Working out routines

Doggie Daddy's original name was Bruno and he knows it and responds to it, so we're going to continue calling him Bruno. The Troopers are beginning to respond to their collective name, but mostly they just respond if someone is out there who seems to be addressing them.

Yesterday we figured out a couple of things that needed to be done differently. Doggie Daddy is a food hog and wouldn't let the Troopers eat. Even after he had his fill, they were afraid to go near the dishes that still had food. So, this morning we brought a big crate over and put Bruno into that. We gave him food in there too, but he didn't eat it. The four Trooper dogs shared five bowls between them spread out some distance apart on the grass. The pups didn't really spread out, however, they tended to eat two or three at a time from a single bowl and then moved on to the next. That worked even better for the evening feed because they knew a bit about the routine. At one point all four Troopers were eating from a single bowl. Bruno ate all his food in his crate in the evening too, so I think we have a workable routine now.

Meanwhile, over in the Puppy Palace, the three newborn pups seem to be doing well. The mother, Luna, still doesn't trust us around them, but she's getting better. For me to get in with the pups, we coaxed Luna outside to bark at the Danes. While that was happening, I slipped into the shed and closed the door behind me. I changed the bedding this evening but it was still essentially clean because she's cleaning up anything that comes out of them.

I'm feeding Luna four times a day now, including some canned food and warm water mixed with the dry. She's eating everything I offer up. She lays with the pups to feed them, but she's got two beds of her own right next to the wading pool where she can rest while keeping watch. She goes outside to do her business and even held it overnight last night, which I was very glad to see.

The Danes love to run the fence line with Max and Theo in the dog yard. It's their favorite game. They also do it with the Troopers and Bruno. That's a lot of shepherds and a lot of barking, which seems to equate to a lot of fun. Luna will come out and engage in the game with them too if they come over to her side, but I've noticed that they sort of leave her alone. They know she's protecting puppies and Della certainly knows what that's like, although she trusted us with hers from day 1.

The four little ones are pretty much
indistinguishable at this point. 

Luna can probably tell them apart if she needs
to, but the important thing is that she's taking
very good care of them.