This is a long update because I’ve been remiss in writing.
If you didn’t discover them already, I sneaked in pictures of the puppies’ first day outside a couple of Saturdays ago. You’ll find them under Picture Gallery / Flag Day Puppies 2018. Be forewarned! The cuteness is almost too much. Here’s a sneak-peek:
They’re big shots in the yard now. They’ve explored every nook and cranny; barked at suspicious things like water pipes and vases they broke. They learned about uppity cats that will smack a pushy, solo pup but run for the trees when the whole pack gets after him.
Climbing! Mama demonstrates “how to” climb the driftwood log and within a flash pups all over it.
Potty-training is almost a done-deal. When they’re indoors they use the litter box. Occasionally someone misses the litter box, but for the most part they’ve got it figured out. When we’re outside, all I can say is it’s a really good thing we have a big yard because 9 puppies and 2 adults make for a lot of landmines. I feel so bad that my husband doesn’t let me do the clean-up. He says I tear-up the lawn too much with the end of the shovel. I just don’t know why I still can’t seem to get the hang of that. <grin>
I even let them venture around the house a little when we first come in from outside. They discovered that my cowhide rug was fun to chew, and so was my napping blanket that I keep folded up in a basket. The basket itself was about to be swiss cheese, but I saved it. The Sisal rug in the breakfast area was then targeted as a great tug-of-war toy, and Jackie maligned a pup that tried to steal a toy from her crate. When I caught Benny chewing the cord to the puppy-cam that was the last straw – I herded everyone back to the safe zone. It just goes to show you that no matter how puppy-safe you think an area is they always find SOMETHING THEY’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO HAVE!… But, no one pee’d or poo’d where they weren’t supposed to – so that is awesome.
Okay, so here’s what we’ve worked on over the past week:
Manners! Mama has been teaching them that “no” means “no” – the milk bar is closed. Zoey is such an incredibly good mama. I’m so pleased with how gentle but firm she is with them. She lets them play pretty darn rough with each other without interfering. Occasionally, someone cries out with the right amount of distress and its big Mama Zoey to the rescue. They’re getting valuable lessons in what constitutes “too rough” from their siblings, their mama, and us.
They’re also working on ‘sit quietly.’ I make them practice sitting still and taking food GENTLY from my hand. They must do this even if one of their brothers or sisters gets over-exuberant and tries to steal the tasty morsel. No one gets that treat until they can sit quietly and calmly. It’s precious to see that little circle of nine faces concentrating on being calm. Some of them are very relaxed about it and could easily sit for two or three minutes while others are working so hard at just being in control of themselves for twenty or thirty seconds. I’ll try to get some video of it. I’m dang proud of them for it because it’s hard work being that calm when you’re a puppy!
And nails. The dreaded nail-trimming… I use a Dremel. I’m just too much of a nervous-Nelly with regular nail guillotines. So far, I’ve let the cordless Dremel run completely out of battery power twice because I just leave it running with the pups in close proximity so they can get used to the sound of it. When I finally pressed it to a foot – not even the sanding part – you’d have thought a bee stung him. He jumped and screamed and wriggled and just generally made a big fuss. Mama came in to see what was going on, gave him a little lick on the face and then showed no more concern. He calmed down enough that I was able to sand off the ends without ever getting close to the quick. Lots of treats and praise for his bravery at the end. On to the next pup. It’s a slow process building trust in the face of something this scary. I’m going to keep working on it with them so that hopefully nail trimming won’t be a source of fear for them.
Finally, ‘Operation Me Time’ has begun.
I want them to have a gentle transition into being able to accept and enjoy having their own space in their own crate. Therefore, I’ve set up two crates with a divider in each – creating four personal spaces. The pups are taking turns spending time in those personal spaces so it won’t be such a big shock when they go to their forever homes. I let them go in there when I know they’re about to fall asleep anyhow. They get a chewable treat that is ONLY something they get when they’re in those special personal spaces. That way, it’s always a positive experience for them – except when a sibling in the personal space next door manages to thieve your chewable from under the divider. That’s not so fun.
sometimes NuPro. They’ve even had canned sardines. Basically, I try to find healthy ways to provide variety in flavor, texture, smell.
We had my granddaughters sit on the floor and be as calm and quiet as possible – which isn’t actually very quiet at all. By the end of the weekend we had children bouncing around screaming with delight while puppies chased and barked with enthusiasm. It was a sight to behold …if only it had a mute button. 
I’m so proud that MOST of the time the puppies are using the litter box. We started with pee pads in the whelping box and then once they moved downstairs to the Puppy Palace we introduced the litter box with compressed wood pellets. Okay, I’m trying not to brag but today when I had them running loose in the dining room I saw one puppy turn circles in a little panic and then bolt back into the Puppy Palace to go use the litter box. I was so proud! And while I was clapping and cooing “good puppy” someone pee’d on the floor behind me.
cookies, she wouldn’t wag her tail, her head hung low – I’ve never seen her like that! Postpartum? Exhaustion? Sick? I took her temp – normal. I gave her extra yummy toppings on her supper, but no, she wouldn’t eat. Then it occurred to me that the girls and I have not been taking our morning walks since the pups were born, and Zoey is an athletic likes-to-be-outdoors kinda girl. So we leashed up and headed out for a walk that was about 1/4 the speed we normally go and a distance of about 1/10th our typical 2 mile route. Hey, a girl can’t go too far or too fast with distended mammaries!
Well, that got me thinking. Why should those pups get to be lazy while the rest of us are trying to get fit? So today we started their exercise routine. I open the door to the Puppy Palace and let them spill out over the gate. Then I “run” into the dining room and do laps around the table calling for the pups to follow me. They toddle along behind – some following, some cutting through the middle, some going the opposite way.
Zoey got in on the activity and after a few laps around the table Drill Sergeant Zoey leads them off to the stairs and tries to get them to climb! …game over. A little too much too soon. But, we had a blast and I snapped some pics of the pups that I added to the website.
This week we moved out of the whelping box and downstairs to the puppy palace. It was bliss for the pups because they now not only have their 4’x4’ sleeping den but also a 10’ x 6’ play zone.
doubt they felt the same way staring back at my giant face as I gushed over their accomplishments. I plan to capture some video this weekend and post it to the website.