5 Weeks 2 Days Old

I find this crew such a fabulous bunch.

Here is today's gallery.

They are going out a couple of times a day outside and once in the indoors. They never whine to go out but when you get the sherpa bag ready they get excited! I can't believe that a week from now they will get to meet their new families. 

They run, they hop, they play up a storm and they wag that tail at you. 

Today, Stormy, Raven, Leti and Ella came to visit them outdoors. Leti said no milk from me. See how the others did in teh video today. See that video and others here. 

5 Weeks 1 Day Old: Updated

This photo was last night. The pups went upstairs. So, in reality at 5 weeks old they had their first night without momma. 

Here is the gallery. 

Still have to arrange that room. But at 10pm Dennis said let's do this and I had another late night before bed. Nathan went to bed at 10. :-)

The pups are growing up. 

They were wonderful. Only 1 accident on the floor. Each time I looked at them on the ipad I noticed they were either sleeping or quietly exploring but in reality they slept a great deal. I am not sure I did. No crying at night nor in the morning but that will change. They will realize when we wake up it is time to come downstairs and they will let us know after they hear us. Maybe not tomorrow but they will. I expect that if last night they were quiet and slept a great deal, we will have more of the same as they increase their sleep time. But hey don't forget about us is the norm. 

I am pleased. they did really well. They continue to amaze me.

Choco boy see, sto have an escape bug. He wants to explore and enjoy and play. He's interesting and you can block the way again as Nathan did and voila he finds another way. Can you say smart?

Here is today's gallery.

What a fun bunch. You will be happy with this crew. Such a loving bunch!

5 Weeks Old and Ella

Ella is Roxie's daughter and well Roxie is pretty amazing as she allowed Ella to play with her pups. You could see her body tightening for a few seconds then she looked at Nathan and he said it's okay Roxie. Ella won't hurt your babies and she relaxed. 

Here is today's gallery.

Tomorrow night we hope to take the pups upstairs and mom to bed with us. We do this not to wean them. Mom weans them when it is time. We do this to start the journey of independence from mom. It works for us. Not everyone does it this way but we do as we found it makes for an easier transition when they go home. 

We are also able to extend their sleep time this way. By the time they go home they are usually sleeping from 10 till 7am. Without mom interrupting and checking on them they manage to sleep longer.  Plus this also allows us to sterilize their xpens. At night they go to a clean fun area with different things in it with a camera so we can watch, a crate, a pad and lots of toys and comfie beds. Then Dennis sterilizes the xpen downstairs and sets it up so they come to a fresh clean environment again in the morning. Mom feeds them at this stage about 4 times a day allowing them to eat food more and more. It's not usually till week 8ish that mom starts growling them off telling them the milk bar is closed. Sometimes it is earlier and sometimes the dogs persist. Until they 'get' it mom can't play with them as they descend on her like locusts. 

How do we know it is time? Mom let's you know as she extends the time between feedings. Roxie will now allow them to eat food and drink water before she enters the xpen getting them to eat solids. She knows they can't completely rely on her for all their nourishment.

It has begun.

Tomorrow - if I can get the room set up - well it will be their first night upstairs. I am struggling to make it happen as that room is a mess at the moment. I use it as storage for whelping boxes, blankets, toys etc. You see the room where our daughter was used to be that storage room so it was an easier process but we were crammed in with 2 grand daughters and a daughter and now we have room back. So, I need to get back to the system that worked. 

So tomorrow - perhaps...

4 Weeks 6 Days Old

They are getting a lot of teeth. they are teething. They are trying to chew on each other and when their sibling yelps, they should stop - in the best case scenario but that doesn't happen early on. They learn and we help them via redirection or telling them no. Right now the dark choco boy and white chin are bigger than the other 3. So today they tried it out for size. I could have kept it out of the hallway video but I believe in showing it all including their learning process. 

Here is today's gallery.

Choco is also showing how agile he is. I almost caught it fully on video but you can see him partially literally standing up on his back legs with no support. It was amazing and I do not say that lightly. This is the first time at this age that I have seen it. He is an agile one. 

I was thinking today if I had a pick which would I choose. Well, that would be mighty difficult as each has their own strengths but are equally mighty interesting. I am very pleased with this crew.

We are still going to try to get them to sleep without Mom upstairs on Thursday. Soon they will meet their new new humans. Going to be fun. 

