02/17/25 5 Weeks Old!

How are they already 5 weeks old?!!  It’s all been a blur even more than usual (that’s Blindchick humor in case you didn’t catch it) but it doesn’t seem like they should be more than 3 weeks or so.

Instead of all of the massive rain we were predicted to receive yesterday, it turned to snow before noon.  There wasn’t a lot of accumulation but it did get somewhat slick.  It has at least been sunny a good portion of the day so a lot of it has melted (but not in the places that don’t get winter sunlight) just in time for it to get much colder and snow yet again.   I took advantage of the sunniest, ‘warmest’ part of the day and carried each puppy out onto the patio and let it follow us back to the door, then Uncle Daddy made sure it was warm before putting it back with the others (they weren’t outside/down long enough to truly get cold but ‘a pound of prevention’ keeps me from getting an(other) ukcer ;-)

Today’s theme for new toys is metal.  They seem to think that’s a good idea on their teething gums, too.  And it’s plenty noisy.  As PWDs are wont to do, they also create their own ‘toys’ from things in their environment and are very helpful about pulling up the fleece from the floor.  They are getting stronger and stronger pulling it with various items - including siblings (they don’t make as much progress with a sibling on it)

We held a weight watchers meeting tonight and we have a couple of 5 pounders.  And Fievel is knocking on the door of 4 lbs (he;s gained 7/10 of a pound since Saturday!) Everyone else is gaining steadily and we have almost 33 lbs of pure puppy cuteness.

They are becoming fairly adept at running around carrying things - including toys that are at least as big as they are and it is really cute to see them playing with spoons.  MarmieCarmie is feeling more playful and plays with them and her DaddyDeja and sister Elle.  When she plays with the pupsters, she alternates between going in an rolling around and standing at a gate with her head hanging over and playing with them that way.  Both are adorable.

She’s digging less so I left the dog door accessible part of today and she was in and out more.  She likes to go out and see what’s happening but doesn’t want to leave the puppies unmonitored.  I wonder if I’ll be able to take the small wading pool off of her favorite couch digging spot soon.  Her double dose of JillyBean (our foundation bitch) is coming out again now in how she exits the pen.  She goes in faster circles to get all of them following her like a conga line and then hops out a gate.  I guess that method keeps them from being between her and the exit so she doesn’t worry about anyone being underfoot.

Have I mentioned that they are very very cute?  The lot of them sitting at the edge of the pen waiting for greetings is nearly unbearable.  We try to acknowledge them in that position quickly because it’s a nice behavior.  You know, because we would otherwise ignore them because they aren’t cute at all ;-)

I should’ve made notes throughout the day because there were several other things to add but I can’t recall them now and I have puppies to put to sleep.  Nighty, nighty, nighty.  Puppy breath to all 

02/16/25 Pupdate

Good morning good morning the little dogs say.  I think they’d happily say it a lot earlier than I’m willing to start a day so they go back to sleep until a reasonable time but they are really cute whenever they see people.

We added 5 more people to their ‘new people after 4 weeks’ list today.  And those people (the people of one of GrandPaw Deja’s littermates) arrived as I was trying to change the puppy linens and clean their floor.  The puppies were ‘helping’ so I was letting them play on the piled up dirty linens while I tried to put down the new ones.  Instead, I handed them off to the visitors while I did it.  That worked much better than trying to keep them in a pool but requires more people than we normally have.  It’s time to start using the inside crates for that (and I’ll have to remember to put them where they aren’t able to use them to climb over the fence)

Not too long after that, it was feeding time at the zoo.  MarmieCarmie is now slightly more accepting of the idea of crating her posse (She didn’t want GrandPaw Deja or Sister Elle crated before and we didn’t crate her away from her puppies because she didn’t like that.  So we adjusted visitors to accomodate that.  She still liked the open crates just fine). Now that the pupsters are eating some mush, it is acceptable to her for the big dogs to eat in crates and them for me to feed the little ones.  As long as we let her back in in time to clean up the post prandial puppy pottying so we followed that system.  The puppies ate quite well; she came in to clean up and I eventually took their dishes in to clean while they helped entertain the company.

As the puppies wound down, we utilized all of the extra ‘holder’ and I gave them their first baths in a basin in the kitchen sink.  They were all very good for it and one of them was perfectly content to just float in the water.  That’s always funny to me but a nice soak in a lavender scented bath would be relaxing.  They all insisted on tasting the water a little (I guess I need to add a lline about not drinking soapy water in the official bath time song but I usually just try to keep their chins out of it) and everybody made  to the water straight from the faucet (it’s a progression from being placed into the basin of water to having the rinse water pours from a cup; then the sprayer; and, if all is still well; a little but directly through the faucet a little.)  

