Our New Dog - Piper Payne

Dear Gage and Gabe,

The day we got back from vacation, we stopped by Charlie's house and picked up our new puppy Piper. Charlie's dog Hippy had 11 puppies for her very first litter. They were born on April 30 and that day your Daddy and I went over to their house and picked out little Piper. They live nearby, so we would go over and visit her on occasion just to see how she was doing. We were very excited to bring her home and you boys really like her. She is a hyper little thing and she loves to play.


3 days old - Gage just loves the little "hamster"

Playing with Piper - 4 weeks old

Piper and her brothers and sisters - 4 weeks old



Taking Piper for a ride in the wagon

Reading Piper a story

Taking Piper down the slide

My fur baby

Recently, I started taking her out for runs with us. She does OK. She's getting better. The very first time was terrible. She couldn't figure out which side to run on, kept biting the leash and would somehow get twisted around the tires. I nearly fell a few times as she switched sides and tangled the leash around my legs. I have yet to take her out with only me. I usually take my longs runs solo on the backroads near the house, and my shorter runs are accompanied by you boys at either Kerieakes Park or the park in Plano. There are several dogs that live out on the roads near the house, so I am afraid of a doggie conflict. I think we'll just keep taking her with us to the park until she gets a little bigger and can hold her own.

After our first run at the park

 

Crate training was a breeze. Every night she goes into her crate to sleep and doesn't make a peep until morning. Potty training, on the other hand, is not going well. She can be outside on her lead for hours and then come inside and potty on the floor within minutes. She won't go in her crate, but loves to go on the carpet. I'm getting frustrated, but we are trying to be patient and take her outside every 30 minutes or so to potty. She's doing a little better, but definitely not accident free.

We are happy to have Piper in our family. Right now, since she's young, she is a ball of energy. She can't sit still and always wants to play. Once she's a little older, she'll calm down and I think you boys will enjoy her more.

I love you,
Mommy