Boy Are We Busy!!!

Puppies are growing by leaps and bounds. So much has happened over the last few days I don’t know where to begin.

We removed the rails in the whelping boxes because the puppies were big enough that mom would khow if she happened to sit on one of them….and, there is a lot more room without the rails.

Then, we introduced the litter boxes. Because the litter boxes take up so much room, we had to move to a bigger apartment! After just a few days, puppies are doing great going potty in the litter boxes.

Then we introduced the back yard! A bit scary at first. Funny sensations on our toes. Breezy air in our ears. Lots of nature sounds. Oh my!  But, after 20 minutes or so, all these dangers melted away and they just played and played.

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Playing in our whelping box for the last time. Note the rails have been removed now. Puppies are large enough that they don’t have to worry about being squished by mom!

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And, playing….playing…playing.

 

 

 

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Here we are in our larger pen! There are the litter boxes. There’s even poo in one!! And please note that LIly’s pups and Maxi’s pups are now together as one big, happy family!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sunshine, fresh air and grass…..oh my! Puppies love exploring and, after just a few minutes, they LOVED exploring their outdoor pen.

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Here is their outdoor playground in our back yard. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we can play outside every day!

Mighty Quiet Around Here!

Well, all but one puppy have left for their forever homes. I have to say they are all very fortunate to have found such happy, healthy and loving families!

Here are some photos and a note from one of them who adopted a puppy from Lily’s litter…..

…Now Pippa, she is little girl #3 with the pink collar. 
Love abounds!

Hi Jacqui,

Pippa had a great visit with our vet today. She was very healthy and was a hit at the office.

Attached are a few photos of Pippa that we thought you would enjoy!

Pippa has already brought so much joy into our home, and we are excited to have her meet our neighbors and the rest of our family.

-Dave, Patsy, Kaitlin & Margaret

Here is another from the family who adopted one of Marli’s pups.
Puppy #3 is now Tiller!

Hi Jacqui,

Tiller is fantastic!  What a doll.  He did great at the airports, seemed excited by the adventure.  Got to fly First Class on his first flight. (Spoiled already.)  Put him underneath the seat, he didn’t make a peep the whole time.  Kinda like he shrugged his little shoulders, said “Yeah, ok” curled up and went to sleep.  Natural flier!

Slept well last night, too, in his airline carrier on my bed.  Just one potty break at about 5am.

Tiller’s adapting well to his puppy playroom.  He occasionally voices his displeasure at being trapped by a baby gate, but seems to understand “quiet” and “shush.”  He settles down so quickly, I’m amazed.  He’s also a great self-soother.  He seems pretty content to play with his toys and scan for baby gate weaknesses to exploit.  (He is obviously intelligent and already responds to his name:) I swapped his litterbox and crate positions today.  A little while later, caught him dragging his placemat/water bowl across the room.  Guess he wanted in on the renovation!  When he’s quiet, I take him out every hour to snuggle/play.  He’s so snuggly, soft, sweet, and tiny!  We are bonding well. 

He’s using his litterbox (yay!).  Peed once on a towel last night (easy mistake) and once on floor today (excited maybe?).  Got a little poo on floor today, but only because his stool is soft- he did use his box.  I’ll mention it to vet tomorrow, but presume it’s the food change.  Not concerned at all. 

Went to a few stores today. Socialization opportunities abound with a puppy this cute. Everyone wants to meet Tiller!  He did great.

My seating is such that I can see Tiller in his puppy room and vice versa.  He was sleeping for awhile.  A few minutes ago, I looked over and he was just sitting quietly looking at me, patiently awaiting my attention.  Seriously impressed with this puppy!  So now he’s smothering me with kisses!!  Good time to sign off.

Thank you, Jacqui, for a wonderful pup!  Keep in touch.

Kimber

And Now we have names

Oh my how fun these puppies are! They sleep, play, sleep, eat, sleep, play, poo.
This is the best!

Now that I’m almost over the flu I have the time to photograph, edit and post their individual pix for you. Thank goodness for my household of family who were more than willing to help with the task!
By the way, the theme with this litter is Florida trees.

Here they are, again in birth order:

1. Myrtle (for Wax Myrtle) is a black Irish pied female.

2. Maggie (Magnolia Tree) is a black parti female with a “heart” shape on her back that is almost blended out with her longer coat.

3. Holly (Dahoon Holly) is also a black parti female.

4. Sabol (Sabol Palm…Florida’s state tree) is the sable parti boy I bottle fed for 4 weeks. He’s feeding on his own quite nicely now.

5. Coco is named after the Coconut Palm. He is our chocolate parti boy.

6. Maple (yes, there are maple trees in Florida!)  is our sable parti girl.

7. Here’s Mango (love that name!) our little black parti female.

8. And, last but not least Gumbo (for the Gumbo Limbo tree). Our black parti boy.

I have to admit, I’m pretty happy with these puppies…of course I’m happy with every litter. But these little ones are gorgeous in my unbiased opinion!

And Now We Can See!

They look like jelly bean cows! So fun now. Their eyes are just beginning to open (you can see Puppy girl #1’s eyes) and they are beginning to move around quite a bit. Later I’ll try to get a video so you can see for yourselves. For today I have individual shots, sexes and weights.
The numbers represent their birth order.
This is boy puppy #4. He is the one I’m still bottle feeding. He weighs 15.7 ounces and is a sable parti.
Puppy 4
This is Puppy girl #1. She is a black parti which means she is more black than white. She weighs 14.9 ounces

Puppy girl 1

This is Puppy girl #2. She weighs 1# 2.8 ounces! She is a black parti and I know her by the “heart’ on her back.

Puppy 2

This is Puppy girl #3. At 13.5 ounces she is the lightweight of the litter and is a black parti.
Puppy 3

This is puppy boy 5. He is a chocolate parti. Both Maxi and Dino carry the recessive gene for chocolate so, while they are both black and white, they can produce chocolate and white babies! He weighs 1 # 4.4 ounces

Puppy 5

This is puppy girl #6. She weighs 14.7 ounces. I know her by the two “specs” on her back. She is a sable parti. Sables will often fade quite a bit so both my sable pups will likely resemble our Marli when they grow up.

Puppy 6

This is puppy boy #8. He is a black part and I know him by the three dots that run across his back end. He has a sweet blaze and a smidgeon of white around his nose. He weighs 14.5 ounces.
Puppy 8

This is Puppy girl #7. She weighs 14.4 ounces and is a black parti. I love her full blaze and white muzzle.

Puppy 7

Plump Little Puppies

Maxi’s puppies are getting so plump! Still do not do much besides eat and sleep. But, their eyes should open soon. They are twelve days old and at this stage are still in the neonatal stage. They are born with a keen sense of smell so they can find their mother’s nipples. Their eyes and ears are tightly closed so they do not hear their own little squeaks, nor do they see each other! They sleep 90% of the time!

I spend several minutes a day holding and caressing each of the puppies so they get used to me. I want them to have a comforting and warm experience with their first human. I stroke their heads, caress their tiny paws and gently tickle their tummies.

Puppies at this stage do not even have control over their bowels so mom has to lick them to stimulate elimination.

Here are a couple photos I took yesterday.

                      This is the little boy I am still bottle feeding. However, today he actually gained a few grams in                      between feeding so I think he is finally figuring out the nursing routine!

Is this not the sweetest face ever?!

A puppy yawn

Yin and Yang