4 Weeks 5 days Old

My goal is to get them upstairs without mom on Thursday night. I had plans by Wednesday but too much going on that day and we still have to set upstairs. When we do not have litters it ends up being a storage room with puppy stuff and I have to organize it. i am hoping Dennis helps me. 

Here is today's gallery.

Pups are eating a fair bit now. This one above always seems to walk to the pad to do his business. It's amazing. He will still have accidents. He's just a week thing but he has the drive and determination. Bravo little one. The rest are getting it here and there. It's pretty young for such things at this stage but they are starting!

They are staying up for longer periods now. It's so exciting to see the play. I didn't do too many videos today. I did get some. 

Teeth are coming in all over the place. They are chewing each other not their chew things. Imagine that. 

Bowels are solid and laundry has increased. The older they get the more laundry you have to do. At least I have a wonderful washer and dryer now. Imagine what I used to have to do. Laundry never got done.

Personalities are starting to truly unfold and they have already found that under tables are cooler when it is too hot outside. Smart ones!! Oh and one is running - well running as fast as one can at that age.

Just Too Hot

As it is Father's Day I had the pups out by myself. The pups started out well and then started whimpering. They were hot. So that was my signal it was time to come in. You must listen to the pups. 

Here is today's gallery.

They seem to be climbing in and out of the car bed now. Some have figured out the tunnel and under the table.

Despite the heat, it was good to have them outdoors. More tomorrow!

4 Weeks 3 Days

This was their first time in the hall. Outside was very wet after the storm so we figured why not try them in a new place... the hall. How did they do?

No issue and get this they found their way around obstacles (great troubleshooting) and they were walking on the tile with little issue. the floors are slippery and were just cleaned but they did a great job. 

Here is today's gallery.

The pups are now eating the soft mousse well enough that they will most likely go upstairs without mom on Monday or Tuesday. We will have a camera on them and the room is right next to ours so we can hear and watch from our ipad and get to them if we need to. We have never needed to. But I end up watching so much that sleep is elusive. 

They all have teeth now. I am going to find the antlers so they can chew on them.

The creamy boy guy will be the smallest. 

Roxie is feeding them less as she knows that is the only way they will start eating. Bravo Mom. She is now just feeding them when she is so full she needs to. Roxie is amazing with the pups. You can clearly see it in the videos. 

You can now see how they are playing with each other. it's unfortunate that you have bigger and smaller pups playing together as clearly the larger ones have the advantage but the littlest one has found tactics like grabbing the back end and tail. It's all in fun but it's obvious he is smart enough to find a way that he has the advantage.

Be sure to check out the videos. I am still uploading a number of them including the hall session.

4 Weeks 2 Days: HOT!

It's way too hot the pups said today. They were not ready for that heat and had open mouths trying to cool down from the start. We only stayed outdoors for a bit of time. You have to watch your dogs and know what is best. Here is today's gallery.

We had a puppy climb out of the sherpa bag. It has begun!

Short blog today as I still have grooming I must do and another blog.

Four Weeks 1 Day Old

Pups are wonderful. Their bowels are solid. They are still not eating all that much in the solid department but they do eat some. Mommy's milk bar is just too delicious and she doesn't mind indulging them. They engage you with play. They get so excited to see you and to go outdoors. They were not sure of these drops of rain falling on their head but they survived.

Here is the gallery.

They are starting to use the pad even on their own at times, other times not, This is quite normal. 

They like to bat their paws at you and give you kisses. It is endearing.

Be sure to check out the videos.

Four Weeks Old

What fine teeth you have... Yes, 4 weeks old and 2 have teeth poking through and 1 has them almost poking through. Nothing on the other 2. They are growing up.

Today they had kibble softened, cooled off and then placed in a food processor to splice it into tiny pieces. They seem to like it okay but they have to eat more solids so we can get Mom back into bed with us. It will come. usually by 4.5 weeks and I informed them today. heh

Here is today's gallery.

We have some fun videos today. You will see what I mean when you watch them. 

They are now really watching what goes outside of their xpen. They get excited when I get the sherpa bag out. They seem to be super relaxed outdoors. I did startle one by jumping. I went to kill a mosquito and I guess he figured I may come down on him. He got over it fast. Strange movements that are not the norm is necessary so they gain their coping skills. 

They are truly wonderful pups. Such a huge change from even 3 weeks to 4 weeks. Wait till you see from now till 6 weeks. It's truly a fun journey - well it is to me!