Puppies and other neurotic beings

I will first say that I'm well aware that this post should be about Elijah. But since it took me a full week to write about Elaina I figure I can take a little time to formulate my thoughts on my youngest. Being that its 5am and I'm on the computer thanks to our latest edition, I figured I’d honor her w/a post. Chloe as I have named her, is a 10wk old English Springer. Seriously the cutest thing you've ever seen and w/possibly the sharpest teeth ever honed by the breed. We've always had dogs. I grew up w/an English Springer who had puppies. One of which (Chloe) we all wanted to keep but sold off any way, hence the name. We also had a Bassett, everyone should have one at some point in their life simply for comic relief. When my husband and I moved to AZ we got a Brittany pup and soon after another that I 'rescued' from animal control. Both of which died this summer so the search for a new family member kicked into high gear. I of course thought the kids would go nutty for a puppy and possibly watch a little less Sponge Bob in the pursuit of her affections. Unfortunately puppies have teeth and for the first week the kids became all too aware of this realization, escaping instead to the basement where she didn't want to venture. They have since started 'playing', and I use that term lightly, with her. It consists mostly of picking her up and carrying her around or playing puppy toss to get her riled up then sprinting around the living room like a true pack of wild animals till the instigating child eventually trips and gets nipped all over any soft region exposed, which considering they all spend a vast amount of time naked could really be anything! We wanted a dual purpose dog, one to guard the girls out back from any cats and two, to be a hunting companion for my husband and I guess three, to save Elaina from having to retrieve any ducks from an icy stream. So here in lies the problem, how do you train a bird dog to leave the girls alone while still making her a good hunting dog. This answer hasn't been brought to the light yet but so far it consists of letting her flush the chickens as much as she wants to encourage her talents. The girls oblige for a while, scattering, running, brwaaaaking, until a point. When enough is enough all they have to do is stop. Turn around and look at her. She hits reverse like nobody's business, alpha dog she is not. Now that it’s almost 6am she is finally back to sleep under my chair, a spot she'll occupy for hopefully the next 12 years or so. Like newborns, they are cute for a reason. Who can resist that face at 4:30am? I've got coffee, the fire is going and some time to myself for a change, I guess I should thank her. Maybe after one more cup. Dinner is ground turkey natcho's dont think I really need to put a recipe on here just make nacho's but use ground turkey, I love an easy dinner! vino later tbd...thinking Snoqualmie Whistle Stop Red, eric brought it home the other night to try as house alternative, review later!