Two of the furball pack... one quarter of the reason for all the sleepless insanity, utter exhaustion, and mirthful laughter in my world....
I love how their coats are a rainbow of brown!
One of the puppies made off with a Santa hat from a basket we have by the door, and it has become the favorite toy/snuggle item. There is always, always, at least one puppy with the hat- either sleeping on it, dragging it about, attempting to remove that wonderful furry pompom from the point- sometimes there are a couple things happening at the same time. I have seen a pup asleep on the large end, while a sibling takes hold of the other end and tries to drag the hat away, giving the still-sleeping pup a ride across the floor.
We've made it to week five with all eight puppies and, amazingly, we don't have a real "runt of the litter." Part of the 24/7 puppy experience has been to weigh the puppies often, and the three lightest get extra nourishment. Because of this, which pups have been the lightest has varied and all the pups are nice sized, with no large weight disparities. Keeping puppies warm also goes a long way toward keeping them alive, so we have used and continue to use, a heat lamp.
Currently, puppy mush is the food d'jour- a liquidy concotion the color of pumpkin pie filling, made in a blender out of softened, quality puppy food & water. (for the first week, I also used milk replacer) Crate training is well underway- since Joe moved the bottom half of a large crate in to use for their nest two weeks ago. They have learned to not use the crate for eliminating. This week I've been teaching the rascals to use an "elimination area" instead of any random space in the open area of their pen so the puppies will be more prepared for housebreaking. Their pen is now double the size it had been, and a couple space heaters are helping to keep the pups warm in the larger space.
Personalities are emerging and hi-jinks are beginning. Sometimes, I am awakened by the sounds of a full-on puppy rumpus- thumping, bumping, snarling, yelping, barking rumpus-ing. Of course, this is in addition to being awakened by the whining, wailing, baying, "wake-up-wake-up-wake-up-and-feed-us" songfests that often come at 1 am and 4:30 or 5 am.
I find it utterly impossible to scowl at such joyful play, and such cute faces, even in the middle of the night. I'm the same way with my littles. No matter how tired I've been, I've answered the middle-of-the-night calls with a kind, soothing mom-voice. I certainly can be a tired grump during the day, but, surprisingly, my middle-of-the-night auto-pilot is pretty kind.
Hey! Maybe, I'll get so tired that I'll be on mommy-autopilot all day! I'll be kind, and gentle... and you'll find me at the grocery, in my pajama equivalent -yoga pants, long sleeved t-shirt, uggs, and my winter coat, saying, "Hush-hush. it's okay. hush now... I'm here, Mama's here..shoosh, shoosh." to the eggplant and the squash, or perhaps, to the large bin of frozen, 25 lb turkeys.
If you do, kindly take my arm and lead me out to my car- it's the silver ford expedition with the toys and the pink child's car seat... that is probably still running because I forgot to turn it off....
"let the wild rumpus begin"
Posted by: kristin | 12/18/2010 at 12:25 AM
I laughed outload at the puppy hijinx.
So funny they are.
Posted by: carol sloan | 12/18/2010 at 10:14 AM
They are so adorable. Wish I could visit and enjoy little puppy kisses.
Posted by: Mary Beth Shaw | 12/18/2010 at 10:38 AM
Funny! Eggplants need comfort too!
Posted by: Angela | 12/18/2010 at 01:46 PM