House of Cards

We have 5 dogs...many of you know this, but let me state their names and comment on their personalities real quick:  

D.O.G. - he is our 5lb Maltese. He really is more cat than dog (hence the name-I really needed the whole 'dog' concept sink in to his little brain). He was born of champion show dogs and still has a little prance in his step, even though he's never entered an arena. He prefers the finer things that life has to offer and works his way into your heart with his head tilts and playful jumps when he gets excited.

Bleeker on left, Cortez on the right. 

Bleeker - He is our pack leader. He watches mostly as the other dogs interact, but will get involved if activity is too rambunctious or if he feels one of the other dogs needs to be reminded who's in-charge. I think he still prefers me to Thomas because he will follow me around everywhere I go and stand by me when we are outside like he's guarding me, and he still pretends to not hear Thomas when asked to do certain things or looks to me like "do I really need to listen to that?"

Cortez and Harvey (yes there are two dogs :))

Harvey - Very sensitive and probably the most intuitive of the dogs. On trails he wonders ahead to scope out the area and then comes back to check in report. He LOVES to play catch, but doesn't share too well. Harvey had to take a backseat to Bleeker when we combined families and there was a "changing of the pecking-order" a few months after they had been together. Harvey skirted by with just a cut ear and a new found respect for Bleeker, but since Bleeker doesn't get involved in the day-to-day socializing Harvey still feels empowered most the time.

Zeus

Zeus - This is a one of a kind dog. We joke that he will probably be able to survive nuclear war because he is a survivor. He does not belong to any pack. I feel like this line from You're a Good Man Charlie Brown fits him perfectly: Charlie: "Snoopy likes me!" Lucy: "No, he only PRETENDS to like you because you feed him....that doesn't count." At the sight of a BB Gun he will start searching the air for birds and if he sees birds he keep will keep shooting his eyes from the birds to us with this expression of, "come on! They're going to get away!!!" If he hears the gun go off, he's running around trying to find {we assume} the fallen bird. He's our digger and when the other dogs are playing catch, he will randomly leap out of nowhere, grab the ball {most times in mid-air} and take off to the other side of the yard.

Cortez - Our large puppy. He is just under 2 years old and a bit of a spaz still. He is SO EXCITED for EVERYTHING. Time to go outside? He DARTS through the door {sometimes taking out D.O.G. or Harvey in the process}; time to play? He BOUNDS around the yard and pounces on Harvey when trying to get the ball or he runs back and forth waiting for you to throw something; time to eat? He will BARREL through the house and slam into his crate which then slams into the wall, and he looks around like "where's the food?", then sits because he knows he needs to do that before he can eat, but then stands because he's SO excited and then sits again because he remembers {again} that he needs to do that. I thought Bleeker snuggled, until Cortez came around. Cortez will snuggle, let you adjust and then snuggle once you've gotten comfortable.

On Valentines Day we decided (because we're crazy!) to adopt a cat for Thomas. We went to a few places and found two brothers at Petco. Fittingly enough they are Maine Coons, which if you don't know anything about cats they can easily get to be 20-25lbs (Google some of these cats-it gets pretty crazy). We have been slowly introducing the dogs to the cats, one at a time so they could get used to seeing and smelling them around.

Sunday March 2nd we went to the morning session of the Gilbert Temple dedication. It was maybe an hour and a half, but this is what we came home to:

Luckily Bleeker's nose wasn't as bad as the picture lends itself 

Dog blood and cat pee

Thomas gave Dirty Hairy a shower, check out those claws...Bleeker didn't have a chance.

We're just grateful the dedication was as short as it was or it could've been a lot worse.