8 Weeks Old Today

Afternoon ouside, the pups becoming bolder and bolder about exploring.
Here, they all are 50-60 feet away from me (with Keogh confined in the house.)

Then, Ke had been allowed out with them for a while when a rain storm dropped by unannounced... no thunder or lightning or even cloudiness... and Ke headed for the house, followed closely by the gang. That's Bud-Light bringing up the rear because, as usual, he was the farthest away.


There will be individual pix of the 4 on the website in a little bit.

Weights
Do I know my stuff or what... some times, anyway! From under 2.5 pounds at 4 weeks to 9 (yes, NINE) at 8. The three boys are all right at the 9 pound mark (with Bart and Bud-Light just a tad over) while little Betty stays little. She is only 6.5 pounds.
According to the 10%/every 4 weeks formula, these weights mean the guys will mature around 45 pounds (ideal weight) and Betty will be 30-35. This formula is a fairly good guess enhancer, but not totally accurate.

Shots
All four behaved pretty well when they got their first shot... except Betty wanted to argue a bit. I think she really just wanted down since she'd been in the middle of moving some newspaper out of the pen when I grabbed her. The newspapers have been Shadow's delight for many weeks and now the rest of the gang has joined in. They shred it all over, after rearranging every sheet I put in there.
BUT they ARE using it reliably so if they want it in a different location, that's fine with me!

A night out
Keogh spent the night in the bedroom! In fact, yesterday, once she decided the pups were in a safe place in the dog room and had spent some time playing with them in the yard, she ignored them completely. And THEY didn't seem to mind.
One interesting thing, when the storm rolled in, I took Shadow, Betty and Bud inside but Bart had already found shelter under a bush and I wasn't crawling under there after him! I left the door open and then got busy on the computer, forgetting about him. Ke did too or so I thought. She slept on the floor by my feet for a while... the storm was a short, light one... then eventually, she went back outside. And stayed there for over an hour. When I remembered Bart was still outside, I found them both asleep under the bush. Now THAT is a great mom!
Betty is her mom's favorite, something that became very obvious today. She spent most Of her time with them this afternoon play wrestling and romping with her daughter, getting up and moving off whenever one of the boys jumped in. I often see moms treating their female pups differently than the males.
One last thing...
Considering how mature these babies are, I do not think any of these puppies would have difficulties settling in a new home right now, especially if there was another dog there. And yet, DAILY I see them learning stuff from each other, as well as the rest of the dogs here, which they would not pick up if I let them go at 8 weeks. For one thing, puppies treat puppies differently than dogs treat puppies. Pups are MUCH less tolerant of being bitten too hard, for example, and immediately bite the offender back which is a great teaching/learning technique. Humans tend to NOT bite puppies, relying on voice commands or smacking the biter to correct the behavior. And mature dogs generally just walk away, depriving the pup of its chew toy.

Emy "heat" update
It IS Em the boys are excited about, but, for the life of me, I can't see why. She has NONE of the physical signs of being in season. And yet she is willing to be "friends with benefits" with each and every one of them. Which means, she is NOT going to be with anyone except Sparky, just in case...!

Pictures as Promised

A day late, but blame it on the weather!


Above is Bud and below is Betty


These are Bart and Shadow


These are the boldest pups I've ever had. They were not the least bit intimidated at being outside for the first time. In fact, Betty discovered the steps and got half way up them! Keogh came in and out and every time she showed up, they all went galloping over to her which complicated picture taking (as if I need another problem with that!) When she was in the house, Shadow and Betty hung around my feet, moving whenever I did but Bart and Bud wandered quite a distance from me.

More photos... LOTS of them... on the puppy photo page.

Outside - Briefly

Was forced out of bed VERY early this AM by the guys who were here to work on the yard. They wanted to get it... and a number of others... done before the temp went up and the thunderstorms got here. As a result, all the dogs had to go out into the puppy yard, which is all gravel hence no men working, and because their barking drives me crazy, they made quick work of it. Which meant... it was cool and nice and I thought I'd take the pups out for some pictures. They've never been outside before and, with all the noise of lawn mowers and weed eaters, I expected them to be really spooked. HA! The first ones out were the two partis... and as it turned out, they were the only ones who got out today. I got a couple quick shots of those two and the camera died. And, of course, I don't have any more batteries. So here's what there is for today...

Gravel smells different than tile

Bart on the left and Betty on the right. You can see he is bigger than she is.

Keeping an eye on the noisy intruders...


I love Bart's rear. It looks like he has one leg in his pants.

When I go up to town, I'll get some batteries and if the weather isn't too awful, will take Shadow and Bud out for some photos.

Jennifer's last pup
is still here. Jane, who has his unhappy brother, Jackson, was going to bring Jackson back yesterday and take Bud. But she's decided she is too attached to J and is going to give him more time to adjust. I can't believe he's being so stubborn and advised her to FORCE him to make up with her. It's been 6 weeks and so far, he's had it all his way. It's time he HAS to deal with his new situation. We'll see how THAT goes.

Which means, there is still a pup available.

Anyone..?

3-1/2 Weeks Pictures

Bart

Betty

Bob

Bud


The only one who seems to actually like having his picture taken is Bart. The other three are all over the place... I probably took 10 different shots of Bart to get a couple usable ones. The others required at least twice that. Each! (Thank goodness there are only 4 pups this time around! The Fall 2010 litters just about did me in! Picture taking is not my favorite thing to start with!)

More pix will be on the website later this evening. There's a link from the Double Doodle page or you can go directly there at http://uptodatepuppyinfo.com

Weights WILL be taken on Wednesday. Yes they will

What do I know?
In regards to the running of the Belmont (the third of the Triple Crown races) on Saturday, June 11th... forget what I predicted after the Preakness. Animal Kingdom's people have already announced he WILL be entered in the race. Shackleford's connections haven't made up their minds as yet. I'm looking forward to the race, not with the giddy excitement I feel when one horse has already won both the Derby and the Preakness, but with anticipation of seeing some gorgeous animals doing what they love to do. The only thing better is watching horses in a pasture kicking up their heels and challenging each other.

11 Days Old

Photo taken this morning of Betty (the most white,) Bart (the parti guy,) Bob (has white feet/chest) and Bud (solid black.) These pups are really doing well... they are so strong already they are pushing up on all fours... well, all fives since they press their noses to the ground for balance! Mom is quite comfortable in the tv room with them, so that's where they're staying. I've actually gotten sleep with this litter!

Just the Usual

Yesterday's pup is now living in New Jersey and so is this one.

Above, the family at the airport
Below, Emy and Shadow's daughter relaxing with Donna's daughter




There are pups from every litter living in New Jersey. They could start a revolution and take over the Garden State Parkway!

Finishing up the rabies shots
Going to take the two black and tan pups in for their rabies shots today. Neither of them likes walking on a lead, so this could be fun. Peri will go before the end of the week... she's never been on a lead but she's small enough I can just pick her up.

Double Doodles
A friend sent me this picture of one of my Double Doodle grandbabies.



I think she's beautiful! The whole litter was this color. Keogh and Ost will be having parti-colors (spotted) and blacks (that will probably turn silver like their mom.