First, check out "puppybundle2," which shows those little darlings in a cluster of fur and body heat. Do not get freaked out by the giant dog heads next to them; that is merely the pattern on a towel. Appropos, no?

Next, take a gander at what happens when attention-starved puppies get a visitor in "roo-crazed." (Hello to Ms. Lyn Stoesen, whose arm is featured.) Yes, these puppies are severely neglected, ladies and gentlemen. You might want to consider calling the authorities, because these puppies never ever get any love, and the proof is right there on little Roo-Roo's face. Poor emotionally abused puppies.

Luckily, they have each other for lovin' - and you'll see what I mean when you click over to "beebee-roo-smooshlove," wherein The Boy is giving special affection to his littlest sister. And might I just add: What a total Emmy face that little girl is making! She is looking the most like her mommy in the face at this point, although their daddy has contributed some very fine characteristics to everyone as well. Such beautiful puppies they are!

If you would oblige, please look now at "puppy-therapy," and see the new-age mental health technique pioneered by Breeder Chris Rasmussen (and, probably, breeders before her). The strategy: Lean down and stick face in box of puppies. Experience excess of affection in the form of puppy-breath licks and hair bites. Giggle and smile widely (at the risk of having teeth licked). Squint to protect eyeballs and/or as expression of utter joy. Repeat daily and soon any woes will be forgotten.

Finally, have a peek at - wait a minute, what the heck is this "nisse3"? Yes, it's our weekend "guest puppy," little Nisse O'Bryan, a miniature pinscher who spent the weekend with us and tried to pass as a puppy. Since they all outweigh her now, we weren't fooled. Nisse is actually nearly a teenager, but she has the verve of a 5-week-old (even though she got freaked out and scurried across the sofa when we held one of the puppies up to her).

More photos! First, in "beebee-messy2," you get a look at two messy things: the Brindle Boy's face after he's had a tasty meal and our bathroom walls, which are in transition post-wallpaper removal (thanks Mom!) and pre-painting. (Please let us know if you have a color in mind for those walls, as it seems to be a point of great indecision and back-and-forth. Those burgundy tiles are a pain in the neck for color-matching.)

Next, watch Fawn torture her sleeping brindle sister while the latter snoozes in "fawn-beegee-bite-ear." You may say this is unfair play, but Fawn would like to point out that Beegee is more than welcome to wake the heck up and fight back.

In "roo-duckfoot," look at that baby girl chew on that toy. Goodness. These puppies are surrounded by toys, to make up for the emotional neglect of never being touched by or cuddled by or petted by or smothered with kisses by the people who share their home and, it must be said, are often late to work because of them.

And now, a word from our sponsor: **PU! What's that smell? It's a puppy oops! Don't worry - OdoBan to the rescue. Just clean up any undesired piles or puddles and spray OdoBan on the offending remainders and your house will be smelling daisy fresh in no time. Also good for cat messes, and may have practical applications for human babies, although we are not yet experienced in that regard. Buy your jug of OdoBan today!**

Back to DAILY PUPPY FIX business. On Monday, because we could not resist it any longer, we brought all four puppies into the living room (denying them the sensation of human touch at all times, of course) and let them run wild with nothing but the camera stopping them from all manner of antics. For extra fun we let Mama Emmy out with them, and of course these single-minded puppies could think of nothing else but mooching some milk while they had the chance. Please see the emotional duress experienced in "emmy-not-again" and rest assured that we put a stop to the rascally scoundrel Beebee and referred him promptly to a bowl of mushy Canidae and Esbilac.

Finally, people, keep in mind that I am a former newspaper lady so am particularly touched by "fawn-news-hound-beebee" wherein Fawn is really digesting the day's headlines as her brother prepares to take a major chomp on her ear.

Note to Brindle Girl fans: I recognize the shortage of photos of the lovely brindle lass in today's transmissions, but have many stored up for Beegee's SPOTLIGHT ON, which will, I assure you, be coming soon.

First off, an apology to the word "apropos." Yesterday's slaughtering of your fine, albeit French, spelling did not go unnoticed.

