Live and Learn

Sooo, the weather cleared up from all the rain and the temp was in the high 40s. Being the experienced dog person that I am, I thought "Hey, great day to open the door and let these pups go out on the deck for the first time." So I did it. They cautiously made their way through the portal and slunk around the great outdoors. After just a minute or two, they were fairly comfortable and took to real exploration, even sticking their heads between the railing slats to take a gander at what was beyond.
I left them and went back inside to clean up dirty, wet newspapers (which seems to be my main function these days.) One of my older small breed dogs was supervising the pups... she likes them when they're involved with things that keep them from jumping on her. I stuck my head out every couple minutes, just to make sure the sun was still shining and no one seemed distressed.
When it was time to put the first gang up and let out the next, I realised my mistake. I hadn't been counting how many pups were on the deck... and a good many of them weren't. Some... a lot... had followed Smokey down the steps. Which would be a good thing. Except. It had rained for days. Read that "Water, water everywhere... turning everything into mud." Calling myself a few names that could probably get me kicked off the internet, I locked up the CLEAN pups I could get my hands on quickly and then rounded up the... not so clean ones. Of course, they all decided going DOWN the stairs was doable but going UP was beyond them.
I'm still clipping mudballs from between the pads of their feet. And when they're spic and span again, I'll clean up myself. I hope to get to it before I have to meet any of you.

Beckett and Bella

Tony sent this shot of Emy and Sparky's guy, Beckett, and his roomie, Bella, the Portie.
Nice to see some clean puppies.