Day 29

Hard for me to believe that the pups are almost 30 days old. They sure are growing fast. Redoing their box tomorrow. Taking down the whelping box and putting the other up. A little sooner than planned but, they are really outgrowing the box.

The pups have been weighed and wormed again. They are getting big! Weights are as follow in birth order: Maddison-3.11 1/8#, Demi- 3.7 1/8, Moses- 3.13 1/2, Gilda - 4.5 1/2, Raffi- 4.4 1/8, Zeus- 3.8 1/8 (no longer the smallest puppy!!), Bailey- 4.1 3/4, Bauer- 3.14 1/2, Asia - 4.2 7/8, Tony- 4.0 1/8

Even though Zeus is no longer the lightest puppy he is still the smallest, height wise. He has the short stocky build going on...with huge feet. We won't have to worry about him blowing away. All the pups are learning their names. Some are coming when called. All come to the door when you walk in the room.

Looking forward to spring and letting the puppies go outside. Right now it is to wet and cold. Hopefully in a couple weeks the temps will be better.

Almost 4 wks

Pups are really growing. Easting soft food twice a day. I am going to raise that tomorrow as Ivy is trying to wean them. I have redone their whelping box. Added wood chips to the back, as that is where they tend to go to the bathroom. I want to get them used to the chips this week then next weekend they move to the bigger box. The 10 little critters have just about outgrown the 4 x 4 whelping box. Their new home will be 4 x 8....a little longer, a little more room.

They are eating about 1 1/2 cups of food, mixed with lots of warm water and some puppy formula. The also have there own bowl of water when out of the box. They seem to like it. Takes them a little while to get used to it. Each time they go to it they act like it is the first time. :-)

They are learning their names. Raffi, Zues, Bailey and Asia will all come when you say their name. The others just come no matter what you say. Personalities are starting to come out. From what I have seen so far....Asia she is the independent one. She will play with toys by herself, do her own thing. She doesn't seem to need the other puppies. She loves being around people, being held. Craves attention. Moses, Bauer, and Tony are all pretty much the same. They like attention, will come when you call. Tony is the most independent of the three. Moses is the thinker. He still looks for ways out of the box. He will watch the other pups try something, fail and then he will go do it differently and succeed. Bauer is pretty middle of the road. Bailey is a smart little booger. She figures things out. She can climb in and out of the box...the others mostly just out. Raffi....she reminds me a lot of Cricket, independent, takes no gruff when the other pick on her. I can tell now she is going to be a hand full...probably why she is my pick and why I am thinking of keeping her. Gilda, she is the lover. She wants to be held, wants to snuggle. Demi and Maddison, they are the whiners. Whine when they are hungry, when cold, when they want held, when they want to play and everyone is sleeping...they are the little ones who cried wolf and finally was ignored (by Ivy). I think this is just a phase they are going through.....it better be!! Zeus, he is a character. Still being bottle fed at least twice a day. Eating 5 ounces each time. He isn't quite big enough to sit on his butt and eat as Ivy is standing like the other pups do. He tries so hard but unless he is in the back he can't latch on. He comes when he is called. He barks at you when you call him "Zeus the Moose!" He is the clown....he reminds me of Mona (off stock), always wanting to make you smile. I really like him. I don't need any boy dogs....but he is going to be a small, really nice boy.

Day 22

I know it has been a while since I wrote. Hard to keep up with this everyday. Some days it is easy sometimes not so....the pups are really growing. Hard to believe how big they are getting.



Lately, when I have been changing their bedding they have been licking Ivy's bowl and chewing on the sides so today I decided to give them some mush to see what they would do. They went NUTS!! I did take some pictures and a couple short clips. I will get them up tomorrow.



This evening as I was feeding the dogs the puppies woke up and started playing. It was so fun just to stand there and watch them wrestle. Poor little Zeus, he is so much smaller than the others they just bowl him over. He was walking around trying to find a place to go to the bathroom Every time he stopped he would get mauled by a puppy. Being the small guy that he is, he figured out that he could go under the railing and pee and not get picked on as the others are to big to go under it without being on their bellies. He climbed in the corner and all you could see was his fat butt and tail sticking straight out. LOL what a sight to see! He got tired and tried to find a place to sleep and finally decided to go underneath the railing and sleep. He is smarter than he looks!!



A couple days ago I had to put the door to the whelping box up because they kept climbing out. The first was Moses then Asia. The next morning there was six now the door. When I put the door up Moses climbed most of the way around the railing looking for the hole. Couldn't find it so he sat down and howled. Pretty smart that he knew there was a hole to escape and to look for it. I take it down when I clean the box (so I don't trip and fall). He comes up to the entrance and watches me move it and tries to climb out as I am sitting on the floor with a different pup. Smart little booger.



