Stepping Outside the Box

Well after an up and down night (me) and trying to keep pups in the box while still letting Pekoe have access, it's time to move out.  Today they pups had their first outdoor experience in a pen on the porch.  However, we're having record high temperatures today so they were only outside long enough for the inside accommodations to be set up.  Photos of that later today.....

Wednesday Night Dance Party

OK so I go away for ONE DAY and in the morning six, count em SIX puppies were out of the box.  Not only were they only out of the box but they'd hidden all over the room - under the couch, under the bed, anywhere they could slip in.  Gave Paul quite a scare!.

So tonight, there's a short ex pen making a "porch" around the front of the box so that Pekoe can get to them but they can't get far if they escape.  This weekend they'll move into a weaning pen in the family room.

They've also started really interacting with each other and playing.  Here's a short video of their Wednesday Night Dance Party!

Good Help is Hard to Find

Again, my apologies for the late posting of the weekly MugShots.  "Aunt" Janet and "Aunt" Kathy did not visit this weekend and Paul was less than available to help until last night.  (should have taken advantage of the the other visitors this weekend and had them assist!)

Pups are growing well and have now graduated to puppy raw (ground chicken or turkey with goat's milk and yogurt.  Later this week, I'll begin to add veggies to the mix.

This morning I came in to find Tater OUT OF THE BOX!  (always knew she was creative) and on the dog bed with Mom.  I'm off to Miami for work for the next day and a half and when I get back, I expect that they'll move to a big pen out in the family room.  Pekoe is likely to be growly with the other dogs for a day or two, but she'll adapt (she did before) and it will be good for the pups to meet their family.

Join Us For Brunch?

Today the pups had their first "real" meal.  We tried offering them puppy gruel in a pie plate last night but very little got eaten and most of it was worn and then later cleaned up by Mom.  Today the meal was served in the "flying saucer" dish and although several pups still felt it was a swimming pool, most of the goo was actually eaten by pups.  Pekoe, of course, returned to clean out the dish and is now cleaning the pups (who are quite goopy)
A few still shots follow the video, showing the aftermath of the event. : >)

A Friday Double Dose!

The pups are growing so much and it's been a bit hard to keep you all updated so here's TWO videos.  Their eyes are all open now.  They're walking better and better *and* they're learning to play!  They're starting to deliberately wag their tails and interact with each other.

Pekoe continues to be "mother of the year" and is uncomplaining in her care of them.  She's eating nearly 8 cups of kibble *and* double her regular raw meals, but she looks great and is maintaining weight.  I'd planned to start some puppy supplementation this weekend, but Pekoe is doing so well and I want to be sure that they're digestive systems are ready for more than milk before we do too much.  We may try some simple baby cereal made with goat's milk to see how they do (other than MESSY!).  I'll try to video if/when we do.

A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words

And so here are 20,000 words for you today.

Make a free photo slideshow

Better Late Than Never!

My apologies for the lateness of the weekly MugShot posting!  I know that some of you have been checking and checking and checking.....OK, it was one of those weekends.  No motivation and no energy.  Pups had several sets of visitors and as long as you ply her with cookies, Pekoe is happy to let you in (right Shawn & Michelle!?).  More guests expected next weekend.  If you're in the area, let me know and please stop by!

So without further ado, here's this week's MugShots.  In birth order, but sporting new fruit & veggie themed, puppy names in honor of little Carrot (who got so named because of the color name of his rickrack and then it stuck), with kudos to "Aunt Janet" for the names, here they are.

Top Row - Group Shot, Melon & Lemon
Second Row - Green Bean, Pumpkin & Carrot
Third Row - Kiwi, Grape & Cherry
Fourth Row - Tater, Blueberry, Peanut

The Eyes Have It!

All of the pups have their eyes part way open now.  You'll get a full look in this week's MugShots but here's a teaser.  I quite sure that her eyes are not blue.  That's more from the photo than it is in real life.  A big shout-out and THANK YOU to "Grandma Melissa" for the cool new blankie.  Still zebra striped but pink and brown and reeeeeeeeaaaaaly soft.

Company's Coming

Today the rugrats were visited by the Dixon family.  After a boatload of cookies, Pekoe was very good with Meredith, Sam and RJ and was happy to have the attention.  Even the smallest pup is well over a pound now, so it's getting to be a bit of a challenge to accommodate everyone at a single meal but here's some photos to show how Pekoe is addressing the situation.  My favorite is the last photo, where Pekoe apparently thinks, she cannot be seen!

