Sunday, October 12, 2008

Sunday in Montana: Snow and Puppies










Happy Sunday! There is a very light snow falling here in Florence, Montana but the puppies are snug and warm, oblivious to the cold and snow. They have had a busy morning and so are all finally napping.

Kinsey learned to climb out of the whelping box yesterday. This means that the whelping box is no longer a secure place to put them without reinforcement. I use the x-pen (portable play pen for puppies) inside the whelping box now to make sure they stay put. It is a hassle because Halo has to be let in/out at night, and I only have one x-pen so I have to move it from whelping box to play area and back, but having puppies running around the house is also a hassle! I am going to get yet another x-pen the next time I am in Missoula to reduce the hassle factor.

So Kinsey is athletic and smart – she is also a very excited and happy puppy, as I have said before. Rosebud is quite precocious and just a little star – she has that “pay attention to me” quality about her. I have already shared how happy Sula is, but she is also very sweet and an escape artist. If there is a stray puppy in the Great Room, it is usually Sula. Darby is a mellow puppy – relaxed and sweet. Madison is vocal and also a more forward puppy (like Rosebud). Lolo hangs back and watches a lot, not shy but just content to stay out of the action. She does love to play and be held, but she is just not a big presence in any way.

The boys are fun and cute. Dawson is a clown – a sturdy little boy who does not seem bothered by much of anything. Ledger is a lovely boy – he is like Rosebud in that he has star quality about him.

None of the puppies are lacking in social skills or confidence – some are just a bigger presence than others. All play together and all interact very well with people. They are doing well with their solid food introduction, and I am going to start teaching them three basic behaviors: sit, down and stand. The intro to housetraining is going so well and they should be easy to completely housetrain when they go to their new homes.

I took all of today’s pictures this morning during one of the play sessions. I like the picture of Halo with her babies – it shows you how big they are getting and also what a sweet presence Halo has with them. I truly have not taught Dawson to stick out his tongue but there it is again! Kinsey and Darby are chewing together on a toy, and I have included an interesting shot of Rosebud playing tug with the camera strap! Darby and Sula are the close-ups, and there is Rosebud playing with a toy Terri made for them – it is a nice substitute for my leg. And there are two pictures that I took in succession of a wrestling match – I love the expressions on their little faces and notice that one has the lip of the other in one picture.

I hope you are having a restful Sunday!

6 comments:

  1. I am loving iGoogle! I can instantly see when my favorite blogs are updated! Don't be too mad at Rosebud for chewing on your camera strap. After all, you did say she has star quality and she just wanted her picture taken.

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  2. I really love all the action shots of them 'in play.' I also love the photo of all of them with Halo. It looks like 'story-time' with mom . . . how sweet.

    Also, Lynn, how do I get signed up with igoogle? That sounds like a great program . . .

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  3. Thanks for the descriptions of all the puppies! It's so nice to hear what their little personalities are like, and how they are developing. How exciting it must be to watch their individual characters slowly emerge.

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  4. Oh, I am so missing sitting in your front lawn and being bitten and playing tug and having puppies fall asleep in my lap after a good play session. Not to mention the lovely people friends; what a wonderful way to relax after a long work day.

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  5. Liz - not sure how to respond to you directly - but iGoogle is great. The Reader makes it so much easier to follow blogs. I follow quite a few stamping/paper crafting blogs and now they are all in one place, and NOT in my inbox! I hope this works, but here is a link to the blog I was reading when I found about about Google reader. There is also a link to a short You Tube video that explains about feeds and what Reader does. Good luck!

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  6. http://wilnaf.blogspot.com/2008/10/i-heart-google-reader.html

    Opps. Forgot to paste the blog link.

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