Millie, 4 months old

Here's the latest update on our ever growing and -- hopefully -- maturing Millie. She just had her 4-month checkup, which is about a week early because of the Thanksgiving holiday. She now weighs 33 pounds, which is 13 pounds more than she was last month. Wow! She's a good eater, and we're already buying the gigantic bags of puppy food. I think we'll be buying them more frequently in the next few months. She's doing quite well with her training......sometimes. She is--blissfully--completely potty trained and goes all night without a trip outside. I taught her to ring a string of bells attached to the laundry room door handle when she wants to go out to go potty. She just nudges it with her nose, and we come running. Now we need to teach her to bark loudly when she wants to come back in. When she's being sweet, I call her "Silly Millie Vanilli". When she's in devil dog mode, her name becomes "Millie No". She responds to neither! Sometimes it's hard to remember just how young she is because she's so big. She recently learned the "sit" and "shake hands" commands. With positive reinforcement, she is a very quick study. Now we need to work on her biting, jumping up on people and furniture, and walking on her leash in a more civilized manner. She'll have one more appointment for shots next month, then nothing more until we have her spayed early next year.

I took these pictures of Jenni, Zoey, and Millie (in a soft muzzle so she won't take a bite of Zoey's tender flesh by accident, and also so she won't bite me when I'm trimming her nails) on Nov. 13. Zoey and Millie are going to be good friends once they have a little more respect for each other. Christmas should be a lot of fun this year with a 5-month-old puppy and a 1-year-old baby keeping things lively. Have a very happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!