Here are some recent shots of first Barley, then Dutch and last, Xupe…

They sure look like brothers!

We are SO ready for Spring.  Yes, we know that spring officially began yesterday but we’ve seen the forecast and could hardly believe that freezing temperatures continue into next week!  The snow is receding slowly (the temps have warmed into the 40’s a few days here and there) and we’ve already endured some of the mud that comes with the season.

The good thing is that the dogs could care less about the weather.  They’re happy to run regardless of temperatures and ground conditions.  We just partition them downstairs ’til their paws dry out.

I’m on Spring Break but knew better than to expect spring-like weather in Minnesota.  Still, it was a bit of a surprise when it began snowing today.  I went out with the dogs this morning and snapped a couple of shots with my phone as they raced around.  Finley and Xupe were chasing around at speeds that surprised me.  Biff and I have noticed that

we have to look twice now to figure out if we’re looking at Xupe or Finley.  (That’s Finley on the left and Xupe on the right.)  Xupe’s grown so much that he’s beginning to look more like a dog than a puppy.

We received a couple photos of Gracie recently.  It sounds (and looks) like she’s doing great.  Happy Griff!

Stache’s family returned from their trip and came to pick up their boy this afternoon.  Stache seemed to have a great time while he was here – running, wrestling and snuggling with Xupe and Finley (and occasionally Chev).

It was fun for us to see how happy his family was to see him.  Lucky boy, Stache!  We hope to see you again soon.

Littermates Stache and Xupe have been having a great time together this week.  They’ve spent a LOT of time running and exploring in the backyard, often with Finley.  But then they unwind and their favorite place to snooze is on the blanket-covered sofa in the sunroom.

Xupe’s brother, “Stache”, returned today for a “vacation stay”.  Chev, Finley and especially Xupe have welcomed him back into the fold.  I took these shots when the dogs were all (finally) winding down this evening.  They were sacking out in the same part of the house where they were whelped going on 4 months ago.  We wondered how much Stache recognizes the smells of the house and us.  He’s snoozing now, comfortably snuggled in his crate with his blankets.

It was quite dark when I took this shot of the Stache (eying me on the left) and Xupe zonked out.  Really fun to see these two brothers hanging out together.