That hair already holds a lot of water so they had to be “wrung out” (but not always in the ‘proper order according to GrandPaw Deja) and then wrapped in a towel and snuggled dry by the visitor helpers.  It’s a tough job but someone had to do it (after I bathed the last one, I snagged one back from one of the double holders as my reward for all of that ‘hard work’ 😉)

The rest of the evening was more routine.  Puppies played and played and took a nap and had some dinner and snacks and I tried to hold out until bedtime but my ipad wasn’t charging correctly (I’m lucky if I keep it from dying  even charging while I use it, last night I was losing the battle for some reason) ended up sleeping instead of finishing the blog post.  Hope everyone had a good nighty, nighty, nighty 

02/15/25 Pupdate

The pupsters had a big day today.  So did the rest of us.  I prepped their breakfast when I was up to go to the bathroom at 6am and then went back to bed.  They noticed I was up as I went by the pen but it was dark so it was not breakfast time yet.  It’s my firm belief that it is easier to convert a puppy/dog to getting up earlier than to convince them to sleep later - especially if they are used to starting their day before daylight.  So I’ll do a lot of adjusting of night time schedules to avoid starting our days before daylight.  I am NOT a morning person.  We all went back to sleep until after daylight.

As we were waking up, the old puppies were doing their morning cuddles and MarmieCarmie came up to cuddle after she finished feeding the puppies (she’s still doing that twice in the night and a few times during the day) and they saw something out the door.  Apparently, it wasn’t too big a deal because they just gave some little woofs but the puppies were paying attention and one of them gave a little bark back each time.  Until the big dogs barked for real and then the puppy hied itself  back to the purple fleece in the back of the pen with the siblings.  Smart puppy.

I rearranged some again in the rubber room to try to give us a little more room since we’ve been unable to go outside to play and the upcoming week doesn’t appear to be improving.  SInce the pieces of ferret ex pen on the gates of the short ex pen aren’t holding up great (MarmieCarmie isn’t particularly careful about them and they aren’t built for dogs her size),  we changed those out.  The MSU turned one of the crate dividers into 2 gate extensions that I can use until they are ready to start going in and out through the gate.

Then they met a new person and a new dog - their aunt Ruba and her human Laurie.  The puppies were cuddled by al of the humans (their aunts Cindi, LeAnne and Lana came, too). It wasn’t too long before it was time for the pupsters to have lunch.  Then we had a little more playing until the pupsters were ready to settle into nap time again.  

We had the van warmed up and I warmed a couple of towels in addition to the blankets and fleece I’d already put in the crate in the van.  We bundled up part of the puppies and took them and MarmieCarmie to the van.  (It was more likely that she would be ok with them goingif she went, too and I didn’t want her trying to come down to the house looking for them). It took 2 loads to get all of the puppies because I wanted them bundled up from the cold cold rain and we put their warm towels in with them, too)

Then the puppies got to go on an adventure!  They were driven all of the way up the driveway ;-). We released the other dogs and let MarmieCarmie out to play too.  Cold as it was (the humans were all bundled up in cold weather rain gear - thank goodness for neoprene hoodies), the dogs all ran into the pond for a little dip and a short jaunt partway up pond spur.  We didn’t do it very long because A: the humans were cold and it was raining and B: they haven’t been getting a lot of exercise and I didn’t want anyone to get swimmer’s tail.  So we let them have a little pre rinse and then leashed them to go back to the house.  As they were waiting for us to get ourselves arranged with leashes, they were quite busy sniffing where the Dal was when we came back from North Ridgeville (and the dish I’d fed her from, too.). 

After the dogs were safely ensconced in the house with Laurie and Lana supervising them (we’re not pushing our luck that hard assuming the sisters will all be fine together unsupervised with puppies in the house), the MSU drove the van back down the hill and we carried the puppies back into their ‘castle’. 

While I bathed the big dogs, Aunts Cindi and LeAnne held a weight watchers meeting.  We have over 30 lbs of absolute adorableness.  Fievel is over 3 lbs (not bad for a puppy who was 5.5oz on his birth day); LittleFoot is within a hair’s breadth of 4 lbs; the others all range from 4 1/4 to 4.8 lbs.  No wonder I have to keep loosening collars all of the time. 

