Expanded Digs

It may be a trifle premature but Alan has finished up the "gymnasium" to go with the whelping box and he installed it last night.  Now the puppies' lives have gone from a 4 x 4 box to an added 4 x 8 front yard to explore.  We took the tall door down from the whelping box so they now have access to a world twice the size that it was just 2 days ago.  They look SO little in it but we know from past experience just how quickly they will fill it up - especially when there are ELEVEN of them. 

Right now they're still eating and sleeping a lot but we know that in the next week, they'll explode into puppyhood and soon be chasing each other around the "gymnasium."  The next big milestone in their young lives will be the introduction of (semi) solid foods in the next day or two. Stay tuned for that as that is ALWAYS a sight.  I always think they'll wear more of the food than ingest it but I'm usually surprised to see just how good a job they do at cleaning their first place.  But as you can see from the picture below, Mom is still their first choice for a good meal.  Poor Jenga - what a good and patient mom she is.

Wiley - Better Late Than Never

OK, OK.  I want to know just WHO told Wiley we forgot his picture on Sunday.  As you can see by this photo he is NOT happy about being forgotten. 

When I find out who told him ... well I guess I'll just send him to YOUR house and let him scream at YOU!  LOL

In the meantime, in an effort to make amends for our very serious oversight, we are including not one, not two, not three but FOUR photos of the little man - more than any other puppy had posted.  Maybe, that'll get us out of the hot seat. 

Wiley is the puppy we affectionately call Moose Boy and who was born at the vet's office. 

Alan says he will NEVER forget the way Wiley made his appearance -

he came out swinging as he was born.

Can you believe he's now a PUPPY.  Look at this - he's got eyes open and you

can now tell there is someone officially at home in there. 

Our big/little brown guy really is a sweetie (well, except when you miss his photo op)

As you can see, he's still a mite upset about it, but he is getting over it.

But thankfully now, all's well that ends well!

Week 2 Photos - Wilbur and Yaeger

This is sweet Wilbur - he's the smaller of the "twins" but he's

Mr Mellow in comparison to Orville's take charge puppy attitude. 

He is such a good boy.

And then we have our Blue boy, Yaeger.  He is a real sweetie too.

And our choice to demonstrate Nail Clipping 101.

PLEASE don't tell Wiley we forgot to take his picture last night.  We will get that remedied tonight and give him his own blog posting to make up for the slight. 

Week 2 Photos - Piper and Sikorsky

This is Piper doing her Popeye impression.  One eyeball open, one to go.

She's another of our brownie girls.

Then we have Sikorsky - our little boy, although he IS up over a pound and a half

so he's thriving just like everyone else. 

He's Mr Feisty too.  Maybe, like Allison, it has something to do

with being the littlest ... but Sikorsky will NOT let you lose him in the pack.

In this post, we have one of each: A brown girl, Lindy and her black brother, Orville.

Lindy is another of our bigger puppies - ok not quite two pounds but at the upper one-pound area. 

As you can see, she's the first to have two peepers open.  Let's see if she continues to be our first in other areas of development

And then there's Orville, our right ear patch.  He's a BIG BOY and is right behind Amelia in size.

And he's got ATTITUDE - and has already mastered the fine art of puppy howling. 

Week 2 Photos - Cessna and Doolittle

And here now we have two of our beautiful black babies: 

Cessna our girl (in pink of course) and Doolittle (in yellow).  Cessna is a spunkly littly thing with attitude o'plenty. 

 Mr Doolittle - like so many of the boys - is much more mellow and laid back.  He's also another one of our Two-Pound puppies.  I guess when you're a "big boy" you don't have anything to prove.

Week 2 Photos - Amelia and Allison

It's time for the update with new weekly photos.  The big news?  Eyes are opening.  Some more so than others.  This first post is the Big and the Small of the litter.  Allison is our peanut but she, like everyone else now, is over a pound.  Amelia, our Amazon Princess, now tops the weight leader board at 2.3 ounces. 

As you can see, Allison is definitely a "brownie" and although her eyes are still closed it won't be too much longer before she's looking back at us.  The other thing we're noticing is personality displays.  Allison may be the littlest in size but she's the biggest in attitude.  She takes no guff whatsoever from her older and bigger littermates, and routinely crawls over them to get to Mama in search of a meal.  She is gonna be a real charmer

who will have no problem finding her place in the

world. 

