Proud

Wow, it's been almost two weeks since I blogged.  My house is so quiet as I have just Storm Trooper and Laylah left.  Laylah is the little Pink Girl who we called Ribbon Girl at first for we put a ribbon around her neck to make sure she got extra attention for she was quiet and not active.  Well, that isn't true on this day.  That little girl has more energy and is one smart cookie.  The other day she figured out a way to crawl up on the shelf (over the wire) put her feet on the gate, and over she went and out into the kitchen.  So, once again, revamped the puppy room.  I'm really working on her manners and she is learning very quickly.  She will be staying here with Fred and I along with Storm Trooper.  Storm Trooper is a miniature Shadow and we have caught ourselves calling him Shadow.  He is quiet and also very intelligent.  Those two pups entertain themselves, use the doggy door to go out into big kennel to potty, kennel up when asked, sit for their food, and working on waiting.  Love them already....  My washing machine is taking a break,  Belle Starr is resting and healing so she will be ready in the spring for her next litter, and we as well besides training will regroup for the next litter.  So much was learned throughout this process and now that we have experienced it, know what to expect, and have all the equipment, we are looking forward to doing this again.  A few less puppies at birth would be just fine with us.... It's amazing what puppies can do when they are trained from the beginning.  They ate out of a bowl at three weeks, started potty training early on and by 8 weeks were pretty much kennel trained.  So very proud of my first litter and they will always be in my heart. One of the blessing of the process was meeting all the wonderful people who adopted our puppies and getting to know them.   We have very lucky puppies.  Proud at Happy Labs Kennel

Belle Starr resting up and preparing for her next litter....

Energized...

The pups are 8 weeks old today.   They have turned into miniature dogs and have discovered that they can bark.  How wonderful... They will jump and bark at each other just for fun.  Also they are very agile, jumping, running, 360s, 180s, into the dog house, in and out of the dog door. chasing, biting, chewing.  It's like having 10 four year olds at Chucky Cheese. A little over stimulated. On another note the little bundles go potty outside when I can let them out.  It's been very frigid, so not much outside time.  They are learning to sit, and working on Quiet... I have them on soaked puppy food now and they are doing great.  As they are slowly leaving for their new homes I feel a little empty place in my heart that they occupied for 2 months.  Each and every pup is as sweet and special as ever. Each night I throw into Belle Starr's kennel a couple of little blankets that I made for them so as they can take mommy's smell with them.  Each day it is easier with them and each night I seem to get more rest.  That is a good thing.  Parker is here helping me with them and that is such a treasure.  All the little things he does really helps.  We dewormed them again today but have to confess that we couldn't do the microchip thing.  Putting that huge needle into the pups just wasn't working for us.  So they will get a micro chip to have the vet administer...Feeling energized at Happy Labs Kennel. 

Thankful...

Lots happening at Happy Labs Kennel.  First my phone somehow ended up in the dog's water bucket.  I can only speculate on how.  Then on my way back from picking up a new phone in the rain, the Tahoe hit a slick spot as I was braking and we went off the road.  Probably the most traumatic event of my life for I had my grandson with me.  We both are fine, but as my grandson told the officer, "My grandma broke her car."  This will take me a long time to get over the feeling of thinking I could have injured our precious boy.  He is one of the sweetest things that ever hit the earth.  It has been good that I have the puppies to occupy my thoughts and helping me heal.  I am very thankful that we are safe at home and doing okay. Belle Starr is healing and doing so much better.  As far as the puppies are concerned, they are either tearing around, wrestling, dragging pee pads around, or sleeping.  And all this time they are leaving little presents laying around.  Mostly they are on the pee pads, but sometimes not.  They are much better about not peeing in their kennels or on the blanket.  We finally have them down to a feeding routine of 4 times a day.  They actually went 8 hours last night without a feeding.  Sleep at last. I try to spend quality time with them, and we feed them two at a time with their own bowl.  Or if it is only me, I feed them one at a time.  I'm working on 'wait', but this is  going to be a slow process.  Tomorrow they will be 6 weeks old, so will get their first shots.  Time is flying by.  

Busy times...

Today has flown by and I am taking a few minutes to blog before feeding and going to bed.  I know that tomorrow is going to be a busy day and I'm sure that I won't have much time to write. Took Belle Starr in yesterday to the vet, again, and they put her on antibiotics so as we can get her well and get some weight on her.  It was a scary day for us and hope that she bounces back fast. Belle Starr has lost weight and as we looked at Abie he gained a lot of weight.  Always around when we feed Belle Starr ( which has been many smaller meals) and he gets a treat.  Now if we could put the weight back on her that would be good.  The puppies are becoming independent and personalities are blooming.  They are falling into a routine which is very helpful.  My days go by fast and for fun I think tomorrow I will write down what I do in a day at Happy Labs Kennel. Last week I arranged their room,  this week they arrange their room.  I'll look in there and the pee pad is in the kennel, bed covers are drug off the bed, and toys scattered everywhere.  Reminds me of the good ole days with my children.  With Belle Starr on all that medicine she can't nurse any more.  Wish  there was something we could do to help with less milk production.  I know, this shall pass too, but not fun in the meantime.  It's time for this tired lady to finish her day and get some rest.  

Toddlers

Today, I had a room full of toddlers.  We rearranged the nursery into a toddler room, where they have room to run and play.  And that they did.  I put a basket of toys in and they thought it was the greatest, just like Christmas.  Their co-ordination in really developing.  It's funny for they can run backwards and sideways as fast as they can forward.  They are attuned to sounds and recognize mom and also people.  When you step into their room,  they climb all over the feet and chew on the socks.  Which means the teeth are developing.  I fixed the room with a pen so that they don't have access to the wall or trim.  It would be nice if they had access to outside, but a little cold.  Our goal tomorrow is to create a potty box with shavings for I really want to get them somewhat potty trained.  No more poop worms scattered around would be wonderful... They each have their own personalities and everyone of them very lovable.  One thing we know is that tomorrow will bring something new.