August 31, 2014 Pupdate

               They pupsters were bright eyes and bushy tailed this morning.  I heard them awake and playing at 6 something but it wasn’t daylight yet so I didn’t come feed them yet.  They had wound down by daylight but were awake enough to have some breakfast.  And a drink.  Then the Mama topped them off at the bar.  They followed it up with a post prandial nap.

               When they began to stir awake again, I took them outside.  We had another storm with a fair amount of rain last night so everything was wet.  They didn’t mind, didn’t even seem to care.  Good little puppies!  While they were adventuring this morning, T2J went out into grass all by his lonesome.  He didn’t go far but he went intentionally.  After that, I walked out into the yard to see if the rest would come and they all did.  They worked out whether to walk on the stepping stones or through the river rock but I couldn’t discern which puppy did what.

               After that they were all off and on as chose.  Chipmunk went out to poop in the grass all on her own.  What a good puppy.  Maybe the brainwashing is working.  Several puppies went out to potty in the grass and gravel at various times.  Kodiak was going to poop on the deck but I took him out in the grass and he pooped there after just a little sniffing.  Tootise also took her little self out into the rocks to poop, too.  Eventually everyone went off the deck to poop and some to pee, too!  We are on the way…  Exciting stuff in the life of a breeder ;-)

               Since it was so wet out there, I was a little worried about them having a good place to nap so I took the top off of the castle sandbox and put a dry blanket in it.  Then I propped the lid over it to make it sort of a den since they like to lie cuddle under things outside (smart pupsters).  I have the ez up over that (it is getting harder to set it up alone, perhaps because it was bent in the downpour at the National in GA a few years ago) so we stayed dry.  The girls went in to nap first but the boys wanted to sleep under my chair.  After they went to sleep, I picked each up and put him in the box and petted him back to sleep.  I did Kodiak first and after I did TJJ, he appeared to sleep but when I took my hand away, he moved over to cuddle with the girls. They’ve stayed out there longer today, it is overcast and cooler (and wet) so they are more comfortable.

               Colleen brought her mother and aunt so we added two more new people to the list today.  The puppies were displaying all of their cutest behaviors.  They are very good at sitting to be picked up or petted.  They also displayed some of their bad tricks like chewing on toes ;-)  Doodlebug came out periodically to check on them and open the bar for them.  She also had to pee and had 2 puppies hounding her and a third whining through the ex pen (I block off the part that has a drop off and the stairs.  They aren’t old enough to do stairs) but she managed to pee without getting it on anyone.  And she had to go a lot (she holds it so she won’t have to go out into the rain.  She only likes to get wet for fun things like swimming or running)

               SammieDoodlebug has been bringing puppy toys from the puppy pen to the puppies outside.  I guess she wants to make sure they have what they need out here.  We spent the vast majority of the day outside.  It was nice and cool and rainy, too.  At one point I was afraid that the sun was going to shine on us and we’d get too hot but then it decided to rain again.  We went out and walked around and played in the rain, the things I do for puppies.  I am not terribly fond of being wet but they seemed to like it.  That whole water dog thing ;-)

               At about 3pm, I started worrying about the ez-up collapsing from the rain.  It had been raining pretty steadily and I had to keep pushing the top up to get the water off so I carried the sleeping puppies inside and took it down.  The puppies have had a mostly quiet rest of the day/night except for some playtime and a couple of meals.  I even took a nap this evening since the MSU was here to watch them for me.  So it’s going to be sleepytime down south and we’re going to sign the 3 songs and say Nighty, nighty, nighty…

Picture link!

Thanks to Colleen!

https://plus.google.com/photos/116628714563675130886/albums/6053503569885769953

I don't know why my laptop didn't send the other days of blog but they should all be there now.  If you notice no updates, please let me know.

August 30, 2014 Pupdate

               We added more people to the list today.  Jen and Bob came in from Mentor, OH to see the babies. They brought Jack’s niece Ruby and their PWD, Stormy but we didn’t let the dogs interact with the puppies.

               I waited until they arrived about 9 am to take the babies out on the deck.  Before that I wrestled around with the huge 12 panel ex pen that I had on the deck and switched it out for the plastic kid ex pen.  The kid ex pen isn’t as practical for penning off the grooming table and then putting back in front of the screen doors.  Then I disinfected the ez up so we could have some shade a little longer in the mornings.  It was not nearly as cool over night as Thursday so I didn’t leave the doors open much this morning.  But we did sit out with the pupsters while they played.  I managed to keep my rear end dry this am (I do NOT like wet clothes.  That’s one of the few things I don’t like about water work.)

               They need to start going out into the grass so they will start going to potty out there.  At this point they still barely pee but and SDB cleans up the poop (she missed one today though and the good boy did part of it in the rock area.)  They are very reliable about going to the potty area in the pen and I keep alfalfa underneath the paper and pad so they will get brainwashed to potty to the smell of grass (and it’s not a horrible problem if they eat any of it since it’s food.)

               They met their brother Armada today.  He was a VERY good boy and wanted to sniff the puppy being held but he wasn’t sure he wanted to be where they could get him.  He was gentle and respectful though and the Mama nor the Mama’s Mama felt he needed any reminding about proper etiquette.  They did NOT feel the same about Ruby (and she was on the other side of the gate.)  Jill kept head butting the gate in between ferocious sounding barks.

               Aunt Colleen came along with Armada (it was nice of him to bring his humama) and we had a photo shoot.  Pictures are loading to google plus as I type.

               As I was lamenting about what to type in the blog LeAnne offered her help.  “Puppies ate and played.  And were very cute.”  She’s right about that and she wasn’t even here ;-)  And against all odds, they keep getting cuter. Even though they have little needle teeth that they are learning not to put on us.  We have already started saying “Teeth are for toys” and redirecting.  Littermates are working on teaching each other bite inhibition, too.

               Puppies are currently sleeping it off.  They’ll wake up to eat and play a little at last call and then we’ll sing the three songs and go nighty, nighty, nighty…

August 29, 2014 Pupdate

August 29, 2014 Pupdate

               Another big day today.  We were LIONIZED, well the butt part.  I don’t like to do their little muzzles yet because this is the only time we ever get to feel their little whiskers.  They are by no means perfect lions but they were all good for it.  They don’t just stand still on the grooming table yet, it involved some cuddling and some cream cheese.  I saved the hair (you can’t be surprised by that if you know me at all)  but we didn’t compare to see if the browns are as dark as the brown in the last litter yet.

               They enjoy their mornings on the deck and are quite rambunctious until they start dropping off to sleep. T2J was the one awake alone more today.  It varies from day to day but it is always one puppy.  Maybe that is how they get “only dog time”

               Aunt B came to do some water practice and since her yard is still ‘poisoned’ from the tick spray, she stayed here with me.  When I went upstairs for nighty nappy, she was on the grooming table.  Aunt B likes a perch.  She was very good with the babies on the deck.  She sniffed them gently but moved away when they tried to see if they could find a spot at the bar.  She let them bite at her though.  She was jealous of all of the time they got to spend on HER table (Bela loves the grooming table)

               I texted some of their exploits to the Villagers but didn’t find time to figure out how to forward them here.  So I’ll type the highlights over: 

Puppies are UP and OUTSIDE!  Enjoying deck.

Found the plants! 

Good poops (the Mama comes out to clean them up still, gross but oh so much easier on us humans!) 

So far just plants and not dirt (they were biting at the mint and lemongrass I have in containers by the door on the deck)

Turtle just ran out in the rocks.  Not sure it was intentional

I need to start bringing a chair out before puppies!  The seat of my pants is wet L

 

At this point, I was too busy monitoring puppies to try to text.  Nighty, nighty, nighty to all

August 28, 2014 Pupdate

               It’s been another busy day in the puppy parlor.  The puppies have been busy adding people to their list and playing and teething and eating and sleeping.  They enjoyed their deck time this morning even though it was VERY wet from the storm we had last night.  They are definitely old enough to count that one as an ambient experience.  They managed to knock down the ferret ex pen that I was using to give us a little space around the door into the rubber room so when it was time to bring them inside, I had to just carry some and let the others follow me.  It goes pretty well except they will follow a dog before me at this point and Jill took some of them back outside.  I don’t think she believed they were authorized to come in the house.

