Hubby's work is exactly 4 minutes from our house. We love living on post-we wanted the youngest to experience it like the three orders ones: PT formations in the morning, reveille playing on the loud speakers, being able to identify the different aircraft flying overhead...

We miss the Christmas Markets, too. The American tradition (Black Friday) is not nearly as nice as the German traditions. But the commissary has Kinder Punsch and Gluhwein!

Ok, we should get back to cute puppy talk. The boys and I are going to buy some puppy stuff this afternoon and all of us are going to visit her this evening. We got first choice of females and even though they don't generally choose or let buyers choose until 6 weeks, we have loved her since her eyes first opened, so the breeder put a little sparkly pink collar on her for us and they have been calling her by her name for the last week.
A friend has an octagonal pen we are going to use for her in the kitchen during the day. I still haven't figured out for sure where we are putting her crate.

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L, wife of a soldier, mom to 4 humans, 2 felines, and 1 adorable puppy

Thelma Lou is already 6 months old! Time flies....

awww that is so sweet, she sounds like my breeder. She hasn't decided on any of the puppies yet except the females. Well, the first two females were spoken for and all there was left was ours in the first litter. It was kind of different how it all worked out but we ended up with Peaches. WE told her her name the first day and she immediately changed her collar to a peach one and started calling her Peaches. I find that so exciting. She told me that when she calls Peaches all the puppies think that that is their name too, ha ha! It is just the sweetest thing.
Takes some pictures of tonight's visit! I can't wait to see them!

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HAHAHAHA yes I my camera. It shows off how cute she really is!! I am all for people getting dslr cameras. They are worth the money and last a very long time.

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We went to visit Thelma Lou tonight! She was rambunctious and adorable.
She is still the cutest little thing ever, but I admit, I am a little nervous about how rambunctious she was. The boys didn't see it as a problem-they called her "adventurous." She was just waking from a nap when we got there-incidentally, all three of her sisters and all but one of her brothers stayed asleep most or all of the time we were there (about 40 min). Thelma Lou and the little boy whined to get out, then played with each other and adorably scampered around on the rug. (Huge plus-she didn't potty on any of us or the floor!) she tried chewing on my son's shirt and we told her "no bite" and redirected her, which she was fine with. She did settle down when I picked her up and that is one of the things the boys love about her-that she's playful but also snuggly.
She was definitely more playful than snuggly this time, though, and I noticed when I put her back in the crate, she didn't lay with her sisters, but went over in the opposite corner and layed down. I've probably just read too much online about personality and temperament and every single other bit of puppy information ever written, but I really hope she's going to be the devoted, loving dog we are wanting, and not aloof. When we look at her, it's so funny. She doesn't just look like a puppy, she looks like OUR puppy, like she's already part of our family.
Here are some pictures. Don't judge me-all I have is an iPhone camera...

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L, wife of a soldier, mom to 4 humans, 2 felines, and 1 adorable puppy

Thelma Lou is already 6 months old! Time flies....

Turns out I can't figure out how to post more than one at a time....

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L, wife of a soldier, mom to 4 humans, 2 felines, and 1 adorable puppy

Thelma Lou is already 6 months old! Time flies....

awww she is adorable. I know how you feel, I felt like Peaches knew we were hers and she was ours. It was such a special bond and I'm nervous that she will be different and aloof on Saturday, but that is just my anxiousness. I'm sure it is yours too. Also, the breeder had joked when they were born that at four weeks they were super sweet but at six weeks they can be overwhelming when they are all together. There will be sixteen six week old puppies when we go visit, ha ha, so I am assuming they will by amped up like no one's business. So she probably was more gentle and so forth last week and now she is finding herself and is my hyper. I wouldn't worry too much.
She is just beautiful! love her big dark puppy eyes.

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Thank you-I just love her little face so much.
I feel like I over-analyze her every move. Is that little hopping thing normal? Is she being too aggressive? Is that a "potty sign?" Sheesh. I'm worse than I was with my human babies...
She is definitely one of the more "active" puppies in the group. Maybe because she's the smallest? We decided maybe she was just showing off for us since she knew we were her family. I picked up one of them who was waking up and she promptly fell back asleep in my arms. Looking at the next few months, a very sleep puppy didn't sound too bad to me. (Smile) The biggest puppy in the litter, a girl, has never been awake when we have been there-3 times. She is ALWAYS sleeping. I saw that she had a collar on last night so someone has chosen her. Probably because she's so sleepy.

Anyway, I can hardly wait to bring her home. We were looking at bringing her on the 14th, but we have a battalion Christmas party that night and the next day have a church Christmas party and band concert we have to be at, so we're thinking of either pushing it til the 16th (I hate waiting!) or getting her earlier like the 11th or 12th. She'll be 7 weeks on the 8th.

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L, wife of a soldier, mom to 4 humans, 2 felines, and 1 adorable puppy

Thelma Lou is already 6 months old! Time flies....

I think you are probably over analyzing like you said. I do the same thing. And I agree, I've fretted more over this dog than any of my three kids! ha ha!

As far as the size goes, I don't know. I read all sorts of information on size because Peaches is a lot smaller than her litter mates. She nurses like a fiend and is ganging a ton of weight but she is still smaller. BUT she wasn't wild or crazy like the other pups. She is the thinker. She watches everyone. There were puppies that I wasn't as crazy about. One in particular, she was running around bitting all over me but really hard, not like the others. I would try to redirect her and it was like she only wanted to bite. But our family is very mellow so we're not typically drawn to more hyper people or animals. I'm curious to see how they've changed in the last two weeks. I wonder if the "biter" is now more mellow and Peaches is suddenly a wild woman, ha ha.
That sounds great about picking her up early. I wouldn't mind picking peaches up early as I'm worried about that whole fear stage after 8 weeks and she'll be a few days older than 8 weeks. I'm going to talk to my breeder for reassurance.
But it sounds like you'll have a full plate those days after you get her, do you think that it would be better to be around more? I'm worried about leaving her, even for exercise, ha ha

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I know what you mean! It probably makes more sense to get her later rather than earlier. We will still have a busy schedule, but things will be slightly less busy than that week before. It seems like every event we have falls between the 7th-16th. I guess we'd have to get her on the 17th, though, since we do have the Christmas pageant at church the evening of the 16th. It's like planning when to have a baby-there is never a perfect time. Actually, she's going to be an Army dog, she may as well get used to going with the flow!

What about house training, though? I don't think the breeder is doing much about that, and I worry about her getting older and settling in to bad habits. Maybe I should ask on the puppy thread...

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L, wife of a soldier, mom to 4 humans, 2 felines, and 1 adorable puppy

Thelma Lou is already 6 months old! Time flies....

I hear ya on the army dog! ha ha!
As far as house training, my breeder has been getting them used to going either outside or on their pee pee pads and she recommended putting them by the door when we bring her home. That way she can equate pads to door to outside. When we visited they were actually doing rather well on pooping on the pads. Some walked over to the pads and peed. You might be surprised!

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