I hope this Blog proves to be both fun and educational for anyone interested in Showing and/or Breeding Dogs. Spend some time with us and you will really understand the time and effort and emotions that goes into this hobby. Join me here for the good times and bad times, the joys and sorrows, the wins and losses. Welcome to life at Vista Dei!

Oh poor Stella, (puppy #4), she was first to sleep by herself last night.. waaaaaaaaaaaa  oooohhhhh sssob.. she did just fine tho, cried a while, but was happy to be back to visit with her brother's and sister's this morning!  I really think it is a great benifit to puppies to leave the group, learn that being alone isn't the end of the world and come back to the group and have fun, leave again and come back.  Too many times the first time a puppy leaves it's siblings to sleep alone in their new home is the last time they see another dog to cuddle with, and I think that contributes to the separation issues some dogs have.  So anyway, I set up 6 crates this morning, and everyone ate separate this morning, that helps me determine which of them are eating what amount and I think it might help the loose poops they have sometimes from eating as much as they can as fast as they can, so the other's don't get it all.  This week they can slow down and eat a measured amount, and that should keep them from getting a drum tight tummy aftward!

Posted by: Vistadei at 11:22 | link | comments (1)

Oh those bad little puppies broke my lamp last night!!  I thought I had everything "puppy proof" and had rolled up cords and wires, but no, the little bugs got behind a table, grabbed the electric cord and started running with it, well of course the lamp was attached to the cord and it went along for the ride, not bouncing so well as it hit the floor!  That was one suprised group of puppies, and I had just glanced away from them for one second!  I won't tell which of the little angels was the ring leader of THAT, but sufice to say it was one of those brown and white puppies!! hhahahahah  another of them found the edge of the wall paper and started to peel that up.  I caught that right away and was able to glue it back down before any real damage was done.  Stinkers.

Posted by: Vistadei at 13:24 | link | comments (2)

Enough of that sitting in silly baskets looking cute.. we want OUTSIDE to play in the grass!

Have  you puppy proofed the house yet? I sure love to chew everything! Puppy #1

I am not going to play, I will sit by the gate and wait for Amy to come and get me! Puppy #2

Ohhh concrete blocks are really hard to Chew on! Mocha - puppy #3

I am stalking a bug... Puppy #4

I GOT it.. crunch crunch.. I am sure you will see THAT in some loose BM this afternoon! Pup #4

Do you think Hallmark Cards is looking for a new Model? Puppy #5

Why, why, why am I always LAST in these pictures?  I tell you it will motivate me to be FIRST in agility competitions.. Puppy #6

A group shot..

You are my chew toy, my only chew toy.. you make me happy when sky's are grey..

Take MY picture.. no! get out of the way, she wants MY picture.. hey.. I am the cute one, move over!

 

Posted by: Vistadei at 08:58 | link | comments (2)

I thought you might be interested in some of the toys I use to get the puppies to think and play in a way that will help them make the transition into the agility ring, and if they are not going to play in agility, it is still a great way for them to develope balance and co-ordination.  These are some of the toys I use for the past litter, and this litter has been playing on now, I am going to make a few more toys this next week for this litter and will share when I have them done:

Click on this link to see a past litter playing on the toys:  http://vistadeishelties.com/AGpup.html

Posted by: Vistadei at 09:29 | link | comments

There has been some problems with the site that hosts this blog, so if you have some problems getting the blog to come up, it is because they are installing new machines and softward I guess, so bear with us!

Thanks Christy for bringing to my attention that the last pictures were posted saying the puppy's were 7 weeks.. nnnnnooooo not till Friday, I am just a little ahead of myself apparently!  So I fixed that, but for those of you getting the puppies.. no no I get to keep them nearly 2 more weeks!  I can't believe it has gone by so fast!

Puppy #2 and #5 got to go on a car ride yesterday, about 40 mins, they cried for the first half of the ride and slept for the return trip.  I will start now anytime I can taking one or two in the car with me.  I will also be starting this week to separate them into 2 groups and switching around who is in what group.  This will help them adjust to different group dynamics than if they were kept in the whole litter where some are more dominate than other, the smaller changing groups will give the opertunity for the day for them to try out different roles and relationships amoung the siblings.

