Monday, March 23, 2009

3/23 Update and a few pictures

Each day they are becoming more like "real" dogs. They sit and stand like small Aussies and it is unbelievably cute. I wanted to show that to you but I can't get them to stay still long enough to do it. Maybe when Michele comes over tomorrow, we can do it. On Saturday I put the whelping box away and made a large area in the kitchen/dining room for them to roam with a crate in it to sleep in. They found the crate immediate and it is where they sleep now. They now have lots more toys, tunnels, etc and love to play. They received their first dose of wormer and the next one will be in 2 weeks. They will get their first shots at 6 weeks and I have scheduled CERF eye exams for all of them on April 7th. The kids now tug, play with toys, walk the boogie board and sleep through the night. Cougar went home last Friday and there was virtually no adjustment period when they were completely weaned because we had been feeding them whole food for over a week before she left. I have posted pictures of all 5 kids with one of their tug toys and a couple of bonus shots of them sleeping in their crate and trying to escape a box where I put them long enough for me to clean up the pirahna pit.

Dad tried to get me to sit still but I moved before he got the shot. He just isn't quick enough for me.































































This is where they sleep. They found it all by themselves. Took them all of about 10 minutes.

They weren't very happy about being trapped in this box while I cleaned up the pirahna pit.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

3/18 Miscellaneous pictures

Room at the Buffet is limited. Compare this to the picture from the first post.
Dining at the trough.








Sleeping in the whelping box. A chance for Grandpa to do some other work.


I took some miscellaneous pictures over the last couple of days. I thought you might enjoy them. See the captions below for more info. They are getting just too cute.

Monday, March 16, 2009

March 15th Update






































































The kids turned 3 weeks last Thursday and celebrated with a road trip to Des Moines and then their first "real food" meal. After eating most of the first plate, Joan made a second. They ate quite a bit of that before proceeding to wear the food and spread it all around the crate - looked like the remains after a bad concert.

They are now on a conbination of ground up Wellness with a milk replacement supplement mixed into a watery cereal three times daily supplemented by mom's milk. Please send newspaper, trash bags and reinforcements! In the last four days, Thursday morning to this morning, they have gained between 10 Oz and 11.8 Oz net of the deposits they have been leaving for me.

Michele and Aaron met us in Kansas City on the way home and we took them out for their first exposure to grass. They were way too mobile. While we were taking pictures, it took 2 people just to keep track of them while Joan and I took pictures on a blanket that one of Loretta's friends made for Cougar's Puppies.

I enclosed a few more photos for you to share.

Monday, March 9, 2009

3-8 Visit to the Vet

I had to take the older boys in for shots today so I took the kids along for a car ride and to socialize with Louise at the Clinic. As long as we were there, Gary looked them over, checked their hearts and pronounced all five of them in excellent health. He continues to marvel at their growth and how well they are progressing.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Update 3/8/2009
























































The puppies are amazing - and getting to be a lot of work but I'm told I ain't seen nothing yet. I took some pictures the other day but didn't get them posted so here are some pictures that I took this afternoon.

First, the all now weigh in between 41.5 Oz and 46.8 Oz and have gained between 141% and 195% of their birth weight. My daughter Michele came over on Wednesday evening and helped me remove all of the stitches from their tails - everything is just fine. Over the past few days all of them have opened their eyes as you can probably see in the photos and they have started to walk. The red boy was first to walk and is getting around the best so far although they still all look like they are drunk. The funniest thing to see is when they get up, shake and fall down. They are all now flooding the whelping box and I change the papers every time they wake up. They got their nails cut for the second time today and did real well. Michele and Aaron came over on Friday and helped me move them into the dining room where they will have lots of room to roam as they grow.

I wish you could all be here to see and hold them as they are a real treat - and you could help me clean up after them.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

3/3/2009 Update

Good morning all. No new pictures today although I'll try to take some later. Just want to update everyone on the puppies. They all continue to do well and gain weight every day. As of this morning they weigh between 31.9 Oz and 38.3 Oz. Since birth they have gained between 85% and 129% of their birth weight. They are starting to try to stand up - looks like push ups on their front legs - Joan thinks they will be up and wobling around by next weekend.

We took them for the weekend in the motorhome. They took the travel and change of environment in stride. They had about 10 new visitors and each held all of the pups so we have begun socializing them in ernest. Joan and I cut their toenails for the first time on Sunday.