just made $75 bucks while watching TV!!

 as you can see the dog door is in and Blossom is enjoying her outdoor kennel.  she just came back inside from being outside.  she often seems to forget that she can come and go as she pleases. i think once she gets the hang of it she will really love it.  my friends stopped over on Sunday to put it in.  Thanks Bob and Scott...!!  only cost me a jigsaw.  Maddie helped me walk the puppies while they put a hole in my house.

 the puppies still often take some time to get into the flow of walking.  i'm sure this will improve.  they did really good today out at  Reflection Lake. i felt i needed to get out of my house and neighborhood.  it's only been a week but it is amazing how housebound you start to feel in a short time.  above is Blossom's first trip through the dog door.

 Blossom seems to be bonding with the pups a bit more each day.  she seems to have a rough house play relationship with Ivy Rose.  they are always the ones going at it.  she seems to be relatively gentle with Ivy.  Tusker jumps in when they are wrestling.  they team up on poor Ivy.  i have to break them up when it gets too rough.

 yesterday i got a few emails from a producer on the Full Frontal with Samantha Bee show.  they found my email i think and also the WARIS site as they wrote me through there as well.  they were wanting to use a photo they had found on my blog here for tonights show.  several emails back and forth with the producer.  permission granted to use what i called "walrus photo with exposed penis".  i mean how often do you get to write that on a legal document.  haha!!

 my life is always strange.

 for all the lovely photo's i have taken over the years it is pretty funny that my sasquatch foot print and now a walrus with his penis prominently displayed are the ones that have gotten the most attention.

 had to make sure they would be respectful of walrus...they sent me the lines on the show and how it would relate.  it was slamming a politician and not walrus so i decided to allow them to use the photo. i get $75 bucks for this.  they also said they would put a link to our WARIS web page on their page.

 these are out at Reflection Lake.  i didn't take the side trail out to the water of the inlet.  it was super muddy with big puddles.  not sure the pups are ready for that yet.  beautiful day though.

 anyway, tonight i decided to watch the show, which i'd never done so i could see if my walrus photo turned up there.  it did.  fun to see my photo on tv.

 my back is sore, no doubt from lifting puppies repeatedly this week.  they aren't huge, but they are over 10 # each.

 got a call from the Girdwood forest service people...well, they must be in charge of the Spencer Cabin.  they wanted to let me know that there is still 8-10 feet of snow out at the cabin and that the train would not be running until June.  that makes that trip pretty much impossible.  so i'll call tomorrow and see if i can cancel that with hopes of renting it again another time.  don't see it happening this summer though, the cabin looks pretty full all summer.

 went ahead and booked one of the cabins out at Bird Creek Campground on Turnigan Arm.  i've never stayed out there, it should be pretty nice, even with the puppies as it's close to town, right on the bike trails and people can come out for a few hours or a night or two...we can have a super fun few nights out there if anyone wants to come out.  it's Bore Tide Cabin May 23-24.

 i have got to clean out this office.  what a mess of little bits of paper here and there.  all this useful information scattered about.

 i did get some decent sleep last night.  over 9 hours, though a bit interrupted with puppy care.  with work fri-sat nights i got very little sleep over the weekend.  my fit bit had me down for 1 hr 11 min all day Sunday.  crazy.

 decided it was time to start getting pups on a more regimented schedule, put them in the puppy pen for rests and just so i can get other stuff done.  the thing fails every time i leave the house though.

 twice i've tried to leave them in the puppy gated in area and both times the baby gate has been successfully taken down by dogs. will just have to crate them.  the pen is fine for when i'm around the house trying to get stuff done though.

 my to do list that is always not done is getting even longer as i have not gotten much done this week. puppies take a lot of time.

 these are from the pick up day just last week.  it's only been a week!!!

 this is their mom.  she is a pretty huge standard poodle.

 my friend with an armful of puppies.  she came with me so she could drive while i held puppies.

 the puppies meed their new big sister

 and investigate the yard.