Went to an an agility run-through on Sunday, mixed feelings about it, I was really happy as this is the first time we have tried to run an excellent course, and I remembered the course and stayed on track pretty well with my handling plan.  On one of the 3 runs, Darby did all 12 of the weave poles which is a first for him, yippee.. (he has been doing only 6 poles in Novice) on the other hand he continues to be more and more unpredictable on the 3 big obsticles, the dog walk in particlular, bailed off the up ramp to it once, refused the A frame on the 3rd run and had to be coaxed onto the teeter once.  This is rather odd, as he used to love the A frame in particular the most of anything, and he has not had a bad experience on any of them that would have triggered this, so I am a little at a loss, but I do know I have to get back into a class that has that equipment, the last he has been on it was at the shows in May, and that is just too long and no time for work on them.

Posted by: Vistadei at 08:35 | link | comments (1)

Sunday puppy pictures, thank you Grandpa Darby for the use of one of your ribbons!

Girl Puppy #1 - 4 pounds - 6 weeks old

Boy Puppy #2 -  3 pounds 4 ounces - 6 Weeks

Mocha (Formerly puppy #3) - 3 pounds 2 ounces - 6 weeks

Puppy #4 - 3 pounds 11 ounces - 6 weeks

Puppy #5 - 3 pounds 4 ounces - 6 weeks

Puppy #6 - 3 pounds 2 ounces - 6 weeks

Posted by: Vistadei at 22:51 | link | comments (1)

You know that really really old song that has lyrics that say something like "you can't keep her down on the farm, now that she has seen the lights of old Paris"  (ok ok.. I know someone will be giving me the right lines) anyway, that is how the puppies are now.. they do not want to be stuck in a pen, no how no way.. they quite enjoy running through the house and getting into mischeif!!  When they are in their pen, they all stand along the side on their little back legs and whine and cry, a couple will throw back their heads, pucker up their lips and give the old wolf howl.  Oh they have such a ball when I open the pen and they can run off and play. This morning one was attempting to pull my son's size 13 steel toed work boot through the house by the shoe string, a couple others were pulling stuffing out of a toy with a small hole, and someone got the bathroom rug clear out in the hall.  Now they are quite happy to run from one room to another, and I was so pround of them this morning I sat in the living room, none of them were in sight, some were several rooms away,  and I called puppy-puppy-puppy and they all came running right to me for a little nibble of hot dog.  Unfortunately, one of them seems to have eaten a bit more hot dog than it should have and had messy poo on the living room carpet that smell just like hot diggity dogs.. uggghhh... oh I am so indebted to the inventor of the Hoover Steam Vac.. Best invention ever.

Puppies went to the vet and got their shots, and hey, good news, all the boy puppies have both their Boy Bits, always something I like the vet to check, cause if both Boy Bits don't come down the neuter surgery is much more extensive and expencive, plus if we ever get a boy for show, those are a requirement..  So they are happy to be home and not have the vet doing all those reflex tests and needle jabs, and looking in their eyes and ears and such.

Posted by: Vistadei at 14:50 | link | comments (1)

And this Folks is what agility is all about...Giving it your all and then some!

A picture of Drifter from Last month's shows..  and what an action shot this one is!

Posted by: Vistadei at 23:04 | link | comments
dogs

I left the puppies loose in the house today.  It was their first time to not be confined in any way.  Of course the big dogs were outside, so there was no danger, and my house is pretty "puppy proof" the electic cords are all hidden or up, shoes up, cloths hampers up.. we live in a world where human goods are stored at waist level or higher!  hahahha  anyway it was interesting to watch them, they mostly stayed as a group in the living room, which is one of the few areas of carpet, I suppose because they didn't like the lack of traction on the linoleum or wood floors.  Boy puppy #2 was the only one who would completely leave the group and go into a different room clear out of sight of the others.  Girl #1 again puts absolutely everything in her mouth, if she can find the smallest scrap of something waaaayyyyy under the furniture, it will be in her mouth.  The boys #3 and #5 just had a ball wrestling with each other and running running running.  I sat on the floor after a while with a tiny tiny piece of hot dog, just a half of a "coin" slice of hot dog, and called them over and let them lick and taste the hot dog.  #6 is completely food motivated, she WANTS THE HOT DOG and was willing to climb way up on me when I held it up out of reach, she almost managed to climb up to my shoulder to try to get more.  The others all thought it was pretty tasty too.  When I feed them every day, I call in a high pitched voice "puppy puppy puppy" now I will start doing that when they are playing, I will get some special tastey treat mostly just on my fingers and I will call them so they start learing everything good comes from someone calling "puppy puppy puppy" and they will also learn that it is a good thing licking people and climbing on them.  This is really one of the first steps in socializing a puppy, other than just handling them when they are tiny.  Mom has completely left them now, I put her in with them last night, and within just a few minutes she had enough and was begging to get out.  Her milk is much less, and she isn't compelled to nurse them at all.

