June 12 --6 weeks

The puppies at 6 weeks old are very lovely little pups.  We take them outside every few hours, to keep their pen clean and to continue with solid potty training habits.  They love to play in the grass as the weather is quite warm and nice.  They follow us wherever we go and never venture too far from the group.  They still try to nurse when they see Dixie, but she will only nurse them for a short time a few times a day.  There teeth and claws are sharp, and she is beginning to wean them

 

  

  

  

Lala (Leila) gives Dixie a kiss.

6 weeks - June 11

The puppies soon grow out of their nursery room.  We move them to a puppy pen during the day so they can be a part of our busy household.  It is so much easier to let them outside throughout the day, which keeps their quarters much cleaner.  We continue to hold each puppy every day, so that they will be very comfortable with people. We do not shield them from the noises of the household, as this will help them be easily adaptable.

More cute pics

 

We call this puppy Snowy.  He will later be named Casper.

This puppy was named Coconut.

4 - 5 weeks old

At this point in their development the puppies are very active and love to run and play.  They have moved out of their whelping box into a nursery, where they have a bed in a corner, surrounded by lots of newspaper...They are naturally conscientious about not soiling their sleeping quarters, so it is important that they have a large area where they can move away from their bedding to do their business.  This is the first stages of potty training for a puppy.   The newspapers are cleaned up often so that the puppies are use to cleanliness in their home.

The puppies are just starting on solid food at this point, although Dixie still has access to them throughout the day to nurse them.  We give them soft canned food and feed them several times a day.  They are very messy and easily cover their face and paws in the food.  It is very labor intensive to keep them clean.

We take the pups outside as soon as we have fed them, to give them the opportunity to get use to the outdoors.  They love to climb and play with one another.  We keep them in a pen to play, and only let one or two out at a time.  As soon as they have the chance, they run to us, as if we were Mommy.  They have very sharp claws and teeth and they nip at our pant legs and shoes.  We have to be very careful, since it would be so easy to step on one.   This puppy is Leila (below)

Thats Frosty on the left.    The Pup to the right we called Crystal.  Her new name is Madison.

 

Here is another picture of Crystal (Madison) 

  

June 1 - Coconut (Nibbler) at 4 weeks

  

 Crystal (Madison) and Charlie

  

Coconut (Nibbler)  June 3

  

 This is Justin Johnson 'J.J.' June 9

A Good Mommy - May 29, 2009

How sweet is a nursing Mommy!  Notice the champagne colored puppy in the middle.  Her name is Madison.  She grew up to be quite white, and looks just like her mom, Dixie!

Puppies Start to crawl -May 22, 2009

We called this little girl, "Lala", she was later named "Leila".  In this picture she meets her new 'Mom' who has driven 1 1/2 hrs to visit her.  She is 3 wks old.

























As soon as the puppies were born, nature had provided them with the ability to push themselves along with their feet.  AT first it was so pathetic. It looked more like swimming than crawling.  As each day went by they were stronger and able to scootch along even better. The puppies began to open their eyes around day 14. In these photos, at 22 days old, the puppies are getting around much better, but still scooching along on their bellies!