Week 4 - BABIES

Good evening and Happy Friday!

Boy, it was a fun… though VERY HECTIC shoot this evening.  Next week, we will NOT be shooting in the puppy palace.  These kids are very busy and really enjoy coming and going from the set. Attacking the lights, the camera, me… etc. They made a little speedway going under the lights base, these should all be agility potential pups ;) Whew!  I haven’t laughed that hard for awhile! But, lesson learned, Puppy Palace is now their domain, photo shoots will be set up elsewhere.

This litter is a really a lot of fun, and very happy babies! They are already wagging their tails and enjoy toys a lot. White boy play bowed at a toy I was holding and wagged his tail, I was surprised, then noticed everyone was doing it.  It’s a little early for tail wagging, but what a treat :) Purple decided the dragon was hers and took it back to play with.  Green boy assumes that he’s being booked into County and must remain serious, though he’s pure trouble (and super cute) I put a toy on his head and he just sat there.  With a toy on his head! What a funny kid! He and Yellow weren’t that interested in cooperating on set this week. Black was pretty sure he needed a nap, too. The other 6 were very into the props, toys and each other.  We tried the bubbles, but we need to be out of the Palace to make that more effective. We may try it again! It was a cute element.

This week pups are starting to bite.  Everything.  A lot. You, me, the lighting equipment, toys, each other… everything goes into their mouths, and CHOMP! They are teaching each other bite inhibition, so remaining with their litter mates and mom till 8 weeks is very important.  They have had some new surfaces, though that will really be introduced more next week, week 5.  Mainly, just more of everything and meeting new people. Which is where you come in! Sounds like several of you will be able to make tomorrow. I look forward to hearing how it goes and what you think of the kiddos :) 

We started stacking this week, hence the yogurt faces. While this may not mean much to most of you, it’s helping all the pups get used to being handled and learning how to be baited into behaviors.  We will expand on this as they get older with some basic obedience starts.  The pups are all beautiful and while this is just training so they learn how to be handled for eventual show (for those who plan to show) and are used to it when we grade them, we were really impressed by how consistent and similar they are! We were impressed by all of them.  And boy, every single one of them dived into the yogurt without hesitation.  A litter full of foodies :) 

Pups are about 50/50 on using the potty pads/potty space, which at 4 weeks old is actually quite remarkable! I watched both Red and Green toddle over to the potty area to use it.  Green missed the pad, but hey… he had the idea ;)