               And we added 5 people to their list.  They saw 2 others but their Nana didn’t end up holding each one of them so she doesn’t get to be on the list yet ;-)  They met some of my human family and some of the human family of their Aunt Cleo (Pink! from our JillyBoo babies).  They seemed to enjoy everyone – fortunately they were on their good behavior for my MeeMaw.  She held each one and most of them slept in her lap.  TJJ was a little bit lively when Aunt Marolyn held him but he didn’t pierce anything for her.  We’ve decided that it could be a moneymaking business – anybody who needs a piercing, we have 5 puppies with little needle teeth that they would be happy to use on you ;-)  I just have rules about things they put in their mouths being clean enough.  They were nicely lively for Cleo’s human brother and he was lively with them.  And he was nice enough to keep throwing Jack’s monkey paw while he was being mauled in the puppy pen.

               Aunt Colleen didn’t make it to take pictures tonight, probably this weekend.

               We’re all tired now so we are going to get ready for nighty, nighty, nighty time.  Puppy breath dreams to you all

August 27, 2014 Pupdate

August 27, 2014 Pupdate

               Good morning, good morning the little (and big) dogs said.  Before they were supposed to get up, too.  I actually turned the sound on the monitor way down and tried to sleep through SammieDoodlebug’s talking to me.  It didn’t work but I still waited for daylight and the alarm since I knew she wasn’t starving and the pupsters were just making playing noises.  She still feeds them a plenty, I am just supplementing them at this point.  She is also still cleaning up after them which is really nice.  The pad on the potty area gets wet but she cleans up the poo right away.  I like that the puppies are careful to go over there to potty, too.  We had a poop outside on the deck yesterday but we haven’t introduced going out into the yard yet.  SDB cleaned that one up, too and then I washed the spot.

               I took them out on the deck again this morning.  After a few minutes I realized I needed to be taking notes.  We went out about 10 am.  The sun isn’t really over the trees on the hillside on the deck yet then (it’s a holler after all) so even though it is plenty warm, there is still dew all over everything.  The pupsters were moist from the dew and they were WIDE awake.  Wild might also be an apt description ;-)  Here’s the note I emailed myself from iffen (for anyone new, iffen is my iPhone.  That is how JAWS, the screenreader on my laptop, pronounces it so that is it’s name.  As you may have noticed from all of the names my dogs have, I have a tendency to name things)

Chipmunk was spitfire this am.  She went over seesaw and off of deck into rocks but not all of the way into the grass

Tjj found a tennis ball and carried it several times

Turtle knows doors- laundry room and into playhouse

Tootsie pup likes to run back and  forth - FAST

Kodiak tried to get onto the turtle sandbox, he wants to see whatever is UP (trying to look through windows in playhouse).  Kept trying to go through holes on slide (it’s on its side and he doesn’t fit through those holes) Then he found the ball and rolled it along biting it until TJJ  came after it/him

 

They make a fair amount of noise while they play, explore, etc.  very vocal little ones

The tractor startled them as it went up driveway (right beside deck) but not when it came back down.

          Turtle slept first in playhouse didn’t wake up for tractor Pink went to sleep under stool (closest to fence) but tractor startled her and she came under my chair Tootsie under grill Kodiak in picnic table Tjj still looking for trouble. Tootsie got hot (sun hits there first) and came to lay flat on tummy in shade.

          Tjj picked up ball and took into playhouse, carried it 8ft, (I paced it off) and went to sleep

 

The sun was starting to hit the deck and heat things up so I carried the sleeping puppies back inside about 11:30.  They were pretty well sacked out.  They sort of woke up when we company came around 1:15 but it was more from the barking (Jack was barking a greeting and asking that his toy be thrown and other things that Jack feels the need to communicate audibly.) They also didn’t have any intention of staying awake for any length of time.  We tried taking them outside again when there was some shade from the house but it was still pretty warm and although they were cool enough because I wet everything down, they were more interested in sleeping than playing and the humans were more comfortable in the a/c so we came back inside.  My, that was quite a run on sentence; my poor screenreader will be out of breath ;-)  They did try to play with/attack/avoid the hose since the sprayer was making a little noise before they went to sleep though.

               I took advantage of having a Villager here and took the dogs to the pond.  Even Doodlebug went and she seemed to enjoy her first outing but she was ready to come back to the babies earlier than she normally would stop.  She had to wait for her shower but even though she came flying back inside afterward, she didn’t get in with them right away. 

              

I covered the bottom of the storm door so nobody runs into it.  I’m sure it looks jakey since I just put a couple of pieces of parchment paper up with painters tape but none of them ran into it today so it’s fine for now.  The deck full of play equipment and wet blankets for shade/cooling can’t look great either but it’s good for the pupsters.  Hopefully, google earth isn’t taking pictures right now ;-)

               We have lots of company slated for tomorrow so I need to go get some things ready before it’s feeding time or cuddle time again.  Puppy breath to all…

August 27, 2014 Pupdate

Good morning, good morning the little (and big) dogs said.  Before they were supposed to get up, too.  I actually turned the sound on the monitor way down and tried to sleep through SammieDoodlebug’s talking to me.  It didn’t work but I still waited for daylight and the alarm since I knew she wasn’t starving and the pupsters were just making playing noises.  She still feeds them a plenty, I am just supplementing them at this point.  She is also still cleaning up after them which is really nice.  The pad on the potty area gets wet but she cleans up the poo right away.  I like that the puppies are careful to go over there to potty, too.  We had a poop outside on the deck yesterday but we haven’t introduced going out into the yard yet.  SDB cleaned that one up, too and then I washed the spot.

              I took them out on the deck again this morning.  After a few minutes I realized I needed to be taking notes.  We went out about 10 am.  The sun isn’t really over the trees on the hillside on the deck yet then (it’s a holler after all) so even though it is plenty warm, there is still dew all over everything.  The pupsters were moist from the dew and they were WIDE awake.  Wild might also be an apt description ;-)  Here’s the note I emailed myself from iffen (for anyone new, iffen is my iPhone.  That is how JAWS, the screenreader on my laptop, pronounces it so that is it’s name.  As you may have noticed from all of the names my dogs have, I have a tendency to name things)

Chipmunk was spitfire this am.  She went over seesaw and off of deck into rocks but not all of the way into the grass

Tjj found a tennis ball and carried it several times

Turtle knows doors- laundry room and into playhouse

Tootsie pup likes to run back and  forth - FAST

Kodiak tried to get onto the turtle sandbox, he wants to see whatever is UP (trying to look through windows in playhouse).  Kept trying to go through holes on slide (it’s on its side and he doesn’t fit through those holes) Then he found the ball and rolled it along biting it until TJJ  came after it/him

 

They make a fair amount of noise while they play, explore, etc.  very vocal little ones

The tractor startled them as it went up driveway (right beside deck) but not when it came back down.

          Turtle slept first in playhouse didn’t wake up for tractor Pink went to sleep under stool (closest to fence) but tractor startled her and she came under my chair Tootsie under grill Kodiak in picnic table Tjj still looking for trouble. Tootsie got hot (sun hits there first) and came to lay flat on tummy in shade.

