6:30 AM Messy Marvins

I just posted a new video on YouTube Messy Marvins. John has been feeding the puppies at around 5 each morning which allows Morgan and I to sleep a little later. Since he is usually long asleep at 11:00 PM when we do the last feeding it's great to get that little extra sleep.

We have not been using much newspaper during the day as they are doing great going outside and other than a little pee most of the mess is outside. This morning after cleaning up and feeding them John put down lots of paper and I woke up about 6 to the sound of paper ripping and puppies gleefully making a mess!

They were having such fun with the paper I couldn't help but laugh and then put them out in the pen while I cleaned up. 

I also gave them dry food about 8:30 to see if they would eat it, not only did they but I gave it to them again at 1:30 and they gobbled it right down. About 15 minutes later a few of them were raising a racked and I let them out again. They all did their business and then came back in for a nap.

Week five update

It's been a very busy week with the puppies learning to go outside before and after eating. While it makes clean up much easier it can be a challenge getting all ten puppies in and out of the house without losing track of any. They are really doing a great job, even telling me when they need to go outside. If I leave the door open they go out, do their business and then come back in. I did take a few video's this week and will post the links below.

Currently five of the puppies have been spoken for. We have one girl, Hope and four boys left, Aries, Hanson, Kobe & Blaze. 

Kobe is the largest of the boys and looks like a little bear. He is super sweet and cuddly.
Aries is our people puppy. He loves to be with whoever is around and typically under foot.
Blaze is engaging, curious and constantly looking to expand his horizon.
Hanson is our hearth dog, energetic but loves to cuddle and snooze.
Hope has turned out to be our alpha and rules the pack. She is sweet, cuddly and a tiger all rolled into one pudgy puppy package.

Please send an email if you are interested in one of the puppies.

Learning to hop like bunnies

Following momma J into the house after playing

Week four - we go outside

We introduced the puppies to outside this week and some played in the sun and some in the grass. Morgan even took one down to the waters edge and put her feet in. Here are a few pictures from Alex's outing.

Weened at one month - not the original plan

Morgan woke me late last night to tell me Jada was sick. Jada had thrown up around 5:30 pm and I was not sure why, she did it again about 11:30. After calling the Emergency Vet in Manchester they suggested I bring her in. So off we went at 12:15 am. After a full exam by a very kind lady vet we decided to be cautious and start Jada on some meds to clear up any intestinal issue and giver her some fluids. 

Unfortunately the medication they gave Jada is not safe for the puppies. Fortunately we were well into the weaning process with the puppies eating solid food a few times a day. To dry up Jada's milk we have to keep her totally away from the pups, she can't even be in the same room with them. This is proving to be a challenge. We are also feeding her brown rice and boiled chicken for the next few days. 

The vet assured us the first two weeks are the most important for nursing and the puppies don't need any additional nutrition to replace the breast milk. Feeding them every 4 - 6 hours is going to be the biggest challenge. 

I use a crock pot to make the rice and chicken, here is how. This is a great recipe for anytime a bland diet is called for.

2 boneless chicken breasts
2 cups water
1 cup quick cook brown rice
Add water and raw chicken to crock pot and out rice on top. Cover and set to high, let cook 3 hours, cool and shred chicken. 
Makes about 5 cups 

Update - 4 weeks old (yesterday)

Morgan and I did a little photo shoot on Tuesday and weighed them all too. 

"Hansen"

Mr. blue  is mister mellow. I keep calling him one of the "Blues Brothers" because he is just so chill. That's not to say he doesn't have personality and spunk because he does but he does his own thing and on his own time table. He was 3 lb 4.9 oz at his last weigh in.

"Kobe"

Mr. black & white is very independent and likes his space when sleeping. He is also fluffy and gets hot so he likes to sleep on the bare floor. He was 3 lb 14.9 oz.

"Aries"

Mr. red & white is a character! He is very affectionate and quite a talker. He is compact but solid weighing in at 3 lb 14.6 oz. 

"Misty" RESERVED

Ms. red is oh so sweet! At 4 lb 7.2 oz she is also the biggest puppy. She loves to snuggle, has quite a tickle spot and is quite the escape artist. She was the first to climb out of the box, the pool and crawled under a table to get out out to the pen.

"Gabby" RESERVED

Ms. pink & black is going to be a handful. She lets you know she wants something and is very smart! She is also a big girl at 4 lb 0.3 oz.

"Alex" RESERVED

Ms. purple & black is super sweet and pretty. She was 4 lb 1.2 oz at the last weigh in and loves to get all four feet in the bowl of food. 

"Hope"

Ms. Blue is our ankle biter! She loves to chase my feet as I clean the pen, grabbing for my laces or nibbling my toes. She is already 4 lbs 0.7 oz and is not shy about pushing the boys out of the way when she wants to eat.

"Ryan" RESERVED

Mr. blue & black is our toy boy, he loves the Nyla bones and other toys we have for them to play with. I can't wait to give them a ball to see what he does with it. Ryan was 4 lbs 2.3 oz when we weighed them.

"Jake" RESERVED

Mr. Green is fully of energy and a real rascal. He is small but mighty at 3 lb 11.2 oz and always looking for someone or something to play with.

"Blaze"

Mr. black & orange is personality plus and is always looking for attention. Smart and funny he was 4 lb 1.4 oz on Tuesday.

Update - almost 4 weeks old

As the puppies get bigger it takes more time to take care of them and I get less time to take photos even though they are stinkin cute and even less time to blog. I have some new video and photos today though. They are learning to jump, run and play fight with each other.

First an update. The puppies now have teeth and have been drinking formula a few times a day for the past three days. This morning I dismantled the whelping box and set up the small crate and pen. We started using the pool to feed the horde and added soaked puppy food to create a mash. Let me just say they LOVE it! 

The downside for Morgan and I are they now are peep'n and poop'n on their own which means we are doing a LOT more clean up. We are trying to teach them to use the paper and sometimes I think they are getting it and then not so much.

Paper training

Our new area

A view into the crate

We are not going to fit in here for long!

 This is the small crate, I don't want to give them too much room to discourage peep'n in the crate.

Some alone time with Momma J