Upward and Onward

Killian scaling the heights.

"Pick-me-up Peroni" asking for a lift.
(And she got it.)

We are weighing each of the pups just twice a week now. In the beginning we weighed them all twice a day, then once a day. Clay has made a really nice looking growth chart that shows their weight gain. What we haven't done, however, is track and record their height and that seems to be where the growth is occurring now.

I've been noticing longer legs in the last few days. They are still a bit clumsy and awkward, and I'm sure that will continue for quite a while yet. The longer their legs become, the more control and coordination they have to develop to operate them.

My log pile may be too challenging for some of them right now. It has been mostly the same three or four dogs on it: Chimay, Killian, Duvel, and Paulaner. I have watched them scale and walk across it and I understand why. They have to be aware of where they place each of four feet instead of just plopping them down and moving forward. Still, I think that's a valuable skill to learn and I expect they will get better at it as they grow and improve their coordination. And it has cut down on chewing the bark off my birch trees. They have plenty of things to chew on out there, but being puppies, they will prefer the one thing you'd rather they didn't chew. That's just a universal truth among dogs.

It's a little hard to make out, but that's Della in the middle of
a gathering of puppies. She's got one black pup pinned down
under her black leg because they were having a discussion
about something. But she's got her head turned around now
having a word with another one of the pups who was trying
to nurse. With 12 pups, Della is a master at multi-tasking.

This is Allagash and Della. I'm not sure what it was about.

Della holds court and presides over all manner of puppy business that comes before her.

This is all 12 pups on their bed after this morning's play
session. There is very little empty space.

One of the great things Della is teaching them is to give up
anything they have in their mouths to her, and not to try
taking what is hers. 

Look at those long legs shooting up. Notice that he's standing
on another pup's tail. No one minds being stepped on.

Modelo, more long legs developing.

Della follows me around the yard and the pasture, whatever
I'm doing and wherever I go.

Puppy selfie

Even though it's hot, they generally sleep in
contact with at least one other puppy.

We were down to our last bag of food when Erika put out the
call and the response was overwhelming. She brought us over
400 pounds of puppy food today. Thank you to everyone who
donated food, funds, toys, and supplies.