          Tjj picked up ball and took into playhouse, carried it 8ft, (I paced it off) and went to sleep

 

The sun was starting to hit the deck and heat things up so I carried the sleeping puppies back inside about 11:30.  They were pretty well sacked out.  They sort of woke up when we company came around 1:15 but it was more from the barking (Jack was barking a greeting and asking that his toy be thrown and other things that Jack feels the need to communicate audibly.) They also didn’t have any intention of staying awake for any length of time.  We tried taking them outside again when there was some shade from the house but it was still pretty warm and although they were cool enough because I wet everything down, they were more interested in sleeping than playing and the humans were more comfortable in the a/c so we came back inside.  My, that was quite a run on sentence; my poor screenreader will be out of breath ;-)  They did try to play with/attack/avoid the hose since the sprayer was making a little noise before they went to sleep though.

              I took advantage of having a Villager here and took the dogs to the pond.  Even Doodlebug went and she seemed to enjoy her first outing but she was ready to come back to the babies earlier than she normally would stop.  She had to wait for her shower but even though she came flying back inside afterward, she didn’t get in with them right away. 

             

I covered the bottom of the storm door so nobody runs into it.  I’m sure it looks jakey since I just put a couple of pieces of parchment paper up with painters tape but none of them ran into it today so it’s fine for now.  The deck full of play equipment and wet blankets for shade/cooling can’t look great either but it’s good for the pupsters.  Hopefully, google earth isn’t taking pictures right now ;-)

              We have lots of company slated for tomorrow so I need to go get some things ready before it’s feeding time or cuddle time again.  Puppy breath to all…

August 26, 2014 Pupdate

              SammieDoodlebug insisted she was starving to death at 4 am.  I waited to see if she’d stop fussing but she didn’t so I got up and fed the big dogs.  I waited until 7 (daylight) to feed the babies and fed the big dogs again.  I didn’t get much sleep and I didn’t get a nap so I am tired.

              I took the puppies outside this morning to enjoy the weather.  After about an hour, they sun was chasing away the shade on the deck and even though they had gone into the play house, I worried they would get too hot so I carried them back in while they slept.  They were absolutely adorable running around on the deck.  Turtle somehow knows that the door into the laundry room is a door and kept trying to go in it – at the edge, not in the middle.  I have to tape a piece of paper to the glass again so they don’t run into it again.  I forgot I did that with the other puppies.  Guess I should have used some of my nonexistent spare time to read back in the old blog to see if I mentioned it. 

              I’m going to get some puppy breath and go to bed.  I fed the big dogs a few minutes ago and I’ll set an alarm for the middle of the night meal (generally known as last call around here) and hopefully tomorrow won’t start quite so early.  Nighty, nighty, nighty…

August 25, 2014 5 Weeks Old!

The MamaBug was awake early this morning and so were the puppies.  Just as well, since Dr. Summerfield was coming to see them at 7:30 this morning.  The puppies were having one of their big naps when she was here so they accepted it more as a cuddle but Turtle actually squeaked.  I would’ve expected Kodiak to be the one to make a noise but since he was being held, he didn’t.

              We did not get to have a photo shoot this weekend.  Colleen didn’t bring her good camera Saturday and then ended up not coming on Sunday after the show/trial. Maybe she’s hoping I’ll forget that she has my scrubs ;-) 

The MSU pressure washed the carpet on the deck this morning and we put the outdoor play equipment there.  It was a nice warm sunny day so they went outside for a picnic.  While they were out there, I rebuilt their inside enclosure.  They seemed to like having extra space and gamboled around a lot.  I was kind of hot but the carpet was still wet from the pressure washing so they stayed damp and cool.  I started outside with them to make sure they were ok and their Mama stayed with them the whole time.  The Mama’s mama went in and out and supervised as well.  After I finished the pen, I sat outside with them a little more but as they were getting sleepy, I brought them back inside.  We’ll spend more and more time outside and have some adventures out there.  Today, they just checked out the wide open space and the playhouse.  And of course, my stool.  So far they just crawled under it but if I leave it out there with them, someone will be on it soon.  I put a dry rug in the playhouse for them so they didn’t have to be on wet carpet but they didn’t seem bothered by it.  If it doesn’t rain, it should be dry tomorrow.  I wonder how long it will take them to discover my pots of mint, lavender and lemongrass.  None of it will hurt them but hopefully, there is enough plant matter in the pots to keep them from getting into the dirt.  If not, they can always have another bath.  We give a lot of baths around here ;-)

              They’ve had a few more sessions of play, some naps and general puppy cuteness.  I took a short nap on the couch beside them.  Eventually, Jack gave up and napped with me and then SammieDoodlebug  hopped up to use me as mattress.  Jill took up a position beside me in the floor. 

              Turtle is trying to become a snapping Turtle.  She was biting T2J’s hair/back and he was moving away but she didn’t let go of him.  They all think that Jack is playing with them – or at the very least they are playing with Jack.  They don’t just wait for his toy, they play bow and try to pounce.  Which is pretty funny considering they are on the other side of the ex pen and Jack does NOT go in with the puppies.

              Against all odds, they have gotten even cuter.  I keep saying they are as cute as they can be and then they turn around and get cuter.  That will keep them alive later ;-)  I’m going to go soak up a little more puppy breath and prepare everyone for nighty, nighty, nighty…

August 24, 2014 Pupdate

              I was tired by the time we called it a night last night and forgot to turn off the piano toy.  They were apparently not as exhausted because I heard them playing with it through the monitor ;-)  I am going to try to get things back on schedule with posting the blog since I didn’t get yesterday’s up until midday today.  I was a little congested and sore and didn’t feel like fooling with the laptop, especially when there was still more laundry to do (hey when you have 8 wardrobe changes in a day and have visitor cover ups and puppy laundry plus dog towels from 3 big dogs and 5 puppies, it takes a while) dishes to do (I left rinsed dishes from dinner in the sink overnight because I was too lazy/tired to unload the dishwasher last night) in addition to puppies that needed some attention ;-)

              They have been very exuberant this morning.  They swarmed my feet when I stepped in to feed them and they come running  when I call.  They are actually not bad at running  for the most part, although occasionally they get going a little faster than they can control and they’ll roll.  It’s pretty cute and they generally just climb back up and get going again.

              I forgot to say yesterday that 2 separate puppies got the Mama’s tongue.  She used to lick her siblings faces a lot (the Jilly Boo babies) and a couple of them grabbed her tongue.  The Ten puppies didn’t do that that I can recall (perhaps they did it and we didn’t notice but I doubt it) but yesterday she was cleaning tonsils (maybe it’s her version of oral hygiene) and the puppy grabbed her tongue.  She didn’t react (she never does) and then was licking again immediately after release.  Another one grabbed it later during a similar encounter.  Still no reaction from the Bug, just pause and as soon as he let go, she grabbed hold.

              New day equals new toys in the pen.  They received a box of new things yesterday and I put in a couple of those plus the big orange moose.  They like them all and aren’t disturbed by the things that make noise, just as well since I have no end of talking things around here.  Eventually, I put the beverage tub in the pen upside down for them.  It took no time at all before Kodiak had climbed on top of it.  And at that point, they had the first game of King of the Mountain.  I’m certain it was the first of many.  They played it a few more times today even.  I turned it over and let them climb in and out of it but they also improvised a little tug and tipping it up on the edge and rolling it around.  I have to make sure they don’t move it over to the edge and use it to escape.

              There was a lot of paws on the top of the ex pen and hopping up of puppies today but no one actually made it out.  I am no longer leaning over the edge to play with them since I don’t want to encourage them to stand up on containment.  Good habits start early.  The alfalfa pellets are supposed to be here tomorrow so I can make the potty area smell more like outside.  They are pretty good at going to the pad to potty (and I remembered to put it AWAY from the area that they greet people) but last night they did a lot of peeing on the natural colored lamby fleece right after I put it down.  Today they are back to going to the pad.  I don’t know what the deal was.  Most of them already have a potty dance.  They definitely go over to the right spot for that.             Won’t be long before they insist on going outside to potty.

