The puppies have now met 15 people! Yesterday a neighbor drove over to meet puppies – yes, she lives two houses over but it is quite a ways so she drove. I was not expecting her so the house was a mess but the puppies were – as always – clean and happy and in a clean whelping box. Luckily, she was not here to do a home inspection!
She sat down with the puppies and was soon covered in furry bodies and wagging tails (especially Sula!). As they climbed up to give her kisses, she remarked at how social they were – I beamed with pride as if my firstborn had just been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize!
One of our other sons, Jake, arrived last night and he also got the royal waggy treatment from the puppy welcoming committee. The puppies are resting now, getting ready to meet four more new people later, including Terri from Portland. I will be sure and post pictures of their adventures in socialization.
They are simply delightful and adorable – I wish all of you could spend just an hour with them because it is magical. Well, except the part where you get bitten but otherwise it is truly therapy for the soul.
The puppies are starting to understand about the potty zone. I bought a small crate and puppy litter, thinking I would make a litterbox. Well, they love the crate but not to pee in so I gave up and designated a fleece as the pee zone as I have done with past litters. They are walking over to pee on the fleece about 60% of the time or so, and this is up from just two days ago. This means no cute fleece beds in their new homes!
Marti asked if Darby and Lolo are still in the Nursing Protection Program – yes, they are. Those big puppies send poor Lolo flying and there she will sit, whining and alone, while everyone else eats – doesn’t that sounds SO sad?! So yes, we are rotating puppies at least four times each day, ensuring that Lolo and Darby are always in the first group.
I think I am going to start feeding them at five weeks (Tuesday) – especially the smaller puppies. They will get one meal a day for the first week, and it will be just boiled organic chicken and rice with goat milk yogurt and maybe some banana after a few days. They will continue to nurse until they leave for their new homes so this initial solid food plan will be just a very small part of their diet.
Joan asked about weights and so we will weigh everyone this evening and give you a report tomorrow. My bet is that Rosebud (aka Traitor Puppy per Galen) is still the biggest puppy.
Marti also asked about Halo. Many moms (human and dog) get sick of their babies pretty quickly and do not want to continue nursing, but Halo continues to be very sweet with her babies and will sleep with them even when nobody is nursing. She is really a great mom!
We are behind on today’s pictures so I cannot tell you yet what they will be – I guess we will all be surprised!
I hope you are having a super Sunday and thanks for checking in.
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