This week we will be pushing to introduce them to even more new things.  I practice a program called "Seven at Seven" that involves taking various things in the puppies lives, like floor surfaces, eating containers, people, sounds, etc and by Seven weeks old, be sure the pups are exposed to at least 7 different variations.  For instance, now we have exposed the puppies to newpaper floor, carpet, linoleun, wood, grass.. so sometime in the next week or so we will add dirt, concrete, gravel, tho you do have to watch their tender little pads on concrete, as they will get brush burns at this point, so can only walk on it a couple mins each day till their feet get a little tougher.  So far they have eaten out of a Crock bowl, plastic tupperware, and aluminum pie pan, and stainless steel bowl.  I will introduce them to paper plates, and have them lick off spoons too.  I know that sounds funny, but if any of them go on with a higher level obedience, they have to pick up metal obsticles in their mouth, so getting puppies used to the taste and click of a metal spoon on their teeth is a plus.  Seven different types of people, well they see me every day so that takes care of the fat cranky middle aged woman, they see my son and his friends, so that gets them used to deep mens voices, Rebekka was over to visit, so that gets them exposed to a child handling them (sorry, you are hardly a child, you are a YOUNG LADY, but you still count as a child type person for the puppies!)  Abby has been over, so they at least saw an infant, but she was so quiet and good I don't know if the puppies knew she was even there!  My aunt and mom handle them, so that gives them exposure to older people, I will borrow canes and metal walkers and move around the house using them to get them used to that type of stuff.  Sounds, well.. they are around the TV, and I leave the radio on for them ever since they could hear, I think that gives them a good exposure to different voices, unexpected music, etc.  They are in the living room with the phone near the pen, I run the vacume every day (they still don't like that !) they hear the washer and dryer.  The other night they were on the porch and the neighbors were setting off small fireworks, and that didn't even startle them, so I was happy about that.   I will start taking them on car rides soon so they get used to the motion, especially #4 to get her ready for a long ride home!  Sometimes I take them out to my friends horse farm just to get them used to the smells and noises, but not sure if we will manage that this litter.  I do have some straw down in the yard were I re-seeded so they can play in the straw and get used to that smell.  I start at this point hanging towels over the edges of their pens so they get used to something fluttering over their heads, as well as standing on their hind legs tugging the towel to get it down.  They have a little table in their one pen, and all of them have learned to climb up on it and jump down off.  I have a small Toys-R-Us tunnel like an agility tunnel and they love to play in that.  I will put a concrete block in their pen tonight, puppies always like to crawl through the holes and climb up on those too.

I think a busy active mind in a small puppy is what builds an intellegent wonderful pet in an older dog.  Now I can only do so many weeks of this type of stuff, so when you get your little darlings home, don't just stick them in the bathroom with nothing much to do, keep exercising their minds and bodies, and ONCE THEIR SHOTS ARE DONE.. then take them with you everywhere..