We had some more cuddles with the (old and new) puppies before they left.  Unfortunately for me, the heavy (torrential ?) rains are causing flooding and flood watches/warnings so Ruba didn’t have her customary sleep over while she’s in town.  We hadn’t had any flooding that we are aware of but if there are places between here and there that could flood (it usually goes down quickly but if she couldn’t snag Ruba, Laurie couldn’t go back home)

The rest of our evening has been more of the usual napping, eating and mild playtime.  They are getting more and more teeth so play time will become a lot rougher before too long.  I’ve managed to stay up until time for their last meal of the day to get them through the night (with MarmieCarmie’s assistance) so we’re going to get our little dog selves ready for Nighty nighty nighty time.  Puppy breath to all! 

02/13/25 Pupdate

    As my nephew used to say when asked what he’d done that day: “played and played and took a nap.”  That’s what the puppies did that today except they took multiple naps ;-)

Words of wisdom when feeding sleeping puppies, one should wake the puppies BEFORE putting the puppy flying sauce down.  This morning, I put it down and then called them.  They came flying to me like the good wee ones they are but several of them also came right through the dish.  It didn’t phase them at all and my clothes are washable.  Plus they are some of the cutest little things ever.

Last night, one of the puppies was having a little trouble settling in for nighty, nighty, nighty when everyone else went to sleep.  I was giving it a minute to see if they could self soothe before helping.  Deja was in his spot (curled up as the little spoon) but he got up.  I thought it was because he thought I was getting up (he somehow knows from an apparently sound sleep whether I am turning vs getting up ) but after a couple of minutes he hadn’t assumed the position again so I checked.  He had gotten down and was lying right next to the ex pen and the puppy was lying pressed to the other side of it.  Such a sweet GrandPaw!

I’ve started leaving the spoon in the dish so the puppies learn not to mind metal in their mouth.  And somehow, sleepy puppies managed to convince me to offer them bites from a spoon.  It IS pretty cute to have them eating from a spoon (they did also all eat from the dish.)

The latest cutest thing ever is a puppy climbing up into my lap after eating themself completely full and cuddling in for a post prandial nap.  They are so snuggly under normal circumstances but when they are the ones seeking me out for a cuddle, it’s even sweeter.  I am enamoured in case it isn’t obvious.

Teeth are coming in and there is lots of gnawing on everything they come across.  They are starting to assume the PWD sleeping positions of appendages sticking through the holes of the ex pen and using their front paws to smack at one another or us (granted that is much cuter when they are tiny than when they are full grown and smacking you in the face in bed)

Can’t wait to see how they will manage to become even more adorable tomorrow!  Nighty, nighty, nighty,  Puppy breath to all!

 

02/12/25 Pupdate

  The puppies demonstrated this morning that they very much understood the assignment and immediately started eating from the puppy saucer.  A few of them still walked in it - the food on the opposite side of the dish is apparently more appealing than the part on your side but they also happily clean up each other and themselves if their MarmieCarmie doesn’t get clean them all up first.

Fortunately, she does not yet appear to be one of those dams who stop cleaning up after the puppies when they start weaning. So I’m still not letting her give me kisses ;-)

A couple of them are starting to look earnestly as if they are going to try to go over the wall when MarmieCarmie stands at the gate and sticks her head over looking at them.  I keep telling her if she keeps that up, I;m going to have to close the gates all of the time but she’s not yet been moved by my argument.  Especially since she knows that she can easily clear the ex pen if she so desires (she does NOT like having to wait until the puppies are done eating to come in and clean up after them.

The puppies are getting better and better at playing.  When they start making growly noises during bitey mouth, MarmieCarmie checks to make certain that they are ok and then distracts them.  At this age, they are pretty easily distracted - especially by their mama presenting the chance at a snack.  I’m going to get their midnight snack ready and we’re going to say Nighty, nighty, nighty.  Puppy breath to all

02/11/25 Pupdate

We had a big day today.  The pupsters added someone to their new people met after 4 weeks old list this afternoon.  As the snow kept coming and not turning to the predicted (although there were so many different forecasts, it was a toss up which was happening), I was worrying that the driveway would be covered with snow too wet for the MSU to remove with the leaf blower and then we’d have to delay visitors.   Fortunately, while it didn’t turn to real rain, it didn’t stick overmuch to the drive.  

