A belated post, it has been a bit busy around here these days. The pups have turned into a rowdy, active, demanding bunch - normal 7 week old puppies. Gone are the days of playing for 30 min and sleeping for 2-3 hours. When people are home, these pups want to rumble. The pups are already losing their cute puppy cobby bodies, getting leaner and leggier. The pups are doggie door pros, have had their first car ride, and met the resident house cats. Last weekend, I clipped the cats' claws to minimize the chance of injury, even though my cats are very dog savvy. The first greeting was cute, a pack of puppies surrounding Marti who just held her ground and swatted one or two brash pupster. The pups were curious, but mostly stayed a safe 1-2 feet away without getting overly aroused. This morning, I watched another kitty encounter. Flame very politely approached Marti who was sitting on the ground. Marti held her ground, was fairly relaxed and just voiced a slightly anxious meow. Flame walked up, gave a quick sniff, and left. Good puppy!! On Wed, the pups visited Pendleton Juvenile Correctional Facility as part of the Love on a Leash therapy dog program. Each pup was assigned a boy and we had something like 10 adults providing lots of assistance (and getting a puppy fix). We played round robin recall games, had a recall race (Flame won), fplayed fetch with paper balls, practiced puppy pushups, and did a desensitization exercises (adults clapping, hollering, waving arms etc. while the boys fed and played with the pups). We finished up with a puppy quiz while the boys did handling and puppy massages. We had no "accidents" outside of the puppy pen and I left with six very tired puppies. The pups continue to be a ravenous bunch, now eating 2 cups of soaked kibble each per day. This weekend I will be introducing them to dry kibble. The pups gained 2 lbs each last week and weighed 10 lbs 10 oz (Butterfly) to 11 lbs 2 oz (London) at 7 weeks. The pups are convinced they are starving. They have discovered that the pantry in the kitchen contains bags of dog food, and I need to be careful when I open the door - it can be challenging extracting 6 puppies after they start dog food bag diving. The pups busted through my wimpy garden fence and completely razed and consumed a patch of Asian greens. We had some loose puppy poop after that experience. Bridget is in the process of weaning the pups, and her food has been cut way back. She is the first dam who has been successful at totally controlling when the pups nurse. The pups can be out with Bridget, yet will not continually pester her for a meal. I will plan to get some more puppy pics this weekend.