Today in the DAILY PUPPY FIX, let's start with yesterday's Neglected Puppy, Ms. Brindle Girl aka Beegee. Look at her chomp on that whelping box in "beegee-chew-out"! You might think she's about to take a big bite out of the side of the pen, having seen that the door has been removed, but no, she is a sweet girl with nothing but the best intentions. She was just posing for the camera, proving how beautiful and playful she is, and pointing out that a Brindle Girl for the next Puppy du Jour wouldn't be such a bad thing at all.

But then along comes little Roo to remind you that she has not yet been Puppy du Jour either. If you can stand it, take a look at "roo-gimme-five," wherein she is caught midair with the Bullmastiff Paw Motion, perfected by generations of bullmastiffs before her and already showing up in her little 5-week-old behaviors. What a brilliant and beautiful baby.

If you happen to belong to the fan club of Ms. Fawn or Mr. Beebee, or are a fan of photos showing all the puppies, won't you be pleased with "four-wrinkleheads," which further shows what happens in a bullmastiff puppy pen when you take the door off. They all spent a good few minutes trying to figure out whether it was safe to jump out or not, and also whether it was within the bounds of appropriate puppy etiquette. You can see in "beegee-roo-free-at-last" that they ultimately decided that they would be silly puppies indeed if they just sat there while a chance to roam was right there in front of them.

Today's DAILY PUPPY FIX is on the short side to make up for yesterday's excess. My apologies to the burdened e-mail servers of the DAILY PUPPY FIX world, and my continued "aw shucks" sentiments to those who read this publication, as well as those who just look at the photos. It should be noted that those who just look at the photos have no idea that I'm thanking them right now, and frankly, they deserve to be in the dark for shunning the text portion of the DAILY PUPPY FIX experience.

TOMORROW IN THE DAILY PUPPY FIX: Another exciting round of Puppy du Jour! Don't vote yet, but do put your puppy admiration thinking caps on, because you will be asked to weigh in during a brief window tomorrow and you should take this civic duty very seriously.

People, honestly. If you will please look at your computer keyboards. Do you see how terribly close to each other the B and G keys are? Do you recognize how easy it might be for an editrix/authoress to type "beeGee" in a file name when clearly it is Brother BeeBee who is splayed out on the floor after climbing out of the whelping box? All sarcasm aside, thanks to the alert readers (yes, plural!) who pointed out that I mislabeled yesterday's "free at last" photo of two puppies escaping the box. You were very sweet about informing me of this error and you do not deserve the caustic tone I've just employed. My apologies to you.

Photos, people, photos! Thanks to Chris Rasmussen, I present these fine photographic achievements, suitable for today's election of PUPPY DU JOUR. Due to the lateness of this missive and my plans to be out of town tomorrow, I am extending the voting period through Sunday afternoon, at which time I will tally the responses. This means nobody has a reason not to vote, except dear reader Kara Fox of the Bay Area in California whose Hotmail is full, full, full and who hasn't seen a DAILY PUPPY FIX all week. Can you imagine?

For your consideration, and in no particular order (ahem):
* "roo-sweet-sleeper" - the file name says it all! Look at this baby! Don't be afraid to click back through past issues of the DAILY PUPPY FIX or visit the Web site (see below) to look at other recent photos of Roo!! Or her siblings, sure, whatever.
* "fawn-peeker" - somebody is trying for a two-time championship! Look at the adorable little girl stealing a glance over the side of the whelping box. Ooh, she makes a Roo loyalist question.
* "beebee-earnest" - Little Mister likes to sit in this very pose any time the camera comes near him. I think we have at least three photos just like this that have moved across the DAILY PUPPY FIX wires. He, too, makes a Roo loyalist question, and he is clearly working hard to get your vote.
* "beegee-desperate" - speaking of making a Roo loyalist question! Miss Brindle Thang is really workin' it. If you don't mind, notice Roo in the background, calm as anything. She thinks she has this election wrapped up. Beegee would like very much for you to prove her wrong.

There you have it, ladies and gents! I will make every effort to send you a missive in the morning before I zip to the airport, but try to forgive a girl if she falls short of her lofty goals.