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.