5 week puppy fun

The pups are starting to take more of my time now. I have it really tough having to play with puppies all day! :-)

The pups had a great weekend with Dennis. I was away both saturday and sunday at agility shows(more about that later) and I am very blessed that Dennis is so supportive and so good with the pups. He tolerates me reminding him constantly before I leave about what he needs to do to keep the pups active and socialized. And then I grill him when I get back about every little move the puppies made! He takes lots of photos and video to keep me happy and not too sad about leaving them. Really it is good for me to leave them so that they can bond with Dennis (also known as a man!)

Dennis has given the pups a great socialization weekend. They had their first time in a crate, their first car ride and their first trip out of the house to the office. They went to the petrol station and the rubbish tip. (in both places they stayed in the car but he opened the boot so they could listen and see the goings-on.

Pups in the crate and the car crate.




Outdoor time.


A visit by Uncle Tim. We make all our guests sit on the floor; we are very good hosts! hahaha


A really special computer "mouse" pad.


Office fun.



We spend loads of money on puppy toys!



The sit-n-spin is the latest addition to my puppy training arsenal! Unfortunately it doesn't spin as easily as I thought; so mainly it is a climbing toy.


I will try and get proper individual photos of each pup this week but for now here are a few candid photos.

Mouse:







Linford:






Fat Head:




Zest:

Growing puppies

The week has flown by. Dennis is still away (he is back this afternoon) so I have not gotten any good video or photos. The pups wake up and I take them out to play with them and the next thing I know they are curled up asleep. There are only so many cute asleep photos I can deal with!

The pups got an extra special visit with Karen and Todd this week. Karen is like the fairy godmother who brings great pressies for the pups! It is no wonder Karen is involved in selling doggie things as she is the biggest buyer of doggie things! haha! (Karen owns a dog and kitty supply store Doggie Solutions and Kitty Solutions) She loaned me a great product called Snugglesafe Pet bed warmer. It is a hot pad with a fleece that you just heat up in the microwave and it stays hot for hours. Much easier than me filling up the hotwater bottle! And safer than leaving a heating pad on. Karen also brought the pups some great cat tuggie toys that are helping them become tuggy maniacs!

Here is the Lil'Mouse behind bars. I put the snugglesafe in the pen with them because, although it was sunny, I was worried she would get chilled.


As soon as it is slightly warm and sunny, I pop the pups outside in the puppy pen. It is so funny because as soon as I do this, the other dogs then just seem to turn into maniacs and they grab a ball and run circles around the pen. This photo is not great but it show how the circus ensues! The pups just sit back and watch at this stage; but soon they will start barking and carrying on when it happens. Hmmm maybe this encourages the barking? :-)



In the mornings I get up around 6am to feed the pups and I sit with them on the floor in the kitchen. I play with them and let them climb on me while I am drinking my coffee and catching up on morning emails (god bless the wireless internet and a laptop!) I try to get some photos but usually I just get the back of the puppies as they wrestle and play. In this photo I stuck the Mouse in a box to try and get a photo but the cutest thing was her sister coming along with the world's tiniest tennis ball in her mouth!

Puppies 4 weeks and growing

Well another birthday passed on Saturday and the pups are now 4 weeks old. For their birthday they got another dose of Nemex-2 wormer. I love that stuff, it is so much nicer than the Drontal puppy that we get here. The Drontal puppy wormer is Pink, tastes awful and you have to give them loads of liquid for their size. So pink wormer liquid gets all over the place and covers the puppies as they spit it out! The nemex wormer come from the US and I always pick up when I am back at home. The pups love the taste and you only need tiny amounts; so much easier!

The pups had some nice visitors this weekend. On Saturday Sonia and Bob came over and they brought some good baby toys for the pups to play with. Gotta love the charity shops! Of course Sonia fell in love with the Lil' Mouse as everyone does.

On Sunday Lisa watched the pups for me while Hex and I went to the Downland show. Not much to say about the show; I mishandled a part and ruined a great run. Shame as it was our first Olympia qualifier and I really wanted to qualify early so that I did not have to think about it for the rest of the year. Bummer. Hex was flying and I quick released her contacts as there was some really good fast dogs there; so no time to hang about. I was really kicking myself on the ride home; something I usually don't do. In reality Hex and I just need to get more practice together; we are not a well-oiled team like me and Zen. I did not even hang around for the jumping and steeplechase classes as I was anxious to get back to the pup-lets. It was only the qualifier that interested me. In retrospect I should have just gone with Nancy to get some training done; that would have been more productive!

It was good for the pups to hang out with Lisa for the day. It all adds to their experiences of new things. And good for me as I came home to a Roast Chicken Dinner! In the evening Tony came by and we made him hold all the puppies and talk "manly" things to them. Here is Tony surfing the net with "Fat Head" on his fat head!



The pups are now eating more. They love their Burns Puppy food. I soak it in water, add some yogurt or Whelpi, heat it up and they eat it up. The Lil'Mouse is the best eater but she actually eats too fast and too much!



Here are some photos of the pups playing with the worlds smallest squeaky tennis ball! I play with them individually whenever possible now and we are exploring different parts of the house. I am playing the sound effects CDs (thunder CD and gunshot CD) and also an old sound effects cassette tape (yes I still have a stereo with a cassette player!). The Cassette tape is really funny as it has the strangest sounds on it. Right now I am listening to: a crowd of people, a man burping, a lady screaming, doorbell ringing, someone walking up stairs, someone walking downstairs, bouncing ball, train noise, deck of cards being shuffled and dealt, a clock chiming, loud dog barking, a harp,a helicopter, a printer, ....you get the idea. I turn these up pretty loud over time and I may be slowly going insane listening to it.