Posted by: Vistadei at 11:19 | link | comments (1)

Don't want anyone to think the adult dogs are getting neglected while I play with puppies.. well they get a little less time, but they are still here, being clowns.  I was up till 2am the other morning cutting toenails and brushing their coats out, I started hearing them go tick tick tick as they walked on the hard floor areas, and anyone that knows me, knows I can't stand long toenails and sloppy feet on the dogs, so I had to work on them no matter how late it was.  I have a large wooden dog house out in the big fenced yard area.  I don't think the dogs have EVER gone inside it, but you know animal control requires anytime dogs are confined outside they have shelter, and I understand that, they have no way to know if the dogs were out 15 minutes or 3 days, so of course there has to be available shelter.  Anyhoo.. SOME critter is under it, I am guessing a nest of rabbits, because it is an ongoing thing, not just something taking a nap.  The dogs, lead by the fearless Mysty spend a great deal of time trying to dig under the dog house surrounding it and barking, barking barking(again.. it is HUGE, like 4 foot long by 3 foot wide and nearly 4 feet high) so not something they can easily dig under, but they are certainly giving it their all.  They have been spending most of the time they have outdoors worrying about whatever is under there.  Will be interesting to see if they actually do manage to dig it out.  I kinda hope whatever is there, moves on during the night!

This evening I put the puppies in a pen out on the grass.  It was their first time on grass, and they weren't so sure they liked it at first.  Well, #6 was sure.. she was dancing about, rolling and wiggling.. I swear if I put her in a pool of water she would just have a ball, nothing fazes her.  Puppy #4 decided to be true to her heritage, a real "sheep" dog, and graze on the grass, she just pulled piece after piece and munched it right down.  I can just hear the vet now.. "Mrs Morton, why is there so much grass in the stool sample"???  like I use it as an additive to their meal.  The others crept around the pen, keeping low to the ground exploring, shivering a little bit, but ultimately deciding it was a really great feeling to be on something other than newspaper and bedding.  I really need to get another x-pen for out on the grass, but by the time I order it, the puppies will be going off to their new homes!!!   I can't believe we are getting down to the last couple weeks!  I have been on the phone quite a bit today checking referances, speaking to some really nice family and friends of those who are adopting the puppies (everyone is getting good referances, guys.. breath a big sigh of relief.. no one has been scratched!!)  I am so pleased to find another really great group of people to love and care for our puppies, every litter expands our doggie family a little more.  I also love it that at this point quite a few of the owners of our puppies have gotten to know each other, and visit and such.. I think that is so cool..

 

Posted by: Vistadei at 21:56 | link | comments

Just what you were all waiting for SUNDAY PUPPY PICTURES!! OK, have to admit, took these pictures with no-one to help me, so I had to wiggle my toes to get their attention that is why they are looking down, but wow what a differance a week of growth makes, don't you agree?

Left to right Boy #2, Girl #1, Girl #6, Girl #4, Boy#5, Boy #3

And individual shots..

Puppy Girl #1 - Thank goodness these ears are in control this week, thank you, thank you!

Puppy Boy #2 - Are we STILL taking PICTURES?  I need a nap!

Puppy Boy #3 - Full body, or would you perfer a head shot? Fabulous Darling...

Puppy Girl #4 - Can't get any cuter than THIS!!  Eat your heart out guys!

Puppy Boy #5 - You woke me up for THIS?  I don't want to eat your toes, that's discusting!

Puppy #6 - Paparazzi follow me everywhere, I can't escape my fans..

 

Posted by: Vistadei at 19:19 | link | comments (6)

Call me crazy, but when I put down the newspapers for puppies, I like to make sure there are world leaders or local murderers on top of the paper so the pups can pee on those particular pictures. hahahha ok, I know, but I have just always done that when I have puppies, I probably need to get more of a life.

The puppies started the last couple meals to getting dry food that hasn't been wet or soaked at all they seem to have fun chewing it, slows them down a bit on the chugging the food.  Now that they know how to crunch, and can stand up on their hind legs and reach Momma's bowl they have decided to swipe her breakfast too. Poor Diana, she TRIED to be a mean disciplinarian and stood there showing her teeth and growling at the babies as they stole her food.. They kinda glanced at her, not the least bit worried and continue to eat her food, till she decided she either needed to bite them or just dive in there and eat as fast as she could, cause you can't show your teeth and growl and still chew food.  She picked the "get in there and eat faster" choice, so the puppies were still brats and kissing and biting at her face, like .. oh mom, you look mean, but you don't worry me much, you know ya love me!

