Remembering our sweet little Molly girl...

We lost our Molly (our beagle) on Tuesday down at the Hatch's in Franklin. She was hit by a pick-up and was killed almost instantly. Dallin was with her at the very end.

We were sad and of course unprepared. We are so glad that she was in her favorite place in the whole world. (Beagle heaven=TEN acres to run and sniff and lots of other FUN dogs to play with!)

We burried her in a little spot on the hill. We gathered our family together and said our goodbyes and covered her little grave with rocks.

We learned a lot from Molly. We went through the teeth grinding pain of house training (honestly!). We spent hours upon hours teaching basic obedience (with good success I might add!). We watched and loved the miracle of life with her sweet little puppies .

We also learned about the requirements of being responsible for the well being of another creature. We brushed and cleaned up piles of hair. We went on walks in the rain and snow. We rolled down hills with leashes tangled with the laughter of kids. We were able to come up with a great consequence for fighting--I don't know if we will ever find something that will top 'ten pieces of poop for everyone--now!'.

I have heard people talk about how sad it is to lose a pet before but I never really understood what they were talking about. It was hard to see such a devoted and loving companion buried. Benson had the best perspective. The boys were telling him--"Ben, Molly is gone and we'll never, ever see her again." Benson just looked at them with a funny look and said "she'll be resurrected of course--like Jesus." It was sweet.

Everyone said what they liked most about Molly. The way she wagged not just her tail but the entire back half of her body whenever someone came home. Austin loved the way she always chose to sit with him at scriptures in the morning so she could lick his hands (??!) Landon was proud that he taught her to 'come'. Dallin loved throwing toys for her in the backyard. Jenna loved to dress Molly up. Benson has no memory of life without Molly. Rustin and I remember the time that she swiped three pieces of pizza off the table and buried them in the potted tree in the corner.

I remember the day she endeared herself to me forever. My good friend was over visiting with her six month old baby. Molly walked up to gather the scent of this new visitor and the baby reached up and grabbed both of Molly's ears in his little fists and squealed. Molly just looked up and licked his hand. Then she laid her head on the floor right next to the baby. She didn't just tolerate the children. She sought them out as her favorite companions. She did this time and again with all of the kids. I will just about go to the end of the earth for someone who loves my children with such devotion. Even if the someone brings an incredible amount of hair-shedding and yard pooping activities.

We are thankful we had Molly with us and we know that she is happy in "good dog heaven"--whatever that includes.

Time out for puppies.

Underdog goes to her new home in Rexburg today. That leaves us with Freckle and Gus (Gus goes to Nevada on Friday) for another week.


Freckle soaking up the sun



Yesterday Gus wouldn't stop trying to nurse Molly. She hasn't let them nurse for quite a while so I don't know why he keeps trying. Molly clearly lost her patience with this impertinent little boy and she pinned him to the floor where he squirmed and yelped. After a minute he gave up and laid quietly.

 Jenna and I were watching the whole thing. When Gus finally gave in, Jenna started laughing,
"Look mom, Gus is in time out!"

 I thought it was cute. Incidentally, the puppies are all sleeping through the night now only waking up at around six.

Spring has sprung...

I think we finally have spring. The flowers are growing and the nights aren't as cool. We moved the puppies upstairs yesterday and enclosed them in a big "pen" next to the dog door. Much to our delight, they are all using the dog door to go potty. Those of you who are lucky enough to get one of our last three puppies can thank me later! :) Actually I think we can mostly thank Molly who helped them learn that there are only certain areas to use for potty time.


The puppies are also much happier now that they have lots of places to explore and kids to run around with.



The running around wears them out! They usually choose to sleep in the kennel where it's nice and warm.

A whole new world.

The puppies have breached the whelping box. We were awakened at 5:45 AM Saturday morning to the sound of a crying pup who discovered that the big wide world was not so much to his liking. I laid in bed for a minute hoping my husband would run out of patience before I did. He just muttered "why do I think this is just the beginning?". We are newbies in the puppy whelping/raising world. We have a feeling we have a few fun things in store.

