Puppies Oct 5, 2023
Puppies are 25 days old today! How time flies. They've gone from being sleepy little sausages to mobile, playful cuties.
Gemma has been such a proud, sweet Mama. She had her first new visitor Oct 6th, who came in and held each of her pups. Even though this is Gemma's first litter, she was soo good! Interested, and attentive, and curious, but relaxed and lay calmly at our feet after snuffling each pup as it was being handed to the newcomer. Of course, she soon realized that her pups were getting all the attention, so decided to kindly ask my friend to pet her, as well :)
I, unfortunately, forgot my camera in another room and wanted to supervise the visit, so didn't get any pics or video of the occasion.
**with all videos, click on the underlined link, then click on the thumbnail to open fully**
From Oct 3-6 we continued ESI and ENS, and cuddle times.
By Oct 7, pups had outgrown their first, small crate, so were introduced to a larger one.
Then we enjoyed the beautifully warm afternoon of 16°C by venturing outside for their first excursion. I took them in groups of 3 in the crate, then held them individually in my arms while they took in sights, smells, and sounds.
Our DNA parentage test swabs arrived, so much of the Thanksgiving weekend was spent separating all the pups, (probable) sire, and dam for 1+ hours apiece prior to their test. Here's a short vid of Harmony being so good in her crate.
Those have now been mailed, so we hope to have the results in the next couple of weeks.
Lovely Mama Gemma Oct 10, 2023
Thanksgiving brought a huge step forward in the pups' development... Oct 9th became the first day the potty box was introduced!
Pups needed some encouragement from Mama to discover how to get out of potty box. Gemma also enjoyed having the extra space.
By today, Oct 12, almost all the pups have been using the potty box, so that the nest is remaining dry! I am thankful!!
Yesterday, I started the pups with 'Manding'. This is basically where I pet them if they are sitting. They soon learn that sitting is rewarded, and that their desire for attention is seen, encouraged, and responded to if they sit.
PUPPY WEIGHTS & MILESTONES
The puppies are growing in leaps and bounds. Some have put on almost 2 lbs in the past 8 days. Hawk and Hero tied for chunkiest pup yesterday, at 5 lbs 7 oz. The smallest girl is Hyacinth at 1 oz less than the next 2 pups; that's a pretty uniform litter.
Oct 5th was the first day I noticed their ears twitch in response to sound.
Even before this time, the radio has been turned on daily (but off at night) to help expose them to different voices and sounds as soon as they could begin to notice it.
Pics & vids of individual pups.
PLEASE NOTE: Any temperament observations are EXTREMELY preliminary and fluid at this young age.
1) Hawk (m, tri color) Generally one of the calmest in the litter, but has indicated the most dislike of being alone in a crate THUS far; nothing is fixed at this point. He is, however, very relaxed about being brought out away from the litter to spend time with me. He was not at all phased by being placed on a rocking chair in the living room for his pictures today (his pics were too blurry yesterday to use), and kept coming forward, tail wagging, for pets.
Hawk Video
2) Hitachi (m, shaded sable, piebald) pretty middle of the road pup at this point. Similar to Hawk except less fussing in the crate.
Hitachi Video
3) Hero (m, shaded sable) Another basically chill pup, he wasn't usually much disturbed by ENS or by being in a crate alone.
Hero Video
4) Hyacinth (f, shaded sable, piebald) at this point is sometimes a bit less confident, but pups go through various developmental stages. She had her eyesight a couple of days before several of the others, so appears to be developing at a faster rate than some, which takes her through some fear stages first. She is currently realizing that the world is a much bigger place than she originally thought. I fully expect her to mature out of this; things are very fluid at this age.
Hyacinth Video
5) Harmony (f, shaded sable, piebald) was the most chill pup during the DNA testing crate separation time, settling in quietly to sleep. Also more chill of the 2 females with ENS (imo, partly due to being supplement bottle fed, so had more positive association with being held)
Harmony Video
6) Handsome (m, light shaded sable) Was the most reactive at first to ENS / being held, but has since become a friendly, waggy boy. He had a tiny sample of some of his dam's canned meat from my finger, and decided being held was well worth it! lol
He is the lightest boy, but has the broadest head, so can appear bigger than his brothers.
Handsome Video
We currently have 3 puppy spots left available.
One spot MAY be a female depending on temperament testing.
Anyone interested in reserving a spot for this litter, or being on our wait list for future litters (we must have enough interest before we'll deliberately breed again), please contact us & fill out our application form.
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