trouble, oh trouble

It turns out that Puppy E is our problem child. This is something it took us awhile to catch on to because Puppy E, in addition to being a disturbed creature, is also sneaky. He makes it seem like Puppy D is the culprit when in fact he is not.

He craftily nibbles on Puppy D's ears and forelegs when no one is looking and does this incessantly until Puppy D snaps and chases him around the room and tries to kill him, at which point we glare at Puppy D and say, "Puppy D! Why are you doing that! Stop chasing your poor brother instantly!"

It's only recently that we've begun to notice that these spats are almost entirely at Puppy E's instigation and that poor Puppy D, who we have labeled as violent and abusive is actually just being tortured until he starts Falling Down.

In this picture, Puppy E is pretending to yawn but is actually turning his great gaping maw slightly to the side so he can "accidentally" close it on Puppy D's left ear. Note Puppy D's little grey head poking out as he tries to sleep underneath the Giant Puppy Pillow. Puppy E is dreadfully sneaky.

It also turns out that the Midnight Wrestling Matches have all been arranged by Puppy E.

I am now trying to figure out what Puppy E needs to help him to settle down and get enough stimulation and exercise that he won't feel it is necessary to torture his brother so much. He also tortures me and Shawn. The only one he rarely dares to bother is Little Puppy who had taught him that pestering her results in losing pieces of one's nose. (I'm proud of her for that.)

Oddly enough, in spite of being the most rambunctious and energetic of the babies, Puppy E is also the most sensitive and timid. He is quite frightened of other dogs and other people too. Not only that, but when we dare to speak to Puppy E in a firm voice he gets very sullen and hides from us for hours to make us feel guilty for not rewarding him for his naughtiness.

I am wondering if his behaviour could be improved by helping him gain more confidence, through taking him out more often. Maybe insisting he get over his fear of other people and animals. Or something. I'm thinking on it anyway.

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It is now time to get groceries, my least favourite of the weekend errands. Mostly I hate it because Shawn is so miserable about it that it makes me hate it too. For some reason getting groceries always makes Shawn crabby.

I am, however, excited about buying ingredients to make bread. I am currently of the opinion that my breadmaker may work better now that we're at sea level. I hope I won't be disappointed.

Tomorrow is our appointment with the lady who is going to fix our kitchen so that the fridge fits in the hole. And I'm not sure what else she is going to do to our kitchen but we have a lot of vague ideas about things. Like replacing the scarred up linoleum and the ugly oak cabinets with something brighter and cleaner looking. And getting rid of the dented old sink and changing it to something more modern. We have new appliances that currently cannot be used because none of them fit in the spots they are meant to fit... and so in spite of having these things, we are doing dishes by hand and cooking only in the microwave. It's not a big deal... but neither is it ideal. I fear this project may take forever and start a domino effect that means our home is constantly under construction... but I'm hoping we can have a functional kitchen some time in the near future.

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