Time To Move To The Big House

The puppies have changed a lot over the past week. While they weeble-wobbled quite a bit to begin with, they now are confident in getting around.

More Puppy Sushi

Brothers

It's a messy business, but this crew was ready to start on puppy smoothies early. Tess has very healthy and hungry puppies, and she's having a time trying to keep up with their demands. They will be on hard food soon, as their teeth are coming in, but this gets their calorie intake jump started. 

 The puppies ended up looking like they had rolled in their food the first couple of feedings. Tess was more than happy to clean them off!

 

Within a couple of days, they have learned to let us know when it comes to meal time! The earlier practice in making their voices work has payed off....it's hard to ignore the racket! The play and the eating is exhausting though, and nap time comes around frequently.

There's a lot of nanny time, and at this point, Tess is happy to have the help. You can just hear her, "You take these monsters for a while, I'm going to take a nap!" With these two around, I don't think we'll ever have a dirty puppy in the house.

Once they've been fed, aired and housekeeping has been in to provide clean linens, they are much more quiet and better behaved. They get pretty excited when I'm around, but Mom still commands their attention.

They have been exposed to our Puppy Sounds CD, created to help desensitize puppies as their brains are developing. This is a useful tool, but it's nice to be able to shut the door to the puppy room, as we really don't need the desensitization!!!! Thanks, Monica, this is a gift that has kept on giving!

They are getting around so well, it's time to move them down to the kennel. They will have much more room to romp, explore and be exposed to new sights, sounds and smells. For now though, it's time for another power nap.

They Have Found Their Voices!

The transition from week one to two is fun as they start to morph from hamsters to little puppies. Eyes open and they pull themselves around with gusto!

Their eyes are just starting to peek open and their noses are no longer pink.

Tess finally lets me get a picture with her in it.

This is the time when puppies are just starting to get their legs under them, though they spend more time weeble wobbling. Tess makes them start to work for their food, sitting while they nurse.

The majority of the time is spent in a hard core snooze fest.

Their ears have opened as week 3 draws to a close. It's pretty hard to sneak up on them or do anything in the puppy room with stealth. They have found their voices, barking and growling at each other. In the second half of the video, they are working harder to nurse, since Tess is making them stand to nurse.

Now that their eyes are open and they can weeble around, they begin to explore their world, including chewing on each other. This is also known as Puppy Sushi.

Nanny time continues as they make great playgrounds, as well as calling in for "Cleanup on aisle 6"!

JJ gets more nanny time each morning when the puppy maid cleans the box. Then it's back to a time of peace and quiet....for a brief while. Puppy agility is just around the corner now.

Goldens In The House

Our long awaited Trek x Tess puppies have arrived! Tess had an easy time of it and whelping went off without a hitch, though we pulled an all-nighter, as usual!

They are active and gaining weight quickly. Tess can be a bit picky when it comes to eating, so she's living life like a queen, getting breakfast, lunch and dinner made with chicken and homemade broth to entice her appetite. When you are feeding nine, this is not the time to diet!

Here is an example of the noises we hear all night long (thank goodness for the existence of white noise!). Pardon the video quality, our camera has finally given up on us. Time for a Costco run!

The nannies can't wait to have some puppy time...

Success!!! They love when it's time to clean the whelping box or do hands on care. It means mom is in her crate and they can have some time with the little squeakers.

The end of the week and pink noses are transitioning to black. In another week, eyes will open. We always like when week one draws to a close, especially in larger litters. It means we get to sleep through the night and only rotate them for nursing during the daytime. I'm pretty sure by this time, we look like they do in the picture above.....crashed and sleeping hard!