Quick update on the Steffen Family. Our puppy is about 6 months old now. Although he looks like a full grown dog, he still has the personality of a puppy. He likes to chew things up, jump on people, and drag stuff all over the yard. It's a good thing the man of the house loves him so much because I am merely tolerating him. Two of the boys love him, two of them tolerate him, and one is a true Klopfenstein and wishes he were gone altogether. My biggest gripe is that it adds about 5 minutes to our loading and unloading times into the van. I am constantly having to hold his collar so he doesn't jump on the boys, make sure he doesn't get in the garage when we pull out, etc. I could do without the extra time delay.
In other news, we have been busy this summer working on some landscaping. We put down rock around our house (as you can see in the picture above). Most of the planting will wait until next spring, but it is nice to have the rock down and get rid of the mud mess every time it rains. We have 3 in school this year and our afternoons are busy with football, soccer, church programs, and other activities. Another summer project was to build a fire-pit and we were able to break it in this week-end with 2 wiener-roasts. We are enjoying the autumn weather and the yummy foods that are associated with fall.
No more big animal escapades at the moment. In a few months we are going to take our 2 cows to market and I'm worried that this may be a traumatic experience for all involved. I will keep you posted.
5 comments:
From all indications, Shelli, you are doing a great job rearing those five boys. You must have the patience of a saint. Our youth pastor's wife just found out she is having her fourth boy - should I direct her your way? :-)
Shelley,
I don't know if your boys are old enough for 4-H yet, but Amy took dog obedience in 4-H - it did wonders for our dogs. They were still wild maniacs in general, but would obey on command. Like loading a van - you would just say sit, stay, and they would just sit there until you gave the release command. Our vet always said he appreciated our dogs because they were so well behaved. It does take some time committment, two 15 minute sessions a day for a couple months for them to really get it ingrained, but it is a great project for a kid.
Aunt Cathy
Would ya'll believe that I woke up the other morning with the notion that "I can train that dog!" So this afternoon and for the next few days, I'm going out and going to try to work with the dog. I took dog obedience with one of our dogs years ago, but I think I remember enough to get a good start on it, and I think the dog is pretty smart. I will let you know how it goes! (If you know my general attitude about dogs, which gets stronger the older I get, you have to realize that this is a pretty huge commitment for me!)
Like I said, it's a great project for a kid. :)
Cathy
I'm a true Klopfenstein about dogs too. But ten years ago Mike appeared at the door after work with a collie puppy "for the kids" and so I have had to become a dog person regardless. Somebody has to feed, water, and pay attention to that dog. She really is a sweetie, too. But when she passes on - there will be no more dogs here.
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