 i keep trying to read the books and hope i'm not screwing up my puppies too much with what i do and don't do. with siblings the books act like you should keep them constantly separate.  that is not easy to do.  i do let them play and wrestle. i do see that getting their attention away from each other can be a trick.  i have done a few short training sessions with just one pup at a time.  need to do more of that i suspect.

 first few weeks with puppies is more about getting them acclimated to their new living situation, starting to set up a schedule of sorts, potty training of course.

 this one loaded sideways but i still like it for it's me and my dog family quality.

 puppies first meal.  they are used to eating out of a big trough with all the other puppies and so establishing an eating pattern is important.  they must eat out of their own bowl.  they must be calm before i will set down the bowls and they must get their bowls after Blossom gets hers.

 i think Blossom is enjoying them overall more and more.  i'm sure they are a bother to her as well often.  our lives are for sure flipped all around.

 i worked holds in the ER the one night.  there were 23 holds down there.  i'd called to see if an on call was possible...not.  i worked PCU the next night.  the one night i was super tired, in the early morning hours i was trying to write a note.  i swear i totally fell asleep while typing briefly.  i kept typing.  my co-worker was impressed that every word i wrote was spelled correctly even though strung together they made no sense whatsoever.  impressive that i was sleep typing i guess.  it was like a 30 sec doze off.

 i'm very behind on my news.  i can tell you that within a few days 2 folks have been victims of bear maulings.  they are out there. one happened up on the Denali Highway. the other in Southeast AK.

 the puppies are super cute.  they are getting loads of experiences in this first week.  today, they got to meet a group of special needs folks, one in a wheelchair. they are great so far with everyone they meet.  not shy at all, super chill and friendly.  i think they made some folks pretty happy today.

 you can hear squeals of joy when you are out with them.  people just love puppies, don't they!!  :-)  so cute, so sweet.

 first sleep in kennels.

 T came over to help me with that first walk  we didn't go very far.  it's been helpful anytime someone has joined me.  taking advantage of friends who may want to get their puppy fix in.

 thank you everyone who has helped me out so far.  having 2 puppies is very time consuming and exhausting.

 it will all be worth it once they are a bit older and more trained.  better to do all i can while they are still small. i can tell Ivy will be the willful pup.  she is hilarious though.  they puppies have such different yet complimentary personalities.

 the goal with dogs and kids i think is to wear them out.  worn out kids and worn out dogs sleep well.  i'll try to get them out for another potty break before i crash for the night. need to get them used to sleeping with noise...time to start getting my life back. i can't do the 1 hour sleep nights anymore.

 puppies butt to butt sleeping.many toys as you can see...still those mouthy pups will find anything else to bite on.  you do either have to watch them constantly or they need to be in the puppy safe play pen.  those teeth!!

 just realizing today as well that they will be getting taller quickly...that means the level i have puppy proofed will have to be raised.

 my friend made this super cool bag for me, filled with treats and toys.  the party was fun...also my many generous friends spoiled me and the puppies with treats and toys!! this bag now holds my training treats.  my pocket always has a baggie of training treats in it.  with the puppies at this age i mostly just carry around their kibble. i'll need to switch to the more tasty treats as they get older and i need to lure them back from the various distractions that come with life.

 a few outdoor shots by Potters as i headed to/from the vets office the day Ivy was diagnosed with her UTI.  she is doing much better.  just has to take her antibiotic each morning.

 loved the train reflection.

 moose out in Potters marsh.  gulls, swans and canadian geese are back.  noticed some greening of the leaves out by Reflection Lake today as well.  spring is coming.

 twice this week i took the pups on this little 1 mile loop.  the second time with both dogs.  poor ivy was peeing so often.  my friend felt badly for her having to stop so much.

 much better now.

 should make potty training easier and sleep more available for me.

 above and below are my sweet pups observing a large moose ahead.  they were respectful and quiet so that was great.

 cute too, right!!  and here is the moose that stopped our forward motion.  she was in no hurry.

grateful for:  A.  sleep....amazing what a difference it makes.  B.  these sweet new pups in mine and Blossoms life.  C.  that life is crazy and unpredictable.  fun seeing my photo on a nationally televised program.  haha.