes! No, don't eat the cords either! Oh, who's a good dog?! Who's-a-good-dog?! Yes, you are! Go get a toy! A TOY!  No, no! You stinker, Penny! Don't eat my toes!!!!" It's absolutely restful, I can assure you.

We've had so much fun with our pretty little Penny. She's a bright Penny too! We didn't think so at first because we bought her at seven weeks and she was dumb as a brick. But now we have found a little spark of intelligence and sheltered it and encouraged it. I had forgotten how tricky it is to train a puppy. Especially when the other people in your household aren't necessarily consistent with your training methods. It turns out to be a husband training session and a child training session as well. Luckily everyone around me is pretty receptive to training. (You want a treat Evelyn? You want it? Than tell the puppy to get down.) Here is some of our success: