Forgive me ...

... for not keeping up with the blog. When I followed other blogs of puppies I never understood why people did not keep everyone up to date on their development toward the end of the nine weeks. Didn't they know we were dying to see the pups? Well, now I know why. The experience of raising these pups was incredible. I learned a lot and enjoyed every minute of it. I also do not think I have ever been so tired. In reality, what happens is, there are only so many hours in the day and our time is spent doing things with the pups that will give them every advantage in life. Unfortunately, that does not leave a lot of time for the computer.

I plan to put up a website for the litter after the holidays - a place where each puppy will have its own page. But until then I would like to introduce you to the new owners of the Ice Cream Litter.

In birth order they are:


Mr. Blue (still unnamed) now lives in Florida and is owned by Paula Cauley. They will be doing field and agility.


Miss Rainbow is now Gaylan's P'Nut Butter Cup Sundae - "Reese" and is owned by Dr. Sharon Albright from Maryland. They will be doing obedience and field work.


Miss Orange is Gaylan's Kimberlite Ice - "Kimber" who is going to be living in CO with Laurie and Frank Sheppard. They will be doing agility, obedience and service dog work.



Mr. Green is now Gaylan's Jamaican Me Crazy - "Doc" owned by Michelle Foster of Old Brookville, NY. They will be doing field, agility and obedience. Here they are with Michelle's husband Henry.


Miss Lavender moved to Wisconsin with Dana Bourassa and is now known as Gaylan's Rainbow Promise Parfait - "Journey". They will be doing obedience and agility. Here they are seen with Dana's husband John.


Mr. Black moved to Yorktown Heights, NY with Steven and Wendy Greenburger. They are planning on giving obedience and agility a try.


Miss Red stayed home with me and is now Gaylan's Triple Talent - "Scoop". We will be doing agility, field, obedience and perhaps a little tracking. Scoop is seen here "scooping" up her pigeon.


Miss Yellow is not with her new owners yet, as they are working at the Cleveland trials this weekend. Al and Irene Lamphere (of Max 200) will pick Miss Yellow up this week and head home to Weedsport, NY where they will be doing agility.


Miss Brown is now known as Gaylan's Roddenberry A La Mode - "Kira" and lives with Ann and Mike Lynn of Ithaca, NY. Kira will be doing obedience and field work.

Please check back after the holidays for the link to the website.

Thanks for spending the time to follow Gaylan's Ice Cream Litter!!!!

A Day In The Life ...

First we eat ..


Then we take a drink ...


Then we clean up ...


Then we play ...


Then we sleep - "zzzzzz"



The last few days have been filled with a lot of firsts. Yesterday a few friends (Joanne Hass, Terry Nolan, Ellen McDonald, Ann Kaiser and Lise) came to visit and we decided to take advantage of all the hands and take the pups to the beach!!! It was a bit breezy, so we did not stay long, but all the pups did really well. Of course they wanted to put everything into their mouths, but after nursing they decided to chase mom. You can see it on the latest video.

Today was their first day on solid food. Each pup got an ounce of food this morning and everyone scoffed it up. Donna Nolan and Sandy Washburn stopped by this afternoon for a visit, so they got to spend quite a bit of time outside since it was such a nice day. They are quietly sleeping right now after having a bit more food for dinner. I suspect they will have one more romp for the evening before going down for the night.

Busy Weekend

Juliet Giambrone getting lots of kisses


The look of innocence (don't be fooled!!)

Sorry for the delay in blogging - there are simply not enough hours in the day.

This weekend we had about 15 different visitors and the pups were wonderful - playing hard and sleeping hard!! They got to go outside and were given the run of the main level of the house. But for an ocassional accident, they are using the litterbox. Once again getting birds, they try to drag it away from one another.

Taylor and Dart are really being wonderful with the pups. In pictures and video you will see Taylor behind an x-pen. This is for Taylor, not the pups. At 12 years old, she is not as patient as she once was (a common thing with older dogs). She needs some downtime from the puppies and by separating them, she gets to relax, and so do I.