And then we have Amelia who is a little more laid back but still will let you know when she's ready for a meal.  Don't get between her and Mama when she's hungry because she turns into a bulldozer.  She started out being kind of "squawcky" but is becoming calmer and easier to handle every day.  She IS a nice puppy. Don't get me wrong - it's not that Allison ISN'T a nice puppy - she's just a little more assertive than her sister. 
 

Week 2 Milestone

 

Oh my goodness it doesn't seem possible that it's been two weeks since Jenga expanded our family.  And what changes have taken place just even in the last week.  Everyone has crossed the One Pound mark and we even have a couple of Two-Pounders - yes, I'm talking about you, Amelia and Orville.  They're starting to get up on their legs and actually walking instead of scooting around.  They don't walk very far before they fall down but they are walking.  They also got their first nail trim this evening (at Jenga's request).   Yaeger seems to be our Poster Child for illustrating big moments so once again he steps in to "model" how big boys get their nails done. 

And the noises don't sound so much like seagulls anymore.  There have been actual barks and  howls coming from the pen now. 

And the biggest milestone?  Eyes are opening and there is someone looking back at us now.  Lindy officially has two eyes open and Piper (our Popeye impersonator) has one open.  When you look at the others, their eyes are slit where you can see light glinting off their eyes.  It is simply AMAZING to see how quickly they are developing.  Jenga, too, is more comfortable with leaving them now.  About the only time she spends with them now is to feed and clean them.  In fact, she's lying right beside me as I make this blog entry.  She has been an amazing Mama.  Here are a couple of pix we took this evening of some of the Milestone Moments.  I'll try and get everyone's Week 2 photos posted tomorrow.

Proud Papa

In case anyone is wondering about the other half of this puppy extravaganza we have going on here, I thought we'd include some photos of the Proud Papa, BIS (Best in Show) BISS (Best in Specialty Show) Grand Champion/Champion Glen Oaks Firekeepers Gambler, known as Gambler to his friends.  In addition to being a pretty handsome fellow as evidenced by his show record, Gambler is a sweet and loving boy who doesn't know a stranger.  We're thrilled to have Gambler's contribution to this pedigree and think these babies are going to be very, very special ... whether in the show ring or on a couch or both.

Job Well Done, Gambler!!!!

 

Week 1 Photos - The Girls Part II

And then our two brownies:

Lindy's goal in life is to catch up to her sister, Amelia. 

She's not too far off the pace.

Piper - a lovely little brown baby.

Week 1 Photos - The Girls Part I

And now for our lovely ladies:

Allison is our peanut but still racking up the ounces every day

Our Warrior Princess, Amelia is our biggest puppy, including the boys.

I'm sure her mouth is open so she can more easily shovel in Mom Food.

And then we have Miss Cessna - I couldn't resist using all those "S"s

She's looking Pretty in Pink.

Week 1 Photos - The Boys Part II

And now for the second half of the group:

Doolittle is another big boy, now over one pound

Our littlest guy, we know Sikorsky will grow into his big name

Yaeger is a little smaller (for now) but he's almost a pound now too.

Week 1 Photos - The Boys Part I

The kids celebrated their 1 Week birthday with another photo shoot:

Orville is now up over one pound in weight.

Smaller than his "twin" Orville, Wilbur is closing in on a pound in weight.

Affectionately, known as "Moose Boy," Wiley is a Pound Puppy too.

New Digs

Cue the theme song from "The Jeffersons" ...

Jenga and crew made the move to their new digs this weekend.  Alan finished the whelping box and I have to say I'm just a mite envious.  Not really - I don't want to live in a box.  But I must say, he did a FABULOUS job with it.  I've dubbed it "Dog Mahal."  It's 4' square and the bottom and sides are made of a melamine-type material so it's super easy to clean up - and that will become more important in the next few weeks when Jenga finishes up her duties as puppy clean-up agent and passes that particular torch to Alan and me.  (Counting the minutes on that one!) And they have the industrial loft feel to their new place with the PVC pipe pigrail that runs along the sides.  For those of you not familiar with the function of a pigrail, it's to keep Mama from squishing babies up against the side of the box and smothering them. 

The kids think it's just great but Jenga is needing some time to make the adjustment and be 100% comfortable in it.  This morning about 4:30 I heard thrashing around and got up and found her wedging herself under the raised dog bed (about 2" high) in the living room.  I assume this was her attempt at denning.  Anyway, I'm sure she'll sort things out in the next day or two and be as comfortable as the babies are.