03/07/25 Pupdate

Good morning good morning the little dogs say!  While they were outside this morning, MarmieCarmie kept going back inside the house.  I thought she was after the lamb ears in their castle but we were having a poopathon and it’s easier if I get it as they do it instead of trying to find all of it later.  She was after their lamb ear but she brought it outside to them.  (Auntie Elle waited until the puppies weren’t chewing it and took it though.  Apparenlty, she thought they’d had  long enough)

2 puppies mastered the dog door this morning.  1 of them has been watching it a long time but couldn’t quite reach their back legs up high enough to get through it but the first one just appeared out in the pool room where the Big 3 were watching me prepare everyone’s breakfast.  I guess they came to see what was taking so long.  If these puppies review me on Yelp (or whatever the dog version is), it’ll say great food but the service is MUCH too slow!   It went in again when I went into the utility room to check the laundry.  After that, it was obviously not a one off and I’ll have to keep track or block the door.

As I was changing out their linens, the MSU was sitting outside with them.  The first puppy came in to watch the Big 3 watch me and eventually followed them back out through it.  What a smart puppy.  After that happened a couple of times, another one came in,too.  This it the one who has been trying but just wasn’t quite tall enough.  The MSU texted me that they had come inside, too.  So they watched and helped me some and went back out when there was something of interest to the Big 3 happening outside.  They’ve been in and out since.

They met a couple more people - we were starting to be afraid they weren’t going to get to come see them between the ice (our driveway) and floods (their roads) but they made it today.  And it was just as the pupsters were settling in for a big morning’s nap so they got to have cuddly puppies after the initial greetings (which reminds me, I think I need to file their nails again because they are sharp). So we sat near the heater and cuddled sleeping puppies.

As puppies are wont to do, they eventually woke up when it was almost time for lunch.  Most of them made it off of the patio to go pee (nobody has pooped on the patio since the second day of going outside and will only poop in the potty pan after extreme protests).  Also as puppies are wont to do, they eat as if they’ve never been fed and will never be fed again. (Their little tummies tell an obviously different story). They were also more impatent because not only did I have to get their dishes outside, we had to wait for the 2 adventurers to make their way back outside, too.  

The rest of the day they played and ran and chased one another and leaves and toys and napped.  I did some more grooming on the big dogs on the table outside with them so they could stay familiar with the sounds.  It’s not a great job (you get what you get when the Blindchick cuts your hair but they at least have somewhat neater butts and muzzles.  GrandpawDeja still has Clydesdale feet but we’ll probably wait for Dog Cindi Scissorhands’ hands to be better enough to tackle that.  He has the good hair so it’s not a problem to brush.  They really like playing in the hair and still consider the leaf blower to be one of the greatest toys in existence.

While the dog show noise cd played for them during a late afternoon nap, Auntie Elle decided that the barking dogs on it must be a threat somewhere so she’d run barking looking for them.  The MSU eventually went out to switch it to some other loud music (I hate loud so we usually do that while I’m not in the room).  In between stopping one and starting the other, he sang one of the 3 songs (4 when I remember to add Soft Kitty but it’s not ‘traditionally’ part of the bedtime routine 😉) to help the pupsters go back to Nighty nighty nappy..  

We took them out a little early because they humans were tired (I’m looking forward to the time change!) .  I’ll do last call in the night again (as long as they aren’t expecting to start their day before daylight, it doesn’t really matter if it’s midnight or 2 am as long as they don’t have a potty emergency). Nighty, nighty, nighty.  Puppy breath to all! 

03/06/25 Pupdate

These puppies are very very cute!  Smart and this far, pretty fearless.  The nasty weather moved back in yesterday evening and I do not appreciate that.  The puppies however apparently don’t care if it snows oats.  They are thrilled to go outside to play and play and take a nap.  If it weren’t for the hawks, I wouldn’t have to stay all of the way outside with them all of the time but I’m not certain that the puppies are that much bigger than a rabbit so I’m not risking it.  The propane heaters do make it more tolerable (I especially appreciate the one the MSU modified so it is lower.  I can feel some of that heat while sitting beside it)

Fortunuately, the puppies also love thundering back inside into their castle for the treats that fall from above.

They are much faster and more coordinated most of the time when they are racing around outside.  They can also run carrying much larger toys (or things that pass for toys with a puppy - pretty much everything is a toy to them). It’s always more fun to have another puppy chase you with it  so they sometimes have to run past a time or 2 to get another to notice the value of the “prize” but it almost always works.  That’s better than having puppies who won’t share though.

I didn’t have a chance to write during the day so although I knwo more happened, it’s undocumented for today.  Nighty nighty nighty. Puppy breath to all 

3/4/25 Pupdate

   Have I mentioned how utterly adorable these puppies are?  It bears repeating.  They are so cute waiting for us to pet them; let them out; let them in; pick them up; etc., etc.   Running amok in the yard chasing leaves or one another is also pretty darn cute.