I am exahusted, so will just put up a few pictures and some video and perhaps will find more time to write later.

Next Sunday I head up to Gayle's with the gang, so those who want to see them on Long Island have until next Saturday night to do it. The more visitors the better - so come on down!!!

New Experiences ...

Mr. Green convinced he can win this game of tug!


Carley Groveman with Mr. Black, one of this
week's many vistors.


Ms. Lavender getting her first bath.



I apologize for the delay in updating the blog, but it has been very busy around here. We have had lots of visitors and have had lots to do with the pups. They are changing so much!! Over the last few days, in addition to exposing them to new things in their pen each day, expanding their litterbox (which they are figuring out nicely) and getting to play with thawed birds, they also each had a bath. On Tuesday night their Aunt Kerry came down and while she was here I put her to work helping me bathe each of the pups. No one protested while being bathed and they really enjoyed their cuddle time while being dried.

Today it got warm enough to go outside again. Even though it was cooler than it has been, the pups seemed to really enjoy it. They were completely different outside today than they were three days ago. Instead of sticking close by mom, they were all over the place, climbing on the board and raised bed and climbing into Michelle Foster's lap. They were playing with Dart and Taylor, who were very careful not to hurt them. When they got back inside I thought they would crash, but they were still raring to go.

They also have been introduced to the Dremel to trim their nails, rather than clipping them. Every one was wonderful about the noise and loved the lick of Merrick's wet dog food that came along with it.

So far they are still very quiet during the night. Chex goes in and feeds them during the night and at 8 am all we hear is the pitter-patter of their paws on the linoleum floor. They LOVE to carry things around - toys, paint rollers, the wood pellets from the litter box.

Stay tuned ...

More Visitors

Beth Gereg doling out "Carmel Kisses".


Mary Beth enjoying Mr. Blue.


Erin with Miss Brown (a/k/a Brownie) and Ms. Rainbow.


Keri Armentano letting Ms. Brown relax in her arms.


Judy is all smiles among the pups.


Pups content in Kerry's arms after a very long day.

This morning Beth Gereg, Mary Beth Guyther, Karen Tragesser and her 7-year-old fried Erin came down for a visit. They brought puppy toys, which the pups loved! (These are the most spoiled pups on Long Island!) Everyone loved all the puppy breath and playing with them as well as watching them nurse and play with each other and then crashing ... just to do it all over again a half hour later.

Later in the afternoon Ann Kaiser, Keri Armentano and her mother Judy Trepiccione and sister Kaitlyn, as well as their Aunt Kerry also stopped by for a visit. They had recovered from the morning's activities and were raring to go again. With more presents their pen is starting to look like the FAO Schwarz of Dogs. Needless to say, everyone enjoyed all the puppy breath and watching their antics. By the end of the evening Mr. Green, Ms. Red, Ms. Caramel and Ms. Lavender all found their way to the litterpan - what good puppies!!!! Many of the others are making it near the box, but are not making it all the way in. I expect they will catch on soon.

Another Big Day

Ellie and Julia giving one of the pups a kiss.

Renee Rainer schmoozing with Mr. Blue.

Julia playing with the gang.

Today was a busy day for the pups - filled with visitors. Ellie Hughes and her daughter Julia stopped by this afternoon. The pups are outgrowing their collars so quickly, so Julia helped me change the collars on each of the pups. The pups certainly enjoyed the visit, and I know Ellie and Julia did, too.

As they were leaving Stefanie and Renee Rainer arrived. After watching them sleep much of the time, they finally woke up to nurse on Chex. Stef has picked out Mr. Green, telling me that he has to stay local so she can watch him grow up. It is amazing how puppies do pick people out, and Mr. Green definately picked out Stefanie :o) I hope they enjoyed the puppies as much as I enjoyed seeing them!

Later tonight they will get to see Mr. Duck again.

Tomorrow will be another day filled with visitors. I don't think we will have a problem hitting our goal of 70 visitors in 7 weeks!

