PEPPER

My latest excuse for not blogging has a name and a personality. Pepper is half wire-haired pointing griffon and half mystery. He's a handsome fellow, and very busy. We are amazed at how quickly he has grown. 

We got the call in mid-November that Whiff (Jeremy's parents' dog) had surprised her owners with a puppy. She acts like she's going to have a litter every fall, making a nest and acting strange, but she hasn't had a litter in several years. They hadn't even tried to breed her this year, so imagine the surprise! The grandparents wanted to give the pup to our kids as a Christmas gift, and how could anyone turn that down? :-)

Jeremy had been itching for a dog anyway, and Ascha was finally getting old enough, so the timing seemed right. 

Here he is at 4 days old:

The kids met him in Montana, then waited a few weeks for him to be old enough to come live with us. Lyn and Janet graciously brought mom and pup out and stayed a week with us, so his transition was very easy. He came to us at 8 weeks weighing 10 pounds. (Wasn't he cute?)

He's grown quickly! He started in our cat carrier, but he's had to move up to a bigger crate. He can't even fit on top of it comfortably now, like he could when we snapped this picture at 10 weeks.

Now, at 14 weeks, he weighs 25 pounds. As he's grown, he's gotten more "whisker-y." His whiskers on this side are all black, but on the other side of his muzzle, he's got one clump of white ones. He also has little white hairs that are not so wiry. They grow in a tuft on the top of his head and stick up for a little "faux-hawk."

The kids are mostly loving him. They do concede that he takes a LOT of work, and sometimes they wish they didn't have to help out so much, but that comes with the territory. They run him around, feed him, clean up after him, and go with him to Puppy Kindergarten each week. Both boys are great, responsible dog owners! We're proud of them and we're all enjoying our little Pepper.