Big Day tomorrow!

Four of the five pups go to their new owners tomorrow. It will be sad to see them go. They have been a fairly easy litter but I think I say that with every litter! (all 8 of them) This is the first litter that I have not kept a puppy and that feels strange. I think by next week when the last puppy goes I will probably have empty nest syndrome. Fat Boy (Hob-b's boy) will help but he will not really be very active for another 2-3 weeks.

We are calling him "Fat Boy" because he eats and eats and eats. He has more than doubled his weight in his first week. On a positive note, Fat Boy is also a type of Harley Davidson Motorcyle so it is not really a bad puppy name!

The pups are getting used to some new things over the past 3 days. Firstly, they are spending the nights in crates. This is started to help them adjust to the first nights in their new homes and to help housebreaking. I usually start this earlier but this litter had a bout of diarrhea and that made crate training difficult. They are well now and can go the night without fouling the crate.
Also, during the day after eating and play, I put them in crates when they start tiring out. Two sets of two pups to one crate and one pup alone. I mix and match them so that each one gets time alone. The first morning I did this was a very noisy 1/2 hour! They are getting better but still can be noisy if they don't think it is nap time......


Secondly, the pups are getting used to their collars and leads. I haven't done alot with that but they will tolerate the collar. I got these fantastic tuggy leads from www.yipeeee.com.

I think they will be great for the pups in their agility training. I have seen tuggy leads before, but these were the first I have seen that are a smaller size for shelties. Of course they all have to have matching collars and leads! I like these leads so much I have to get one each for Zen and Hex.

The last thing I have been trying to do more of is grooming the pups. Nail cutting is quite the task with these five hooligans. After they tired out this morning I was able to trim all 90 puppy nails! Now I need a nap and it is only 6 am!

Grooming shelties is an art in itself. Luckily 4 out of the 5 new owners are previous sheltie owners so I do not have to help them too much. But all my puppy owners soon learn that they cannot see me without my pulling out the scissors and brushes to groom the pup. I like a well groomed sheltie and have an obsession about trimming and keeping them neat. We took some photos during the pups first bath when they all looked like drowned rats! It is great when they are this small and you can bathe them in the kitchen sink!