Glorious English weather!

We have had the most beautiful day today. It was a great day to get the pups outdoors again. This photo is of the big girl "Zest".

In the morning they had a visit with Liz and her husband Antony. They had a little time outdoors and indoors to play with the pups. It is a good time for the pup-lets to start meeting more people; so everyone please come and visit!

Dennis is away so it will be hard for me to get photos and videos this week. That said....luckily for some reason I brought the video camera out with me during this afternoon's outdoor session. What A Result! Zen was cooperating and the pups sat still! Do not let Zen fool you. She is so photogenic but she hates the camera! She barks at it and the entire time I am taking the photos she is whining!

Zest is pretending to be a Mini-Me of Zen.



Linford looking cute.




Do you think Zen is getting tired of them yet?

Less Musical pups 3.5 weeks old

I did get some video of the other pups today. It is not easy! They are not really that exciting now; just cute! They move in slow motion and fall over alot. ha! The other pups tried their hand on the piano but just were not as musical as the Lil' Mouse!

The weather has warmed up and I took the opportunity to get the pups outside for the first time. They handled it well and I will try and do more this weekend if the weather cooperates. I like to get them outside into a puppy pen as much as possible. We have lots of vehicle traffic in front of our house so it is good for the pups to be hearing this.

This video won't be very exciting for most blog readers! Instead I think Terry and Christine will be watching intently and hope they enjoy.

The Musical Mouse

I intended to try and get some video of the boys for Christine and of the Big Girl for Terry. Instead the little Mouse-girl decided to be very cute and steal the attention.

I know it is bad bad bad to start training puppies too early....haha! But here is little 3.5 week old Mousey Girl doing her first recital.

Easter Celebration Agility Show 2008

This post is a bit late; but I have been a little pre-occupied! We didn't camp at the Easter show this year which was a good thing...it snowed! Luckily the small/medium ring was moved indoors as I wouldn't have wanted to be out running in the sleet/rain and snow that they had all weekend. I scribed all day Saturday for Lisa and was happy and warm wrapped in my special Hex skull and cross-bones fleece blanket.

Our friends Tim and Marion are certifiably insane as they camped in a TENT along with Lisa and Tony. At least Lisa had an excuse as she was judging on Sat and competing on Sunday. Tim and Marion don't even have a dog! haha Really hard-core campers! I was glad to go home each day and sleep in my lovely warm bed.

Thank to Tim for videoing Hex for me. He got all of her agility run and half of her jumping run. How fitting as he missed videoing the part of the jumping run where we made a blooper! HaHa I knew I liked Tim! Tim was also impressed with the interesting outfits of the dog people; dog people really know how to dress fashionably don't they?

Little Girl Photos

I am hesitant to post too many photos of the little mouse but she is growing now and looks more like a pup and less like a mouse. Notice her ears are not down like the other pups; it is like she is days behind them in development. She is getting cuter and starting to show her personality. The funny thing is that she hardly ever makes a sound; unlike her littermates who are whingers!

Time to play

Bitey face boys! Notice I used the patented pointy finger even in puppy training while in my fuzzy pink bathrobe!



The pups are getting more active and I spend more time with them when they are awake. The play sessions don't last very long right now; maybe 10 minutes but they are coming more often.

They took their first trip into the kitchen today. They are starting to have little personalities. The Big Girl immediately moved out and explored the hallway but then got there and started whinging!

Some photos from last night. These are for Terry so she can see her puppy who will be called "Zest" aka Big Girl.

Thank goodness for Charity shops so I can get ridiculous baby toys very cheaply!



The skateboard always ends up a big hit with the pups. I do not know why but they gravitate to it and use it to stand on all the time. This is their first introduction to it.



Not so coordinated yet at three weeks!



The baby tunnel is actually some unused duct work. I need to find another cat tunnel; I had to throw the old one out as I used it for so many litters that it smelled too much like puppy pee-pee!

pups 3 weeks old

Just a few silly photos! We are now opening the box more often and the pups wander up and down the ramp. It is quite a big ramp for little pups!





I like to add different toys each day to keep them seeing new things. It is funny how they approach them.



The Lil' Girl was 11 ounces today. She is now manic for her food which is good but she does some strange things while eating that are worrying. My emotions run up and down with her. (stop reading now if you do not understand what breeders have to go thru....) One moment I feel really positive and think "YES this girl is going to be something special". And the next moment I wonder "Am I doing the right thing?". There is a high chance that she will not be normal. And if the time comes that we realize that she has serious problems; we may have to make a tough decision. I wonder if I should have let nature make the decision; as everyday she grows it will be more difficult to let her go. I have gotten lots of good advice from longtime breeders. Good stories and bad stories; no crystal ball. The fustrating thing is that I can't even take her to the vet; as I do not think they will be able to help at all. How I wish I had a good "breeder" vet around here.

Hex's Girl-power harness

Many of you have seen Hex's special "Girl Power" harness. Here she is wearing it at Crufts while being fussed by a pirate child!



Well they now make them in pink! And purple! So I need to buy another one for Zen. Zen is a pink girlie girl unlike Hex who definitely suits Black! Here is the website: K-9 Shop

I am going to make an order but as the shipping is so expensive; I thought I would see if anyone else wanted one and we could share the shipping. Just an idea! I like them because there is just one clip and it is easy to get on and off while on the start line. BTW, you can get a variety of labels to put on it..I like "girl Power" and "crazy dog". They also have "sex machine", "drama queen" and "lover boy" among others! Ha!