Puppy Socialization
pups at play
With the holidays there has been a lot of opportunity for the pups to play with many different people – kids and adults alike. This has been really good for them. The first time they met others outside our family they were shy and subdued. But now that they get the idea of how much fun people can be they are digging it! So, if you know who we are and want to come by to help with this socialization project, please do not hesitate to call us up!
For the past 24 hours they had a super marathon of play with our cousin Kendall. She and Ryan played for hours with them and were convinced that they had taught them many things including how to give their paw (both front AND back paws!), how to go down the Little Tikes slide (LOVE Little Tikes toys- great for kids, great for puppies!) and how to dance. I’m not sure how much of those lessons the puppies retained but I do know that the puppies learned that playing with kids is WAY fun and interesting. (more…)
Heavy Workload
Bless this mess.
It feels like I am constantly going now. Once I feed the pups then I have to take care of Annie’s food. Then I have to clean up the food bowls and let Annie out. Then I play with the pups to give them some stimulation and get them used to being handled and of course Annie’s right there needing some attention too. Then I have to clean up the wet papers, mop the floors and put down new papers. Hopefully at this point the pups are starting to fall asleep. Before they do I have to change their bedding, put the soiled bedding into the washer after taking out the wet bedding and putting it into the dryer after taking out the cleaned and dried bedding and folding it. Once the bedding is laid one pup invariably walks on it and pees. I try to pretend that it doesn’t happen. You can’t ever get the room cleaned – you just try to keep (more…)
Soccer Puppy
Puppy play time is short lived (they tire easily) but fun to watch. Here is a short clip of a pup practicing his soccer moves in the play area…
All is well
Everyone was walked and relaxing. The puppies were happily playing on their bed after a big meal, wrestling quietly, chewing each other’s ears and slowly falling asleep. I was working on the computer and Annie was chewing on her Kong. I was feeling good about myself, thinking “I am so good, everyone has been taken care of and all is well.” I hear Annie drinking heartily and smile to myself about how happy she sounds when I realize, “hey, her water bowls are in the puppy room and the door is closed…” I look and see her drinking from the toilet that really needs a cleaning (yuck)!! Oh well.
Puppies everywhere
Puppies puppies everywhere! They all walk around the room now, exploring, playing and peeing. Every time I enter the room I have to laugh as they all stop and look, just like little kids you burst in on and startle. They look like they’ve been caught doing something wrong.
They are well into the solid food now and are taking more and more from me, and less from Annie. This is good as she wants less and less to do with them. Tonight, for an hour during feeding time, they had a babysitter! My friend, Maria, came by and played, fussed, and held them all. When I came down to clean up the meal mess they were all zonked out. They continue to enjoy human contact, wagging and crawling over one another to get to the people who visit them. There are going to be a lot of visitors soon. We plan to post their pictures on Petfinder next week. Look for them either by going directly to Petfinder or through the HELP website . They will be named after Santa’s eight reindeer – Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comit, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen. The brown one is Blitzen.
Signs of things to come
As I was cleaning up the puppy room before bed half of the group was wrestling and the other half was exploring. Walking around my feet, chasing the mop, and peeing and pooping on the nicely cleaned floor. I must have mopped that floor three times before I gave up, turned off the light and let the pups do what they will. They are paper trained, but they also pee and poo on the floor too…so maybe not so paper trained after all. Sigh. This is the beginning of the busy time. If I can keep myself in the moment, it isn’t too bad. But if I try to project outward a few weeks I get overwhelmed. This is going to be a challenge, trying to keep everything sanitary.
I cut the pups toenails again, boy they had gotten long! Everyone was very good about it and stayed relatively still. (more…)