They are sure starting to be fun. The playing, barking, growling. I like this stage. They are figuring things out. Tomorrow I will introduce a couple toys for them to investigate. It amazes me how smart they are when they are this little. The things they figure out and remember-like getting out of the box.

Day 18

This morning when I dragged my butt out of bed there were 6, yes six, puppies out of the box. Both red merle boys, all the black girls, and Moses. That left the two blue girls, Zeus and Asia's sound asleep in the box. Little boogers they are suppose to wait another week. Oh well, the door to the box is now in place so they stay put for another three weeks.

Zeus is getting so big. He is such a funny little guy. Liss likes holding him as he goes wild looking for the bottle then says "oh well" and settles in for some serious snuggle time. He is getting strong too. Also I know exactly when they need their nails trimmed by him. I do worry about him choking on the bottle he nurses so ferociously sometimes he chokes. He is taking about four ounces three times a day plus what he nurses off of Ivy.

I introduced the squeak toy today. Boy does that get em going. LOL They just go nuts. Running around....well waddling around...barking, growling, making funny noises. Very funny.

17 days

I do believe that this is the earliest that I have had pups crawling out of the box. This afternoon it was Moses. Heard a lot of crying while I was doing dishes so decided to investigate and Moses was wandering around looking for mom. This evening I heard some whining as I was putting the dogs out/in and peeked in. Tony was out and nursing. Put him back. Silly boys! Guess I will have to dig the door out and put it on. Ivy is going to have to jump a bit -vs- just walking in.

Zeus is continuing to grow about 1 1/2 ounces a day. He sure has big feet. Almost as big as the rest of the boys. He is still half the size of the other pups at the moment but is catching up. They are getting fun to play with. I like walking in there and bang the dog food bowls together. Gets them barking and growling at me. Asia is the big barker of the bunch. They sound so cute. I vacuumed in there today. They wasn't real sure of the nose. Can't wait till they focus better and can see it. The way the room is set up the whelping box pretty much blocked their view so they just got the sound. Lissy has been taking turns bringing pups out to the front room and spending some one on one with them. Bailey was fussing on her lap and I told her she should take her back to the box....she said that it was OK so she got pooped on. LOL. That was good!

16 days

I have a hard time believing it has been almost 2.5 wks since the pups arrived. Eyes are open, ears are open. I get way to much joy going in there and clapping my hands and making all kinds of ruckus. It is so funny to wake them up and listen to them growl/bark at me. They are acknowledging me when I come into the room. Moses even comes to the front of the box and sits there waiting for me to pick him up. Asia is the licker. She likes to give kisses. I hold the pups up by my face a lot and Asia is the only one who licks you. Doesn't matter who you are she will lick you...Lissy gets it a lot. Bauer is the screamer. He gets so mad when you pick him up which makes me do it that much more. Nice mom hu! Bailey and Raffi aren't as much fun cus they don't squirm when you pick them up and put them on their back, or upside down, or swing them for a bit. Nothing seems to faze them. Zeus, he thinks you are going to feed him so he starts looking for the bottle, or he tries to avoid it depending on if he is hungry or not. Tony is a big mellow boy. Not to much bothers him either. Gilda is in the middle of Bauer and Bailey. Some days she is fine next she will fuss and fight you. The blue girls are also in the middle. Nothing stands out either one way or another. Demi sleeps more than Maddison....don't know what that means.

2 weeks old now

Today was a milestone for the little guys. 2 weeks old, eyes are mostly open, ears are starting to also. They hear loud sounds. Everynow and then I startle them. I took some really great pics of them.

#1 Maddison (bmf)................. #2 Demi (bmf) .........................#3 Moses (bbm)

#4 Gilda (bbf)..........................#5 Raffi (bbf).............................#6 Zeus (bbm)

Finally, Mr. Zeus the Moose is over a pound he weighed 1.1# today. Very exciting. I was beginning to wonder if he would ever grow. He is such a little fighter. Always fighting and plugging along. Gotta love the little guy! Oh, I LOVE this one of Raffi! How can you not like that face. :-)

#7 Bailey (bbf)........................#8 Bauer (rmm).......................#9 Asia (rbf)

They are getting to where they are fun to be around. Doing some growling, some barking. Really funny when I lay them on their back and they growl at me. What a hoot!!

#10 Tony (rmm)