I am SO counting the days til we bring her home...The breeder is going to send me pictures weekly so I can see...I can also go over there any time I want just to "hang" with her. I'm having empty nest syndrome SO bad...After we had to put our Boxer down a month ago, we were going to wait to get another dog, but I told him I can't STAND this quiet...After having 4 kids and now they are all gone, and then the dog, it's been really hard for me. Ariel is perfect!!!...Thanks for the comments guys!!! Caren/knotz

OMgosh! Its so good to hear from you and hear what's happening with your wonderful family. The kids have sure grown, I remember when you were pregnant with Grant!! And I can't wait to hear how the kids respond to the new puppy. Bless you and the family and thanks so much for stopping by. Susan

Thanks flatcoat - that's a great idea. I will definitely ask the breeder for something to take with us. Well now I'm feeling silly - you are right on the hot water bottle/clock thing - but at least the snuggle puppy looks like a stuffed animal (my desperate attempt to justify the exorbitant amount I spent on this thing). Well, I suppose if it makes him slightly happy or brings him security, it will be worth it. I just couldn't believe it when EVRYWHERE on the internet was sold out of these things! Not even on eBay! mazer - a nice thought, but the little guy will be in his crate at night. He's only going to be 10 weeks old, not even remotely housebroken.

Thank you for the responses....Mazer, I have trained the first 2 dogs in the manner that you recommend and it was very successful. This new little one is for my 12 yr old and she keeps her in her room with her at night and this is when the puppy pads came in. Kaitlyn gets up with her pup at night to let her potty but she will not take her outside because she is afraid so we got the pads to help the child train her pup not realizing that it would create this problem. Also, our older dog Jenna, the golden, has taken over the mother role and I think that is is also counter productive to training because the pup looks up to her as her mother. Just this morning I gave Jenna a treat and she turned around and gave it to the puppy like she was providing for her. I think that we will need to start taking the pup outside without the older dog and see if we better results...also not being able to do the stairs is a proble. My husband said that he is going to put a ramp down the stairs (only 2 steps) and see if she will use that. She is a spunky little thing with quite the character and very smart and so far we have not seen any sign that she is afraid of anything.....it is almost as though she is looking at the golden for reasurance...if Jenna doesn't react to the situation then I shouldn't either, and Jenna doesn't react to much..not even loud noises or thunder storms, she is very relaxed. I will suggest to my husband that he remove the pads from the main floor and take Mollie outside without Jenna and see how that goes. thank you