The Pups at Two Weeks!

Well, lots has been happening this week for the pups! They are wobbling around the box on all four feet instead of crawling (especially comical as they tend to fall over sideways and do "barrel rolls") and talking--loudly!--in little barks and howls as well as their usual squeaks, chirps, and whines. They are getting their nails trimmed every four to five days so that they don't scratch Kyrie while they are nursing. Their puppy preserve has grown by the addition of a weaning pen which they wobble around in while grandma cleans the whelping box every day--you can see that down below, at the end of the post. Their eyes are all open, though in the first days they can only distinguish masses of light and darkness. As of today--a couple days past two weeks--they are all well over 3 lbs in weight! Without further ado...puppies! :)

Baker at two weeks. We think he has his mom's light-colord eyebrows. What do you think? :)

The Ravenous Belli, Eater of Everythings! She continues to grow by leaps and bounds. :)

Blazie at two weeks! She appears to have adapted well to her new pink collar. :)

Boomer at two weeks!

Needed to include this pic of Boomer and Brownie...so cute!

And Brownie at two weeks:

Brownie continuing to ridicule his brother about being mistaken for a girl...

Actually, the brown sables just kinda stick together a lot...kinda like the black-and-silvers at the top of the page!

Bullet at two weeks!

The girls, almost yin yang puppies!

Someone mentioned that a few people wanted to see our setup. :) We do not have a giant house to raise the pupsters in, and here in Texas they don't give us basements (something I miss hugely from my childhood up north!). So when we have pups we section off around half of our big living room and make it into a puppy preserve. Here's the left half--this is right by our back door. The surgical drapes and sheets are to keep out drafts and also to give the mom and pups privacy and separation from other pets. Kyrie is hanging out in the newly-placed weaning pen. Whelping box and weaning pen together create a 6 foot by 8 foot area, all of it self-contained and easy to clean and disinfect! All bedding is machine-washable.

Here's the right side. The grooming table holds the scale and random puppy supplies. Later, it will hold the pups for their litter evaluation. :) The couch straight ahead is where Kyrie will be able to escape the pups once they are allowed to roam outside of the pens. The couch on the right side is where I sleep until we're sure the pups or Kyrie won't need anything during the night!

Thanks for reading, everyone!

Switched At Birth?!?

Yes, it's true, and we are very embarrassed. You know, you check at the beginning, and you assume that you got it straight, and you just don't think to double check! Needless to say, I'll be double-checking from this litter on...

It seems that when the pups were being born, someone got two of them mixed up, and they got the wrong ribbons. And only just the other day did auntie Kristin look down and say, "Hey, wait a minute--that's not Brownie, but it's a boy!"

So immediately we panicked, thinking that in the confusion we'd gotten the sex wrong and that we actually only had one girl--but no. It was a switcheroo!

And so it turns out that Green Boy, grey sable Blaze, is actually a GIRL--now Pink Girl, Blazie.

And Yellow Girl, Bess, is actually a BOY--now silver/white collar boy, "Bullet". (Yes, the temptation was great to name him Sue--but I resisted. Plus, it didn't start with B.)

Brownie says, "Hey, dude...I heard they thought you were a GIRL! BWAHAHAHA!"

Bullet says, "Shut up, Brownie."

And now that the silliness is done here, you can expect a proper two-weeks update in a day or two. ;) Thanks for reading, folks!

Pups At One Week!!

Look at that gaggle of pups! Can you believe how much they've grown? And their colors are really changing fast!

Puppy weights at 9 days, everyone is over the two pounds mark--even Bess and Belli! Actually, Belli has been eating so much she's almost as big as Boomer...

Baker: 2 lbs 9 oz

Blaze: 2 lbs 6 oz

Brownie: 2 lbs 6 oz (tied with Blaze!)

Boomer: 2 lbs 1.5 oz

Belli (The Ravenous): 2 lbs 1.1 oz

Bess: 2 lbs .4 oz

Things are about to change even more for the pups. Below you can see the enclosure we've been using. It features the whelping box and the heat lamp, and x-pens to give Kyrie a sleeping area (with a soft mat to lie on) outside of the box, where she has her food and water. And that's all well and good...but the pups are about to open their eyes! They are already starting to try to walk! And then, all bets are off. :)

After the eyes are open and they've mastered their legs, these little roly-poly balls of fluff become escapists! And that means that we'll no longer be able to just put them in the warming box when we need to clean and disinfect their area. So we'll be expanding the puppy preserve by adding another box almost identical to the whelping box, called the weaning pen. Kyrie can switch to sleeping in there until the pups get big enough to crawl over the doorway between the two, and the pups can go in there while the first box is cleaned. :)

Anyhow...on to your weekly dose of cute! May I present...the Kyrie/Piston litter at one week!

Baker:

Baker and sister Bess:

The Ravenous Belli (always the last pup eating...she has really lived up to her name!):

Belli and brother Blaze:

Bess using her brother Brownie as a pillow:

Bess curling into a stretch!:

Bess and brother Blaze:

Blaze at one week!

Slightly out of focus, but still cute! Blaze in a yawn. Look out, he'll gum you to death!

I'd been calling these two the black-and-tans but actually we are pretty sure now that they are both black-and-silvers! Belli and Boomer.

Boomer again, with his beautiful dark color:

Boomer disgruntled because I won't stop taking pictures! Unlike green boy, he is not a ham for the camera!

Brownie at one week!

Brownie trying to walk...

Boomer, Bess, and Brownie in a cuddle puddle:

The Girls at one week! Belli and Bess.

A little blurry, but look how big they are now! It's an exciting time--eyes and ears will be opening soon. :) Thanks for checking out the photos, everyone--stay tuned for another update, probably around two weeks!

Pups at 3-5 Days!

Well we're a little behind since the pups are exactly one week old today, but we'll try to keep only a couple days off! Here are photos of the pups from three to five days of age. :)

On Day 3 the pups started their early neurological stimulation exercises, also called the "super dog" program. You can read about it here:

Early Neurological Stimulation with Puppies

The short version is that doing five simple exercises per day from day 3 to 14 of life impacts your pup significantly. The benefits of stimulation listed are:

"1. Improved cardio vascular performance (heart rate)

2. Stronger heart beats,

3. Stronger adrenal glands,

4. More tolerance to stress, and

5. Greater resistance to disease.

In tests of learning, stimulated pups were found to be more active and were more exploratory than their non- stimulated littermates over which they were dominant in competitive situations."

We encourage you to read the complete PDF--it's fascinating stuff! But we know you're really here for some puppy eye candy... ;) So here you go!

Baker:

The Ravenous Benelli-Belli!

Bess the Beauty and her cute little white chevron on her chest--can you see it? :)

Big boy Blaze! I can't help but wonder if he will look like his daddy Piston when he gets older?

Boomer! Who for some reason I didn't get many shots of except for with Brownie. The boys were hangin' out a lot this week. :)

Brownie! And a shot with brother Boomer. :)

So many colors! Hope you enjoyed the update, everyone!!