The Outside World

After the prison escape last night, we decided to erect the temporary fence in the yard for the pups to go outside and play. But just how do you transport 8 squirmy 3.5 week old pups outside? In a rubbermaid tote of course!

Little Yellow was excited to check out the new sights and smells outside - including some leaves and grass!

After making short work of adventuring, Yellow and Green (the littlest and biggest!) curled up in my lap for some snuggle time!

And Ms Orange, so far the guardian of the little pack, was front and center to let us know of another dog walking by - check out that early stack!

We have an escapee!

So Wednesday night marked the first escape out of the whelping box. Ms Pink made it up and over the pig rails and into the great beyond! So I figured I would take the pig rails off and buy us another couple of days at least... but then she decided she wanted OUT and climbed up over the boards anyway, no pig rails involved! So I decided to remove the front of the whelping box and open up the room to them - they were so excited to be running all over the place! Look out world!

This picture is of my son with Orange and Black, who tackled him once we sat on the floor!

First Meal!

So at the start of Week 3, all the pups were introduced to their first non-Emma meal! They got to sample some gourmet baby cereal mixed with goats milk - and with very little prompting were all eating like champs within seconds! We'll be adding basic foods such as eggs, yogurt and honey this week to their gruel. Next week they'll get to taste some fruits and veggies, and maybe even some chicken! It was hysterical watching them dunk themselves into it ther meals! Yellow got fed up with being the peanut at the end of mealtime and sat her whole body right in the dish - precious!

Week 3 also marks weigh-in for the pups, and they are all gaining very nicely.

Black weighs in at 3lb 5oz this week.

Royal weighs in at 3lb 2oz.

Green weighs in at just 1/2 ounce shy of 4 pounds!!

Light Blue weighs in at 3lb 10oz.

Lavender weighs in at 2lb 10.5 oz

Orange weighs in at 3lb 9oz

Yellow weighs in at 2lb 7.75oz

And Pink weighs in at 3lb 7.5oz.

What a wonderful, happy and healthy litter!

Barking and Playing Together!

So with their eyes open, it's like this whole other world has opened up for them as well... they recognize each other, and are having a blast toddling around after each other. I just had to share about tonight though - they were absolutely hysterical! They were all toddling around the whelping box and making noises after each other - barking, growling and snorting! And then when that wasn't enough, they started to tackle each other and chew on their ears and noses - it was so cute to watch... I did get some video, but I'm technologically challenged... You'll just have to take my word for the cuteness!

Movie Night

Here's a video of the 10 day Chinook puppy race finalist for the girls' team. It's Pink who took first place! Do you think maybe Emma had some influence in the outcome? Girls rule!

2 Weeks Old Already!!

Wow! Can you believe they're already 2 weeks old!! It seems like they're older somehow - maybe that's just because of how big they're getting :-) Their eyes were all open by the end of the weekend, and it would seem that they're starting to notice sounds more and more. They were particularly interested in a loud bag of candy we were enjoying Sunday (snacks to observe them with of course!). And while no one has escaped from the whelping box quite yet, we definitely have a couple adventurous types - Pink and Green were quite curious about the outside world, but couldn't quite figure out how to get their back legs up and over yet. Just to be safe, though, I added an extra board to give the box some additional height - momma can get in but the babies can't get out! Well for now :)

Pictures of their 2 week photo shoot are below - you'll notice that Green and Yellow no longer wear neck bands - their colors are so distinct that I can pick them out just fine without them! Green is the red-dilute boy (and the biggest in the litter so far!) and Yellow is the dark girl (and the peanut in the bunch so far!). And the breakdown of weights is as follows (pictures match weights in descending order):

Pink is at 2lb 9.5oz, Lavender is at 2lb 1/2oz, Royal is at 2lb 8.5oz, Light Blue is at 2lb 12 oz, Yellow is at 1lb 15.7oz, Orange is at 2lb 9oz, Green is at 3lb 1/2oz, and Black is at 2lb 10.5oz.

Stay tuned for their first sled dog race - coming soon :)

The Boys at two weeks: Black, Light Blue, Royal, and Green.

The Girls' Team: Orange, Pink, Lavender, and Yellow.

Their First Race!

Okay so for their 10 day mark, Nancy and I thought how cute it would be to have the boys and girls participate in their very first race. :) And yes there's video, a short clip from the races is below. From the boys team it was Royal who crossed the finish line first, with "Buddha" (green) a close second. The other two boys, black and light blue stalled out at the start and went for the big power nap instead of racing. (Priorities, priorities!)

From the girls team it was Pink who crossed the finish line first - up on all fours and moving ahead with purpose and direction! The other three girls, orange, yellow, and lavender were just abuzz at the start line, too busy talking about hair and make-up to even think about breaking a sweat on the trail. :) All in all it was a lot of fun and gave the pups a wee bit of exercise, new stimulation, and practice in getting to momma (Emma served graciously as the carrot for our festivities!).

As they near the 2 week mark, I'm noticing many little slits for eyes (yes, I had it wrong... apparently eyes AND ears open at 2 weeks... who knew :) No sign that they can hear me yet, but it is exciting to see them maturing so well. Almost everyone is over the 2 pound mark, with Yellow and Lavender still the peanuts of the litter. And big boy Green (we may call him Buddha for now!) is nearing 3 pounds headed into the weekend.

I'll keep you posted as we take pictures this weekend - hopefully with some beautiful baby eyes to gaze upon!!

Happy Spring!!!
(oh, and the pic above is my son Asher snuggling Buddha :)