Let The Good Times Roll

Here we are at week 7 plus 3 days with the “lucky” quintet and still and yet we are smitten with this ever-evolving and ever-expanding collective of cuteness. The group seems to stand out as a solid litter across the board; from one to five they all exhibit pretty even temperaments, have an appropriate interest in people and take reasonable turns giving each other the business (aka tugging on the ears, WWF style, until they get the requisite yelp from their “prey”). The personalities are certainly starting to differentiate in subtle ways and as always we are attempting to stay away from labeling the individual and the risk of boxing them into categories that they may or may not escape from before week 8.

The life of a lucky puppy is now including a daily dose of time outside enjoying the fresh mountain air, within a penned in “mini puppy play-land” that consists of physical challenges in the form of stacked cordwood walkways and culvert pipe tunnels as well as the most popular; crate with fleece inside. We have instituted the system of waking up early (5:30-ish), grabbing the pups from their interior (aka in the living room engulfing whelping box plus) sleeping zone and then running them out to the exterior space for the morning p&p(s). This is followed by the requisite cleanup of the new and improved nastiness and the welcome addition of 3 cups of puppy food for breakfast. I will add that it may qualify as an interesting sight if one should stumble upon me in my underwear and sandals, dropping an overfull armful of puppy in the pen and then waiting bleary eyed to scoop up the morning deliveries that invariably come shortly after wake-ups. From here I adjourn to my morning routine of coffee and internet check on weather and world cup scores. Beyond this, the days for a 7+ week old puppy at Teapot Labs consist of time out of the pen exploring the surrounding landscape, visiting with visiting humans of all shapes and sizes, wrestling one another until distracted by something of interest (i.e. a leaf rolling past) to be ultimately and inevitably followed by periods of deep and restful slumber (usually in a heap within the suddenly shrinking crate).

They continue a program of visiting a new interior space, individually, once every couple of days. Here Cindy notes any and all reactions to the new environment as well as the puppy’s response to a wee bit of basic clicker training. On the exterior front, the exploration continues with field trips to the lake, forest, granite outcroppings and gardens on the grounds (from which they are now officially barred due to overzealous grazing). They are also being acclimatized to new, interesting and appropriate sounds daily. Cars coming into the driveway, garage doors going up and down, power tools at work and even some chainsaw time in the woods nearby are examples of the challenging auditory moments the pups are experiencing. So far all the pups have reacted well, noticing the sounds, perhaps a small move away but then a quick recovery (whenever possible followed by a treat of some sort to create a positive association).

Beyond all this intentional exposure and training, Cindy and I simply enjoy spending time with these pups. Again, perhaps it’s a case of short memories and higher comfort levels but we both remark that this litter has been especially nice and easy to have around. Their energy levels seem eminently manageable, their greetings of humans in most scenarios is excited but also controlled and even Stella does not shy from sitting outside among the puppies attempting to elicit play. However, even as I finish this sentence I recall that it is this 6 ½ to 8 week period when the intensity of the pups tests our patience. Their size, desire to scrap with each other and ability to poop like a big dog (at least from the aroma perspective) combine to make these last days feel a bit longer at times. It may be that when 8 weeks rolls around we will be more than happy to pass the pups off to their chosen destinations and celebrate having our house and life back again…maybe (Stella says definitely).

Out and About

I know I promised to give you a peek into our living room, but the pups have been introduced to the lake and that seems more interesting than our living room.

Their first look at Oseetah Lake. Most of the pups were curious about the water, walking in far enough to get their feet wet and slake their thirst.

I was lucky enough to have a helper along. Our neighbor Sylvie has been helping Michael and I take care of the pups. She has learned how to feed and water them. She's also been trained in pooper scooping!

The pups have become very fond of Sylvie and love to follow her around wherever she goes. The pups were tempted to try swimming when they saw Sylvie so far out in the water.

Hear no evil...

Our world is a loud place. Service dogs and family companions need to be comfortable around a wide variety of surprising sounds. Confidence around strange sounds starts with a young puppy. We systematically expose and condition the pups to be comfortable around new sounds, plus this is just adorable. Enjoy.

News From the Box (and Beyond)…

We have “progressed” into our 5th week with the group and haven’t we just hit a good stride with this batch of pups (well haven’t we?). It is either the mark of having a good female and making good matches every time or simply that our memories are short and what we see right in front of us tends to become the latest and greatest but we LOVE this litter that is currently taking over our life just now.

To be honest we don’t love them any more or less than the others but we are having a good time with this group and it is allowing their standing in the “best all time litter” category to creep steadily northward. Some of this has to do with the circumstances surrounding the litter itself. We thought we missed the breeding altogether and then Stella grants us a litter from heaven…5 puppies and 4 of them females. The size, though disappointing by most breeder standards, is just fine with us. Because we raise them up inside (and out) of the home we live in here in the mountains, we are able to give the best attention to a smaller more compact litter and 5 seems a very good number for that.

With 5 we find that Stella is better able to meet their needs without completely being sucked (pun intended) into the world of worn out and when are these pups leaving for goodness sake. As it is she is looking a bit ragged but still locked into the program of nursing and has begun trying to play with the pups on their level. This, to our amateur eyes, is an indication that she “likes” these pups. Who really knows but it is cute to see her trying to engage the little suckers when all they want to do is latch onto her dangling participles.

