7-30 Update

Hello everyone. Sorry for disappearing for so long but things have been hectic. The puppies are doing just great. They have been wormed twice and will see the Vet for their first shots and second puppy exam tomorrow. They will have their CERF exams on Monday. I no longer carry them in from the yard after they potty as they all scramble up the steps to the porch and follow me inside to eat. They execute the large wobble board and several do this teeter looking thing that travels about 10" to a bang.


On Wednesday my friends and Viper's breeders, Mark and Anne, came by and we took all of the pups to instinct them on ducks.  It was great fun. They all had some level of interest from just staring to going right after them but all of them were very brave and nobody backed down from the 10 ducks that we put in front of them. Since the environment was new they were also interested in the grass, fence, sticks, trees, etc. They were very perky until the heat got to them.


They now live in an area formed by two Ex-Pens with lots of stimulation. There are a couple of different tunnels, two pianos, toys, tug toys, babble balls, various other balls, some different texture items for them to crawl on, a teeter and a wobble board. In addition, there is a crate in there which they now sleep in so they are fast becoming crate trained. I also take them for a walk around the yard each day - they are very people oriented and follow quite well. I have been putting them back in the whelping box to eat so that I can clean up the Ex-Pen and they can already crawl over the edge and get out.


The pictures posted below are from last Sunday so they are already 5 days older and much more mature but you should be able to get the idea. I'll try to take some more tomorrow. Amanda asked me to take pictures from each side stacked so that is what we tried - what a pipe dream. I'd have to drug these perpetual motion machines to do that. I'll continue to do the best that I can.

No1 is a Blue Merle Tri Female who weighs 6 pounds.

No 2 is a Black Tri Male. He weights 6.5#.

No 3 is a Blue Merle Bi Male who now weighs 5.75#

No4 is a Red Tri Male. He now weighs 6.5#

No 5 is a Red Merle Tri Female weighing in at 6.5#

No6 is a Blue Merle Bi as well who now weighs 6.75#.

No7 is a Black Bi Boy weighing in at 6.75#.

This picture is even older than the others but this is what I look at every time I put them in there to eat.

7/11 Update and Pictures

Good day everyone. Tomorrow the pups will be 4 weeks old and things are getting a little more exciting here. They started on "real" food on Friday - I grind it, add a mild supplement and water to make a watery gruel. They went right to it and made a major mess, walking into it and spreading it all over the whelping box. I included a picture of them at the trough below. As time passes I will transition the gruel slowly to regular kibble so that they will be ready to go home to regular food.

Their eyes are all completely open and it is obvious they can see what is going on. They all have nice sharp puppy teeth. Tails have healed from the docking and the scabs are all gone. The kids are getting more and more steady on their feet and moving very quickly. They climb all over everything in the whelping box. Not one of them is concerned about the movement of the wobble board, they plan the toy piano and not only climb through the tunnel but also up and over it. Their toe nails grow very fast so I trim 56 toe nails every week.

Once they are weaned from mom this next week I will eliminate the whelping box in favor of a crate and they will have a large area to roam and make a mess in. I will add lots more noise and texture stimulus, more tunnels, a bigger piano, more items to tug on and more items to climb into and over. They will be wormed on Tuesday and again two weeks later. At about six weeks I have scheduled them on ducks to check instinct, made a vet appointment for vaccinations and an appointment with the opthamologist for CERF exams. Potty training begins next week as well.

I put a couple of pictures of each pup below and four miscellaneous pictures that I liked of their antics. On the last e-mail I called No 3 pup a Blue Merle Tri but as I look at her I really don't see the tan other a little light tan on her face that looks more like dirt so only time will tell but she might very well be a Blue Merle Bi. Note that all of them look like they have tan on their feet but it is only residue from their food. Several of them sleep on their backs like their dad.

No 1 is a Blue Merle Tri Female.

No2 is a Black Tri Male.

No 3 is a Blue Merle Male.

No 4 is a Red Tri Male.

No 5 is a Red Merle Tri Female.

No 6 is a Blue Merle Bi Male.

No 7 is a Black Bi Male with lots of white on his chest and belly.

There were actually 3 pups sleeping in the tunnel together when I took this one.

Contented pups sleeping in the whelping box after eating.

Another picture after eating. Note the Black Bi sleeping on his back. Several of them do the same thing.

First solid meal at the trough (frisbee).

7/4 Update and New Pictures

Happy July 4th! All of the puppies are doing great! We just got home from out second long road trip and once again they handled it extremely well. We were at a USDAA trial at Boone County Fairgrounds in Lebanon, IN. The pups had lots of visitors and enjoyed every minute of it.

All of their eyes are now wide open. They are all sitting up and walking. It is now a whole new challenge now that they are mobile.

So here are some new pictures taken this morning. Hopefully I will take some better pics tomorrow when Joan is here to help. Amanda asked for statistics on each pup so they are listed under each picture. The pups are way too cute.

This is No1, a Blue Merle Tri girl. She weighed 42.4 Oz this morning and has gained 209% of her birth weight.

This is No 2, a Black Tri boy. He weighs 46.2 Oz which is 235% more than his birth weight.

This Blue Merle Tri boy is No 3. He weighed 41.5 Oz this morning and now weighs 240% more than when he was born.

No 4 is a Red Tri boy. He weighs 45.6 Oz which is 200% more than he weighed at birth.

No 5 is a Red Merle Tri girl. She weighs 43.4 Oz which is 231% more than when she was born.

No 6 is a Blue Merle Bi boy. He weighed 47.2 Oz this morning and has gained 199% of his birth weight.

No 7 is a Black Bi boy. He weighs 47.6 Oz which is 238% more than when he was born.