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
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