It's time to move the puppies out of the laundry room. Thankfully we have an unfinished room in the basement that is perfect. We used a couple of long lengths of plastic lattice (the holes are too big in just one) and we divided the room in half. We put a chair on either side so Molly can easily get in but the puppies can't get out. Then we cut the side down on the old whelping box so they can easily get in and out. They cried for about half an hour when we made the move. Once Molly joined them and opened the 'snack bar' they settled right down. They are busy learning to run around. It is, of course, adorable.

We are amazed at how the puppies are instinctively drawn to people. We haven't fed or otherwise treated the puppies with food but the minute they see or hear us coming they rush to the edge of the box. The kids are doing a great job of only picking up the pups who are not crying or are sitting. It's amazing how much they can learn at such a tender age. So far the puppies all love to be held and they will definitely be well socialized!

Week three

Pups are now three weeks old. We've definitely entered the toddler stage. We have teeth erupting and lots of playing. This is an important stage for the puppies as they are learning how their teeth affect the world around them. They will learn from each other and from Molly how hard they can bite without causing damage. They are also discovering their voices. They sound like a bunch of gremlins/guinea pig combos with their little growls and squeaks.

The kids still interact with every puppy every day. The puppies love to be held right in the soft warm spot at the bottom of the neck. They aren't ready to leave the box area as they and Molly get really anxious if separated from the litter. The boys took them all out of the box yesterday and put them on the hard floor to see what would happen. Most of them cried. Some cried and stumbled around (Little Guy and Arrow and Freckle) one sprawled spread eagle and whined (Underdog). The other two, (Mo and Sparrow) cried and tried to find litter mates or kids to lay on. We put them all back on their nice soft pad where they quickly piled together.

The puppies are now eliminating without Molly's help. This is creating a tremendous amount of laundry. Interesting note--even at this tender age they are leaving their soft pad to pee elsewhere in the box. In a couple of weeks we will introduce the crate. Hopefully that will make their transition to new homes a bit easier.

Freckle gets a bath from Mom...

and then finds a warm spot to snuggle.

One Week

Mom and babies are still doing really well here. Between the kids' flu and the puppies I am doing a lot of laundry! Thankfully Molly really does all the work for the babies. She has eaten more food and water in the past two weeks than she did in six months previous. She looks great. Coat is nice and shiny and she seems happy.

The babies are nursing less and sleeping longer making it possible for Molly to leave them more often. We even went for a good long walk yesterday. We are starting to see more differences in both size and coloring in the babies. The smallest is a little girl called "Mo" and the largest is the last born, "Little guy". One of these days I will get ribbons on them so we they are easier to identify in pictures. The kids can tell them all apart at a glance.

For now we are just waiting for their little bright eyes to open!

Day three

Our house has been struck with the flu which is keeping me pretty busy around here. Molly keeps pulling the bedding into big nest-like piles and I have been finding trapped puppies all day. I got up several times last night ( I couldn't breathe thanks to sickness!!) and I could hear whining and I was worried that someone was trapped. "Underdog" managed to get himself wrapped in an elastic under the pad that Molly keeps dragging into the box. Thankfully no harm done. Tonight I took the big heavy piece of cardboard out of the bottom and wrapped the blanket around it so hopefully Molly can't get it up (thanks for the idea Tiff!). And I did a thorough check for any other strangle hazards.

The puppies are at day three so we started the "bio-sensor" program which was developed by the government to develop healthy and highly trainable dogs. Each of the boys will take two of the pups (with my supervision) and go through the program one time per day. We will start with only one second per stimulation for now. The each have names (of course!) according to their markings.

Molly has been a great mom and has proven her gentle temperament yet again. My friend had puppies a few months ago and her dog bit every one of her kids when they got to close to the puppies. Molly hasn't growled or snapped or anything of that nature. She definitely gets agitated if we take the puppies out and she hops right out to make sure she knows where each one is. She seems to be ravenously hungry even with her puppy chow and water right next to her box. I gave her a packet of wet food tonight and she loved it. I think we'll keep it up until she's done nursing.

We have babies!

