5-Weeks-Old!

I know this is a few days late. We were busy Tuesday, trying to get a number of outdoor tasks done before a cold front came through that I knew would cause me to want to hide indoors. So I planned to write the blog on Wednesday. However, that anticipated cold front decided to bring in a power-outage causing blizzard, so... the blog had to be delayed a bit longer. Thankfully, between our wood stove that we were able to get going once the wind died down a bit, and the power company working hard to get power back on much more quickly than we anticipated, we got through all of that without any trouble. Now to catch up on the laundry that 6 un-housebroken puppies causes.

The puppies are doing wonderfully. They are growing quickly, and love to get attention.

Over the past week I've started transitioning them from wet food, to dry food, and they seem to be doing fine.

They still want to nurse, but Shisa's not quite as interested now that they have sharp teeth and claws. She does want to make sure they are all okay, and eat any food they haven't finished though, so I have to keep the door to the pen closed most of the time to keep her out, so the pups can get enough to eat.

They love to play, and think 'their humans' only responsibility should be to sit in their pen and give them attention.

Of course, this means there is quite a lot of wrestling and chewing on each other on top of 'their humans' as well.

The pups are starting to figure out toys more too. They don't quite have playing tug-of-war games down too well, but they like to run around with their toys.

The pups are curious about everything. And they and their daddy are curious about each other.

Of course, they are also interested in our grumpy kitty, and the kitty is somewhat curious about them.

But we have to make sure the puppies don't notice the kitty if the steps into the pen, as she does not approve of the puppies coming up to try to sniff her. We don't want them to get smacked by the kitty, who's favorite past-time seems to be trying to smack the bigger dogs.

Purple and Blue seem to be the instigators of much of the noise and roughhousing among the pups. Purple is always the last one to settle down for a nap, with Yellow often playing with her sister while their brothers curl up for a nap first.

The two green pups are always the first ones trying to get into my lap and get attention from me. If they were taller they'd be licking my face the moment I sit down on the floor with them. After an initial greeting though, they're happy to settle down a bit, and either try to eat my shoes, or play with their siblings, assuming of course that their siblings are willing to play right by me. Of course, puppies in my lap means most of my pictures end up looking like this.

Red is the smallest of the bunch, but is definitely a fighter. He was one of the pups I was pretty sure wasn't going to make it, because he kept loosing weight that first week. But he was determined, and would drink from the bottle as well as try to push his way past his bigger siblings to be able to nurse. He is definitely the biggest snuggle bug though. He firmly believes that he is a lap puppy, not realizing that if he gets as big as his daddy, curling up in laps is going to be much more challenging. I often discover that he's crawled into my lap for a nap while I watch or try to play with the other puppies.

The pups are still growing though, so they still need to sleep a lot. They love using 'their humans' as pillows for their naps. This may serve a double purpose - it's comfortable, and provides some assurance the other pups won't pick on them too much while they are sleeping, but it also means they don't have to worry about 'their humans' leaving while they sleep.