              The MSU just came home and they wanted the big greeting.  All 5 of them putting their paws up and trying to get to him.  I reminded him to gently help them down and to pet them while they were off the ex pen.  When he went in to take his shower, they were still hoping for some attention - don’t have any idea why they would think anyone would pay attention to them ;-) – so I got in the back part of the pen to distract them.  Worked so far, tomorrow will have to be rebuilding their little gated community.  In the meantime, I am going to blame it on Caly since she was hopping in and with them and then back out while she was here this time.  She had to be invited the first time and she was still very careful.  And when Laura was holding a puppy (Laura is new to her) she kept vigil directly in front of her for a long time.  Very much like her Mama and her Mama’s Mama ;-)

              We are going to say nighty, nighty, nighty a little early this evening.  I need to rest and it won’t hurt the puppies to have some more no people around time.  They’ll still be under observation, I can’t help myself.   Puppy breath to all and to all a good night…

August 23, 2014 Pupdate

        I was rather tired last night and didn’t end up wrapping up the pupdate at last call.  I didn’t even remember to send it until this morning.  But I remembered to get a few cuddles from the puppies so the important things were covered.

        The MSU left early this morning so he had to take his phone.  We’ve been using it to monitor the puppies so I got up then.  And the day was busy from that point.  Pupsters are VERY active when they are awake.  They look are interested in the big dogs and no wonder since Jill (the mama’s mama) decided they needed supplementing this morning and stood at the edge of the ferret pen and hurled up some mostly digest food into their area.  They appreciated it more than I did ;-)

        The puppies’ Uncle Rowdy and brother Armada were showing in conformation at our local show so Dog Cindi was there most of the day.  Uncle Rowdy was living up to his name and Armada earned another point.  Thanks to Dog Cindi and Trish for showing them.

        Aunt LeAnne had her mom drive her down and puppysat while I took Jack, Jill, and Caly to the pond and then gave them baths.  She is recovering from her knee surgery so she used a little puppy therapy ;-)  It seems to have finally stopped raining so I also sprayed the dog deck getting ready for the puppies to start going outside.  When I offered them their afternoon snack, the Mama had just fed them so they weren’t as interested.  I saved the rest for later and they scarfed it down then.

        Rowdy’s mom Laura, Dog Cindi and Aunt Colleen came by after the dog show/trial.  It involved a LOT of washing and clothe changing since they and the boys (Rowdy and Armada) have been around a gaggle of dogs.  The boys didn’t get to come into general pupulation and we did try to limit our in and out of where they were but I still ended up changing clothes 5 times before they left and again afterwards.  A pound of preverntion… ;-)

        We had a nice visit and everybody was good to cuddle puppies.  For our after dinner show, I bathed the puppies and they cuddled them afterwards.  Chipmunk was first and took it as a matter of course.  She also ate the cuddling up for a LONG time afterward.  Tootsie was next and she was VERY into it the bath.  She kept reclining into the nice warm bath water and was in no hurry whatsoever to be done.  She didn’t balk at the rinsing under the spray either but she was DONE with the being wrapped in a towel before I finished giving all of the baths.  T2J was next and he was good but there wasn’t room for him and the dishpan I bathed him in when it was time to rinse.  He was also DONE with the towel wrap before all of the baths were finished.  Apparently, he and Tootsie had a big old time while I bathed Kodiak and Turtle.  Kodiak was NOT amused by the bath at first.  He squalled immediately (the water temperature was good, not sure why it scared him) so I cuddled him and then tried again.  He was fine then and didn’t fight or go stiff.  He actually relaxed and seemed to enjoy it.  He also enjoyed the towel cuddle time with Aunt LeAnne for the duration.  Turtle took it all in stride: the bath, the rinse, and the cuddle.  Doodlebug  spent a long time in the pen nursing Tootsie and T2J and then the others when they were added back in, too.  I think she wanted to make sure they were warm enough.  I turned off the air conditioner because I didn’t want them to get a chill either.  They were dry enough at bedtime to turn it back on so the old dogs could be comfortable as well.

        All of the puppies now put their paws up on the front of the short ex pen.  They also spent a lot time chewing on the plastic kid ex pen.  Teething is apparently quite time consuming.  Chipmunk Pink is still working on her lower canines but everybody else’s have cut through.  I can feel hers right under those gums…

       

August 22, 2014 Pupdate

              The puppies got up really early to say Happy Birthday to Dog Cindi. And then we loaded up before daylight to drive to the veterinary chiropractor.  Paranoid person that I am, we took a possibly inordinate amount of prevention to make sure there was no potential contamination.  Thanks Colleen for being the “outside” driver.   She drove the other dogs, we only had SDB and the pupsters.  She also had to be beside our van and take out ‘dirty’ clothes, shoes, etc. at our stops (and make the candy run, too).  The vet was wonderful as well, she didn’t balk at my giving her a coverall (which we also gave to Colleen when she took it off afterward) and met us out at the van.

              A couple of the puppies got carsick on first leg of the trip.  I don’t blame them, I fight not to get sick on that part.  But they were goo little travelers after that.  We’ll see how they do when we go for CERFs in Columbus.  I’ll remember to give them a little ginger before that trip just in case, too.              Fortunately for us, the MamaBug didn’t puke for them on the trip and we fed them again when we got home.  She did nurse them when we stopped and again on the way home when I sat back there and helped her brace while we rode.  At that point, I thought I might be hurling for them.

              They continued their streak of being adorable another day.  And they started looking over the top of the ferret ex pen in the van.  Little front feet reaching up and them straining to find a way out.  I guess it’s almost time to reinforce the defenses (the real ex pen.)

              Our Kennel Club all breed show and obedience trials are this weekend.  I am not going since I don’t leave puppies and worry about bringing ‘things’ back to the puppies.  Their uncle Rowdy and brother Armada are the only PWDs entered.  They are trying to have a some good ring experience since Rowdy has only been to one weekend of shows and he was a little distracted.  Good luck to them but they won’t get to see the pupsters.

              Caly (their sister) is staying with us a few days while LeAnne recovers from knee surgery (plus Caly needed to go to the chiro with us since she is quite the exuberant puppy at times.)  She is getting much more interested in the puppies (last time she was very careful to keep a respectful distance) and they are interested in her.  She and Turtle were talking to each other.  I hope Turtle doesn’t decide to go over the ex pen to play with her ;-)

August 21, 2014 Pupdate

              Happy Birthday to their human Aunt Sara!  There is a person on the ‘New people after 4 weeks list’ now.  They were fairly well behaved for little monsters ;-)

              They are getting really good at eating from the saucer.  Nobody has fallen in today but there have been some misplaced feet but the Mama or other puppies are happy to help clean that up.   We’ll have one more feeding frenzy tonight before nighty, nighty, nighty time.  Maybe I’ll let Dog Cindi put the dish in for them this time.  Then she can be the favorite ;-)

              I changed the linens with them in the pen today.  They were very helpful, just like big water dogs are.  2 of them kept lying across the back of my legs as I knelt to work with the pads and fleece and fleecy bedding.  I’m not at all certain it was the same 2 each time as I was a little distracted.  I don’t think that is the way to go for the future.

              The predicted storms today were rather a bust as far as “things of interest to puppies” go.  It poured the rain but not much in the way of wind or thunder/lightning.  Oh well, they have weeks before they leave.

              Dog Cindi did a weigh in while they were mostly sleeping.  I think they woke up a little but then went  right back to sleep when she put them in the pen.  They have indeed grown.  We have 29 total lbs of puppies.  That is almost 25 lbs more than we had when they were born and an average weight of 5.8 lbs.  Chipmunk (Pink) is the smallest at a ‘delicate’ 5.2 lbs; Turtle (Red) is 5.4; Tootsie (Purple) is 5.6; Kodiak (Blue) is 5.8; and T2J (Green) is an even 7lbs.  They are also growing lots of hair.  We may lionize their rears this weekend and trim around the corners of their eyes.  I’m not quite ready to shave muzzles, I’m enjoying the little whiskers.