The Great Outdoors

Miss Orange enjoying the toy Maggie brought


Me surrounded by the pups on their first trip outside


Puppies sitting in my lap

Today was the pups first time outside. It was 68 degrees and a bit cloudy, and I wanted to let them take advantage of the unusual November weather. They started out nursing and then started investigating the grass in our backyard. As you will hear in the video, we live under the flight path for planes landing at Kennedy Airport. One or two of the pups reacted to the noise of the first plane, but by the time the second one went by they were ignoring it completely. Of course, as fate would have it, the fire station alarm then went off. Amazingly, the pups were just fine with it. They were simply engrossed in all the new scents. Later they had three new visitors, Mal and Libby McGarry and their daughter Maggie, who was so good with the puppies. She gave them new toys and it is the first time they picked up toys in their mouths and shook them.

They are pretty wiped out from their outdoor excursion and their visitors. Tomorrow is another day that will have new visitors. Until then, they rest.

What a difference four days makes ...

Michelle Foster and Miss Orange


A big yawn from one of the "flavors."


Chex is now nursing the pups standing up, which helps their physical development.

I did not have time before I left to go to CHE to do any blogging. So catching up, the pups had two new visitors, Michelle Foster and Mary Beth Guyther. Both of them were amazed at how well they got around, considering their age.

I could not get over the changes in the four days I was gone. When I left for CHE's agility trials the pups' ears had just opened. They were quite active and just starting to interact with each other. When I got home they were completely different puppies - playing with each other when they were awake. They also found their voices, barking at things and each other. Although by weight this is not true, they look like they doubled in size. They climb out of the whelping box over the small door. Weighing them is more of a chore since they do not want to sit still long enough for the scale to register one weight. Their teeth are coming in, too.

I have to say my husband Jim did an incredible job taking care of the gang while I was gone. Kerry stopped by on Saturday for a visit and clipped their nails (which grow so fast!!) Lise and Goretta came down on Sunday for a visit.

I am recovering from the CHE trials, which went really well. Four days of agility trials with raffles, and two matches at night - what a lot of work, as well as a lot of fun being with friends for a great cause. We got a lot of compliments on how things were run and it looks like we raised some money for canine health research. On top of that, I won one of the Super Raffles, a canine semen freezing at Straws To Paws (www.strawstopaws.com) as well as a few of the daily raffles. If I keep one of the boys that will certainly come in handy :o)

Now that I am home I have had time to put up new pictures and video, so check them out.

More later...

While Marcy has been away

Marcy has been away in Springfield, Mass. to help raise money for canine research. It has been a very successful effort, for which she is both happy, and grateful. But, she really misses the pups. I know she will be amazed at their progress.

They interact more and more each day. Next week the venue will change once again. The ice cream parlor will be in new digs in our downstairs office. Their world will expand beyond the confines of the welping box to a xpen enclosure.

End of Bio-Sensor 10-21-07

Miss Lavender chilling


My dad enjoying Miss Yellow.

Saturday night my parents came over for dinner and got to enjoy the pups. Then on Sunday their Aunt Kerry stopped over after field training and enjoyed the pups while Jim and I went to see a movie. (On a side note, if you want to see a good movie I recommend Gone Baby Gone with Casey Afleck, Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris!!) She said she loved spending time getting to know each one individually, and was surprised at how different they are already. Kerry stayed to help me with their last night of bio-sensor. The scent du jour was duck and everyone loved it. Every puppy was able to do the problem solving in under a minute, and many of them did it in under 10 seconds.

Their ears should be starting to open tomorrow so things will be kept quiet here for a few days. They are really interacting with each other, which I hope to capture on video. Oh yeah, my husband Jim is wonderful - he fixed our camera!!! Check out the new photos and video.

10/19/07

80% of our day is spent doing this!

This is a great bed.

The milk bar is open 24 hours a day - we love mom!!!