I Feel The Earth Move Under My Feet....

The pups are growing daily.  Spotting is starting to come in and we should soon be seeing the start of their eyes opening.  Hearing should follow shortly after that.  Once those two things have happened, we'll heave a huge sigh of relief.  I'm not expecting any blue eyes given the pedigree of these pups and the hearing stats from these two parents are good so our fingers are crossed for another all hearing litter.

They're starting to get up on their feet a bit and are surprisingly mobile for being only 10 days old.  Can't believe it's already been 10 days and at the same time it seems like they've been her for a while (in a good way!)  Here's a short video of the little speed racers.

Weekly Mug Shots

This week's guess on colors is six black spotted and five liver spotted.   In order....

Group Shot, Pink - Black Female, Yellow - Liver Female

Green - Liver Male, Orange - Black Female, Carrot - Black Male

Aqua - Black Male, Purple - Liver Female, Red - Black Female

Brown - Liver Male, Lt Blue - Black Female, Liver Patch Girl

Saturday... in the park. You'd think it was the 4th of July....

Well the 4th of July was nearly a week ago and the pups are growing exponentially.  Nose and eye trim is coming in and I'll post our final decision on color with this week's Mug Shots up shortly.  In the meantime, here's this evening's video. Enjoy!

Outside.... who wants to go outside?

Pekoe is becoming more and more comfortable leaving the pups for short periods of time.  She spent nearly 10 minutes outside this evening, marking over all the spots where Amber (who is in season) has been in the yard.  The video below shows how happy the pups were to have her return. 

Pekoe also continues to graciously welcome guests.  Tonight Linda and Marlin Hutchens from across the street stopped by to visit.  Pekoe gave us one of the most blatent "come quickly, Timmy's in the well" kind of demonstrations.  She'd run out to the family room, bark at us, run back to the guest room where the pups are, run back out with her tail wagging, bark, run back in and then back out to us as if to say, "quick, quick, come see what I did!"

I've spotted you ...

Pups are growing very well.  The smallest boy (tan) has passed his next closest brother and both are over 12 oz now.  Tan started out at 8.3 oz, so this is a significant gain.  The largest boy (aqua) is now slightly over a pound.  Spotting is starting to some through in face, ears and noses so by week's end we should have a pretty good guess as to who is what color.  He's a couple of photos to whet your appetite.

Time Marches On...

Day 2 and they pretty much look the same.  Everyone is growing nicely with the largest pup (aqua) at 14.7 oz (up 2 oz) and the smallest pup (tan) at 9.1 (up an oz),  Here's a quick video from one of last night's dinners.  and they let me sleep the entire night last night!  This is SUCH a GOOD bunch of puppies.  Happy, healthy and thriving but just not fussy.  Even for their weighing in today, only one pup (green) really struggled and was annoyed by being taken from Mom to be put on the scale.

Mug Shots

This is something I did weekly with the last litter and we enjoyed it a lot.

At the end of the day

The pups are now a full day old.  Of all the litters I've had, this has to be the quietest, calmest, most peaceful litter.  All are growing and thriving, but they just don't fuss a lot.  I even got a pretty good night's sleep last night!  Pekoe continues to be the "mother of the year" but is willing to leave them for very brief periods to eat and potty.  She's keeping them (and the whelping box) spotless .  

Mom of the Year

Should be awarded to Pekoe.  After a looooooong night delivering puppies, she's been happy and content to share them with a select few guests and to patiently wait while everyone gets a chance at "the milk bar."  She's been getting treats of chicken fingers, canned food, yogurt and cottage cheese and is enjoying the special attention.  A HUGE thanks to Janet Crumpton for the midwife assistance last night.  Couldn't have done it without her!

They're Here!

Yesterday morning started with an XRay at Dr. Jan's to try to get a head count.  LOTS of little skulls and spines visible.  In fact it was such a full house, we couldn't get a good count.  By early evening, it became apparent that we'd soon be seeing pups and at 9:53PM the first pup arrived.  Pekoe continued at the rate of about a pup every hour until nearly 10AM and ELEVEN new Dal pups joined the world.  When it was all said and done, we have five new boys and seven new girls.  One liver girl with a patch, two black spotted girls and a whole bunch that we can't tell yet.  Below is a  quick introduction to the new crew.  Enjoy!