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Puppy News The Beginning Week One Week Two Week Three Week Four Week Five Week Six Week Seven Week Eight Week Nine-New Homes

May 29, 2003, 11:45 pm

May 30, 2003, 5:07 am

May 30, 2003, 9:45 pm

May 30, 2003, 10:24 pm

May 30, 2003, 10:39 pm

Not wanting to be left out, Burgundy Girl arrives right on heels of Purple ready to greet this brave new world of hers. It was decided that burgundy was a good color for our second girl to symbolize a toast to the new arrivals. She weighs in at 14 ounces.

 

May 30, 2003, 11:35 pm

After the first two came one right after the other, I was hoping this would happen rather quickly. Rose Girl, however, had other plans. She finally arrives, weighing in at 17.6 ounces. Rose was chosen as we needed a flower for our royal family. Looks like the boys are hiding for a bit.

 

May 31, 2003, 12:15 AM

May 31, 2003, 12:55 am

I was beginning to think that this is going to turn out to be a passel of girls. But, then, wouldn't you know it Teal BOY arrives weighing in at 14 ounces. It is the concensus of the group that I pick the color of what we know will be the first of many boys.

 

May 31, 2003, 2:45 am

It's been quiet for awhile now. I knew McKenna couldn't possibly be done, she's just too big still. Then finally, here comes Lime Green Girl, ready to face the world. She weighs in at 14 ounces. Where are those boys hiding??

 

 

May 31, 2003, 3:25 am

Ice Cream Girl just arrived, weighing in at 14 ounces. So far we have 6 girls and 1 boy. I do not think McKenna is done yet. All pups are doing fine so far. Where are the boys???

Hopefully, we will have a final count sometime later today. Oh my, I just looked at the clock--I have been up for over 20 hours and only had 3 hours of sleep prior to that and 3 hours of sleep the night before.

Boy, am I going to waste a weekend sleeping. . . LOL

May 31, 2003, 8:58 am

We are up to 7 girls and 1 boy---Still not sure if McKenna is done yet. I thought she was prior to the last girl and then I had to make another color collar as all I had left were boy colors. The latest little girl has a pink/lt blue collar, think we will call the color "plink". What do you think?? LOL I like it better than "Plue".

 

May 31, 2003, 10:00 am

Well, it looks like the official count is going to be 8 (7 girls and 1 boy). Join me in welcoming the latest M&M Litter - M&M-2. Keep checking in and watch them grow.

Week One

June 7, 2003

Well, the puppies have seen their first week of life and all have doubled their weight. They are quite noisy and I am actually hearing attempts at barks in amongst all the squeaks. They seem to have grown right before my very eyes. They are beginning to look more like puppies than large mice now . A few are beginning to actually put weight on their front legs and lifting themselves off the blankets.

McKenna is being a very good mom and soon I am sure she will welcome some help from their older sister, Molly.

June 9, 2003

Yea!! Everyone has finally made it to the 1Kg. club - this means everyone weighs at least 2.2 lbs and has more than doubled their weight!! The puppies had their toenails clipped for the first time this evening. It was not something they care to write home about. They would much rather snuggle against Gramma's neck than get their nails clipped.

They seem to be recognizing my voice now and my smell and are content to snuggle if given the opportunity. No one has their eyes open yet, but they no longer look like large mice or sausages.

June 10, 2003

The puppies had their first turkey balls tonite, very tiny, the size of the tip of my little finger. They were fascinated by the different texture in their mouths. They mouthed it quite a bit and then got excited and slurped and sucked it on down and then proceeded to try to nurse my fingers to get more.

Their eyes are starting to open-- just tiny little slits today but by the end of the week, I imagine we will be very close to seeing the world in a whole new perspective. No more sneaking around by me and McKenna

Week Two

June 14, 2003

Oh my!! Everyone is growing so fast. They have all doubled their weight and everyone has their eyes open. Talk about conversation....these little ones are very vocal, especially Lime Green Girl and her sister, little Plink.

June 17, 2003

The puppies are 17 days old today and all weigh 4 lbs or more with the exception of one pup who is just under 4 lbs. I am beginning to hear vicious little growls as they try out their growling on each other. It's like "okay, that was good, but listen to mine".

June 20, 2003

Burgundy girl is the first to figure out that if you can stand on your hind legs and put your front feet on the upper edge of the whelping box, you can see out of the box and implore someone to come and pick you up. It was so funny watching her this morning. She would get up there and then slip down, get up and slip down, her head kept bobbing up for me to see and then it would disappear.

Last night, while Teal was draped across the waterer sound asleep, Plink decided she wanted to play. She couldn’t arouse Teal, so she tried to get Purple to play with her. All of a sudden Purple did a big puppy bark and tried to jump forward as best she could-that woke Teal right up. It was so funny; he was dead to the world one minute and up and on his back a minute later. He had no idea how he got there or why he was awake--and, no one had touched him.

Later: The Great Escape

This weekend it has befallen on me to guard the puppies. I was almost asleep in my recliner - while on guard duty - when McKenna started scratching on my leg. I thought she wanted outside so I opened the patio door. She wouldn't go out. Instead she ran toward the whelping room, stopped, came back to me, and then ran back toward the whelping room.