It did turn kind of slushy and slick from the sleety rain we had for a while so we decided to have the MSU meet Zenna at the end of the road and drive her up in the truck in case 4 wheel drive was needed.  Since Zenna drove was amongst the first to hear the puppies- she may’ve seen their little hearts beating on the ultrasound before the vet told me, it was fitting for her to be their first counted visitor.  (Usually, we’ve had a lot more visitors that won’t count because they’ve been here before 4 weeks when the offical count starts for us but the weather this year hasn’t cooperated.  It is a lot earlier in the winter than we’ve had puppies, too but I didn’t want to wait for summer puppies and possibly have another delay.)

The big dogs were very happy to see her, maybe Carmela remembered her as her chauffeur to and from North Ridgeville and, more importantly, the sharer of squirty cheese and chicken nuggets.  After the initial greeting by the old puppies, Zenna was tasked with attempting to wrangle the pupsters in the pool while I changed their linens.  Between the old dogs supervising abd the puppies leaving the pool at will, it was probably quite comedic.  

It seemed less comedic earlier in the day when I unceremoniously yanked up the part where their MarmieCarmie puked up her midnight snack for them.  I’m pretty certain Elle was considering adding to it and I know GrandPaw Deja was but I distracted them with another snack.

After we had everyone back in the castle, Zenna continued to cuddle the new (and old) puppies until the little ones were starting to get a little sleepy.  MarmieCarmie insisted on feeding them a little so that took longer than normal, too.

Earlier in the day, I’d prepped the meat soaked in goat milk mixture that is always the first meal.  It’s horribly messy because we start each puppy with the mixture on fingers and lead them to eating it from the puppy flying saucer.  I started with the small boys and after that it was whichever puppy was awake or easier to reach.  Between me picking them up with it all over my fingers and them climbing through the dish, they were all absolutely covered by the time they were done  and fat as little ticks but when MarmieCarmie was allowed in to clean them (and the dishes), they were still all interested in nursing if they could catch a spot.  (They can all nurse while she stands now but they can’t maintain it very long if she’s moving around)

They all napped hard after all of that - eating is exhausting you know and Zenna got even more good puppy snuggles before she needed to leave.  The puppies and I attended their second training club meeting Zoom call.

After we played a little again, they are so very very cute and cuddly.  Even when they’ve recently been covered in milky meat.  First bath isn’t going to be too long but we have to arrange all of the post bath puppy snugglers (another tough job 😉)

I’m worn out from our big day (and lying awake most of last night worrying that the big dogs were going to hurl for the puppies) so we’re going to say Nighty, nighty, nighty.  Puppy breath to all! 

02/10/25 4 Weeks old!

This am, they can sit on the Totofit disc as predicted! And there’s a toofer or 2 poking through (barely.)

Kids and their tech - they love my ‘story phone”. (Old iphone). As long as it is playing and within reach, they will find it and interact with it.  If I move it, they will seek it out again.  It’s pretty interesting behavior to me.

We had a recall from across the pen (about 7 ft.). The rest of them were settling in on my lap but those 2 were on the bed across the pen.  I was giving  the probiotic and was down to those 2.  So I called and did my finger wiggles and they were up and heading over (and then there MarmieCarmie did, too.  I’m going to have to get more of it if she’s going to have it, too but I think I’ll just have her clean it up like she’s been doing - she wouldn’t take it at all before we had the pupsters)

I had to take down the pieces of ferret ex pen from one of the gates yesterday evening and didn’t put new up because they weren’t attempting to go over it.  This am, I was filling up my water bottle in the kitchen and heard a puppy having a conniption.  So I hurry back out and there’s a puppy vociferously objecting at the fence (I REALLY need to get them tin cups to rattle against the bars) and another puppy talking to GrandPaw Deja. It’s been replaced now ;-)

They’re ready to start receiving new visitors but it’s about to start snowing again.  I guess we’ll see how bad it makes the driveway tomorrow because they are anxious to meet them!  We’re going to cuddle and play a little and say Nighty, nighty nighty.  Puppy breath to all! 

02/09/25 Pupdate

The puppies have apparently spent their night thinking over what they did yesterday and how to do it better today.  They are occasionally moving like real dogs. They can all go over the toto fit disc today. 

They still sleep hard but awake time is much more active and each time they wake up, they have made so much more progress.  It’s always fascinating to me how they change but they are leaps and bounds beyond where they were this morning.