Posted by: Vistadei at 11:23 | link | comments (1)

Playing in the water is the new game of the day. Ever since they started on solid food, I have had water cups on the side of the pens low enough for the puppies to drink from.  But I was soaking their food really well, so they weren't that thirsty.  Now I am still weting their food, but not soaking as much, so they are thirsty after they eat, and have discovered that water is pretty darn fun.  They drink, they put their feet in it, but the new game.. the water is in stainless steel bowls that drop down in a hoop that is bolted to the side of the pen.  They figured out that if they get under the bowl and push up real hard it will come up and out of the hoop, water will go everywhere, the dish will roll around on the floor like a new toy, and they can climb up and in and out of the hoop that is still bolted onto the side of the pen. So I moved the dishes lower so they can't get under them, but then they climb clear into the water and sit in it.. hahahhaha

Here are some father's day pictures.  The adult dogs are looking at the puppies, and the puppies think the big guys are pretty neat.  The darkest dog in the back ground is Ricki, their father, so this will be his father's day pictures! ahahahahha

Posted by: Vistadei at 09:18 | link | comments (4)

One of our blog readers emailed me today, (I will be writing back soon, I promise!) and in the email she said it sounded like it was alot of work with the puppies.  That got me thinking.. yes it IS alot of work, and I probably write about the work a little more because I sit down after it is all done to update the blog.  But it is a TON of fun too.  I don't write about every little wet kiss I get when I am carrying around the puppies, how sweet their breath is, how soft their fur is, how absolutely fasinating it is to is them grow so quickly, to learn and develope. When those of you who are waiting to take these little treasures home, come to pick them up.. you will see a tear or two in my eye, if you don't it just means I was able to wait till your tail-lights were out of sight before I shed those tears.  I get such a thrill out of hearing from the families who have the puppies I breed, to see how special they are to their families.  I hope you all remember over the years how much love, and yes work, I put into your pets and you will send me pictures and updates and treasure them as much as I do.

Posted by: Vistadei at 23:58 | link | comments (1)

Diana is starting the natural process of weaning the puppies now.  I noticed a couple days ago she was getting more impatient with them, basically she seems to have set the rule that they can play but not with her head.  If they bite at her ears or lips or jump on her head she gives them the "halloween face" which is the scarey looking, all her teeth showing and her eyes giving the wicked look.   Today after she was outside and I went to put her in the xpen with the puppies, she gave me the "oh no do I have to" roll of the eyes.  She climbed out over the side of the xpen today the second she was done nursing them. 

I always get a little irritated when I read some of these well meaning "how to find a good breeder" sites, usually written by people who are really AGAINST buying a puppy from a breeder, often I see those sites saying things like "puppies should be kept with their mothers until they are a minimum of 12 weeks old" one recently said "ideally 16 weeks old" MY WORD.. you can tell who ever wrote that, never bred a litter!! hahahah the poor poor mother, she would be a basket case if she were forced to stay in a cage with whole litter of 12 to 16 week old puppies!!  I do agree the mother should be around and the litter left together till nearly 8 weeks as they learn bite inhibition and how to interact with each other and not be overly agressive (don't bite hard or you get bit back!) and not hide (or some sibling will come and get you out of the corner to play!)  But I do think it is equally important in the 8 to 12 week period they have alot of human interaction and bond to their new families.  I get annoyed at people who have never bred giving out wrong advice I guess. 

Posted by: Vistadei at 12:14 | link | comments

Some random puppy pictures for your viewing pleasure..

mmmmm I know Pig ears are bad for dogs, but how about I chew on this pig's arm?

Enough of that gentle knawing, brother.. let me show you how to kill it!

Oh oh.. this isn't looking good.. RUN!!!

I'm a happy hammy for the camera!!

woooopsss... Clean up on aisle six!! Clean up.. I say, Clean up on aisle six!!!

THIS FOOD BOWL IS EMPTY... attention attention.. THIS FOOD BOWL IS EMPTY..

Empty food bowl? BURP.. ohh that may have been my doing!

