Puppy update

Nova is a piece of work. Some days she is a perfect little angel and others she has issues. Luckily the good days far outnumber the bad. She is almost 10 months old and weighs 43 pounds. She is smaller than Delilah length-wise and height-wise but she is only 4 pounds lighter. She is definitely a bit thicker and is getting a more standard basset body. Delilah is very skinny for a basset so it won't surprise me if Nova ends up weighing more.

Nova likes laying in the bit of sun streaming through the window.

Nova's issues luckily do not include chewing items that do not belong to her. From day one, she has been an excellent dog as far as that is concerned. I can't think of a single thing she's chewed up of ours. Delilah on the other hand still occasionally will chew up anything inside of a plastic bag (there might be food in there!) and sometimes grabs food off the counter (she may be short but her long body makes up for it!). Nova has always somehow known that the dog toys belong to her and everything else does not. It's strange but awesome. Her main issues still lie with house training. I know she understands the concepts but that doesn't mean she always follows the rules. The toughest time for her is on days when we sleep in a bit (think 7:30 or 8... when you wake up before 5 on a regular basis, that is sleeping in). She usually sleeps in her crate at night and can hold it for a long time when crated. When we let her out to take her out in the mornings she sometimes doesn't make it outside though. We try to restrict her water at night but it's still a work in process. She is definitely old enough that she shouldn't be having this issue but it is what it is. Most of the time I don't even think she realizes she's done anything.

Delilah and Nova get along about 99 % of the time. The other 1% isn't horrible but they do snap at each other sometimes. Nova mostly has issues with Delilah at dinner time or when they are drinking water. Nova thinks all the food and water should belong to her. On a few occasions Nova has stopped eating her food to sneak in and eat some of Delilah's food (while she is eating). Delilah, bless her heart, usually just lets this happen. We do not. Sometimes Nova will get snappy about it though. She also gets crazy about water. I mean, I kind of understand because I require a lot of water everyday but she needs to chill. Luckily, Delilah isn't a total wimp and will fight back a bit. We are also fortunate that Nova doesn't have any issues with us touching her or her food or water (or taking it away).

Nova loves the cold weather. She doesn't seem to mind the snow but we haven't had much.

Nova is quirky in that she loves the cold weather. During the summer she didn't always want to be outside if it was too hot and she would take care of her business and come back in just fine. Now that it's cold, she goes outside, we bring her back in and she sits at the door a few minutes later to be let out. She sometimes just stands outside and sniffs the cold air and stares into the woods. Delilah prefers it to be about 70 degrees outside.

How Delilah spends most of her days

Delilah and Nova peacefully sharing a toy

How they rang in the New Year! They were so worn out!

I can't think of anything else that is going on with these two right now. They can be a lot of work but they are totally worth it.