There are some little needle teeth just about to poke through - I know this because they are much more actively gnawing on my fingers so I can feel them.  I think we’ll have some teeth tomorrow.  The big dogs are all acting a little oddly about the pupsters this evening, I think they are about to start puking for them.  I’m prepping the ingredients for their first non Mama meal because I figure it is imminent.

At the 3:30 awakening, they were going over the Totofit disk without even using the “staircase” (little spice rack for cabinet that is perfect for puppy stairs). This morning, Fievel needed a little help so we practiced boat loading to accomplish it.  He didn’t need it by this afternoon.  They were interested in my story phone propped up be the ex pen.  There was even some play bowing at it and one another.  

They’ve also started puppy bouncing at things ncluding toys, siblings, and their MarmieCarmie’s flag.  Occasionally, they even make contact.  Auntie Elle has come in a couple of times to day to check on them - especially when they seem to be playing with her through the bars.

At their 8pm ish rumpus time, they were very active - including grabbing my clothes and tugging; moving the fleece on the floor; and moving the pretty big toys.  They can even mostly balance on the TotoFit Disc this evening but not quite sit on it. I think they’ll keep dreaming of puppy Parkour and wake up ready for new adventures tomorrow.  Nightym nighty nighty. Puppy breath to all! 

02/08/25 Pupdate

The puppies had a good night for a pleasant tomorrow and greeted me happily again this morning.  Have I mentioned that they are absolutely some of the cutest things ever?  Well they are!

I waited to change their linens until MarmieCarmie’s humama arrived so she could wrangle them.  When they are motivated, they can easily come out of the pool so I try to do ti when they are sleeping but MarmieCarmie likes to liven them up for me ;-). They’d just been eating when she was almost here (they weren’t all done but Uncle Daddy opened the door to vacuum in the space between the doors and she MUST alwaus go greet him.  The pupsters frequently get interrupted meals when she ‘needs’ to go say hi.  It won’t be too long before we start feeding them, too so it won’t matter as much (judging by their strength and activity level plus increasing neck sizes, it’s not a real issue now either/. I just worry)

So after greeting the big dogs and passing  their inspection, Grandma Lana soothed each puppy back to sleep while I changed linens.  Fortunately I wasn closely supervised by Elle and Carmie so I didn’t mess anything up too badly ;-)

I put some of the Totofit equipment in and the gym mobile in for when they woke up and were transferred back.  MarmieCarmie refused to allow her puppies to play with one of the electronic toys I put in with them today.  The first time, she just moved it but when I started it again while the puppies were interacting, she came in and took it away.  I tried trading her for the rubber chicken but she wasn’t having either of them in there.  We’ve currently settled for the vtech piano toy and one of the light up sound button that sounds like space invaders.

    Since I’ve increased the pen, there’s now room for me to lie down with the puppies (as long as the gym molbile isn’t in there), I need to have a pillow though.  The caterpillow isn’t nearly as comfortable as the pupsters make it seem.  I guess I’ll sleep on the ottobenbed beside the pen instead for tonight.  Nighty, nighty, nighty.  Puppy breath to all! 

02/07/25

Good morning, good morning the little dogs say.  They saw me on the ottobenbed when they woke up this morning and told me so.  I reached in to greet them and they mobbed my hands.  This is one of my favorite milestones ;-)

They’ve also started to fuss when MarmieCarmie cleans them when they are cuddling/eating.  She pays them no mind but it’s still pretty funny to hear the puppy version of “awww Moooooomm”

They aren’t quite ready to sleep in the toy basket on their own yet but are becoming very adept at playing monarch of the mountain when it’s turned over and draped with a blanket for traction.  That means it’s time to include more of the totofit stuff in their area.

They’re also suddenly very good at playing with me and transition to being cuddly.  Having definite potty signs (pee mostly because Marmie usually does the poo stimulation/cleaning - good girly): if they fuss much when being held and seem intent on being put down, they invariably go over to pee.  So sometimes, I try to just put them adjacent to the potty spot instead of right on it to let them do it themselves.  More than once, a puppy’s been gnawing on me (still no teefers yet), stops and toddles over to the ugodog to pee.  Depending on what’s happening,  I’ll cheer for the puppy but if the rest are nursing I just gently praise them so as not to disturb MarmieCarmie

I need to find/rig up a little shelf to put my phones while I’m in the puppy pen.  In my pocket, I might ‘turn a puppy digging it out and miss the picture.  Whereever else I lay it, a puppy or Marmie finds it so I;m constantly moving it around.