It has been busy around here - we moved the new whelping box into the living room and put the other rooms back together. The pups are changing by the hour. Many of them are walking much more gracefully, without looking like drunken sailors. Now if something, like mom, is in their way they simply go up and over it rather than go around . Tomorrow the plan is to take Chex out to do a little training, as she is getting a little bored.

My camera broke today, so I probably won't be able to put up any video/photos for a while. I did put some video up recently and a few photos, so enjoy them until I have new ones to share.

New Digs - 10/17/07

Miss Red and "The Green Monster"


Our New Digs!

Yesterday was a very busy day for me (not puppy related) and Jim watched them for the day. Later their Aunt Kerry came over for another visit and helped me with their bio-sensor session. The scent of the day was our cat Xie Xie (pronounced shay-shay, which is "thank you" in Chinese) and every one of them could not get enough of her scent.

The pups have new digs as of this morning. They are growing so much that when they are all sleeping at night with Chex in the whelping box it gets too hot and they cannot spread out, so they cry. When they are hot (cold or hunrgy), they let you know it!! In addition, three of them are constantly getting stuck under the pigrail, and it is almost impossible to get them out. So Jim and I moved them to a larger whelping box. Thank you to my friend Cindy Groveman for lending it to me.

The other news is that Mr. Blue and Mr. Black's eyes have opened!!! But since the others are not yet open, I am still using Gayle's canopy to keep it darker in the room in addition to covering the windows. I expect the rest of their eyes will be open tonight and tomorrow. This box will be their home until we move them downstairs into the x-pens in a few weeks.

They have also had some toys in the box for the last few days. Even though they cannot see, they crawl through the pyramid, nuzzle the Cuz squeeky toy and sleep on the green monster. I had a small latex toy in there, but Chex decided it was another one of her kids, which she picks ever so gently and carries with her all over the house.

10/15/07

Not much to report - lights are dim, but I put up some pictures taken without flash and video from today and a video of one of the bio-sensor sessions, so you can see what it is all about. Remember, it is intended to stress the puppy. Most of the crying you hear on the video is from a puppy in the whelping box, not the puppy being worked with.

Enjoy!

October 14, 2007

The windows are covered and the lights dimmed as the pups eyes prepare to open. They had a quiet day with no visitors. Tonight bio-sensor included banana - a scent none of them liked. They sniffed strongly and then abruptly backed away. Mr. Blue, the largest, is now over 30 ounces and Miss Red, the smallest, is just shy of 25 ounces. They continue to amaze me with their ability to get around the whelping pen, following their noses the whole way. Two of them almost climbed out of the laundry basket today. Pretty soon I will need a bigger box for weighing them.

Week 2

Kerry giving Miss Orange a kiss
Sue Johnson and Miss Red
Miss Yellow chillin'

Today was a big day for the pups. They turned 1 week old and had lots of visitors and presents. This afternoon their Aunt Kerry and Sue Johnson came to play with them. Kerry was amazed at how big they have gotten in just a few days. She, of course, has her favorite - whichever one she is holding! We sat around, watched and played with them for much of the afternoon. After Sue left Kerry gave me a massage!!! She said she wanted to test out her new massage table, but I know she just wanted to be my saviour. Sleeping on the floor for a week certainly has taken its toll on my back.

Then my friend Goretta Nendza, my sister Lise, and my parents came for dinner. Of course, they came to play with the pups, eating was just a bonus. Afterwards Goretta helped Lise and me weigh the pups and do bio-sensor. Today's scent was evergreen - they really were sucking in the scent.

Their eyes are starting to show slits in them, so I will be darkening the room and will not be taking any flash photography for a while, so it may be a while before I post anymore pictures.

10/11/07

The pups continue to grow like weeds. I tried to film the bio-sensor, but had some camera problems. Perhaps tomorrow I will be able to upload a video so you can see what it is all about. The biggest change today is their tails - they never stop wagging!!! Not much more to report - they continue to sleep and eat. That is what life is all about for them right now.

More later ...