              They had a sustained burst of playtime this evening.  They were at each other, the toys, each other over the toys, the food bowl, Cindi, the potty pad, pretty much everything they could.  They are starting to really paw at things now, too.  And they continue to vocalize while they play.  As you might have guessed, they are really cute.

              Caly and Jack are insistent on helping me type this which is not as helpful as you might think so I think I’ll wrap this up for tonight.  We have another big day tomorrow so we’ll have a cuddle and a snack and say Good Night Moon.

August 20, 2014 Pupdate

Have I mentioned that I like these puppies?  It bears repeating.  Not only are they cute, they are pretty sweet, too.  They are definitely into interacting with their environment whether animate or inanimate objects.  They like the vetch piano toy and they expect it to make noise when they do something to it.  If I have it turned off but still in their area and they bother it, they will paw at it, gnaw on it and talk to and about it.  They seem rather indignant if it doesn’t do anything in response.  If it is turned on, they treat the movement, lights and noise as a matter of course. 

              On the not so rare occasions that I venture into the puppy pen, I get the full treatment.  They climb on me, chew on me, wrestle with each other, and occasionally nap on me.  So far, their little teeth aren’t so bad but it’s only a matter of time.  Fortunately, they have siblings to help teach them that teeth are to be used gently and if they don’t listen to each other, the Mamas will intervene.

              They are very good at eating the puppy gruel, maybe that’s why SammieDoodlebug hurled for them this afternoon.  So now I need her to see me feed them a few times each day or re-feed her after she supplements their diet.  At least Jill didn’t go feed them, too.

              They spend more and more time awake but still take a lot of cat naps and a few big sleeps each day.  A few times today, they surprised me by waking up when I came into the room when I thought they were asleep.  They’d play and wrestle and eventually go back to sleep.  Occasionally, the last one going to sleep will fuss a little but usually joins a pile of sleeping puppies and goes to sleep too.  They don’t always all sleep together but it is not always the same one sleeping alone.  And the one sleeping isn’t because the others move away.  I haven’t figured out what the pattern is or if there is one other than the last puppy awake joins a pile as opposed to sleeping alone.

              They are awake again right now, I think I’ll go do a little cuddling before it’s time for everyone to go nighty, nighty, nighty…         

August 19, 2014 Pupdate

Let’s see, what happened today…  Against all odds, the pupsters continued to be absolutely adorable ;-)  They are getting more and more mobile and generally walk/lumber/run around with their tails up.  That’s a good sign, hope they keep that up.

              They recognize the MSU (or Not the Mama as he refers to himself to the dogs) and want him to come and greet them.  When he got home from work tonight, they ran to the front of the pen and ‘talked’ to him.  They were quite happy to be greeted and petted.

              I think they already realize that if Jack comes over to the pen, a toy is likely to come in and they are ready to nab it.  Poor Jack sometimes has to wait until a puppy is done with it before I throw it and occasionally, he has to get a whole new toy out.  It’s a rough life for him ;-)  Yesterday, he was playing with the big rope from water equipment (float lines, drag bag, etc.) and they absconded with that.  It’s about 3 feet long with a few knots in it and they still carried/dragged it around.  They also wallered (I know it should be wallowed but some of you urbanites might not get the pronunciation correct) and chewed it.  I love it when they roll around with things in their mouths.  Maybe that’s why their Aunt B still does it ;-)

              I continued the afternoon snack from the flying saucer bowl again today, they were much quicker to realize what that was all about and came right over.  So I started the Pup Pup call as they headed for the dish.  When they start to really get into eating, I’ll start the magic word and whistle.  The whistles came today, too.  They aren’t different than the old ones except these are yellow. I’m sure they will be REALLY loud, too but that is rather the point.   I sprayed the dog safe flea and tick repellant in the dog yard and perimeter again today since there was actually some time without rain.  Eventually, the sun was even shining brightly.  I the puppies sniff the air when I carry them out there but I haven’t taken them out to play as a group yet.  So far, they have enough new stimulation indoors.  But as I was spraying, we had a LOT of helicopter traffic back and forth over the holler (another ‘corrected’ spelling) so in between wondering what was going on (2 helicopters going back and forth over our house, ridge to ridge turning around and coming back over.  Flew higher for the trip over than the trip back and it was consistent) I was lamenting a missed opportunity for the puppies.  We better get some activity when they start going outside!

              Part of them were awake for the linen change today -or as they seem to have termed it, their unfortunate incarceration.  They were not nearly as receptive to being locked in the crate as they are to being in the pen.  They never climb up on the sides of the pen but 3 of them were standing up on their hind legs on the sides of the crate.  And voicing their protest, too.  It’s really cute even if it is quite the cacophony.  And the other 2 slept on through that.  I love how puppies can sleep through anything.

              They are definitely growing, maybe the Dog Cindi and LeAnne will help me have a weight watcher’s meeting when they come visit tomorrow.  If they do, I will report the results.

              I’m going to go have a little cuddle and sniff a little puppy breath before we sing the 3 songs and it is Sleepy Time Down South.  Nighty, nighty, nighty…

August 18, 2014 4 Weeks Old!

              Happy Birthday to us.  Once again, I don’t know how they keep getting cuter but they do.  This morning, Tootsie put her head back and howled!  I don’t’ think we’ve had anybody howl that young but the old dogs had howled a little earlier because I went into the pool room to feed the fish and instead of following me through the open door, they howled for me.  Perhaps they had gotten a little spoiled because I slept beside the puppies Thursday – Saturday because the MSU wasn’t home.  I stand a better chance of getting some sleep beside them than I do listening for the monitor and coming to check on them every little bit.  And it’s pretty sweet to wake up next to puppies.  I slept in the bed last night though and the puppies didn’t throw a fit.  Neither did the big dogs.

              More puppies have teeth although I swann that several of them keep breaking through and then their gums swell back up around them.  I can feel a lot of them just below the surface and I’m sure if they just gnawed on me a little more, they’d all pop on through ;-)

              Doodlebug is still feeding them and taking care of cleanup.  They can potty on their own and they usually go over to the pad I have in there for that purpose.  She cleans up after them anyway and if she notices they are getting ready to potty, she goes ahead and helps.  She also cleans their faces (and tonsils if they happen to open their mouths.  There’s a good reason we call her Sammie the Tongue sometimes.) and anything that has gotten in the formula.  I’ve been letting them lap up a little each afternoon until they are ready to start having mush on a regular basis.  They don’t exactly need it but I didn’t want it to go to waste and it gives the Bug diarrhea.

              I spent most of the afternoon and evening (between puppy duties and sniffing puppy breath) putting ribbons and trophies and rosettes and pins – generally dog show and trial paraphernalia – in the shadow boxes.  Last time I did that MeeMaw was here to tell me what looks good where and I missed her help today.

              Several of the puppies’ Aunts did well in water trials this weekend, maybe we’ll get to play next summer since we shouldn’t be having puppies.   Hopefully, some of these puppies will get to play in the water a lot next summer whether they are ready to trial or not.  They should get to swim in the pond here but I’m not sure how long it will be warm enough in their new homes to keep doing it much this year.  The rest of their family doesn’t care if it’s cold, they like to swim.  The Mama will swim if there isn’t ice (she might be willing to try to break the ice but I don’t allow that kind of behavior.)

