They are a few years older now, but I loved them even then.
The new pups have names!
“What was I thinkin’?” has morphed into radio-phone-talker talk for Whiskey and Tango. Whiskey is a total match for his name. He is whiskey colored. He comes from the hills of Kentucky. He is the real thing, not some fancy bourbon. He is quiet and slips up on you and he tends to get others in trouble.
Tango on the other hand, is also radio-phone-talker talk short for terrorist. And he somewhat lives up to his name. Already dressed in coal, jet black fur, he disappears in the dark with no stocking cap needed. Totally adorable, he is a little taller and leaner than Whiskey. He lays in wait around the corner and pounces. His nickname may become Ninja. He behaves a little better and quicker than Whiskey.
The half-brother pups are very similar. They both do the same things separately and yet, together, but sometimes in very different ways.
Chewing is their favorite activity at the moment. It started with their toys, but it is now a full-time job keeping them out of stuff.
First was my right flip flop. I never saw them with it and it might have been the cat, like some suggested, but it had tiny needle punctures in the area of the toes.
Then the whole flip flop had punctures and the top was frayed. This might be okay, but they don’t match and I need them in the middle of the night to take them out to pee.
From there, they found my shoe.
They were only interested in the left of my work shoes. The shoestring was shortened and had to be knotted.
The strap to pull it up is frayed and there is a puncture in the heal. I somewhat doubt they are waterproof anymore.
It was easy to put the shoes higher up in the closet organizer, but occasionally I still forget and have to go looking for my shoe.
When the shoes became harder to get, they discovered the recycle Mountain Dew cans.
At first, it was the empty one beside the bed, then Tango up-ended the bag into the middle of the bedroom floor.
M’Kinzy was good enough to pick the cans up, but apparently, Whiskey had stashed a few dozen under the bed. They have mastered the art of aluminum can chewing. Today’s can was in two large pieces and I then took a small piece out of Tango’s mouth.
I don’t know which of them discovered that they were tall enough to take socks out of the sock bin, but I would bet it was Whiskey.
Well above head height, I don’t ever see them do it, but there are almost as many wet socks in the living room as there are dry ones in the sock bin. (Does a chewed sock need to be washed or is that clean saliva?)
Whiskey is the daredevil of the two.
Although he is 10 days younger, he was the first to discover that it was possible to jump off the bed.
He was the first to learn to come up the one step. He is the last to come back in the house at 1:30, 4:22 and 5:30 a.m. He was the first to discover that the rain sound on the roof meant that the drain would have a puddle and that alone was reason to get up in the middle of the night.
Whiskey definitely seems to be the smarter of the two pups, but he totally has not mastered the art of peeing outside. We can be almost out with the door open and he will stop to pee in the doorway. He will be outside for 10-15 minutes and come back in to pee.
We say that it is a good thing Whiskey is cute.
And he is the cuter of the two. The coal black eyes and nose are the same on both Whiskey and Tango, but surrounded by jet black fur, you only notice Tango’s if he turns so you can see the whites. Whiskey’s pop out of his golden tan fur and make you want to pick him up and squeeze the stuffings out of him. Not that he likes to be picked up or really snuggle.
Tango is the much better snuggler. When I am on my side reading in bed, he comes and lays his head across my neck and seems to be looking at the Kindle screen.
If I am sleeping on my back, he will lay across my neck with a foot beside my head and one on my chest. He can sleep for hours like that.
While he is 20 pounds, so can I. Not sure what will happen when he is 70 pounds, but I love it now.
Whiskey is quite happy to be at my feet. Snuggled, but not too blatant about it.
By the way, they are both VERY interested in (chewing) books and paper.
Both have learned to sit and come.
They have learned to run when they have something they shouldn’t. Tango tends to drop it and Whiskey tends to run with it.
Neither liked the lake when I took them out, but both liked to walk on the board walk.
Half-brothers that are very similar and very, very different.
I don’t know what I was thinkin’, but I love them both.

MJ Wixsom, DVM MS is a best-selling Amazon author who practices at Guardian Animal Medical Center in Flatwoods, Ky. GuardianAnimal.com 606-928-6566