Can you believe that the puppies are five weeks old already?! Raising a litter is like being in some strange suspended time zone, where the days and weeks just run together. The routine of puppies seems like it always has been and always will be. It is like I have stepped into a different life, one that revolves around puppies and their needs, and it is hard to imagine that it will soon end as suddenly as it started.
The puppies now sleep until 4 or 5 a.m. When they wake up, Halo nurses them and they usually will go back to sleep for a bit. After feeding the big dogs, I put Halo and 3 - 4 puppies in the puppy play area in the Great Room; this group always includes Lolo. The rest of the group joins after a few minutes and our day has officially started.
The puppies rotate during the day between their whelping box, where they always sleep at night, and the puppy play area. The whelping box is more secure and private, but the play area is bigger and allows for more interaction so both have value right now.
The puppies are now running! This is faster than a scamper but just as cute. They are amazingly social and I continue to be impressed at the amount of tail wagging that goes on. Their potty skills are impressive -- this morning they were in the play area for over an hour and only one puddle did not make it to the designated potty area. They purposefully walk over and potty where they are suppose to most of the time -- it is very nice.
Terri from Portland spent the day with us yesterday and I am sure she will share a report when she gets home. We enjoyed the chance to get to know her better and share the sweet puppies with her -- Terri will be getting one of the girls.
It was very expensive to have Terri leave us because she took the nice camera she had sent me in answer to my 911 Nikon call. I could not be without a nice camera at this stage of puppy life and our Nikon is at the factory being repaired so what could I do? Obviously I had to scamper off to Best Buy and get my own Nikon! Now
Kim and I will have his and hers Nikons when his gets back from being repaired. Since we are currently in different states most of the time, this did not seem like a completely silly idea -- at least that is what I was telling myself as I spent a lot of money to keep all of us in pictures!
I did not get a chance to take many pictures this morning as the puppies agreed to go back to sleep at 4 a.m. and we all slept until 6:30! That is serious sleeping in at my house! But we still have some cute pictures from this morning and some taken by Terri yesterday. Madison is playing tug and also in the close-up with Asia, her full sister who is 14 months. Terri got some cute sleeping puppy pictures. Unfortunately two of the pictures rotated themselves and I have no idea how to fix that!
Thanks for checking in and have a perfectly wonderful day!
Mary-Ann, are you sure Asia isn't whispering to Madison about jumping on tables, desks, etc?
ReplyDeleteFive-weeks of Cuteness!
ReplyDeleteHalo is such a good mom. I love the fact that she sleeps w/the pups when they are sleeping or playing.
Mary-Ann, I have a question. Because Halo needed a C-section, will she be bred again, or is it too risky?
Thanks for the descriptive updates and darling photos. :D