They're Two Weeks Old!

And still sleeping soundly! Generally there's not a peep out of this group... unless... someone is lost or being sat on by Mom. Emy has them pretty much divided into a group of 5 and one of 3. Yesterday, the same pups stayed in the same group all day, but this morning the groups were different. A couple puppies have their eyes open... Molasses, for one. He's the darkest red and, since he has a black face right now, I can barely see his eyes. Marco, the larger blond guy, also has his open. Several others have slits and the rest are still tightly shut. Marco and the lighter red boy are getting up and standing, spraddle-legged, on all 4s... but they collapse as soon as they try to move a foot. ALL of them are trying to get up and walk; they just aren't quite there yet. They are all 8 pretty much where I expect them to be at this age.

Pictures in the next day or two.

One reminder: pups are picked in the order deposits are received. This usually happens around 4-8 weeks of age, depending on what exactly the earlier pickers are looking for. Unless the families who purchased first tell me they are definitely NOT interested in a particular puppy, I can't allow someone else to choose it. You'll just have to wait your turn.

Preakness
Can't say that I'm particularly excited about this week's Preakness. For one thing, Zito is not running Icebox. You'll remember Icebox was 2nd in the Derby and running down Super Saver even though he had probably the worse run of all 20 horses. Zito has a habit of skipping the Preakness so he can enter a fresh horse in the Belmont 3 weeks later and spoil any chance of a Derby-Preakness winner taking the Triple Crown. It may bring in some dough for Zito and his owner(s) but it really ticks me off that that is more important to them than a real test of their horse's ability. It's just not good sportsmanship. Paddy O'Prado is also entered... he finished 3rd in the Derby and was still running at the finish line, so that might be interesting. Looking at Lucky is in... can hardly wait to see if he finally gets a good trip.

Was sad to learn today that Eskendereya, who had to be scratched from the Derby, has been retired from racing. He showed a lot of promise.

Two Weeks Old

And growing like weeds. Literally! If you compare what's going on in my yard with the way these pups are thriving, well, there's a lot to compare! Several of the pups have their eyes open... of course, they can't see yet, but they're growing up fast. I've been in awe of this litters' sense of smell. Their mom can go outside while they're sleeping and they're completely undisturbed by her absence. But let her just walk back into the room and every one of them is awake and moving around, trying to locate her. Since they can't hear, it HAS to be her smell they pick up on.