Puppies - 3 weeks old

Well, the puppies are growing like weeds.

This week's accomplishments:

The pups began intentional play with one another. Link and Lila were the most excited about playing together initially, but now everyone is excited about wrestling, playing bite-face, tail grabbing and foot chewing. The pups also started showing interest in toys by chewing on them and biting them.

They started barking on purpose, and barking at eachother during play.

They had their first puppy potluck party and met 6 new adults and 2 children this week.

They've begun walking well enough to get turned out of their pen into the living room for part of each evening to explore and play.

Lila with Froggie for size:




Lila sitting up




Luna crawling around on the sofa



Link



Liam



Luke



More next week.

Puppies - 2 weeks old

Well the puppies had their first bath with SOAP yesterday. They all smell like baby powder now :) Lucy seemed unconcerned that her puppies were being tortured in the kitchen sink.

Luna was the drama queen of the group, convinced that soap is fatal to puppies. Lila and Liam were the most patient for the whole process.

Today they all had their nails clipped, and no one made any fuss.

Everyone except for Luke has both eyes fully open and looking around. Luke has one eye still half-closed.

The pups are happily practicing their growling, barking and howling at eachother. The are also trying to master the transition between creeping and walking. With front legs going full speed, their back feet go about half speed and they topple over readily.

Lila with Froggie for scale.



Liam, handsome bugger.



Link, still the biggest brother.



Luna - the drama queen.



Luke, posing for the camera while napping after his bath.

Puppies - 1 week old

Well it was gorgeous today. 75 degrees and sunny, so I put on shorts and a tank top and took the pups into our yard (before you get all uppity about taking pups outside at this age, no other dogs or animals have access to this area right off our deck and they were not exposed to anything dangerous!) for their 1-week birthday pictures.

Enjoy!

I picked out something to use for scale as the puppies grow. Hence the cute frog stuffie. Wish I had used this on birth-day but take my word for it. The pups have approximately DOUBLED in size since last Saturday. They have discovered whining and a few little growls, but mostly just sleep-n-eat. We handle the puppies daily and touch all parts of their bodies, massage their toes and tails and ears, and hold them in every orientation. I believe in using these strategies to improve socialization and expose the pups to human contact from the first day.

Lila (my favorite) with Froggie. Lila is quiet and doesn't mind being separated from mom or her brothers and sister. She loves to snuggle in a lap and sleep. She has the cutest yawn.





Luna - the 2nd biggest. She loves to sleep on her back with all 4 little paws paddling in the air. She is getting a bunch of freckles just like Mom Lucy.



Both Girlies together




Link - still the biggest and squirmiest. He dreams about eating and crawling, and likes to sleep on his side.



Luke - Hubby's favorite. He is very handsome with his lozenge on the back of his head. Also getting plenty of freckles, he treats Lila as his best buddy.



And Mr. Handsome - Liam. He is a classic cutie and likes to sleep on his back in my lap. He wags his tail almost all the time while he is sleeping.





All the boys



Next Saturday I'll post Week 2! Look for some open eyes by then.

So I bought this new CD...

And here is my shameless plug. You need to buy it too!

Any of you who know me have at least heard of The Bobs. I've been a borderline-stalker type fan of theirs since the 80s. Well, Amy Englehardt, aka Amy Bob, has released a solo album and it is totally worth the $20.

From the angst of being lost in yourself as a college student to the lament of a single parent, the trip to find out where your relationship went and the danceable if bizarre bonus track, "Not Gonna Be Pretty" is an exercise in musicianship.

Amy is a talented lyricist and shows full range of emotion and style on this record. From the ironically soaring vocals... "I wanna be anywhere else but me, today... anywhere else but my sad sorry self..." to the fun and witty metaphors of "Cheese Denied" and "Pothole," Amy's album wrings emotions out of listeners.

So this is what's been on my car cd player on repeat for a week... I was lukewarm on the first listening - but I was also stuck in gridlock... At this point "Not Gonna Be Pretty" gets better with every listen.

So support a super smart independent artist who also happens to look great in a neck-tie skirt and combat boots.

Go to www.coldfoot.net and pick up your copy of Amy's new album.
You should also buy one of everything in the Bobs store at www.bobs.com

Lucy's puppies are here

Well, Lucy decided that last night around 11:30 would be a good time to start whelping. After being agitated and aggressively nesting all day, she delivered 5 large, healthy black and white pups.

Here is Lucy prior to delivery, looking fat and ready to be done with pregnancy:



The first pup, a male, was very large and she needed help delivering him:




Pup #2 - also male:




Pup #3 - the first girl:




Pup #4 - another male. Hubby likes this one best because of the spot:





And last pup #5 - a girl and also enormous.




After the pups were born, poor Lucy was just exhausted. She had a quick feed for the pups and then got a little rest: