Action day

Today we tried to make up for the lack of activity over the past few days. It was another warm and sunny day so there was no excuse to stay inside. The adult dogs were ready for some activity and so was I. 

The puppies are increasing their activity level every day now, it seems, and that's something to be encouraged. I went to Lowes this morning and bought a 12" cardboard tube that they sell as concrete form. To me and the puppies, it's a tunnel, and they immediately began checking it out and venturing inside. I also threw in a cardboard box and another item or two for the puppies to investigate. 

The backyard is swampland and will remain that way for a while, quite possibly throughout the winter until it gets cold enough to freeze it solid once again. I still had boards left from the deconstructed dog yard fence so I set about building more walkways so I don't have to slog through the mud all winter long. I took all the adult dogs, except Holly, out to the pasture while I was outside working in the yard. It was Leo's first time in the pasture. Maya came out to the yard for a while with me. Della jumped the fence to get back to me, Kash managed to climb through the gate back to my side, and Elvis soon joined us. That just left Leo, Cooper, Max, and Paisley in the pasture but they ran around some although they seemed mostly interested in what I was doing on the other side of the fence.

We weighed the puppies again today and several of them had losses, or very modest gains as compared to prior weigh-ins. There's probably a couple reason for that. First, their increased activity level means they are burning more calories. Second, Holly isn't feeding them as often or as long as she has in the past. They can't all eat at the same time any more, there just isn't enough space, and Holly doesn't hang around for the second seating. She is taking advantage of that barrier wall and laying on the opposite side of it quite a bit. She's nearby and can hop in with the pups whenever she wants, but she's not in there as their 24 hour a day diner. This just means that it was time for us to step up and begin offering some semi-solid food.

I mixed up some ground up puppy food with warm water and milk replacement powder to make a gruel or mash. I remember that the first time we did this for Della's pups they mostly just played in it and then licked it off each other as it dried. These pups seemed to know exactly what to do with it, however. They went right for it, lapped up milk, and then polished off most all of the mash as well. I'll probably offer this three times a day and I expect everyone's growth chart to shoot up once again.

The Dane pups outgrew this 12" tunnel very quickly because their legs were so long.

I expect that this litter will be able to use it for a longer time.

Max and Cooper

Cooper, Max, and Paisley

Kash, Leo, and Della

Leo enjoyed himself out there.

When it's dry and the mud dries off so we can brush him, 

Leo will be a very handsome dog.

Elvis in the middle of my work.

Kash just wants to help, with everything.

They have gotten pretty good about walking off of their bed and onto the pads to pee.

The muddy paw prints are from Holly.

Everyone should have someone in their life who looks at them 

the way Holly is looking at me in this photo.

A very determined looking Yukon.

Yukon and Camilla lost a bit. The others had flatter growth. 

I expect the new food will turn that around.

These two pictures show why I expect the growth rate to pick up again. This was the puppies first time eating anything other than milk from Holly. They were interested immediately, they knew what to do with it, and they cleaned it up quickly. Holly came back in while they were still eating but she didn't bother them and let them finish.