Beyond this, the four females give ample opportunity to tease out any super (Stella replacer) puppy that may exist within the current mass of fur in our living room. And lastly, the fact that we are raising here in May and June and placing in homes by early July provides great weather and calendar logistics for the crazy upcoming weeks. We can have the pups in an outdoor area for many hours of many days as we move from cute to “can I get a witness to help me clean up all this puppy poop” stage.

We've begun to socialize the pups in earnest. Stay tuned to find out what Michael has been doing in his free time and what our living room looks like...

Hearing, Seeing and Smelling!

We are three weeks into our 8 weeks adventure with Stella’s “Third Time’s a (Lucky) Charm” litter and things are starting to warm up (quite literally; we’ve very quickly progressed from trying to keep the puppies’ environment warm to working to cool them down during this current heat wave). Within that magical world of puppy development we are seeing these seemingly helpless blobs of nursing fur transform into the early form of the adorable dogs we know as Labradors.

In a span of 4 to 5 days they have; opened eyes and ears, begun “walking” on all fours, noticed humans in their world, complained about the confining dimensions of the small side of the whelping box, discovered various new items placed in the box and most recently (and most cutely) started to play with each other.

There is nothing better than seeing these little beings, still trying to make their bodies obey instructions (but not quite getting full cooperation from all four legs and those ever expanding noggins), yet beginning to “hear” the instinctive and instructive voice inside their still developing brains and jumping, tackling and gumming their litter mates without rhyme or reason but with some clear (to them anyway) intention.

The pups are also beginning to differentiate themselves starting with size and body structure, moving onto early agility (or in the male’s case, a decided lack thereof) and concluding with each pups attention scope (extending to people, items in the box, Mom’s presence, etc.). Beyond these differences we are beginning to note the pups’ relative level of energy and arousal, whether certain pups are more vocal and if we are seeing any hint of bullying behavior. Of course we are trying not to over think things yet and simply enjoying the heck out of this stage we call “puppies without razor sharp teeth…yahoo!” (Stella came up with that label).

Bigger and bigger

The puppies are going to be 14 days old tomorrow! They are all vigorous nursers and consequently weighing about 3 pounds each! We are pleased that they are all healthy and growing.

Personalities are already emerging, for those of you who worried the lone yellow male (we've taken to calling him "the man") would be overwhelmed by his hungry sisters, never fear. The man is adept at pushing his sisters off a mama milk station anytime he likes. Fortunately with 5 puppies there is plenty to go around and always room for all.

We are looking forward to continued puppy development in the form of open eyes and ears in the next week or so. Already the pups are learning to get their feet under them and walk. It is entertaining to watch them stagger around and try to find Stella when she gets in the box. The weather has been lovely in the last week or so. We keep telling the pups about what a wonderful place the Adirondacks are for young Labradors, there's dirt to dig in and a lake to swim in, but first you need to grow up!

They're Here...

Third time's the charm. For Stella's final performance as a #%^* in labor, she behaved like an old pro. She moved quickly through stage 1 and into stage 2 labor at 4pm, conveniently waiting until after my 1pm appointment, to deliver her first puppy at 4:45pm. The whelp progressed smoothly and steadily until the last pup was delivered at 7:45pm. None of the puppies required any special attention or effort on our part. Stella calmly and coolly took care of everything.

The results of her labors are 5 healthy, happy, hungry puppies. We have one yellow boy and 4 Stella juniors (black females). Everyone is gaining weight and keeping warm, including us. Our house is a toasty 78 degrees! We welcomed the warmth this weekend, when we woke up to an inch of snow and more still falling! Tonight is supposed to get down to 15 degrees, so we'll keep the fire going in the woodstove.

I am 2 exams and a project away from the end of my semester. I am looking forward to the near future when I can succumb to endless hours of (guilt free) puppy watching. It is my intention to post updates and pictures weekly, so check back to see the pups grow.

Bigger and bigger

Stella is at day 52 of the 62-64 day gestation period for puppies. She has gotten large and even a bit awkward and uncomfortable in the last few days. Michael and I took the opportunity to get her out for one last hike on Friday. She was an excellent hiking companion. The only difference we noticed in her attitude was when we stopped to admire a view or catch our breath, she would take the opportunity to stop and rest. When we got back to the car she crashed. She hardly wanted to get up to go inside when we got home. Needless to say we are no longer taking Stella on hikes or our weekly long runs (she was left behind for our 8 miler on Saturday).

Everyday she looks more and more like she swallowed a watermelon. She has been breathing heavy, lying close to our feet and groaning and sighing regularly. We have pulled the first of the whelping supplies out of storage and our gearing up for the big day!

Surprise!

Stella has come through for us this week. We had just about given up all hope of having puppies, when Stella's belly started to swell a few days ago. We bred Stella in March to a lovely male (Joey), but due to life craziness (multiple exams, papers, Michael's accident and packing to go to Japan) our breeding timing was off and all of the experts (mostly the reproductive vet) felt we had "missed" this time around due to poor timing.

All that is out the window as we were all happily wrong. Today our vet confirmed via ultrasound that Stella has got 4 or more pups in the oven. We are currently taking guesses as to number, color and sex of the litter. If you got one let us know!

Puppies are due in May, just 3 short weeks from now. We'll keep everyone posted as events unfold. See below for pictures of the pleased parents.


JOEY - KELLEYGREEN'S MEET JOE BLACK


STELLA - CINDER'S STELLAR CHOICE

Cindy