Outside with Lexie and her pups (LOTS of pictures)

Saturday: We took the puppies outside for the first time. They were hesitant at first when the big door opened and they were confronted with a wide world on a scale that they never knew existed. But curiosity won them over and they gradually made their way down the steps into the wet world of Daneland. 

There's safety in numbers, of course, so they stayed pretty close together for a while, but there really isn't a shy one in the bunch. I took the boards that had been the barrier walls inside and made them into ramps. The pups were soon all over them. There were so many new things out there that they didn't know what to do. One of the elevated beds became a favorite hangout. The pups could get up onto it, but it was far enough off the ground that they could also get under it. They immediately found two holes in the fence that we promptly fixed.

Lexie wasn't with the pups this first day, she was in the house. I had brought Della and Serena out for some yard time and they naturally came over to check out the puppies. Della immediately went back into mother mode and ran Serena off, keeping her away from Lexie's puppies just as she had done with her own. Clay and I laughed our heads off at this behavior. Della absolutely loves Serena and would do anything for her, but she must think that Serena is not "mother material." Serena is kind of clumsy and goofy and might accidently step on one, but I can't believe that she would intentionally harm a pup. But Della chased her away from Daneland and proceeded to stand guard over those puppies for as long as they were outdoors. Serena got the message loud and clear and didn't even try to come back near the pups. 

After a couple hours they started gathering on, around, or under the steps to the door just as the Dane pups had done when they got tired. I put them back inside, made sure they had plenty of water, and then got myself busy on some yard work. I peeked in on the pups a couple hours later and they were still zonked out.

Sunday:  Lexie was over in the far side of Daneland when I let the pups out of the shed on Sunday. They all ran to see her and she starting whining and looking for a way to get through the fence, so I opened the divider and let her in. The puppies were thrilled to see her but they had been apart long enough that she had no interest in letting them nurse. She wanted to see them and check them out, but they kept mobbing her so she had to keep moving. Lexie is a smart girl and she soon discovered that she could get up on things out there so the puppies couldn't reach her. That gave her a chance to relax and the pups finally moved on to other things. She spent a while out there until I noticed some blood on the top of a dog house where she had been standing. I suspect one of the pups got her with their razor sharp teeth so I took Lexie back in the house where she'd be safe from the marauding horde of suckling puppies. 

Della wasn't out there when Lexie was with the pups, but I brought her back out later. She seemed less protective of them today, perhaps because their mother had been with them, or maybe because I had left Serena indoors today. The pups had another good, long outdoor play session and then I herded them back inside for a long nap.