              We need to meet at least 40 NEW people before they are ready to go home.  We are still in the be careful – shoes off; wash hands really well; and wear the cover I provide stage because I don’t want anybody to catch any dread diseases.  I also need to make sure they are on a variety of surfaces (dry and wet).  Don’t worry, I keep a spreadsheet ;-)

              I’m also thinking about when we should start taking little forays outside.  We’ll start on the carpeted deck (after puppies leave we will be taking off the carpet and painting it with some anti-slip deck paint.  We carpeted it almost 2 years ago when Doodlebug slid and caught a toe between the boards and broke it.  Took FOREVER to figure out what she had hurt because she barely seems to register pain.  The vet had to take our word for it and xray to find the break).  It rained the vast majority of the day (but no thunder for the puppies to experience).

              I’d like to know if anyone could access the new pictures so if you could let me know, I’d appreciate it.  I’m going to do a little more cuddling and sing Happy Birthday again before I sing the 3 songs to them.  I may sniff a little more puppy breath and give a kiss or two but probably not ;-)  Nighty, nighty, nighty…

August 17, 2014 Pupdate

                The puppies continue do be absolutely adorable.  They play with each other, they eat, they play with people and they cuddle.  Oh and they sleep a lot.  They play with the toys that are in the pen and sometimes they play with the linens.  If there is a cloth in there, they will check it out too.  It’s pretty cute when they pick something up and try to carry it.

                I don’t know what happened to my computer but the blog file has none of the old entries on it.  That’s annoying as I KNOW I did not delete all of that and just save today’s date last night.  It isn’t even showing up as a backup so who knows.  It has restarted or turned itself off or something but I don’t know when or why other than it likes to give me problems.

                My Human Aunt (and actual family member as opposed to all of the honorary Aunts) came by today and met the puppies.  She was a day too early to go on the list of people they meet but this is when she was in town.  We usually manage to make more than the 40 brand new people between 4 and 8 weeks anyway.

                When I changed the bedding today, they were out of the pool and moving around the floor almost immediately.  Jill and Sammie did some puppy wrangling and I went as fast as I could.  Tomorrow, I think I will have to put them in the crate while I clean.

                There were a couple more things I was going to write today but I am so annoyed with trying to find the real file that I can’t think of any of them now.  If I come up with them, I’ll post more…

 

Picture links (I hope)

Picasa is now Google plus so we are trying to figure out how to get the pictures up.

Hopefully this works! Thanks Colleen

https://plus.google.com/116628714563675130886/posts/aZAmeWwJR1r (Almost 4 Weeks Old)

https://plus.google.com/116628714563675130886/posts/643SGXrP8ek (Almost 3 Weeks Old)

August 16, 2015 Pupdate

               The pupsters had a big day today.  They did some eating and sleeping and playing.  They got to be cuddled by humans Dog Cindi, Aunt Colleen and her nieces (8 and 9).  And they sort of got to meet their canine Aunt B (she kept her distance for the most part).

               We made their area larger again, I needed Cindi to connect the kid pens together AND she informed me that each panel can be done individually so we took 2 pieces out for now.  The girls and Colleen were tasked with keeping the puppies in the pool while we did that.  T2J is quite adept at coming right out of the pool so they had their hands full.  After she put the panels together (I still don’t know how but I have slightly more idea now than before), Cindi helped with the wrangling.  You’d think 4 people to 5 puppies would do it but apparently they had their hands full ;-)  It was pretty funny to listen to them while I tried to put down the linens with help from JillyBean and SammieDoodlebug (she was alternating between ‘helping’ me by holding down the linens I was attempting to spread and making sure the puppies were ok).

               After some cuddles with everybody, and toenails done by Aunt Colleen, they had their sort of weekly photo shoot.  Hopefully, she will get these and last week’s pictures on Picasa.  (In the meantime, they are on Facebook). 

After they had a little nap, we introduced them to some puppy gruel.  They alternated between eating it and wallowing in it and then eating off of each other.  They were much more laid back about it than the last litter but they weren’t really hungry when we did it either.  Their mother came in and topped them off while I was getting it ready.  They all seemed to enjoy it and kept at it for quite a while but it wasn’t nearly the frenzy it is at times.  Tootsie and T2J took to it the fastest; Turtle just dove/fell right in; Chipmunk kept eating and eating and eating; and Kodiak couldn’t decide if he wanted to chew on the bowl, his siblings or eat.  T2J is still the only one with his canines through his gums and the Mama’s haven’t started hurling for them so I may give the pupsters a little formula each day until they say it is time to really feed them.  Cindi took some videos so I will try to get them up.  I’ll post the link when I get them up.

They’ve done some power napping and had a few drinks at the bar.  I expect them to do a little playing again before it’s nighty, nighty, nighty time.  Hopefully, those people didn’t suck up all of the puppy breath ;-)

August 15, 2014 Pupdate

               There’s nothing like waking up to puppies playing beside you.  They are so very very cute!  And they are becoming more and more coordinated.  Well, except when the MamaBug is standing up cleaning up after them and they are reaching up to have a snack.  When she moves, some of them fall over.  They scramble right back up undeterred and try to get to the bar again.

               She still goes in to feed them and clean up after the babies a lot but she hangs out outside the pen most of the rest of the time.  Occasionally, she’ll sleep with them while they are napping but not nearly as much as she used to do.

               I take the toys out at night, I especially don’t wish to hear the piano toy going off in the night.  That thing is LOUD (it has a low and a high but neither of them are very quiet) and is not conducive to me sleeping.  I put them back in this morning while they were sleeping and during their next play session, Chipmunk was playing with one of the tugs.  She mouthed it and crawled all over it and then actually got a hold of it with her mouth and held it.  Some of the others came to get in on it but it is very disorganized and dissolved into wrestling and hungry hungry hippo. 

               I have to clean their pen and change their linens when they are asleep these days or they are very hard to contain.  It’s really cute.  It won’t be too long before they start going outside to play and I can do it while they are out. 

               It’s amazing to me how much they can change in the course of a day.  This morning, they barely started playing with the tug toys and this afternoon Tootsie grabbed onto Jack’s monkey paw that he hung on the edge of the ferret ex pen.  Tonight they are all running/lumbering toward it and gumming onto it.  They are growing up WAY too fast.

               I’m going to do some more cuddling and feed the old dogs one more time before I sing the three songs and we go nighty, nighty, nighty.  Puppy breath to all…

August 14, 2014 Pupdate

               Eating and growing and napping seemed to be on the agenda again today.  They are very good at accomplishing their To Do list, too.  They threw in a little playing today as well. I put some toys in with them but they don’t do much with them yet.  They do have to climb over or go around them but I’m not sure that is all that different than another puppy.  I put in the vetch piano toy that their Mama’s Sire sent when she and her littermates were itty bitty.  I turned it on and put it in while they were napping and they stirred a little bit (it makes a lot of noise the first time you turn it on) but didn’t wake up.

               The little ones recognize my voice now, even when they can’t see me.  I came back into the room from the kitchen and they were playing as they do but when I was going out to feed the fish, I said something to the MSU.  He said they stopped playing and started heading to the edge of the pen looking for me.  They were even checking in the right direction so I guess their little ears are starting to work.

               T2J cut all 4 canine teeth this morning.  I guess chewing on other puppies’ appendages helped them through.  I can feel them just beneath the surface on the others just like I could his this morning so it won’t be long now.  Poor Doodlebug, but she doesn’t seem to mind anything puppies do to her.  She’s a tough bitch, you can hurt her feelings but she doesn’t acknowledge physical pain (not that we try to hurt her but she pulled her WHOLE toenail off once and we didn’t know until 11 that night when she told her brother Indy not to sniff it.  And with the last litter, I’d find puppies trying to nurse on her incision from the c-section and she didn’t seem to care) which helps make her a good mother, I guess.

               I made the puppy formula and got the feeding saucers ready.  I guess I could go ahead and put the saucer dishes in the pen so they have another place to nap.  Puppies always end up sleeping in the food or water dishes when they get a chance.  It won’t be long before they start eating puppy mush.  I think I’ll wait for someone to be around to videotape it.  They are always pretty funny when they have their first feeding frenzy.  I’ll try to post the link when they do.

