I'm a little late posting this, but Dante and Mina turned 2 on the 24th! 

They have come such a long way from the crazy puppies we brought home nearly 2 years ago now! Mina is just an amazing dog all around – the type of dog you can do anything to/with and she takes it all happily and in stride, very smart and very well balanced dog! We hit the jackpot with her for sure. Having such a good natured balanced dog around has been great for Dante too, he really looks towards her for cues on how to react in new situations. 

Dante has made AMAZING leaps and bounds this past year! He is finally starting to play like a real dog! It's so exciting to see him get in on the wrestling and rough housing with my fiance and he has fallen in love with his special tug toy. He drags it around all day long and will smack you with it until you play with him.  His stamina and energy levels have also come such a long way. He rarely gets tired or worn out these days and he is still the little energizer bunny. Always on the go and still very hyper! I think the biggest thing of all though – he seemed to grow a brain!  It took a while, but he is virtually bomb proof with his commands now, FINALLY. Some of them we had worked on for well over a year and they just didn't seem to click. It seems like he went from dog with no idea what we were saying, to very well trained dog over-night. He's also learning tricks now, too! He still has some issues and fear issues that we're continually working on with him, but over-all I'd say he's doing better in that department, too. He is the ham of the house and always making us laugh – just a big loveable goofball all around! 

Coda, our beagle, is still doing well too and she still gets along with the other two great. She's still the boss around here too. I'll never get tired of seeing my 18lb little lady bossing around the big dogs  She is showing her age now though, and it's sad – but she still keeps up and plays with the puppies just fine! They just better not disturb her morning naps or they will hear from her about it.

We're doing well, too.  Just over 10 weeks to go before baby makes HER arrival  Everything to this point has gone well and I have been pretty lucky not to experience too many discomforts until these last few weeks. The dogs have been exposed to more kids lately and they've done really well, so I'm hopeful they'll do great once baby is here – all three really love kids and are for the most part really calm and well behaved. Dante gets a little over excited sometimes still, but he'll get there! 

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and hope you all have a fantastic New Years!!  

Happy Birthday Dante and Mina!!!  Sounds like everything is going great!  But like Charon said, we need photos!!!! 

Cute, but, yeah, it doesn't exactly say, "Merry Christmas." It says, "Moooooom. Do we have to do this??"

Glad to hear the good update. We'll look forward to another good update when the baby arrives!
Jackie, Abby's mom

Cute howliday picture! Glad to hear things have been going so well for you and your pack.

Micki and Rio