My steeltrap mind knew in a flash that she wanted me to go to look at the puppies. Burgundy had made a break for freedom and was out of the whelping box. She had made it to Shari's desk and I believe she had plans to go under the couch. The couch would have made a good hide out and given her refuge until some of her pals could join her.

At first I couldn't understand how in the world she had pulled herself out of the whelping box. The sides are fairly high and she can just barely get her nose to the edge. I learned a few moments later. It seems that all the toys had ended up in the corner of Burgundy's home. It was a pretty simple matter to climb on the toys and then run for it while the guard was napping. I am not going to give the puppies credit for having the problem solving capability to intentionally stack the toys in the corner. However, out of an abundance of precaution, the toys are out of the whelping box. They can have the toys back when someone is in the room with them.

-Benny

Week Three

June 21, 2003

These guys have started training us already. Whine, cry, whine, cry, look over the whelping box. . . "ahhhh, how nice it feels to be snuggled in Gramma's or our brother, Joe's arms".

These guys are really getting big - and we thought the first litter was big! Whoa!!

June 25, 2003

Well, the puppies got moved to the puppy apartment first thing this a.m. (0400 to be exact). I got up around midnight and two puppies were out of the whelping box, so I put them back in. When I went to check on them shortly after 3 this a.m., three were out. So, they got fed their cereal while I put the fan, etc. back in the puppy apartment and when they were done eating, they got to see their new residence. I don’t think they were too impressed with their first sight of it. Not to mention their first feel of newspaper under their feet. I tossed a toy in there with them, turned out the lights and the fan on and eventually they quieted down and I rushed off to work. So, I guess this weekend, I will let them see the outdoors for the first time and see what they have to say about that new experience.

McKenna cannot get to them in the puppy apt, so that means allowing plenty of visiting time for her to nurse the babies and getting up several times during the night for the next couple of weeks.

Later--

Just got back from Home Depot! The puppy apartment is so hot!! You aren't going to believe this one. I went out and bought a portable air conditioner for the puppies -- an AIR CONDITIONER!! I can't have my babies suffering from the heat and I can't trust them to stay in the whelping box! So, they get the luxury of the whelping box when I am in the computer room and the luxury of air conditioning when they are in the puppy apt.

Puppies will get their first baths this week.

June 26, 2003

This morning I was sitting at my desk talking to a client and was, as usual, was giving my client my full attention. While I was engrossed in conversation with my client, a movement caught my eye. I quickly turned to confront the intruder. My lightning reflexes were poised to strike with all force necessary to repel this unknown invader of my home. I knew I was ready, although my nerves were tense. One never knows how such a confrontation will resolve itself.

As I stood up to face my destiny with courage and determination, I was met by none other than my old rival, Burgundy Girl. She was wagging her little tail and was so proud of herself that she had made it to the living room. One could easily see the feeling of achievement on her face. It was almost as if she was saying, "Hey, dumb dumb, I did it again". As you might guess, I immediately sprung into action.

Mckenna had knocked down the gate to the puppy apartment and the little rascals had run amok. With my astute observation powers, I rapidly found 7 puppies and restored them to their quarters. With the aid of my loyal assistant, Joe, I was able to locate the last of the escapees behind the washing machine. All are well and accounted for.

I suppose a report of this second escape attempt is probably in order. I really hate to file the same since that will be the second escape on my watch. You know, I've rather enjoyed my position as Puppy Warden.

-Benny

 

Well, the pups were 4 weeks old and are half-way to their LER and being ready to go to their new families. Today was filled with firsts for them.

They got to go outside for the first time. It was a wee bit overwhelming for them. The sun was bright and I am sure it looked like everyone and their mom was miles and miles away. Ice Cream was the first one out the door and Mr. Teal was the last and had to be hand carried out (the big brave boy that he is). At first most of them huddled in a corner with their faces away from the brightness and eventually they all started to venture out. We stayed outside for about an hour and then brought them inside to cool off before getting their first baths.

Then it was time for baths. All puppies did their baths well with Rose being the only one that wasn't 100% pleased with the process - but she also didn't fight it. All puppies now weigh 5.9 and 7.3 lbs and all are showing weight gains.

Into the crate they went to continue to dry out while I got the props ready for their 4 Week Old pictures. Pictures were taken and puppies fed (and dirty again with cereal) put back into the puppy apartment so we could eat dinner. After dinner, the puppies went outside again for the second time and now with the sun not so bright and with one outside experience behind them, they were all so much more willing to explore for about an hour and then in for the night.

June 29, 2003

Today, the puppies have been outside once already and got to play in the mud and in some muddy water because I forgot that I had the water turned on in the back yard and there was water standing. Rose had a blast digging in the mud and Plink enjoyed laying in it.

It is now 1 pm, all pups are asleep in the crate in the living room after having their turkey balls. When they wake up we will take them immediately outside for them to do their business and then let them nurse Kenna followed by their afternoon cereal. Oh, the life of a growing puppy.

 

The babies are getting very big and are eating with a lot more gusto!! There is not one crumb left on the food trays anymore. They are really enjoying the outdoors, but with the heat, they let us know they are more than ready to come back inside to the cool dimness of the puppy apt. Their co-ordination is improving daily. They are getting more adventurous and can kick into a gallop if they feel the urge to do so.