 

Posted by: Vistadei at 18:37 | link | comments (3)

Happy birthday to me.. happy birthday to me.. happy... well, you get the idea!! hahahahhaha  Someone told me once that you could tell when dogs started taking over your life (ie - how will I know when I become the 'crazy dog lady'??) when you change your social practices because of the dogs.. uh-oh.. might have reached that point!  I was invited out to dinner for my birthday, but nothing sounded WORSE.. I work all day, can't imagine racing home, let the adult dogs out for a half hour, clean the puppies and their pen up as fast as I could (doubt I could DO that in a half hour!) stick everyone back in the house and change my clothes and RACE out to dinner to gulp down my food in hopes I could get back home quickly to take care of the dogs, after all, can't leave them all day and all evening TOO.. hmmmmmmmmmmm ok.. so I asked my family to buy some icecream and come up to the house so we could be together celebrate, but I wouldn't have to rush and leave the dogs alone too long.  Seems that is a peculiar choice on my part, but hey.. it is MY day.. isn't it??

Posted by: Vistadei at 07:03 | link | comments

ahhhh it's a thing of beauty, 9am and the puppies are all weighed, photographed, had their wormer, welping box cleaned with nice fresh beding and the morning meal has been served and now they are sleeping in a warm pile!  I can sit down with some hot coco while the laundry runs, relax and share this week's pictures with you!

Puppy Girl #1, weighing in at 2 pounds 8 oz at 4 weeks old:

Akkkk  my OTHER ear is sticking back this week! Com'on can't you get me on a good hair day?

Puppy Boy #2 weighing in at 2 pounds 3 ounces at 4 weeks old:

Yeah it took 8 pictures to catch one of me sitting still, deal with it!

Puppy Boy #3 Weighing 2 pounds 4 ounces

I will sit where ever you put me, I am a GOOD quiet boy!

Puppy Girl #4 weighing 2 pound 4 ounces at 4 weeks:

Yup, it's me.. aren't I cute, wait, come back with that camera, don't you want a side shot?

Puppy Boy #5 also weighing 2 pound 4 ounces at 4 weeks:

But where is the ball?  I want the BALL!!

And Puppy Girl #6, still the smallest at 2 pounds on week 4:

I am not a puppy, I am the energizer bunny.. I go and go and go and go.. not since the agility wiz puppy Regis has Vista Dei seen a puppy with my constant energy.. gonna get you.. gotta run!

 

 

Posted by: Vistadei at 09:23 | link | comments (5)

They are not puppies, they are poop machines!! yeeeewwwwwwww.... my word how can 6 little puppies poop so much, everytime I walk past them there is another little pile and someone is toddling toward it.. no no no got to get it before they mash it and get it all over.. oh NO... now I have to scrape it up and wash someones little feet... sigh.  Learning to do the puppy shuffle again.. that is when you walk without picking up your feet so that you don't step on a little one, because if you pick up even one foot when they are out and about they will run right under your foot and honestly could easily be killed.  I did manage to pinch one of the puppies feet in the crate door this morning as I was closing it, oh I felt so bad he yipped, but no apparent damage done.  When you have little 1 pound wind up toys running around like mad in all directions it is hard to get them all back in one crate and the door closed!  I started to re-arrainge the furniture in the living room this morning so by tonight after work I can set up the xpen out in the living room.  Can't wait, that will make cleaning their pen easier when I can move them from pen to pen.  Now I am hitting up all the friends for their newspapers, cause I am starting to go through them pretty rapidly.

Posted by: Vistadei at 11:36 | link | comments

It is well after midnight and I am just winding down for the day.  The nursery is in full swing now, taking alot of my time.  This is the week where Diana starts doing a bit less with the babies and I start doing a LOT more.  She doesn't bath them so much now, so when they get something on them, I clean them.  Now that they are eating mash 3 times a day, they get the food all over the newpapers, themselves, the bedding etc. So the whole of the welping pen has to be changed at least 3 times a day for that. The washer is running right now laudering the day's towels and rugs from their pen.  If I can catch their poopies and get them with some tissue before they walk in them, that is good, if not the papers have to be changed a bizillion times a day to keep them clean. THAT is only going to increase in the next 4 weeks, the bigger they get. Right now they will play amoung themselves while I change the papers, but in another week or so they will start to bite my ankles, grab the paper, pee on the new stuff, dump the water over and a whole host of unexpected things as I try to clean.  Soon I will set up an X-pen in the living room and one on the porch for them, then I can switch them to a clean pen while I clean up the mess in the other pens.  It is tough, cause you can't leave them on just newspaper, it is too slippery for them to walk well and develope their motor skills on, yet they are far too small of feet and legs for those wire bottom puppy pens I see for sale.  I am afraid they would get injured on wire.  Some people use pine chips on the floor of the pens, but I used to have guinea pigs and I know that stuff is always clinging to the hair when you pick them up and making a mess that clogs the vacume with little bits of it around.  Also I hear some people say the dust and oils are not so good for pups, but I imagine in must be easier to clean up the poopies.

