Peace in Puppyland

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I know a blog is about blogging and I've been so negligent of late. I do apologize for just sitting around buffing my nails and eating bonbons but, ya know ... puppies and dogs and sheep and a horse and work and more work, a husband, and a kid or two keep me just a wee bit busy. Truth is, husband, kids, and other animals are all but neglected and work piles up while I do seem to spend 24/7 watching these beautiful puppies grow up.

Every day is a new joy. They change not only from day-to-day but sometimes from morning until night. They're an amazing bunch. I say it with each litter, that I think these ones are smarter, more advanced, more brave, more bold, have a stronger toy drive, whatever, but this time it's really true. I wouldn't have expected anything less from Paisley and the handsome Chipper.

The babies turned 5 weeks old this past weekend, long ago graduated from the puppy pool and are now in the expen in the kitchen. A couple of them, in fact, have "graduated" from the ex-pen as they scale the low side when I'm not looking.

I’ve just come in from a few hours outside, doing the poop scoopin boogie in my dog yard. You know you have a lot of dogs when you do the first scoop of spring and you use a leaf rake! Very easy though as the grass and the doodles are quite dry. I decided to take the crew out there with me, all 6 puppies, 1 mama, and 2 giant white guys. Such fun. The puppies had a blast. Nobody was afraid in the least, and it’s not even warm today. In fact, it’s chilly. I took many pictures but most of them will be blurry due to the moving targets. Willow and Zoey really are gentle giants and Zoey was so excited to see the puppers, she was smiling and waggling her big tail and they were climbing up trying to tell her secrets. They were easily outside for an hour. When they started to crowd around my feet, I knew they’d had enough and brought them all back into their pen where they promptly crashed and I haven’t heard a peep since. I have now discovered the secret to peace in Puppyland. I’ll post some pictures on the site later, after I’ve had a chance to edit and resize. These really are brave little babies. I always have puppies out in the yard at 5 weeks, but it usually takes several days until they’re comfortable … Not this bunch. The next few weeks ought to be really fun!

Happy Trails ... Theresa

Where have I been?

Hardly sitting around buffing my nails and eating bonbons ... we have puppies! They arrived almost 4 weeks ago and sorry, this is my first entry since their arrival. Yikes, my bad. In my defense, it's very time consuming to sit poolside and watch and snuggle and kiss babies, change blankies and paper a gazillion times a day, and still give ALL my undivided attention to Mama Paisley. Besides they're growing and changing so rapidly the news would be outdated before I even hit the Publish button. Okay, enough with the excuses.

Six little darlings made their very easy entry shortly after the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Naturally, this litter theme will be The Olympians. So many nice names to choose from. For now, everyone has a "handle", a nickname we can all easily identify them with. The girls, Glory, Sweety Gonzales, and everyone's favorite DollyDolly, are joined by brothers Jordie, Josh, and Zack (or Bad Zack as I affectionately call him). A very nice litter with bone, gonna have lots of coat, nice broad heads, oh and a mismark or two but what the heck. Paisley's been a wonderful, relaxed, and attentive mom but as they approach the 4 week mark, I think she's beginning to wonder what she signed up for. And after the noise they're making this morning, I'm wondering too.

They're so sweet when they're quiet and sleepy. As of this morning, they're all straining to climb the wall and bust outta there. They've had a few adentures roaming the kitchen but to this point, life has been easy. I'm sure that will all change by this weekend. I've started them on my goat's milk puppy formula and they've all taken to it like "pawfessionals". As with our other litters, these babies will be weaned onto a raw diet, though Dolly was a little impatient at age 2 weeks and helped herself to her mom's meaty lamb neck. Her eyes were barely open but her nose was working fine and she found that neck and happy sucked on it for a while.

So stay tuned ... I promise not to tear myself away from puppies long enough to blog.

Happy Trails ... Theresa