Day Thirty Three

Today the puppies are big enough to stand up on their hind legs and see out! They won't miss a thing now. If you notice in the pictures that the puppies don't have their collars on  it is because as they fell off I didn't get around to replacing them. I will do that this weekend. We are going to try to take individual pictures this weekend. That is a three person job but you will get to see them from all angles.

Here are some pictures from today.

Holly and LaDonna

 Emily looking like the brat she can be.

 Little white Nancy

 This is my handsome boy Wade

 Wade again

 Precious Dalton and Gavin

HMMM...tastes like chicken! This is Justin

 Justin again

Day Thirty Two

The puppies are changing so quickly it is mind boggling. They had a really good time playing on the obstacles I put down for them. They ran and jumped and shook the bejeebers out of some stuffed toys. I had an empty paper roll so I put the blue saucer on it and it served as a teeter. They thought that was cool and as you can see LaDonna tried to get it to go down again.  They are not as noisy and demanding as many litters I have had.

This evening I ordered the DNA test kits from UC Davis. They should be here in less than a week. The test is painless for the puppies. All they need to run the test is buccal swabs from the cheek.

Raising a litter of puppies and working a full time job is exhausting and I am not getting any younger. I know many of you are wondering why I haven't answered your messages and I am truly sorry but there is just not enough hours in the day. I appreciate getting your input so keep the messages coming and I haven't forgotten about you. What I would like you to do is send me a message letting me know your top three picks and if there is any of them you absolutely could not live with. I know I am asking a lot because I live with them and I can't decide which one I like the best. I do believe it changes daily!

Justin and Nancy running over the empty paper roll

 LaDonna and Kenny are so brave!

 LaDonna tried to get it to move again but it wasn't centered so she couldn't get it to budge.

She wants to be an agility dog!

 Kenny, Dalton and Holly

 Emily

 Poor Bizzi is in there somewhere



Day Thirty One

UGH....rain which means muddy dogs so if you think the dogs look dirty in today's pictures you would be correct. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on your perspective there is absolutely nothing in my house that can be destroyed by puppies or muddy dogs! Those things were history long ago.

I decided that Maks will not win a father of the year award. He is afraid of the puppies! When all nine puppies were chasing him he decided the only safe place was inside the pen. Lila was so patient with the babies when they tried to see if they could get some milk from her. Here are some pictures of the play time this evening.

Lila playing with Justin

 Dalton and Holly looking for milk

 Bizzi feeding the pups while daddy Maks looks on

 Bizzi takes a moment to play with her father Garrett

 Muddy Garrett and Emily

 Poor Maks!

 A very played out Nancy!

Day Thirty

 I don't have many pictures to share from today because I killed another battery and don't have a spare nor do I feel like going to the store to get one. I just want to say to everyone who plans on bringing one of these babies home please don't fall in love with any one puppy. If you all get your heart set on the same puppy we will have quite a dilemma. Until I decide which puppy or puppies will be retained to produce the next generation of LUA dogs I can't make any promises. They are scheduled to have their BAER hearing testing on Oct. 24 so until then I am not going to make any decisions.  I do know they can start going to their new homes on Oct. 30th. so start thinking about when you would like to pick up your new family member!

I don't know what Kenny is telling Holly but she seems to think it is funny!

 WOW Look at all the things we can get into out there!

 YUMMY

Day Twenty Nine

The personalities are starting to emerge! What I can tell you is Emily is very vocal and has a very strong will. She will need to go to a home that is experienced in training dogs with a mind of their own. I think she will do great with an owner that plans on training in various diciplines. She will not tolerate being ignored. Her mind will need stimulated with lots of new things to learn. Not a dog for a first time owner with small children. With this dog training will constantly be happening. She will want to be the trainer if given the opportunity.

LaDonna is a very reserved girl. She chooses to stay in the background and watch. I think she will be a wonderful companion for a rather quiet household. She doesn't appear to be shy but she is very laidback. She is content to be by herself playing with a toy rather than in the middle of the commotion.

Kenny is very middle of the road. Nothing seems to bother him he just goes with the flow.

Gavin is not afraid to try anything new. He will bulldoze his way through the crowd to get to where he wants to go. And where he wants to go always involves food. I think he will be a dog that will learn easily if the reward tastes good!

Wade and Justin are just plain adorable! I can't walk past the pen without picking one of them up and giving him a hundred kisses!

I need to watch Nancy, Holly and Dalton more but there is just not enough hours in the day.

I am probably going to give you too much information again but yesterday when I was weighing, doing nails and giving them a very good inspection I discovered that all five of the males have both testicles descended already! Occasionally, I get a cryptorchid puppy which means one of the testicles does not come down. This can make neutering more of a challenge and since it seems to be genetic they should never be bred.

Poor Bizzi has had enough of them nursing. I think she is cutting back in her milk production. At least I hope so. She is just plain miserable looking when they nurse. She won't lay down now she stands there for them for a very short period of time.

Today I gave them some new surfaces to walk on and some obstacles to play with. Enjoy the pictures!

 Justin is just too darn cute!

 OUCH they have teeth!

Week Four

The puppies are now four weeks old and changing rapidly! Today was so busy that the puppies should be exhausted I know I am. Today was the weekly weigh in and nail clipping. They now weigh from 4 lb 4 oz to 5 lb. Since they have had some time outside the pen to play and explore they have gotten very vocal.

We had lots of visitors today and as you can see from the pictures they puppies were thrilled to meet some of the people they were named after! Is there anything cuter than puppies and kids?

 The next two pictures are Dalton meeting Dalton

 Below is Gavin meeting Gavin



Day Twenty Seven

A few of the puppies got to come out of the pen to play. Seemed like a good idea at the time but they were not happy when I put them back in.  Today they had visitors and will again tomorrow. All the adult dogs are happy that they are getting visitors too. They are all very obnoxious too because they each want all the attention. Bizzi reluctantly feeds them now that they have teeth and twice today she yelped when they were nursing. Poor girl.... I am going to reduce the amount I am feeding her and hope that her milk dries up quickly. They are eating well enough on their own that they really don't need to still be nursing so I will let it up to Bizzi to decide when she wants to wean them.

Gavin and Dalton look like book ends!