 

Posted by: Vistadei at 00:28 | link | comments

Thought you might enjoy watching the puppies eat their first puppy food meal!  Oh they are serious about THIS job!  

Posted by: Vistadei at 19:54 | link | comments

The last 24 hours have been a big time of changes for the puppies.  Yesterday morning I gave them some soft toys, and that was alot of fun, puppy #4 is the most dominate, jumping on the rabbit and biting and growling, but they all were pretty interested, and no one hid from it or acted scared.  By the time I got home from work, they had progressed to being able to stand up on their hind legs and look out over the edge of the welping pen short side, and also get  their nose into mom's water bowl that hangs on the side of the pen.  That means I had to add some extra wire to the sides, so they can't get thier heads stuck in the bars.  I don't want higher solid sides, because it is important that they can see things going on in the room and aren't in a solid sided pen.  Last night I let them run around the bedroom loose, this was the first time they all got out to run around at will. Of course each one in turn had to pee on the carpet (probably time to take the area rug up but the linoleum underneath is too slippery for them to get good traction).  When they were out, they all went right away to my tennis shoes sitting by the bed and got in them, yanked the shoe strings and generally had a ball with the shoes.  I think that indicates that puppies are born with shoe chewing instinct, don't you?

This morning they had their first puppy food meal.. they were so READY, it was serious business and they all got right down to it.. yeah, they walked it in, and #6 thought it was all her's so tried to lay over the dish covering it and keeping it for herself, but all in all every one got a good amount and ate with great gusto.  Now I will start feeding them 3 times a day and that will help a little with Diana and her nursing, she is really dropping weight from the draw on her body of nursing this many pups, she is starting to look thin even tho she gets as much to eat as she wants and the yogurt/egg suppliment still it is apparently not enough calories for all the milk production, so this should help her out if they eat puppy food too.

Posted by: Vistadei at 08:44 | link | comments (2)

Got word from Tim and Christy that Regis has earned his first leg in the Excellent Standard Agility!  Yippee!! way to go guys..

Posted by: Vistadei at 15:36 | link | comments

I let the big dogs into the bedroom this morning to peek at the puppies.  Made sure that Diana was with the big dogs, and not in with the puppies.. it was so neat, most all the adults gathered around that sides of the welping pen, looking in through the wire and the babies, and the babies had this look of Wonderment at all these giants staring at them.  They came right over to the edges to stare back, none of them backed down.  Soon most of the adults lost interest, except for Dusty and Mysty who kept looking and sniffing and looking.. you could almost think that Mysty was being a proud grandma, but I suppose that is a streatch!

Posted by: Vistadei at 15:02 | link | comments (1)

Here are the puppies at 3 weeks old.. they are starting to look like dogs now, don't you think?

Girl puppy #1.. of course I am looking cross, one of my ears is bent back!

Boy Puppy #2 - Sweet today.. look out tomarrow!

Boy Puppy #3 - just hang'n around

Girl puppy #4 - Leader of the pack - I am the first one to get TEETH this week!

 

Boy Puppy #5 - I can sing and howl like my grandpa Darby!

Little Girl Puppy #6 - aaaawwwwww what else can you say...

 

 

Posted by: Vistadei at 15:45 | link | comments (3)

Cricket went to the races, here are some pictures of her visiting with Bush Race Car Driver Stacy Compton and his wife and little girl (thanks for the Pictures, Cricket's mom!)