We have six cute little, wiggly, squeaky babies. Four girls and two boys. Labor and delivery went great. Molly started panting on Friday night. She was clearly in early labor all day Saturday as she could barely walk up and down the stairs without her belly rubbing. She kept asking to get up on my bed--a place she is not usually allowed--and she wanted to be scratched constantly. I have to admit that I gave in to the little cutie. Who can resist those big puppy eyes at a moment like this?



I originally planned to let Molly whelp the puppies in my room where she is most comfortable but she wasn't interested in the box we prepared. I still wasn't sure exactly when the pups would come and I fell asleep at about 1 am. I woke up with a start at 3:30 to the surprising sound of three squeaky little baby girls. Molly took it upon herself to "nest" in the big bean bag in the downstairs family room. Unfortunately this was fatal to the life of the bean bag which is now on its way to the dump. I of course woke the kids (Dallin was awake and waiting for me--Benson stayed asleep.) We tried to move Molly to our prepared box but she seemed to become disoriented and very anxious so I just put down some towels and flattened out a big spot and let her do her thing in her chosen spot.

I am a mother of five and a registered nurse. I was sure that Molly would require my expertise in the birthing department. I had my scissors and pads and towels and bulb syringe all ready. I have once again been humbled by the beauty of Mother Nature. I quickly realized that Molly was completely in control and required very little help from me. In fact it turned out that I was the nervous momma. We helped a little by trimming the umbilical cords and keeping the tiny ones warm while she took care of each new arrival but that's about it.

The pups had all clearly arrived by about six. I smoothed out the bed turned off the lights and cleaned Molly a bit. I took my little ones back up to their much needed beds and everyone promptly fell into happy "puppy dream" sleep. I threw away all the icky pads and put a load of towels and blankets into the washer. Molly settled down with all six squeaking pups. They each found a spot to nurse and quieted right down. Molly looked up at me with half closed eyes and curled around the babes and went peacefully sound asleep.

I was truly amazed to witness the beauty of life. What a pleasure.

Nesting.

Saturday, February 15, 2008



Molly has apparently taken it upon herself to make a suitable whelping box. I put the little boys' blankets and sheets in the wash and Molly completely tore up the mattress pad and wound everything up into a big nest. ugg. She is looking giant and is definitely uncomfortable. We are at day 62 so we should have pups any time. She started panting last night which kept me up half the night wondering if she needed my help.

The clock is ticking...

Thursday, February 13, 2008

We are down to the last 48 hours or so before puppy day. Molly is bigger every day and definitely feeling the drain of a belly full of babies. Like a true pregnant girl she spends most of the day hanging out on her favorite spot on the couch with her feet in the air. The kids get a kick out of feeling the kicks and trying to guess how many pups we will get. We have just a few last details to finish with our whelping box and supplies. The kids are out of school for the next three days so I am sure to have lots of "helpers." Can't wait!

Here we go...

We are a family that loves dogs. I don't think we ever planned or expected to find ourselves permanently attached to a little four-legged, hairy, wet-tonged, big eyed girl. But we did. Every last one of us. Molly is our 2 1/2 year old beagle.

Our five children were very young (8,8,6,2,1) when Molly joined the chaos so we went in search of a training method that even our little Benson could help with. We stumbled across clicker training during our "this dang dog just peed on the floor again!" stage and we have been forever thankful. Benson's first three words were "sit, good girl" and it didn't take but a couple of days to have our little puppy sitting all over the house to earn a treat from anyone who would look at her. And yes, Molly is completely, reliably house trained.

We don't claim to be expert trainers in any sense but we continue to make constant steady progress. We love and have been working with the training levels program outlined by Susan Ailsby. It' s a great step-by-step training program that is easy to use and understand.

Molly is a happy dog who doesn't just tolerate the kids but actually seeks them out. She doesn't complain when Jenna (our only girl) dresses her up as a "princess" or when Benson straps all of his star wars guys into her collar so they can "have a ride." She never fails to tuck herself in to the twins beds at night time and she is Austin's favorite pillow in the morning.

So, it is with extreme pleasure that we will welcome our first litter of puppies on or around February 16! Check back for more updates about progress of pregnancy and all the fun preparations we have in store!