We just discovered we have mouths!!!

First, my apologies for not providing updates for a few days. I had some trouble logging in, but it looks like everything is fixed now.

Well the puppies have made a new and exciting discovery - they have mouths! And they are trying them out a lot - on each other's ears, legs, backs, bellys, noses, and bottoms.

Eyes are open and they are checking out their world. Now, as soon as Joie steps foot in the pen, they all jump up and "run" around and yap and bark. There's still a lot of falling down going on!

Where's the millk?



In the next week I'll be introducing them to real food - blenderized kibble and goat's milk. Usually the pups love it. Slowly the burden will come off Joie for keeping the pups fed and will fall more onto my shoulders. I'll also open up their pen and remove the whelping pen so they'll have a larger area to explore. That's always a new experience and it's fun to see how each individual puppy reacts to the changes.

Marcie found the upper bunk!

2 weeks old today!!!

Everyone's eyes are opening more and more...and they're toddering around the pen easier also. They're also peeing and pooping more! Joie is less and less enthused with feeding them also. They can get pretty rough when it comes to feeding time. What Joie needs right now is a lure coursing trial and an opportunity to chase that bunny!



Nursing is hard work!







Piggy!

Everyone weighs at least 3 lbs except for Addie, but she'll get there very soon!





Dennis passed out after meal time





Addie is comfortable!



Eyes are opening and pups are learning to walk!

Everyone is learning how to stand up and walk around. It's a good thing they're not that tall since they fall down a LOT! Eyes are starting to open and everyone is looking around at their new world.



Almost dinner time!!



Marci actually climbed out of the pen this morning!  Joie was laying on a bed just outside the pen and Marci decided she wanted a snack so she climbed up on the rail near the opening and tried climbing out. I admit, I gave her a small step up, but she still did most of the work. In my other litters, puppies didn't climb out of the whelping pen till they were at least 3 weeks old!  I may find them crawling around my kitchen soon!

Addie is using Rita as a pillow

10 days old!

The puppies are starting to stumble around on all 4 legs and their eyes are just starting to open. They manage to get up on all 4 legs...and then fall over! Some puppies get very frustrated!


Chow time!



We had a power outage last night for about 3 hrs. The puppies can't regulate their temperatures very well, so I was concerned about the heat (it reached 100 degrees on Tues). Fortunately the power went out early in the evening when the temps were starting to cool down. But then I wondered how Joie would manage around the puppies in a pitch black kitchen! But the power came on around 9:15, so we had no problem.

  

SSSHHH! I've got a secret!



We made another trip to Dr. Cain!

So we made another trip up to Dr. Cain again today to remove that tiny little extra dew claw on Rosie. Even Dr. Cain had never seen one like that before. Rosie behaved herself the whole time - hardly made a sound.

I think Joie must be getting a litte sore from nursing. These are big puppies! Dr. Cain said Rosie was a bruiser - and she's not one of the bigger ones!

This looks like it hurts...

Happy Birthday! One Week Old!

So one week ago today these cuties came into the world. They've all doubled their weight already. We had several visitors this weekend - Rosemary came to visit Rudy, Jeff, Eva, and Eli came to visit Dennis, and David and Barbara came to visit the girls. Joie is most definitely the guard momma!

Dennis and Marcie

Got Milk??

Well, some of these puppies are pure piggies. They eat at least every 5 minutes. When they're done eating, they look like little balloons. If you stuck a pin in them, they'd fly all over the room! Then sometimes after they eat they cry instead of going right to sleep. Well, if my belly looked like that, I'd cry too!

Seriously, everyone seems to be doing very well. Even our tiny girl Addie, does her share of pushing and shoving when it comes to meal time.

Joie is back to being very slim. She's starting to wag her tail again....and she's being a very responsible momma - although she does roll her eyes at me sometimes "WHY did you get me into this???"

Day 5 - Joie took a nap in the sun today!

Well, Joie actually relaxed enough to go out on the deck and take a nap in the sun today! I bet that felt good!

Lots more sleeping, eating, and pooping today. Our little girl Addie reached 1 lb yesterday! She's a real cutie! Everyone is getting so big, they'll be climbing out of the whelping pen the minute their eyes open!

I found an odd thing today - on one of the pups there is one nail growing where there would be a rear dew claw. There's no digit there - just the nail. So we make another trip up to Dr. Cain on Monday!

Joie and Addie

Day 4 - We got our toenails cut!

So today was another busy day for the puppies - sleep, eat,poop, sleep, eat, poop...Phew! That's exhausting! Joie is continuing to be a good momma. She's leaving the pen for a few minutes at a time now - even took a few minutes to lay in the sun today. But that only lasted about 45 seconds and she ran back inside to check on everyone.

Everyone had their nails clipped a bit today so poor Joie doesn't get scratched up too much. And Indy met the puppies for a few minutes today. He was quite intrigued with them - I think it will be awhile before he's running around with them!

From top to bottom: Dennis, Marjie, and little Joie

Day 3 - My thumbs are gone!!!

Today was dew claws day. Yep, had them all cut off. Two pups even had rear dew claws. I'm told this is a good luck charm. :-)
Everyone survived the hour long drive up to Dr. Cain's, although Joie was fairly stressed at having her babies taken away from her. Dr. Cain proclaimed all the pups big and STRONG! Not much crying on the way home as I think everyone was pretty exhausted.
Here we are getting a little comfort food after the trauma of dew claw removal.

Poor Marjie (yellow) already passed out and rolled off the puppy pile.

Welcome to the New Northstar Puppies!!!

Dam: "Joie"

DC Freedom's Pride of Northstar, SC, FCH, CDX, AX, AXJ, RA, HIC, TT, CGC, VCX

Sire: "Shasha"

 DC Sanyati's Savanna Shasha, CD, NA, AXJ, MC, RA, CGC, HIT, TT, HIC, VC