V-puppies are nine weeks old

The last two weeks went by so quickly! Puppies continue to do really well. 

During the day they stay in a much larger pen where they have several dog houses, dog beds and a lot of toys. The pen is attached to a shed, where pups can go to when the weather is bad. During thunderstorms we bring them to the house, and they spend their nights downstairs in their whelping box and pen filled with wood chips.

This PVC  pipe has been a great hit with puppies. Pups play a hide-and-seek there, run through it and sometimes take a nap inside.

Vincent loves the pipe!

We started to take pups for longer walks to the pond. They are not too eager to go to the water but they have no fear to run onto the dock.

Their diet is varied. They eat four times a day, dry kibble, canned food and raw diet.

Pups spend quite a bit of time with us, in the kitchen, when we have meals. They are really people-oriented, sweet creatures.

At eight weeks puppies were examined by Dr. Rebecca Kryzak of Cottonwood Veterinary Services.

We try to give puppies many opportunities to be exposed to new situations and be handled by people. These pictures show Janice and her husband Butch.

Dan and Debbie came to play with the puppies as well. There are no shy or timid puppies in this litter.

Yesterday, June 12, we worked with pups on fresh liver drags. Today we had a lot of rain and were surprised to see that when puppies were let out on the lawn this evening they reworked the liver drag from 24 hours ago. We thought they would not be able to smell it. The flags were still in the ground so we could see they they followed the line, made a check and got to the end of the line. All this was in a good working style. Oh, how we underestimate our dogs' noses!

Pups continue to be exposed to other dogs. Here Tuesday and Tommy have s pousal disagreement in front of their offspring :-)

Kunox is a good playmate. Run Vonnie, run!

Video of eight-week-old puppies having fun in the pond

Eight-week-old puppies get examined by a vet

The last week was very busy as our friends from Wisconsin, Larry Gohlke and Cheri Faust, visited us here. They stayed with us from Thursday to Monday, and puppies benefited from the visit enormously. Larry and Cheri believe, just like we do, in early conditioning and training, so every day puppies tracked, swam, played and socialized. It was a lot of fun!

All the pups got accustomed to the water but some like to swim more than the others. This is Uncas.

Puppies played a lot on our dock.

Cheri is very good with puppies and it was great to have her here.

It is so easy to fall in love with a puppy.

"Hot" dogs were dipped by Larry

On Monday Dr. Rebecca Kryzak from Cottonwood Creek Veterinary Services came to examine puppies. It is great to have access to a vet who makes house calls. The picture shows puppies waiting for their turn.

Pups' experiences with walks to the pond and first rides in a car

We got a nice feedback from Woody regarding Tarah via Sam, his neighbor with a computer and Facebook. Thank you Sam!

John left for Quebec on Tuesday so I have been extra busy and have not had much time for posting. Puppies are doing really well. We took several trips to the pond. This year the pond is overgrown with algae and I do not want the pups to ingest the "stuff", which can be toxic so we keep the trips short. But it is a good exercise for them to follow me on the walks.

Today I mowed paths in our overgrown fenced-in field so tomorrow we will be able to walk there and lay some tracks. Pups also had their first trips in the car. Since there are only three of them they managed well on a blanket in the passenger seat. All went well, and it was funny that when I turned the radio on, they started to wag their tails.

Every day the pups spend a little bit of time in crates so they are used to them. Tuesday and Theo have never had a problem with being by themselves in a crate but Thor objected very strongly. So the last two days he has been crated with another puppy, and he liked that. In a couple of days I'll try to put him there solo again; hopefully by then he will be used to the setup.

All three pups have very good wirehaired coats, just like their brothers and sister from the first, S, litter.

Theo

Thor

Tuesday

In this picture puppies look much bigger than they actually are. Bernie is a saint and way too permissive. They need a good lesson in how to behave around other dogs.

Interestingly, Bella, even though she is just one year old, is not as patient with the pups as Bernie is.

Puppies on their walk to the pond.

Coming back home.

Three little musketeers

Tarah left, and we got a very good feedback about her trip to Texas. She is doing very well. She has gone to bathroom outside and has done well on a short deer liver drag. The remaining pups don't act like they noticed Tarah's absence. They have a lot of fun playing together. It will be a sad day for Tuesday when both boys leave for their new homes on June 16.

Puppies spend a portion of their day upstairs in the kitchen/dining area. This is our dogs' favorite spot.

Tuesday

Two boys, Thor and Theo

Thor in one of his pensive moods

Thor all happy and relaxed

Hi five from Thor

Theo

Theo

Both boys on their backs