Pupperations

Here's a picture of Pinch taken from our visit on Sunday.  It was one of the few that wasn't a blur.  He's 8 weeks old now and very full of himself.  Even though it's been "just" 2 years since we last had a puppy, our homestead is no longer puppy-proofed.  Along with the basic hide-the-wires-and-get-stuff-away-from-eye-level things, we need to line our deck with puppy-proofed fencing as a little guy can squeeze between the rails and sky dive to the patio below.  We need to baby gate the stairs.  We need to make a Safe Area in the kitchen where puppy can see all going on around him without hurting anything or himself. 
I'm trying to be fully prepared as this is an action-packed little guy.  He'll need to wear a collar all the time so I can quickly attach a leash.  In the back yard I'm not sure yet if he can wriggle through the squares in the fence or under the gate.  We're in the country so we need to worry for awhile about hawks and owls, and always coyotes.  In our lives a 100% recall is MANDATORY.  On our nightly walks around our property, Dusty and Shiloh remain on leash.  Dusty because he is a bit senile now and wanders off on his own, and Shiloh because he is stone deaf and if he decided to leave the pack it could be disastrous.  The other three have amazingly good recalls.  But I digress.  Let's get back to the collar.  Yes, I know I bought him a beautiful purple-and-black velvet-lined collar.  It's too good to be worn daily.  That's for when I'm parading him around to the oohs and aaahs of people out in public.  So he needed an "every day" collar, which led me to a PetSmart expedition.  I found a simple little one and was ready to purchase it when I went by some really pretty ones.  I find I enjoy finding accessories for a black dog.  There was a lovely little black collar with diamonds on it.  Oooooh, shiny. It was only a few dollars.  Had to have it.  OK, all my leashes are brown.  Had to find a matching black leash.  I couldn't bear thinking of my new puppy in an "old" crate so had to get a new one.  Then of course had to get a bed.  Oh, and here's some cute toys.  You get the idea, one thing led to another and PetSmart extracted quite a bit out of my wallet.  God help me once he's ready to show as all my show clothes are for brown dogs. But the house and home are readying for our new arrival.  Our home and lives will be turned upside down for awhile as everyone's way of life is disrupted.  I can't wait!