               Puppy breath to all…

August 12, 2014 Pupdate

               Good morning, good morning the little dogs say!  They were actually eating when I came in to feed the big dogs this morning so they didn’t tell me good morning right then.  But when they are not eating and they see/hear me they come running.  They don’t exactly run but they move fast on 4 feet toward me.  It’s AWFULLY endearing!

               They are also starting to use their front paws when they are playing.  When they are wrestling and mouthing another puppy, they use their front paws.  They are starting to look more and more like little dogs.  And they make more and more noises like little dogs.  They bark and they growl when they are playing and they bark when they want something.

               Sometimes, they want to be held while they go to sleep, sometimes they just want to crawl up into my lap.  They still fall asleep in what would otherwise appear to be the middle of doing something.  That stage will probably last quite a while yet but it’s still pretty funny.

               I THINK every one of them can nurse when they Mama is standing up.  It seems rather early for that but apparently nobody told them they aren’t old enough to do that yet.

               They nurse with great gusto and are quite noisy about it, too.  They aren’t as loud as the last litter but that’s probably because there are half as many of them.  I’m still waiting for them to need to start eating.  I haven’t made any formula for them, they are getting plenty from the Mama but soon they’ll be ready to start using those teeth. They are working on getting those teeth through their gums and working on strengthening their jaws.  As with most things they do, it’s very cute when they are chewing on me.  Often it tickles but they occasionally get a good grip on something (my finger, my sleeve, my shorts) and really try to chew/pull.  And occasionally that is accompanied by a growly noise.  Kodiak was tugging with my shirt tail and growling while I was on the phone with the Daddy’s owner tonight. It was loud enough that she could hear him over the phone when I held it out, too.  They are going to be something.

               They were pretty well behaved when I was on the phone for my training club meeting this evening.  Fortunately they were sleeping during that time, otherwise I’d have had a lot of trouble hearing the meeting.

               Speaking of sleeping, it’s about time to fix 4^th meal and sing the 3 songs - I have started singing Jack’s lullabyes to them when they need to go to sleep.  I find a routine makes it easier, I’m not certain if the other owners sing the 3 songs (or even know Byo Baby Bunting) but I’m pretty sure Nighty, nighty, nighty has been used.  I use it when any of them are here and they still remember it.  So I’m going to say it now and go sniff some puppy breath.

 

August 11, 2014 Happy 3 Week Birthday!

               The puppies (and their Mama) were content to wait until daylight this morning for human companionship.  The puppies were nursing so I fed the MamaBug in the pen.  She was happy enough to eat her bites but she didn’t appear to think she was going to starve in the extra 45 minutes I waited to serve breakfast this am.  Jack and Jill were still sound asleep but Jack eats on command and Jill allowed herself to be coaxed into eating at that hour.

               Pupsters are continuing to grow and be adorable.  They are also occasionally demanding.    If they are awake and Doodlebug walks by outside the pen, they will fuss (quite loudly if they feel the situation warrants it.)  Interestingly enough, they don’t scream for her if I am in there and they don’t scream for me if she is in there.  Well, I find it interesting and since I am the one writing…

               They are starting to be vocal in their play with one another.  And they will gnaw on me with a purpose.  They are working hard on getting those little needle teeth through their gums.  It’s a pronounced difference from when they were trying to nurse on us.  They do a fair amount of licking but when your mother’s nickname is Sammie the Tongue, it is probably to be expected.

               I got the toys out today, they are going to have more than just the occasional monkey paw dropped by Jack (for me to throw.)  Obviously, I spend a fair amount of time in with the puppies but Jack is pretty adaptable.  The Mama and the Mama’s Mama nap on occasion when I am in with the puppies but Jack isn’t too big on napping.  He is a little better about it now (he is 12 years old) but part of that is also because he is sleeping loose in the rubber room as opposed to going to bed in his crate on time. 

               CERFs (ophthalmology exams) are scheduled.  We are doing them younger than usual because Dog Cindi and the rest of the village are going to the National Specialty when the puppies are 8 weeks old.  I’m not certain whether we’ll microchip them before we go this time or not.  It makes me nervous to take them so young but it’s not like I can drive myself.  We need to take all of the old dogs, too.  It is going to be quite the road trip with all of the Village PWDs.  Fortunately, Aunt Tamara (had SammieDoodlebug’s Uncle Clooney and now has Mila from our last litter) is also going to meet us there and help Dog Cindi and LeAnne with the forms since Mila needs CERF’d too.  At least with the new OFA forms, they don’t have to color in all of the boxes any more.  Apparently, those old forms were quite a lot of work. 

               Doodlebug has actually been sleeping on the couch some.  Other times, she stays in with the puppies even though no one is nursing.  I’m not sure how she decides where she is going to be but she’s a good mother so I’ll trust her judgment. There are times that she gets in with the puppies because I am in there.  There are also times that she asks me to come in with her.   She has a very specific come cuddle me noise she makes, she developed it when she wanted someone to come nap with her in the RV bed.  It’s pretty cute and some of her children have similar ‘calls’ as do her siblings.  Not that any of them are spoiled or anything ;-)

               The puppies are getting pretty good at climbing/clambering. They will go over each other and are getting pretty good at getting into my lap.  If they are done eating and I am in the pen, it is not uncommon for them to come over and get up in my lap for a cuddle and a nap.  Sometimes I pick them up and sometimes I let them sleep in my lap.  If I am lying down, they curl up against me or snuggle on my hands or neck.  And they never protest being picked up for a cuddle.  Once I start feeding them, they’ll really like me ;-)  I do make sure they have some time where they do not see or smell a human in the immediate vicinity but I listen in on them with the monitoring app. 

               I have some visits scheduled with new (to the puppies) people starting next week.  We like to have 40 after 4 weeks but it generally isn’t too difficult to get people willing to meet puppies.  Children like the idea but aren’t always as thrilled with the reality of little needle teeth so we monitor interaction with kids even more closely (and I will admit that I take it all pretty seriously.  A pound of prevention IS worth and ounce of cure.)

               The puppies are sleeping and the MSU is home from work so I think I will go shower and wash my hair while he is in charge.  Then I’ll get some puppy snuggles at last call before we all go nighty, nighty, nighty

8/10/14 Pupdate

Another good day in the puppy pen.  They’ve continued to fulfill their duties of eating, sleeping, growing and generally being adorable.  When they are awake, they recognize there are other living beings around.  Not just the Mama, although she continues to be a favorite, they also interact with each other intentionally in addition to seeking interaction with humans.  They do like the humans (we are pretty enamored of them as well).

               They are getting very good at walking and if the Mama is not there to clean them up immediately, they walk off of the lamby fleece to go potty on the regular fleece. I know it’s just an instinct but I am going to start reinforcing it (environmentally).  Such smart little puppies. 

               Occasionally, I carry one around.  The Mama and the Mama’sMama aren’t quite as worried about that these days so I can take them out of the pen a little more.  I am careful not to choose the same one every time and I don’t always reward fussing for attention but I do like the one on one time. 

               I suspect that it will soon be time to start giving them real food.  They still seem to be getting plenty from the Mama judging by the size of them and their activity but I need to be ready for when the dam and the grand dam say it is time.

               I think I am going to start adjusting the feeding times for the Mama, especially when the puppies start eating.  Since the puppies are aware of people, I want to start waiting until it is daylight for it to be Good Morning time.  The old dogs are still sound asleep when I am serving breakfast (we aren’t early morning risers) and SDB is the only one really into eating that early.  If she is hungry earlier than daylight, she will tell me and I’ll start feeding her in the middle of the night.  It’s easier than having puppies who insist on getting up at the crack of long before dawn, at least for me.