Posted by: Vistadei at 13:30 | link | comments

I wieghed all the puppies and they have gained well, all are between 1 pound 6 ounces (puppy #6) and 1 pound 13 ounces (puppy #1) but that is a very close range of weights, and nice gains over the last week.  Their mom is making so much milk that they get it all over their faces when they eat, so their little faces feel like they have hair spray on the hair some days.  I wipe it off once a day, but they nurse so often the is no keeping up with it.  I think I will wait till tomarrow for pictures cause my aunt will be back up to hold them.  Puppy #4 has figured out the exact corner that comes open for the gate to let mom in and out, and puppy #4 is the puppy that wants to get out and explore, so she sits there and waits for that gate to open so she can toddle out.  I was working on the edging of the crate and let her out to walk around and she kept coming over to me and barking, it is hard to work that way, I had to set down my tools and hold her.. hahahahha... what a sweetie.  Temperature is hard to control again today, we had a run of days in the mid 90's this week, then we got storms and it has dropped down to the high 50's.  Well that is too cold for puppies, so I put the heat on in their room, but by the time I get home from work, it has gone up into the 80's and mom is too hot so digging the edging of the crate all up.  That is not good, because the edging is what keeps the little one from wedging their heads out of the wire.  So I will probably have to go home at lunch to turn the heat down, and maybe open a window. 

Drifter is spending the weekend, he seems to be disappointed that Destiny is not at my house, she is at my daughter's.  He keeps trying to bite the older dogs feet to get them to engage in a game of chase, and Dew-oh will play with him some, but not do the crazy running that Destiny does with him.  Of course it has been raining and they can't play outside too much.  This morning I called them to go out, and Drifter was no where to be found, I KNEW he was in the house somewhere, found him snoozing in my daughter's old bedroom asleep on the bed all snuggled in her blankets, and he had no intention of going outside to the bathroom.. oh no.. he was settled in there.  I left him sleep till I needed to go to work, and had to actually carry him out to the door for his potty.  I guess he was enjoying the kind of Saturday morning we all dream of!

Posted by: Vistadei at 10:55 | link | comments

On the last post, Kelly had a comment asking if I could start to tell the differences in personality yet, and I started to leave her a responce comment, and I kept babbling till it got too long, so I moved it up here to it's own post! Actually, there is no one "piggy" in the bunch, they are ALL piggies.. hahahha - really, they are all holding their own in nursing, no one is a bully and no one getting pushed aside. They all push each other around and wag their tails like crazy when mom is ready to really settle down and feed them! It is so cute to watch them all settle into a line and then all the little tails wagging and wagging! They have not developed enough to tell a bossy one or a real quiet one, because up till now it has been pretty much just eat and sleep. Now they are just starting to mouth each other, trying to get the other one to play a little. This next week we will start to see more personality emmerge. The sizes of them are starting to change some this week, it looks like puppy #2 and #6 will be the smaller ones at this point, but you never know when a smaller one will get a burst. Their heads are changing alot this week. Some of them had at birth what we call a "sliding stop" or a slope from the top of the head clear down to the nose. That is changing into a definate stop between the head and the nose plane, their underjaws are really outstanding at this point, we are seeing all of them with a nice blocky head, which I chose to cross these two parents hoping for really pretty heads, so if we end up with alot of really pretty heads, I will be very pleased.

Posted by: Vistadei at 11:09 | link | comments

Puppies are walking much better today.  When I open the gate of the pen to let their mom out, they all come running out too!  It is kinda funny to try to scoop 6 of them back in far enough so I can close the gate!  I think in another day or so I will give them their first toy to play with.  That is usually fun, as puppies do not know why a big stuffed rabbit suddenly appears in their "den" and they will bark at it, some will bite and attack it, others will hang back and let them.  Once they are introduced to toys I will switch the toy several times in the day to something different, some they will snuggle with, some they will growl and bite, and some they will chew on.  All have to be able to go in the laundry, cause soon it will be messy.  I checked for teeth last night, some of them have little buds under the gums, but none are through yet.  Their mom will have a big shock when THAT happens!  They are big enough now that even if she is standing up, they can stand and nurse.  If she tries to walk away from them they just walk along under her continuing to nurse.  I will be glad in a week or so to start offering them some solid food, she is such a small mother to be 100% sustaining 6 big pups, when they get some teeth I will offer them mash, and that should be less of a draw on her, tho she will probably keep nursing them till about 6 weeks old.

Posted by: Vistadei at 13:49 | link | comments (2)