I wore slickery pants this am in preparation for big dog grooming today  (and I am surprised that I actually managed to brush all 3; do their nails; shave 2 butts and give them showers because I frequently fall into the puppy vortex).  Poor puppies get all relaxed in my lap only to slide off and have to wriggle back into position.  It happened repeatedly porr little pupsters might want to file a grievance.  They’ll probably enjoy that as bigger puppies though.

One of the times I was in with the puppies today, the big dogs went running to greet Uncle Daddy.  Sound asleep puppies all picked up their heads to watch.  They didn’t get up but they did watch very attentively for a couple of minutes before going back to sleep.  

I think we’ll see if we can all go to sleep now.  I have to get up in the night to feed MarmieCarmie (it takes multiple meals to keep her caloric needs met so she doesn’t become skin and bones nursing the puppies) and we could all use a little more sleep.  Nighty, nighty, nighty. Puppy breath to all

2/6/25 Pupdate and Happy birthday to Debra!

I get birthday snow most of the time but apparently someone made rain payments for my sister’s birthday this year (at least for here, not where she is).  We had a lot of lightning and thunder all night but the puppies didn’t notice and the dogs didn’t care.  It POURED rain a lot most of the night.  Some of the thunder rattled the house but I seem to be the only one taking any notice.  I personally hate thunder but I am always happy when we get some storms while we have puppies.  Spring is usually a good time for that to happen (I’m pretending it’s Spring now, don’t contradict this delusion for me) so we might have more as they grow.

This morning, my phone did that screechingly loud emergency alert but again, I’m the only one concerned.   Carmela was feeding the puppies so that makes everything ok.  It cleared up during the morning and that front had brought warmer temperatures.  The sun even came out so we had a fairly nice afternoon.

Aunt (Dog) Cindi came to visit and brought Grandma Phoebe to meet the pupsters. And have a shower but that’s just a perk of coming to see Aunt Mama.  Cindi came in to see the puppies and get settled before I went to bring Grandma Phoebe in for her shower.  But Phoebe had barely come out of the crate before she plastered her nose on my arm.  She had a very nice 2o2o on the hitch step and back of the vehicle while she maintained contact with my arm.  I eventually convinced her to come inside with me for her shower   Poor Grandma Phoebe didn’t get to go back on the hill to truly earn her shower but she was very happy to get to see her daughters and Deja and then the PUPPIES.  She was very very interested and very respectful.  She knows how to behave around puppies (and their mamas)

While Cindi was here, we held a weight watcher’s meeting.  We have almost 21 lbs of puppy sweetness now!  The puppies were mostly sleeping and we managed to keep MarmieCarmie from waking them too much so it went pretty well.  We took puppies outside for their nice weather environmental stimulation carried buy someone other than me.  

They’ve had a little more cuddling and a lot of sleeping and some playing.  They are getting better at playing bitey mouth but they are also very funny when they fall over but seem to think they are still within range and keep biting at nothing.  Sometimes there is another sibling’s body part they can bite instead.  Either way, they are really cute!

They can bark intentionally now and still make all kinds of noises while they sleep.  The little bitty grrrs while they are sound asleep and twitching are second only to their little Tribble noises but then again there are little puppy kisses - It’s too close to call!  And I’m still actively refraining from putting them into little baby lion butts (I won’’t do it yet but I keep thinking about it.)

Puppy breath to all Nighty, nighty, nighty! 

02/05/25 Pupdate

I really need to go back to making notes throughout the day because there are lots of things I think I need to put into the blog and then I’m too tired to remember all of the things that happened.

Things I do remember from today include me rearranging their castle (surely this it the last time before we just make it larger/add crates but there keep being things to tweak) and they seem to be enjoying the larger space.  Or at least using it, they seem to enjoy most things.  While they were napping in the pool, Carmela and Elle were very ‘helpful’ while I remodeled as PWDs are wont to be 😉.  I had the castle all set up but didn’t want to wake the pupsters so Carmie cuddled with me in it (and had her hair brushed)

They’ve already been sleeping with their little paws/legs out through the gaps in the pen. And they still want little tin cups to rattle on the bars when MarmieCarmie is right outside.  When they are awake, they recognize me.  They took turns cuddling with Uncle Daddy while he iced and elevated his overworked ankle (PT was a workout today).  They were pretty content (even though he had used the hand sanitizer that I think reeks) UNTIL I’d come back into the room.  They’d look for me then and a couple of them told us about it.

