Luna and Neil

Luna is wondering just what she got herself into!

Fat Boy Neil 3 weeks

There is really not much to blog about Neil right now! He is growing and being as cute as a button and not much trouble at all. Three weeks old and 1 lb 12 ounces; but most of it is his beer belly! In comparison to my other singleton litters: He is not as fat as the original Fat Boy "Todd" but heavier than his daddy "One". Comparisons at this age are not really very helpful although many people are desperate to figure out heights at this age already! I will already have people asking me if he is going to be small or medium! hahaha

I have him up on the balance disc to try and work on his core abdominal muscles and lose some weight! (really just kidding in case someone thinks I am serious!)



He is making excursions into the kitchen and just started walking around a little. I find singletons are definitely behind in the movement area probably because they don't have to fight for their food. Here he is looking for his mum on the other side of the baby gate right before he got his head stuck between the bars and scared me half to death. Yikes!



The puppy pen has changed again. Now the panels are around the box and the box cut down so that Neil can move out of the box and see more action. I am really liking the adaptability of the old "cardboard box" instead of a fancy whelping box. Ahh the simple things!



A sunny day and Neil goes outside for the first time. He still looks so lonely in his pen.



The two men in the house have got to stick together.

Fat Boy Neil adventures into the kitchen

While having my tea this morning I brought Neil in to interact with Itzy and Zaz. They will have to take place of his litter mates although I think Itzy would like to be his momma. Luna needs to be out of the room during these visits as she is quite protective of her baby. Between Luna, Zen and Itzy I think Neil will have three mums!

Fat Boy Neil at 2 weeks old

Fat Boy Neil is now 2 weeks old. I have almost been feeling guilty as this has certainly been an easy litter to care for so far! Now that his eyes are open and his ears are almost open I can feel needed again.

We have changed the whelping box slightly to start adding more fun things. The baby mobile over head to stimulate him to look up and get used to things over his head. The Radio/CD Player next to the box to start adding extra noise. More toys to climb over...well not really climb as he is not even waddling yet! I know from experience that he will be on his feet later than if he had litter mates and less food!



I laugh whenever I see photos of the cardboard whelping box. It is such a great idea for cleanliness reasons as it is disposable; but all I can think of are homeless people on the NYC streets!

We pick Neil up all the time and just hold him but now I have started to add a litle yogurt for him to lick while we are holding him. This is just to associate good things with being held. I carry him into different rooms and put him on a fleece on the floor to just look around. Nothing too exciting yet as he is barely awake most of the time. ha!





Luna continues to be a great mother. She is very protective of him and when strangers come to visit she gives them a very stern look! I can see her mind is conflicted as she normally loves everyone but is worried about her baby. She certainly does NOT tolerate the other dogs around HER baby and Zaz and Itzy have learned not to mess with "mother nature"!

One week old Fat Boy Neil

We had a nice time at West Wittering beach yesterday. It was Zaz and Itzy's first time at the beach. They are so much fun to take places and I just love them. I was so impressed that they stayed for this photo; I guess my training is starting to work! They are alternatively known as the "Dynamic Duo" or "Dastardly Duo" depending on how well-behaved they are. Luckily they were pretty dynamic at the beach!

Agility has taken a back seat for awhile for many reasons. I just cannot get my competitive head back right now. I am enjoying working with Zen and training her to get ready for the European Open but I am not enjoying the actual agility shows . So I have stopped entering shows for August and instead Dennis and I are going to take a week off and go up to Scotland. After much time on the internet I finally found a nice self-catering cottage that takes dogs and was NOT booked! I think everyone and his family have booked holiday cottages in August. Next year I must think of booking earlier as I found some fabulous places that took unlimited dogs but were booked already. I hope the place I found is nice; it looks good. It is really remote and seems to be in an area with loads of good walks and lots to do. We will take Zen and the dynamic-duo pups leaving Jordan and Pax home with the pet-sitter. Pax and Jordan love to walk but get tired earlier and I think they will be happiest at home.



Neil continues to grow and at 1 week old is now 1 pound! He has the biggest belly and when he lies stretch out he looks like a big blob. The other two singleton puppies I have had were the same way; they seem to gain huge amounts in their bellies.

Here are the two sides of Neil. Luna's breeder was worried that Neil would be too white factored! haha We think Neil is "black-factored"! He has so little white on him but he is cute anyway!




Zen was just dying to see Neil. I put Luna out and gave Zen a chance to check him out. She immediately jumped in the box and cleaned him but then realized that he may want to nurse and skedaddled out pretty quickly.