The Rainbow

Being a breeder means you get to witness both ends of the rainbow of life. On Sunday we bundled up the puppies and drove to Rockford to visit our friend Lorraine and her beloved Kody Bear who is the great great grandfather of the puppies. The Bear is now 14 years old and closer to the end of the rainbow than the beginning. Each day Bear and Lorraine have together is precious as they are all too aware. Both of them enjoyed the puppies and although the Bear dog wasn't ready to play he did enjoy watching them from the other side of the fence.

Staying Cool

Even in Michigan winters, Samoyed puppies think it is too warm most of the time. They lay against the doors because it is the coolest place in the house. Now if we only had one more slider then everyone could have a spot.

One, two, three, four, five, six, ...seven?

O.K. how many puppies can fit around one dish? Turns out Pom puppy Treat thinks the feeding trough is for him too and no one seems to notice one more at the table.

Outdoor adventure

Rain poured down all day washing away the snow. Puppies out for an adventure found a new challenge when Mike opened up the staircase for them. Yellow Boy took the prize for being the bravest.

Quiet conversation

The puppy's Aunt Jill came over to visit and she admired the puppies while Boston looked on. A quiet conversation between them ensued. Wish I knew what they were saying.

No Bare Feet Allowed!

We tell company that it is o.k. to wear shoes in our house. In fact we recommend it because puppies just love to nibble on bare feet so much that they will find them one way or another. Look what happened to one visitor when she left her shoes at the door.

Six Weeks Old!

It is hard to believe the six pack is six weeks old! They went to the vet today and were weighed. Red Boy is 9 lbs, Orange Girl 9.5 lbs, Yellow Boy is 8.5 lbs, Blue and Green Girls are both 8 lbs, and Purple Boy is 9.25 lbs. What a lot of puppy that is. They are healthy, active and tons of fun.

Lots of New Friends

Our goal is for the puppies to meet at least thirty people before they go to their new homes. Those people should include all ages, sizes, cultures and personalities. By the time they are four months old they should have met 100 people! The pups have gotten off to a good start. They had eight visitors on Monday and two tonight. Here is one young visitor that just loves Blue Puppy!

First Bath

The puppies are starting to have company to help them learn to love people. The first step is a gentle bath using Johnson's baby shampoo. Here is Orange Girl headed to the drying table. All of them were real patient with the process and accepted the new sensations with great bravery. Mission accomplished, six clean puppies ready for their audience.

Play Hard...

Sleep Hard!

And the winner is.....

And the winner is..... Green Girl! She was the first one to use the litter box with some degree of purposefulness and confidence. Way to go Green. Purple Boy followed up by starting to use the box, but didn't realize he had more in there (guess he isn't quite in tune with his rear yet) and he finished up on the floor next to the box. The others...well I'm happy if they get the right end of the whelping area! They still play in the box and scatter the litter around, but I do have hope that by the weekend they will all be using it faithfully.

Four Weeks Old Today

The puppies are four weeks old today. While Mike was expanding their box, they enjoyed living room time and a photo shoot. Here are their close-ups. Note that they are wearing not only new bows, but also some of their lunch. They all eat with relish and are don't mind wading in the food dish while they indulge.

Good Morning Faces

Each morning the puppies race to the edge of the box looking for breakfast. Here are three of them after chowing down their mix of baby cereal, soaked puppy food and yogurt! They still end up wearing much of the breakfast since they eat it while standing on the plate. Last night one of them even fell asleep on the plate.

True Samoyed Temperament

Samoyeds are known for their loving and gentle temperaments, but any mother dog can be protective of their litter. Ever since Korbel had her puppies, Grandma Boston has been trying to take a peek. Tonight she was so smitten with them that she went into the box to inspect them all carefully. Korbel was not at all concerned and welcomed her mother's attention to her brood. Here you see Boston coming to the box and then in the box with Korbel watching from the side. Truly an extraordinary moment which made my heart stand still.

More Escapees!

In the early hours of the morning Korbel woke me up to tell me she had a problem. I thought she was interested in an early morning bathroom break, but apparently she had other concerns. I let her out and turned around to find red boy walking out of the room behind her. I scooped him up and put him back in the box. I stood there counting puppies trying to make out their shapes in the early morning darkness. Hmmmm didn't look right. I turned around and found another escapee coming toward me. O.K. feller, back to the box. Then I found another one sleeping in the corner. Good grief! Korbel seemed pleased that her brood was all back under containment. The puppies were now awake and clamoring for some chow so I went to the kitchen and cooked up breakfast. Sometimes I feel like the maid.

Slowly we have been adding toys to the mix. Mostly Korbel steals them and either shreds them or just places them in her little pile by the wall. She has no interest in the particular ones I have in there now...but for the most part neither do the puppies. Once in a while one will show interest for a few seconds...but for now litter mates are MUCH more interesting to them. Life pretty much consists of sleeping and eating with a few minutes of play in between. I try to sit with them several times a day and they climb all over me and give me kisses.

The pig rail (roll bar) will come out today so that we will not have escapees. We can raise the door but then Korbel has to jump into the box. Since they are using the rail to hoist themselves over the doorway, this will buy her a few more days of easy access. Then over the weekend we will be adding the litter box and doubling their play area. Stay tuned!

Pup Date

I have been terribly remiss in my posting pupdates! Right now I should be posting pictures on the blog (like I promised almost two weeks ago) but the camera is somewhere outside in my car. Somewhere is the operative word. I had it at a show this weekend but since then have half unpacked the car only to repack it again with my office boxes in preparation for moving tomorrow. We've had at least six inches of snow today and yesterday and the garage isn't yet cleaned out enough to bring my car in.

The puppies are growing very fast and are now eating several times a day in addition to nursing. Korbel wants to nurse them standing up and they are almost tall enough on their hind legs to reach the faucets. Usually I wait until they are four weeks old to introduce food, but they seemed hungry and quite impatient with their mom, so I broke down and started feeding a mix of baby cereal, milk and yogurt. Gradually that will become mixed with puppy food over the next week. They know when the food is about to be served and are quite vocal in their demands. Food goes everywhere but they do smack down quite a bit before wandering off to find a corner to sleep in.

Over the weekend I had to travel to East Lansing for some shows, Mike worked three days and had his 25th high school class reunion Saturday night. Fortunately I am blessed to have about the best in-laws in the world who live across the street and they came over numerous times to tend to the puppies. Korbel does most of the heavy feeding and the clean up, but she does appreciate the extra support.

A winter snowstorm moved in on Sunday and I left the show and came home early. It was the right move...I found two of the puppies outside the box! Never have I had one go over the door this early. They are amazingly healthy and active pups.

The pups are just three weeks old and beginning to be aware of the world. By the end of the week we will replace the sides to make the box bigger, add the litter box and begin to enhance their world with toys, sounds and a variety of things to explore.

In the mean time, my office is moving to a new building and I am cleaning out 23 years of files while at the same time getting things ready for my replacement who will cover for me while I am on leave this winter. My advisory committee has decided I will defend my dissertation this coming March and I'll need full time to finish writing the last three chapters. Of course with all this going on, I'd much rather spend my time in the whelping box with puppies crawling all over me 24/7. Wouldn't it be nice?