The puppies are showing their unique personalities to Tim and I over the days; especially today. They are talking and growling trying to communicate with each other and us. I squeezed into the whelping box today and played with the babies. They are getting more interactive with me when I play with them. The house has never been so noisy….I love it. I scrubbed the dog’s room top to bottom today with bleach. I also scrubbed the crates out as well. It needs to be done every week especially with all the water the dogs track in from outside along with all the dirt. Today the weather was better; 11 above zero. I trained Mini and SoBe today; lots of retrieves. Yard work must be done no matter how boring it might be; it is good for the dogs to have a solid base. Yard work provides the base for everything out in the field. Tia did great today “hupping” and retrieving; I took the Flexi lead off of her today and she did great! Shay had a little difficulty today; I don’t know what was up with her today….everyone has their off days. I have a couple coming to look at puppies tomorrow. It should be fun! I hope to train in the field down in Montgomery (at Bill’s) on Saturday while Tim is away at drill.
I had the pleasure of learning how to change my transmission fluid yesterday in the COLD! I needed to change it because my Jeep was shifting weird; I know that the cold has a lot to do with it but, I did it anyway with the help of my trusty friend Andy. No, my husband was no where to be found. When it comes to vehicle repair he is about inept about it as I am at cooking. I do most of the vehicle repair stuff myself, grease under the fingernails and all. We pulled the Jeep into the barn and used the pits to change the fluid but, it was still soooo cold that it took us a while to do it; we went up to the house to take much needed breaks to warm up. I could not feel my fingers most of the time which, I might say makes it difficult to hold onto the bolts. Now, the Jeep is shifting well and I feel a lot more confident in it; I just wish we would of done it the day before when it was 38 degrees instead of -20. Thanks Andy; I appreciate you sticking it out in the cold with me to get the job done!
O MY GOSH IT IS SOOOO COLD OUT! The only thing I did today was try and stay warm. I crawled into the whelping box and snuggled with all of the puppies; they are so warm. They just crawled up in my lap and fell asleep. I spend lots of time in the whelping box with them. The babies are 3 weeks old today; they are growing fast! There is this one puppy (black & white male) his name is Gin Fizz… Fizzy, he is a talker… he growls at everything and everyone; it is very entertaining. Swamp Water (liver & white female) could not get comfortable last night so, Tim picked her up and brought her to me while we were watching TV; she settled down and fell asleep in no time. The puppies sleep in a BIG pile in the south side of the whelping box; I am surprised the puppy on the bottom can breath! No training today; way to cold out; I don’t want to even go out and get the mail it is so cold.
Tim and I could hear the puppies from the warm comfort of our bed this morning; they are getting vocal. They now come running to the edge of the whelping box when Tim or I stand there. They want attention; it is so hard to say no to those beautiful blue pleading eyes. The fight and wrestle with each other more frequently. I can hear them now as I sit upstairs in the office. Tia and Shay did retrieves inside because it was horribly cold outside today. The wind was frightful; I swear I thought the house was going to come down. The dogs were all toasty warm in their room in crates; they had smiles on their faces as I checked in on them all day to let them out. Trixie mosied all though out the house last night; she could not find a place that she was comfortable at. Tyral slept in his usual spot last night; he slumbers on the top step of our stairs. Mini slept between Tim and I under the covers and kept us very warm; she is a little heater when it is cold out. Kahlua has been out most of the day taking care of her babies along with Trixie. Mini and SoBe had the day off because it was soooo cold today.
It was a great day today with the high of 37 degrees; however, the high for tomorrow is going to be 0 with a low of -21 degrees….only in Minnesota! There is a wind advisory for the area; it is blowing hard outside, the house is swaying in the “breeze.” The puppies are starting to play with one another; it was entertaining to watch. It is getting harder for me in climb into the whelping box and sit because their size is increasing. The puppies officially need two hands to be held. They were held today by other people besides Tim and I; our friends (Dan & Andy) came over and handled them today. The babies are very squirmy; they just will not hold still, constantly moving / looking for where their next meal is coming from (I might add they get disappointed with Tim and I because we don’t have a nipple to offer and they protest loudly). The mommas are getting less protective of the babies as the days go by; they are not so weary of who is handling them and where they are. We don’t get looks of anxiety and fright from Trixie & Kahlua anymore when we tote a baby way from the protection of the whelping box. They are growing so fast. I trained Mini and SoBe today. SoBe got hand retrieves and Mini got the buoy launcher which, if gets wet does not work; it makes it very interesting in the snow. Shay and Tia had the day off. Stay Warm!!
Tim and I did the unthinkable…well, not really it just took a lot of patience. We took pictures of all the puppies; their faces and backs so, people can see their markings on their back and face. I think it took about 45 minutes to do; all 14 puppies x 2 pictures per puppy equals 28 pictures. I might add that I had more than 28 pictures on my camera. I think that I had close to 100. So, you can see that it was quite the little project to undertake. The pictures will go on the website under puppies. I also named all the puppies today as well. Of course in Harvest Hunters Fashion I named then after drinks. I will have the receipts next to the pictures when I get them on the website for each baby. Jimmy chilled with us last night in the office; he lounged on his back with his legs flopped over, he looked very comfortable. Mini snuggled in my lap as I read and Tim played World of War online. I trained today and it was WARM….38 degrees; I trained without my snow gear and in a light jacket. The snow melted some so, hopefully I will be able to run dogs in the field tomorrow. I did retrieves with SoBe and “backs” with Mini. Tia and I worked on “hups” outside and retrieves; she did great, very smart little girl for 7 months old! She made her momma proud! What a gorgeous day!!
The whelping box is getting smaller as everyone is growing! They now have plenty of paper shavings to play in; it lookis like snow. One of the little liver and white females wagged her tail today it was sooo cute. When the mammas enter the kitchen the all babies wake up from their slumber and anxiously await to be fed. They all loudly voice their opinions now. There are periods of humming and silence and then there are times of chirping and whining….yes they are starting to whine, loudly I might add. I go through empty nest syndrome when all the puppies are sold; but not right now, the house is full of puppy noises. Tia did great today “hupping” for me. I did not train the other dogs today….I had so many errands to run with Tim; I try and take advantage of him when he has the day off!! Jimmy is hanging out with Tim tonight along with Trixie, Kahlua, and Mini.
The puppy pen looks like a wiggling pile of furry spaghetti. They are getting more and more mobile as their eyes are opening and clearing up. I saw the cutest thing; a black and white puppy shaked and his ears went everywhere and threw him off balance, he then proceeded to fall over. It was sooo cute. Tia showed up today; she is a gorgeous liver and white tri color springer. I get to play with her while her family is away in sunny Mexico drinking Coronas. I am jealous; I am also a little envious of Bill who is in Texas for a couple weeks training and trialing dogs under the nice warm sun. 