Time had passed and the five puppies were now coming up to seven weeks old. Up to this point they had stayed on the boat, where it was safe for such young puppies, but today they had been promised their first very short outing into the city. The excitement of such a promise meant that a couple of the pups had trouble sleeping the night before; they had been wide awake with anticipation. They were all still sleeping in the home made whelping box with Rita and Dodger, and so they were both rather tired from being kept up by their excited offspring.

Lily was awake at the crack of dawn and was eager to get going, despite the sleepiness of her family, most of them anyway, the youngest, Nick was also keen for the days adventures to begin and awoke early after a night of limited sleep. Impatient, Lily left the box and quietly looked around for something to keep her occupied while she waited. She had great resemblance to her father in her colour pattern and her terrier-like ears, but was more like a sighthound in build and in her independent nature. Lily had a large resemblance to Dodger personality-wise as well, very confident, cocky and adventurous, of all the pups, it was she that Rita had to keep the closest eye on to make sure she didn't get herself into a pickle.

Nick watched after his sister from the box, but was happy to stay put and wait from the comfort of the cosy bed. He was the smallest of the litter, though was bold in personality, probably as he felt more of a need to prove himself than the others. He had a clowning, sweet, but sensitive side and was prone to taking offence where none was meant. Nick was slight in build with brown fur in the same shade as Rita's. He tugged on his father's ear.

"Dad, it's morning. Can we get up now, please?"

Dodger opened one bleary eye to look at his young son.

"Just a little longer kid, it's still pretty early." He said with a yawn.

By this time, the other three puppies were waking up. It took Robbie little more than a couple of seconds to be up and bouncing around, right on top of what was a sleeping Einstein. Luckily, Einstein was good natured as ever and soon enough he was bounding around and rolling on the floor with Robbie, Lily and Nick.

Robbie looked much like Dodger, except for his floppy ears and wild fur. It was more common for him to go by the name of 'Rascal' because he was incredibly mischievous. In his eyes, each day was for as much fun as could possibly be fit in, and was a very friendly little pup, though could be something of a wind up merchant.

The other two, Bandit and Dash watched, yawning from Rita's side.

"Are you ready for your big day?" she asked kindly.

"Yeah, it's gonna be so much fun. I wish we could stay out all day!" Bandit replied, grinning from ear to ear, thinking about the adventure ahead.

"What about you, sweetie?" Rita asked her little daughter.

Dash looked a little nervous. "I think so, it's a bit scary though, I've never been out in the big city before." She looked to her mother for reassurance.

"Honey, you're going to be just fine. We're all going to be out there with you, we won't let anything bad happen. Trust me, this is going to be fun."

Dash felt a bit better and went to join the others in their playtime. She was similar in size to Nick, and looked a bit like a scruffier version of her mother. She was a bit of a deep thinker, very clever and crafty, and very sweet natured and loving to those who she knows well. Her name was given because of her sighthound heritage, which she lived up to with a love of running around with her brothers and sister.

Bandit was the first born and a very laid back little man. He was exceptionally self-assured, bright and a very mellow fellow. He spent a lot of time with Rascal who was always happy to have an accomplice to help with his trouble-making. Bandit had dark brown fur, with a stocky build compared to his siblings, his face was much like Dodger's but more refined.

Half an hour later, Fagin had all his dogs pile into the back of his scooter, easier said than done now that there were ten of them. It was a bit of a squash, but thanks to the small stature of the puppies (and Tito!) they managed to all fit in. Rita felt a bit of butterflies in her stomach, feeling a little nervous for her little ones. With the pups huddling closely to their mother, father and uncles to avoid being thrown around, Fagin set of noisily into the city.