So we set up the big house (6 x 8 pen in the living room) last week, and the puppies have been spending more and more time in it. We continue to give them something new every day. And today they got to LEAVE THE PEN and play with the other dogs. Grandma Zhora was just perfect with them, just like her mother Nina.
Grandma Zhora:
Purple Girl showing the blue fuzzy bone who’s boss:
Playing with Alice:
Poor Alice, they most definitely have teeth now. They wag their tails and come bustling over when they see humans or dogs now. It’s crazy adorable.
Photo/video dump from today:
Pam, her daughter in law Shannon, and Shannon’s children came to visit! The puppies met two adults, a baby, and a three year old.
The big dogs were thrilled too!
Breakfast! This is the first time I’ve fed them before Alice does in the morning (she has free access to them but she was outside). Royal Canin Puppy Mousse mixed with Primal goat’s milk. Breakfast of champions!
They’re starting to eat really well just the last day, it’s both a survival skill (you’ve gotta eat a breakfast Margie!) and a mechanical skill (lapping from a plate is different from nursing, plus you have to figure out how to stand still and hold your big giant head in one place when you’re still very new to this whole walking thing). And it’s also a mental skill (food doesn’t only come from mum, and I can get it myself).
While I do not ever force weaning, they are BIG and this takes some of the pressure off Alice. If she wants to nurse them until they leave, that’s her business. But they have teeth now!
If you’ve been trying to contact me, first, let me apologize for being so slow about getting back to you, between puppies and work and personal stuff it’s been crazy!
If you have sent me an application, I will be going through them in the next few days and contacting you to set up a Zoom meeting to get to know each other a bit better.
If you have sent me an application or email or otherwise reached out and you now don’t wish to be on the list for this litter after all, please drop me an email and let me know!
Finally, please keep in mind that I don’t yet know what these puppies are like, but if they take after their parents (as I hope they will), they will be working dogs. That doesn’t mean they won’t be great pets, but it DOES mean they will need a job to keep their brains exercised. Put it this way: I’ve had Vallhunds since 2003, I do a lot of stuff with my dogs, and there were times when Alice was a puppy where I had to grit my teeth and remind myself that I WANTED a working dog. Not everyone wants that, and there’s no shame in admitting it!
Tonight the puppies listened to: agility, fireworks, NWA, Public Enemy and The Beastie Boys. Because we don’t want to influence how they feel about the whole East Coast/West Coast thing yet, they need to make up their own minds (also because loud male voices and sirens, but mostly because they need a solid introduction to hip hop).
The puppies are right at the start of the socialization period, so they had their first visitor! Melanie, who owns their half brother Enzo, came to see them!
First, here’s the puppycam
Second, the power went out at 1 AM, and it started to get cold in here shortly after, so I bundled the puppies and Alice up and headed into work, where there was power (and where there’s a generator even if the power is out). Power came back on about 2:30 and we headed back home once it started to warm up here. Alice was a trooper, hopefully it wasn’t too stressful for the puppies.
I usually start offering food around three weeks of age. They’re 20 days old today and everyone except Green Boy tasted some Royal Canin Puppy Mousse today! Green Boy said no thank you today. I will start offering them a little food every day, gradually increasing it as they get older. Eventually I will start offering them food before Alice goes in with them, but that will be after they move to The Big House. Right now Alice can come and go as she pleases.
They went on a field trip to the living room too! And listened to agility sounds from my videos (one heard Zhora barking on the video and barked back!?) as well as some thunderstorm sounds. We also dropped some things and slammed a door.
