Oct 8. 2020 Pupdate

I’m not sure how it is possible but the puppies are even cuter today than yesterday.  Maybe because there is more of them than there was yesterday.  I have scales!  They don’t talk but at the worst, we’ll have weight watcher’s meeting via Zoom.  (I haven’t tried to get the apps working for either of them yet to see if they work with voiceover.)

Phoebe - I haven’t decided what her mama nickname will be, but I’m ready for when she becomes a grandmother - my great grandmother was Grandma Phoebe so that’s in my mouth already ;-) - had a very diggy night.  I was sleeping the early part and the MSU was on puppywatch and when I got up at 3am (the puppy fomo is real), he’d blocked the dog door off and had things piled up on the couches to stop her from digging in them.  She tries to sneak in some den building whenever we go out for a potty trip but is being forced to content herself with going in the crates and digging up the blankets.

The aunties (Dog Cindi and LeAnne) came today and brought SammieDoodlebug home.  Cindi puppysat while we took Deja, Caly and SDB out for a mini-romp with a little swimming in the pond (for them, not us) followed by showers.  That helped them blow out a little carbon before bringing everyone back together. At 13.5 and fairly deaf, I’m not sure how involved the Bug is going to be with this litter.  Guess we’ll see what they all decide (under close supervision). 

Dog Cindi managed to clip some of the nails on some of the puppies while she was in charge, too.  And, as usual, she took lots of pictures with her phone (they are on facebook and I am tagged).  We did forget to take posed pictures of the puppies (again)

Phoebe is getting better about letting us hold the puppies (we managed to have a whole weight watchers meeting on the new scales - some of the puppies were weighed on both). I just pay her with squirty cheese for letting me take her puppies and I’ve started counting down during ENS, too.  I do it for other duration behaviors so I might as well use something she already knows to see if it helps (and it might be helping)

The puppies have started really singing, especially while they nurse.  They occasionally make little bark noises, too but they still don’t hesitate to make the baby alligator in distress noise if they want their mama.  Amazing how everything they do is adorable.

   

Oct 7 2020 Pupdate

Hello from the puppy pool.  I went to bed at 4 am (the MSU took over resting by the puppies so I could sleep) and when I came back down at 8:30 (I’d set my alarm for 9:30 so I could feed the big dogs but I woke up and my FOMO kicked in too much to go back to sleep.  That’s a problem with having puppies, there’s a lot of cute to miss at any given moment), Phoebe was lying on the floor outside the pool.  She even got a toy to parade for me.

Apparently, it is apparently Time to Renovate and prepare a potential new site by digging.  She has at least 2 REALLY good dens dug at Cindi’s house but we need one here too.  The MSU blocked off the dog door and the spots she’d started (mind you, she hadn’t left the pool unless I made her up until them) to try to limit her projects.  I’ve tried a couple of times today to set up a spot inside that she’ll be willing to dig instead.  So far, she’s chosen Deja’s crate more than any of the other options.

And in those few hours of sleep, all of the puppies’ collars got tight again so I guess they are growing. (I hope I have a working scale tomorrow, though.) 

Their little nails keep growing, too.  They always need clipped often, especially since we just tip them with the human nail clippers but I don’t usually have to do them IN the pool.  During one of Phoebe’s short forays out of the pool today,  I tried to clip their nails so while they slept.  I didn’t take them out of the pool or even pick them up, but that wasn’t good enough for their Mama.  She climbed back in and let everyone nurse so I only managed to clip the front nails of each puppy WHILE they nursed.  Moments after I finished, so did she.  I’ll swann she is still laughing at me. 

The puppies are getting really good at quickly swarming to Phoebe when she moves to the other side or comes back into the pool.  They are even fast after the linen changes.  Phoebe seems to approve the new system and waits in the new pool for me to hand her babies over now.  It’s nice to have the approval of the dog ;-). 

Now I’m going back to seeking the approval of the tiny ones again.  Even if they still prefer their Mama, they’re awfully cute and I need more puppy breath and snuggles before I go Nighty, nighty, nighty.  Puppy breath to all!