   The vet came today to give their first vaccine (the nomograph results were to do the first at 7 weeks); microchips and an exam.  They were all little troopers and enjoyed meeting her.  They’ve yet to meet a atranger.   Having squirty cheese on the grooming table didn’t make them unhappy either ;-). The boys even let her feel both of their testicles in the right place.  Now that they have microchips and AKC registration numbers, I can complete the online forms for their CAER (fka CERF) exams.

   It’s been a nice day so we’ve spent most of it outside.  After puppy lunch, I brought out cushions and a yoga mat and placed them in the sunshine.  I was very popular lying there.  The big 3 love that game but did keep moving away for the little Sharptooths to get it out of their system.  I didn’t end up sleeping but it was a lot of fun.  I may’ve lost some hair though. 😉

   They’ve spent a fair amount of the afternoon covered in dead dry grass (it’s still dormant and I didn’t overseed this fall) from having BIG practicing to be Portuguese Waller Dogs.  I get it off and they speed off to do it again.  Their Auntie Elle is proud of their efforts (she’s very fond of making her own Ghillie suits). The big 3 are sporting some themselves because they’ve been zooming around together on occasion as well.  I usually put a halt to that quickly because the littles think it looks like a LOT of fun and try to join them.  The big 3 have pretty good proprioception and clear the pupsters but  that’s a lot of moving parts for me to worry about colliding.

   I tried to utilize one of their nap times this afternoon to start arranging things for their nighttime crates but they kept waking up and coming to help me.  I’ll need to gate that door too now.  I’ve been using it to sneak out with their food since they know we use the others and I think they’ve noticed.  It’s hard to sneak much past them so they know it is of interest.  I didn’t get it set up but we’re going to go Nighty, nighty, nighty in the crates in the pen again tonight anyway.  Puppy breath to all 

3/03/25 7 Weeks Old!

     If it’s the middle of the night and I get up, they’ll settle again pretty quickly with a nighty, nighty, nighty (without me singing the 3 songs) but if it’s getting close to daylight, they think it’s time to rise and shine.  So far they are mostly quiet while I bundle up (unless one of them needs to go poop) to get ready to go outside with them.  All of them even made it off of the patio before squatting to pee this morning!

   After they pottied and ran around, I let them forage in the castle sandbox for breakfast and put water in the bowls.  They played some more but I was still really cold so we pressed The Button and ran back into the castle.

   I tried to go back to bed but the Big 3 were rumpusing (and thoroughly enjoying it) and the pupsters were alternatively watching them and rumpusing as well.  Puppies ‘fence fighting’ is hilarious!  They started it when I put the big crate in their enclosure and they still do it fairly frequently.  It especially ramps up again when another crate is added or moved.

  We came inside a little after 7am and when I took them out again around 9, the water in the dishes had frozen.  No wonder I think it’s cold!  I made them take the rest of morning nap inside so I could be warmer.

   We’ve spent late morning and the afternoon outside and they’ve enjoyed that a lot!  It was allegedly going to be 50 today but if it made it, it certainly didn’t feel like it.

   I introduced them to chewies today: 1 lamb ear and 1 tendon treat (I needed to be able to keep track of them). They liked both but couldn’t make a lot of headway with the lamb ear.  Multiple puppies could work on the tendon so it was eventually mostly consumed so I gathered up both when the puppies went to sleep. They can work on the ear later or I can let one of the big dogs start it for them.

   They continue to adore the leaf blower.  I tried to use the broom today but they also love it.  To the point that I can’t use it without there being multiple puppies swarming it and rendering my efforts useless.

   MarmieCarmie still nurses them at least once during the night so I’m reluctant to start restricting them to crates the whole night but I’ll be starting that for at least a chunk of the night soon.  They tend to sleep in the open crates so it won’t be as difficult. Nighty nighty nighty Puppy breath to all 

3/2/25 Happy Birthday to Grandma Phoebe

We had temperament evaluations starting much too early (for the humans) so we had to get up and get ready.  The puppies were cooperative about having breakfast early and pottying; a little less thrilled with being placed in the crate in the van.

We made it with only some protestation and NO puking either direction.

When we came home afterward, it was well past lunch time so we had a picnic and they ran and ran and played until they were close to ready to rest and I was cold again so they finished playing inside and napped. 

   They’ve mastered the re-entry to the pen for The Button.  So much so that I’m opening the corner instead of letting them use either door.  They are doing it so fast that I’m afraid someone is going to catch a paw in one of the spaces.  I am still varying the exit points.

I napped beside their pen while they napped in crates together and now we’re doing midnight snack and Nighty, nighty, nighty time. Puppy breath to all 

3/1/25 pupdate

Another blustery day and turned back into winter throughout the day.  In (my decision) and out (theirs) pretty much all day.  They enjoyed some nice sunshine in the afternoon but the wind was gusty.  They seemed to enjoy it if they even noticed it at all.

Part of our company couldn’t make it but one did so they showed her their new little needle teefers ;-)

They’ve almost mastered running into the pen when I press their version of THE Button.  I introduced it to them late this morning but it’s a LOT of fun.  

I went to bed after they had dinner and potty time, the cold is exhausting.  We’ll do midnight snack by the alarm clock ;-)