Another milestone

The pups are 7 weeks old today.  They are a lot of fun and they have honed their sense of adventure as they love to explore new areas of the yard.  They have had a full week of new obstacles in the pen (loved the ball pool), new foods and new visitors (including an impromptu visit by 5 awesome neighborhood kids who took puppy selfies!). 

They continue to gain skills or refine existing ones, such as:  

  • using the water bowl as a finger bowl (I guess their feet were dirty)
  • digging
  • eating plants
  • digging
  • chewing anything and everything, especially if it has been pulled into the play area through the ex pen
  • puppy karaoke at 5 am
  • chewing
  • digging in the water bowl
  • attacking pant legs, feet, and flesh

The rainy days and colder weather have limited their outdoor time, but we continue to do clicker work with them and give them some individual time, frustration exercises, plus increased exposure to our other adult dogs who are surprisingly tolerant.  The litter box is still quite successful -- I am a convert even if Vesper isn't.   I also love the breakaway collars - Electra's and Q's are the ones most frequently found loose (and being used as a chew toy) this week. 

The pups have another busy week ahead of them - more visitors,  conformation evaluation, temperament test, grooming, eye exam, vet exam and then they will start to go to their new homes. Whew!

And since Jody asked on FB how these pups compared to the litter of Boca and her sibs, I'm sharing a link to some photos I took of the Rubi x Taiko litter at 1 day and 8 weeks here. 

Yes, I am behind in posting older photos (but at least I have them somewhere), but here are a few photos from the past week: 

Criminal Minds

When we posted the first group photo at 4 weeks, my friend Terry LeClair commented on FB that it was 'baby's first police line-up'.  We figured they would earn that setup sooner or later, so Marci and Thomas (SunRunner Photography) came over to shoot the puppy line-up at 6 weeks. 

Photo by Marci Thomas, SunRunner Photography

From L to R:

  • MoneyPenny:  Charged with hit and run (ignoring the pup-pup recall)
  • Vesper:  Charged with public indecency (inappropriate potty behavior)
  • Electra:  Charged with reckless driving (ankle biting and sneak attacks)
  • Mr Green:  Charged with possession of stolen property (food hog)
  • Q:  Charged with breaking and entering (escaping the ex pen and invading the bedroom)

Back in the saddle

Boca returned to agility this weekend, running at the NorCal Golden Retriever Kennel Club AKC agility trial in Santa Rosa.  She was short just over 150 points for Tulsa when she was bred in July and since the qualifying period ends Nov 30 we figured we'd give it a try.  While her conditioning isn't at top form and she has a few flappy appendages, she was certainly happy to return to the game!  She won her first class out of the gate (and several others) and QQd all 3 days! 

Dave also ran Cadence, QQing with her all 3 days as well and finishing her requirements for the NAC in Tulsa next March! Clearly Cadence is happy to work and get some attention for herself (those puppies sure are attention hogs!). 

In Texas Jody took on AKC herding and Buck earned his HT!  

Below are a couple videos of Boca and Cadence's runs thanks to Silvina Bruera of Agility in Motion!

The pups' 7th weekend

The pups are VERY adventurous!  We are exploring more areas of the full backyard and there are plenty of things there to get their attention.  We also had another jailbreak in the house in addition to the one from a week or so ago when the latch on the lower gate of the pen must have been loose.  Dave woke up one night to find 5 pups sleeping in the hallway and no harm done.  Whew. 

This Saturday morning we heard a ton of screaming (our usual morning serenade) so I rolled over to get up and see what was the matter.  Imagine my surprise when I found Q trotting up to my side of the bed (he had never been in our bedroom before!).  He has the pen-climbing strategy down now so we will no longer be leaving the top part of the split ex-pen gate open! 

The pups continue to have a steady flow of visitors and had another photo shoot with Marci Thomas of SunRunner Photography on Saturday. 

They are really enjoying the adventure box and were introduced to the Clifford slide and the ball pool this weekend.  Thanks so much to Pat White and Pam Flanagan for loaning us the gear!  The collection of water bottles continues to be popular and it certainly adds to the noises coming from the yard especially when they are wrestling (which is pretty much any time they are awake). 

Basically they attack anything new introduced to the pen.  So keep arms, legs etc., inside the vehicle at all times otherwise they will be the subject of puppy attention! 

Proper video to come (these things take time!) but for now - enjoy the water bowl adventures.