               I’m going to do some last 2 week old cuddling and sniff a little more puppy breath before we all call it a day.  Nighty, nighty, nighty…

 

August 8-9, 2014 Pupdate

               The puppies are growing, growing, growing.  Yesterday got away from me and I didn’t get the post written so today will have to be for both days.

               They are starting to really and truly walk around like little dogs.  They are slower about it but they are deliberate.  Sometimes, when they are sleeping they just crawl/roll but they get up and go on walkabout, too.  They are also starting to sit.

               If you hold your hand out, there will be a puppy chin resting in it in just a few moments,  that must run in our lines because I’ve spent a lot of time holding up heads over the years ;-)  It’s really sweet. But there isn’t much they do that isn’t sweet at least in my opinion.

               They are working on teeth.  Part of working on those teeth is mouthing what ever they come in contact with but since there is only the slightest eruption of a tooth, it’s not painful at all.  In a few weeks, they’ll be learning to control that mouthful of needle teeth.  I’ll be there to remind teeth are for toys and the Mama and Siblings will be teaching bite inhibition.  They are growing up too fast!  There are occasions when they are playing with one another.  It’s Hungry, Hungry Hippo and a little bitey games but they are definitely intentionally interacting with other puppies.  So VERY cute!

               I put the cat collars on them today for their photo shoot and to help the Village id puppies from a distance.  They’ve been streaking for several days so I had to significantly loosen every collar to fasten it.  T2J

               They are very proud of their siblings this weekend.  James Bond (TJ from the last litter) made his agility debut and got a leg and a placement in Novice Standard and Jumpers With Weaves (with a happy tail which is my main concern in anything the puppies do) yesterday.  And Mila (the Lemon/Lime curly girly) is now an Apprentice Water Dog! (Mila’s housemate Fergie passed Courier, too so Tamara had a good day, too!)

               Still not stinky puppies at all so no baths yet.  We’ve cuddled them anyway, just not in towels ;-)

               Whiskers are starting to be noticeable on their little muzzles.  I’m anxious to shave their butts but not their muzzles yet.  I like the fuzzy puppy face complete with whiskers while they are little.  I do not care for long hair on muzzles on the adult PWDs, I think it is way too messy but I love the little puppy whiskers.

               It’s not quite nighty, nighty, nighty time yet but I am going to post this now anyway.  If anything exciting happens,  I’ll update.

August 7, 2014 Pupdate

               Good morning,  good morning the little dogs say.  Or at least that’s what I’m translating it as. They definitely are happy to see SammieDoodlebug in the morning, or whenever she appears.  They seem pretty happy to see humans, too.

               The ‘possible power interruption’ for my area happened pretty promptly at 6 am.  I was preparing  the dogs’ breakfast and it went pitch black.  It’s not really daylight at 6 am so it was pitch black.  Fortunately, I can still function that way – I just don’t like it.  The puppies didn’t mind and eventually the sun came up and the power was restored.  It is amazingly quiet when nothing is running though.

               Shortly thereafter, ‘they’ (not sure exactly who they are) started cutting the trees on the power lines.  From a helicopter.  It took a while for me to find out that’s what they were doing.  (Once I figured out it was a helicopter, I thought it might be the guys that fly around looking for marijuana farms.) There was a lot of helicopter activity for a large chunk of the day.  I wish they waited until the puppies were old enough to be aware of it.  Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll fly around looking for marijuana growers later in the summer (one year they seemed to hover watching us practice water work on the pond.  We were wondering what they were doing and apparently, they were wondering what we were doing, too.  The dogs were completely unaffected.)

               The puppies have spent the day doing what puppies do, eating, sleeping, growing, and learning to make noises.  They are starting to walk around a little and sit up to interact.  Dog Cindi and LeAnne came by today to pick up bitch britches for Aunt B.  I managed to twist their arms to visit the pupsters while they were here.  The pupsters were pretty happy to be cuddled.  Turtle was sitting at the front of the pen and when Cindi put her hand out, Turtle reached forward and rested her head in Cindi’s hand.  They like cuddles which is nice because I like cuddling them.

               I forgot to have them help me hold a weight watchers meeting so I did one myself. I’m not completely certain of the numbers but I am secure enough that even the low versions are nice gains.  Everyone is in the 3 lb range and, of course, T2J is pushing 4.  I have more than 16 1/2 lbs of PWD puppies.  That is 4 times the amount we started with at birth.  I guess that explains what the MamaBug is doing with those 4,200 calories each day.  I better keep supplying them for her.  It’s about time for another meal for her now and I need some more puppy breath before we all go nighty, nighty, nighty…

8/6/14 Pupdate

               The babies are growing and moving around more and more.  And if one were so inclined to sit in the puppy pen, they will wake up and crawl up into one’s lap and have a snuggle.  Assuming I was not kidding anyone and will drop all pretense now.  When I pick them up they’ll nuzzle into my neck or hair and occasionally check for something akin to the milk bar but don’t fuss when they don’t find anything.  If they have any problem with Jack dropping monkey paws in on them, they haven’t shown it in any way.

               And they continue to grow and get cuter pretty much constantly.  That trait will serve them well later when they are monster puppies.  I almost can’t wait for them to get teeth.  But I am not in any hurry for them to leave so I won’t wish anything to go any faster.

               They twitch and stretch and curl up in their sleep and they’ll wander around for a new place to lie and flop down there.  They quickly make their way to the bar and then drop off to sleep it off.  Sometimes they’ll move away from the Mama, sometimes they just nap in place.  It’s hard work growing but they are serious about doing the job right.

               Today wraps up Puppy Yoga (Early Neurological Stimulation) according to my spreadsheet.  That means I need to start getting things ready for environmental enrichment (aka TOYS!)  In the meantime, I’ll keep enjoying the puppy breath.

 

 

Cristi Fogus Wetherholt

Allyn Portuguese Water Dogs – Structure, Temperament, Drive...ALL IN!

AKC Breeder of Merit

Barboursville, WV

www.AllynPWDs.com

 

August 5, 2014 Pupdate

As I wrote the entry last night, Turtle was circling the edge of the pool like her namesake sister does in the real pool.  T2J is tall enough to just go over if he chooses so I set up phase 2 aftre I did some cuddling.  It will take some tweaking, it always does as I like it big enough but too big and that constantly changes as they grow.

               Then we held a weight watchers meeting as I put them in the newly rebuilt area.  They are indeed growing like weeds.  4 out of 5 puppies weighed 2.6 or 2.8 lbs depending on what the scale felt like reading and T2J weighed in at 3.2lbs.  We have about 14 lbs of puppy goodness now.

               They seem to like their expanded digs.  They have already been at the edges and Chipmunk has slept with her feet through the spaces in the ex pen.  Turtle wedged herself in the corner with her head propped up.  I think they’d like tin cups to rattle against the bars.  Doodlebug  seems happy with the new arrangement.  She spends a lot of time in with them and some time lying right outside.  She has gotten up on the couches a little but as soon as anyone makes a peep, she’s checking in.  Sometimes she just puts her head over the ferret size ex pen (why they call it ferret sized I don’t know.  I cannot imagine anything containing a ferret much less this short little ex pen but I digress) and checks in, sometimes she gets in with them.

               TJJ actually managed to nurse a little while the Mama stood up today.  She was busy giving baths and he apparently needed topping off.  It didn’t last long but it’s not like he’s been missing many meals anyway.  And Kodiak actually stood up and walked a few purposeful steps.  Generally they just army crawl or lunge around but they can do it quickly.

               Tootsie tried to nurse on my ear today.  She nuzzled a little and then apparently thought she’d give it a try.  She didn’t keep trying or fuss when it didn’t work but her Mama came by before long and I let her go have a real meal.  They eat a lot and so does the MamaBug right now.  I guess that’s how they keep growing and growing… 

               Puppy kisses to all.  I need to take a nap before last call and nighty, nighty, nighty time.