Sunday in Montana: Puppies and the Ryder Cup

Halo just walked into the whelping box and Kinsey woke up with bark and raced over to be the first in line. It is so amazing how every day brings something new! The puppies cannot hear yet but they have learned to recognize the feeling of Halo stepping into the whelping box, and that usually wakes them up. Turning on the light in the room when it is dark will also wake them up now. You can just see how their developing brains allow them to interact with their environment in more ways every day.

They are actively and purposefully playing now. They bite each other and use their feet to push. Since they are still toothless, this is gentle play right now. They bite the entire nose of another puppy and they also bite on my clothes and my fingers and anything else they can grab. They play with each other a lot, and I think it is just about time to start adding some toys to the whelping box to give them some variety.

The puppies take little field trips. All have been outside already, and they sometimes nurse in the main room. I like them to get exposed to different surfaces, smells and temperatures and so they have been working on those things on their puppy field trips. The puppies have met the cats and all three of the big dogs (Maize, Cadi and Asia).

Last night Kim (husband) arrived! This means that they have now met four people – me, Galen, the vet and now Kim. They are going to meet another person on Tuesday when the substitute puppy nanny comes over to tend them while I go to work -- Galen is in Salt Lake City until Wednesday but Kim leaves Tuesday morning so luckily one of the techs from the vet clinic is coming up to stay with the babies.

I hope you enjoy today’s pictures. There is a puppy pile, with Sula looking at the camera. Do you see her blue eye? When we had my first litter I was in a panic when they opened their eyes because every puppy had blue eyes! I have learned that is normal, but it is a little strange at first. There is a picture of me – a self-portrait! I am holding Darby in that picture. The two puppies being held and trying to bite each other are Ledger and Dawson. Halo is very happy to see her dad, and so there is a picture of Kim sitting in the whelping box with Halo and all eight puppies. Finally, there is a picture of Sula biting Dawson. All that white on Dawson’s neck will shrink up and be a single Swiss kiss when he is an adult.

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend – thanks for visiting us today ☺