They are oh so close to being able to nurse while MarmieCarmie stands but she doesn’t stand still for it.  She still prefers to lie down most of the time (the better to brush her hair?)

They can easily go through the open doors on the ex pen.  I couldn’t recall how I fixed that lasst time (this ex pen was new with that litter) so Dog Cindi looked through videos/pictures to see what I had done. I wondered why I had the ferret ex pen divided but figured it was because I have trouble with those little connectors.  Maybe I’ll remember next time - unless I do something different again.

The MSU noticed some puppy surfing in the mosh pit this evening.  It’s good practice for being lap dogs when they are grown. 

And today, I added a couple of pieces of pvc pipe for them to explore. I don’t think it’s teaching them bad habits for knocking bars later and it was funny to see them interact with it.  It was fairly large so none of them carried it around (yet).

We had a little thunder tonight and a LOT of rain.  The pupsters only experienced second had rain from the big dogs’ hair though.  It’s thundering again now but I think we’ll see if we can all sleep through it (my money is on yes). Nighty, nighty, nighty. Puppy breath to all!

2/4/25 Pupdate

Another day, another set of rearranging. And some cuddling with the absolutely adorable puppies.  Plus some more cuddling with the also adorable old puppies and the older old puppy.  MarmieCarmie even spent a few minutes cuddling with me in the ottobenbed in the night and again this morning.

She’s getting better about letting us have the puppies outside of the pen.  This evening, while I was in with the puppies Carmie kept fussing at us about something.  She very clearly wanted something but we couldn’t figure out what it was.  She didn’t need to go outside; she didn’t need food’ she didn’t need a drink but she definitely wanted something.  I finally rearranged a little and she came into the puppy pen; settled in to my lap.  So she got cuddles (and brushing as she requires) while she gave them some cuddles.  

They started mouthing at my clothes today.  When they become SharpTooths, it won’t be quite as endearing (yes it will, it just might hurt, too). They did a good job of settling back to sleep a multiple times today and even got to practice it with the MSU.  Kat had a nice long nap on Uncle Daddy while I worked on stringing some of the noisy items for the adventure bpx.  She would occasionally stir when I clanked things together but she didn’t wake up until her MarmieCarmie just couldn’t stand it any longer.

Speaking of not being able to stand it any longer, I need to get some more puppy snuggles after I feed the big dogs again.  Then we’ll say Nighty, nighty, nighty.  Puppy breath to all  

2/3/25 3 Weeks Old!

 I can’t believe how fast time goes when obsessing over puppies!  They are remarkably good at going to pee in the potty spot but their MarmieCarmie is still taking care of making them poo most of the time (and pee a fair amount of the time). 

I can’t tell whether she is opposed to the noisy, light up additions to their area or if she’s just very interested in them herself.  She really likes THE Button so maybe she;s just checking to be sure things aren’t actually treat dispensers in disguise.  The MSU got a couple of the noisy light up toys working for me including the nearly 18 year old Vtech Piano that Jane sent for our first litter.  I was using it anyway but I wanted it to work because it’s a tradition now.  Fortunately, I was just putting in a bunch of dead batteries after dead batteries.  The pupsters are so funny playing with it.  Eventually though, MarmieCarmie goes in to feed them and lures them away.  *Anthropomorphising alert: it’s like a parent with toddlers playing drums on pots and pans; she wants the noise to stop ;-).*   It’s more likely that it’s just time for them to eat (and her to have her hair brushed.)

The pupsters still sleep hard but they are starting to play more during their waking moments.  They are often steadier on their feet now and can head toward their intended goal with determination.  But, unless that goal is the milk bar,  they can also become distracted along the way.  It’s pretty cute when they decide to investigate a sibling’s ear or try to gnaw on my finger.  They are working much more diligently on chewing on my fingers.  Have to start practice chewing to get those teeth through.

I worked on doing their nails while they were awake today because I usually do it while they are sleepy and I want them to realize it happens and is ok. I also took each puppy for a little environmental stimulation carry since it was nice again this afternoon.  We even got to take each one away from the big dogs for a minute or two without MarmieCarmie becoming unduly distressed.  All 3 dogs checked each puppy out when I brought it back and traded it out for another.

