One big reason for getting that operation before Thanksgiving is that my sister was coming to visit for turkey day and she was bringing along Duke. He's the little one on the right. At one year almost exactly, he's seven months older than Duchess, but she's significantly taller. He has naturally standing ears, she has floppy. He hasn't been fixed. She has (just barely).

I was quite worried - as was Duke's family - that we'd never have a moment's peace with the two of them together. They have a special talent for getting into trouble by chewing on kids' toys or peeing in the wrong place or digging up the carpet or biting or a million things we can't think of. They're good dogs, really. They're just full of energy and curiosity. So with them such a handful one at a time, we were quite concerned about how they would behave together.

The first few days were very funny. Duke flirted shamelessly. He fawned over Duchess and tried to mount her several times. She got really good at just kicking him off like he was an annoying fly. She ignored him most of the time - when she wasn't bullying him away from his toys. Duke started out being a real gentleman, letting her have treats without fighting her for them, letting her take his toys without complaint. But after a few days he dropped the gentleman act and we got to watch some hillarious squabbles over toys. Duke showed Duchess how to really chew on rawhide instead of just suck on in prissily. He showed her how to jump up on the couch (although she just watched admiringly from the floor since her stiches still hurt). They had a ball together.

And to our amazement, they didn't touch any of the kids toys and they were having too much fun biting and wrestling each other instead of the babies. Apparently their constant need for attention was satisfied by having another minpin around. It was a great little vacation for the humans in their lives. Made both me and my sister wonder about getting a second. One of my friends suggested we work out shared custody. Maybe that's a better idea.