 The doghouse is
definitely the favorite place for major naps, but they are just as comfortable sleeping
alone in favorite doggie spots in the yard. Puppies are increasingly alert and active. Often they are scattered in isolated singles or groups when they aren't doing a major nap in the puppy-pile in the dog house. |
 Uncle Aslan, my retired service dog,
patiently teaches the mob about respecting their elders and letting them know that just
because they are so cute, they do NOT really run the world! Here is Aslan nibbling on some
goodie. He's already told the pinto female that she can't have it. He generally bares his
teeth and growls, posturing with his head so that it is low and angled - he may click his
teeth in the air near the puppies but he will not hurt them (Zor generally comes running
up and gives Aslan the EVIL eye if she hears a pup startle). Puppies will show their submissive acceptance of his authority, but it doesn't stop them from still trying to beg! Here, puppy's ears and facial expression are submissive, but she still wants a taste of his goodie. She actually walked completely around him, tail low, ears back, belly dropping to the ground and even rolling over on her back once, otherwise practically crawling on her belly when his eyes fixed on her. Later that day when all had had their meal, the puppies swarmed over to Aslan's bowl which he had not yet finished. His reaction was to widen his eyes in shock and back away from his dish and let them have it. James came to the rescue and put Aslan's bowl where he could finish it without being mobbed! |
 In this photo, I'm in the puppy
pen, doing a routine of hugging each one, sitting at ground level so that puppies can
invite themselves into my lap if so inclined. Here, the fawn male on the left, paws at the
black collared female. He was actually in my lap first and was trying to keep her from
getting my attention and lap. |
 Zor still gives them Zor-milk
when she feels inclined which is less and less often these days. Here are five of the
puppies busy at work getting some milk after having had puppy chow gruel for lunch. They
love to eat! Can you tell? They look pretty huge now and competition for milk is still
pretty fierce. L-R: Yellow female with the black collar; dark female with pink collar; two
pintos below are the female and male (L-R) and the grey puppy on top, (jockeying for
position) is the blue-collared female. So where is the missing pup? Well, the fawn boy is.... |
 ... snoozing with Aslan! Oblivious to the
snacking going on in the puppy's front yard. Note that the fawn male and Aslan have some
distance between them. Aslan doesn't like being nursed on or poked and chewed on. The
puppies learn who they can chew on. |
 You can see here, the boys in the back
doghouse and Zor with the other five pups in the puppy yard. The metal flying saucer
shaped bowl was licked clean 15 minutes ago. But who can pass up the Zor-refreshement cart
unless they're deeply asleep after a big meal!At this point, they still chew on me because I'm more gullible to the cuteness factor than Aslan and more tolerant of this 5 week behavior. Obviously five weeks is not too young for some ground rules to be laid. They appear to have absorbed some rules for behavior around their uncle. With me, they will be gentle if I yelp when they bite too hard. They are also learning to sit on a food cue (a tidbit of cheese). To a lesser extent, they are also learning to sit before I give them attention. Perfection won't happen before they go to their homes, but rules of pack behavior, ideas of respecting the personal space of others will be introduced to them between the cooperative efforts of the adult dogs here, as well as James and mine. Once they get to their new homes, they will not automatically apply their 'home rules' with osmosis to their new home. They may not automatically accord respect to their new people. They will nibble and bite until they are shown that the rules apply to their new people too! |
 Here, a fine sunny day. I went out to the
yard to sit down and read a book (Haha, didn't get anywhere on that!) All the puppies came
up to visit with me. L-R: Fawn male (chewing on the heel of my shoe); blue-collared
female, black-collared female; the pinto male. James is using a power tool in the other
part of the yard and the pups are not chewing on the orange electrical cord. Taste
deterrents like "Bitter Apple" work well to prevent/discourage habits of certain
types of chewing from developing. |
 After a while, four puppies
crawl into my lap for a snooze. Each pup is now between 14-20 pounds(our scale is not very
precise). So four pups in the lap at the same time is a bit much after several minutes.
James came to take this picture. Two boys have their heads closest to your left in the
picture. The blue and the black-collared females have their head's dangling toward you.
The pink collared female was in the group for a while but she got up to tinkle then went
off to snooze about a foot away. |
 Zor likes having some attention
paid to her too. James was rubbing her ears and talking to her, then suddenly the pinto
female came up to see if she could get a snack. Well, as long as James rubbed Zor's ears,
Zor was happy to just stand and let the one pup nurse. You can see the back feet and the
belly of the pinto male coming in for a snack too. Unfortunately, Zor decided ear rubs
were just not going to make her stand for two pups going at it. :) |
 A new day,
actually the evening, in this pic: It's drizzling a bit of rain but that doesn't stop the
pups from coming to the front porch to see what I have for them. New puppy toys have
arrived. Pups especially like the rope knotted bones for chewing and fuzzy stuffed toys
with interactive noise-makers (squeakers and other sounds). The new toys will get dirty
and absorb the smells of their home and littermates. In less than a month, some of the puppies will be on their way to their new homes with one of the various "home" scented toys giving them some comfort as they adjust to their new and loving homes. |
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