We had a couple of minutes of itty bitty bitey mouth but they don’t do anything for too long.  They certainly pack a LOT of cute into those little bursts though.  Plus they are are also completely irresistible when they are sleeping.  In case you haven’t figured it out, they are always adorable but somehow manage to become even more so the next day, too.  Apparently, all of that beauty sleep is very effective.  Nighty, nighty nighty! Puppy breath to all

2/2/25 Pupdate

I have no idea if the groundhog saw his shadow but I can safely predict MORE than 6 more weeks of these puppies getting cuter.  I do hope we do get some weather that’s nice enough for them to play outside a little eventually though.  

I took them each outside during the warmish, sunny part of the afternoon. It was windy so they got to scent the breeze and hear the wind chimes.  I thought it might be a little chilly in the shade but when I tried to tuck them fully into my jacket, they insisted on poking their little heads back out.  Granted, none of them were outside for even a minute but I still wanted them to stay comfortable.

After multiple times posting photos to the new facebook page and them never turning up, I finally gave up and downloaded the app to my phone.  (I prefer using Safari because apps don’t always fully work iwth VoiceOver and I don’t like having to learn new things on them when they update.) That seems to have worked and I put several posts of photos divided into dates to the best of my abilities (lacking patience counts in with abilities, right?). Again, I make no promises about the quality of the photos but I do know that the subjects are awfully sweet and have lots of puppy breath.  Oh, and I actually intentionally posted the completely black one. Carmela took that one with her thumpy tail while iffen was on the floor ;-)

The pupsters are more aware (when they are awake) and are so cute greeting me and/or the other dogs at the front of the pen.  And noisy but still very very cute. They also all like to put their little chins in my hand.  I can gently lead them a little with that, too.

They are starting to mouth on things (my fingers, each other, my toes, toys) instead of just latching on to try to nurse.  So far, there aren’t any little toofers poking through but it’s still early. I wonder if GrandPaw Deja is telling the girls to enjoy it before those little needle teeth make their appearance. 

2/1/25 Pupdate

Not exactly 2 months old but this is the puppies’ second month ;-). Happy February - one step closer to Spring!  And the puppies have managed to become even more adorable which should come as a surprise to no one.

They have now been exposed to the air conditioning.  There was no way I was going to be able to sleep with it 75 degrees so I made sure they weren’t in a draft and turned on the a/c for a little while. They didn’t seem to notice but I and the big dogs were MUCH more comfortable afterward.

I finally created a place to put the photos.  I should’ve put them in an OF account considering A: how cute these puppies are🥰 and B: how frequently my feet are in the pictures 😳. At any rate, I’ve created a facebook page for them called Carmela puppies.  So far, it has only let me post the photos from today but I will keep working on that.  It’s harder for me to do from my phone but I also haven’t shared all of the photos to my ipad (I may be the only person in the world who doesn’t like everything to go to all of their devices or mostly on the cloud. If I could see, I’d probably still use hard copies, too.🤷‍♀️)

I did change out the ferret ex pen in the front of their castle for the taller (rabbit?) version because they were about to go over it.   Marmie Carmie, who can easily clear the back of the couches should she so desire, keeps knocking the little fence as she goes in or out of it.  I added the potty pan, too.  And as soon as they woke up, one of the puppies actually took her little dog self over there and squatted and peed nice as you please.  I have no doubt it won’t be that easy but it was pretty nice.  MarmieCarmie was not as happy about it because she had to move the little grate to clean it up.  I’m not going to fight with her about that, I’ve had ONE litter where the dam didn’t do puppy clean up and that was MORE than enough!

New toys today included the rubber chicken.  MarmieCarmie is absolutely not a fan of it.  Eventually, she picked it up and carried it around looking for a place to hide it.  She finally buried it under a crate pad in one of her ‘digging crates: and I put it back away.  None of the girls have loved hearing them when we have puppies but usually they want it WITH the puppies.  (Mila kept hers in the pool/pen unless we threw it to get her to give us a minute with the real puppies). But the Mama gets what she wants within reason (or something that approximates reason)

The puppies met the MSU’s mom today.  It was quite a feat to get the big dogs to let her to see the puppies.  (MarmieCarmie has instituted stop and frisk for me, even.  This morning, I was going to go inside and started putting my phone into my shirt pocket and she jumped up and pulled my arm down so she could check it.). After I’d put the puppies back in the pen and was cuddling them, MarmieCarmie was feeding them but I hadn’t brought her brush with me.  She made it clear that was not acceptable so the MSU gave it to me and she was happily brushed. 

Puppy breath to all!  Nighty, nighty, nighty