Playing on the Hearth

The boys just love playing with the cat beds. Every litter I've had has loved this hearth as well. They always gravitate to it - play on it and then fall asleep on it. Q litter is no exception.

Fox Babies

There is a fox with her five babies at the end of our property. They have a lovely den under an old building. The babies come out in the morning and romp and play in the sunshine - they don't stray too far from their den. The mom comes out and suns herself on the bank and surveys around. The babies roll and tumble in the grass - just like my puppies do. Then the mom heads off to hunt. I wish I could get close enough to get some pictures but I do not want to disturb her.

Sunday Pupdate - Week 7

It's hard to believe that the tenors will be 7 weeks old tomorrow. I have not been doing much blogging lately since these pups are taking up a lot of time. Here's what has happened just this morning. I got up at 8 am and it's now 10 am. What have I done in those two hours? Fed the big dogs, fed the puppies. Cleaned up the puppy pen. Put puppies outside for a romp. Cleaned up the yard. Had a brief hot tub and watched the ducks and geese on the pond. Hear pups screaming - they don't like their pen outside. Go and bring pups into the house and let them play in the atrium. One puppy gets his head stuck in the gate - have to push him through to the otherside. I start to put the big dogs outside. Put puppy pen back together after cleaning it. Put in a load of laundry. Watch puppies tear up the atrium (note the before picture and then after the pups trash the place). Eat my own breakfast. Pups finally fall alseep. In about another hour or so - the whole thing starts all over again. In the meantime - I need to vaccum the house, mow the lawn and weed the gardens. I also hope to get individual puppy pictures today too.

6 week photos

Red

Purple

Gold

Sunday Pupdate - Week 6

It's been busy here and I haven't had time to blog. I hope to get the individual puppy pictures done tomorrow. This week was another of firsts for the pups - first time eating bones, first time meeting new people and now they are into their new digs. I have my kitchen back. Here are a couple of pictures for your enjoyment. My favourite is Red draped over the chair.

Come On Over For a Vist

Come on over and visit us. The pups would love the attention. If you happen to live close by - drop us an email or call us and arrange a visit. Or if you happen to be planning at trip through Saskatoon, come on over for a visit.

Sunday Pupdate

Red is 11 pounds. Purple is 10 pounds 8 oz Gold is 11 pounds.

Quite the day. I picked my mom up at from the airport - she is visiting from Ontario - she met her "grand puppies" today. We brought them outside again today but it was quite warm and they only wanted to dig under the deck. Everyone is doing well.

At this stage in their life they explore their surroundings with great curiosity and also put anything they can find in their mouths. They like to chew things like table and chair legs and most especially fleshy tender bits such as ears, paws and fingers and often chew them way too hard. When they bite too hard, the other sibling will cry and move away and thus play ends and this is how they learn "bite inhibition. They learn to soften their bites so that play doesn't end. We humans also will cry out when the pups bite us, so that they know that they cannot bite us either. Sparkle will give a quick growl and show a few teeth to them if they bite her too hard. I also will growl at the pups if they are biting me too hard - they quickly ease off on the pressure.

They are highly entertaining now and I am enjoying watching them tussle and play. They are getting into snarl fests with each other - vying for "top puppy" spot.

First Time Outside

The Three Tenors adventured outside for the first time today. They immediately tasted the grass and decided it was quite edible. They explored the flower bed and found that digging under the Mock Orange Tree was quite entertaining. They had lunch outdoors courtesy of Sparkle. They spent a good half hour exploring a small section of the lawn and then cuddled up and found a place to sleep.

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

Mr. Slinky!

Newfy Accent

Read the following out loud and say capitalized letters separately (practise it a couple of times and say it really fast).

M R ducks. (em are ducks)
M R not ducks.
O S A R
C D E D B D wings?
Whale oil beef hooked!
M R ducks!

Kimberlite's Nordic Norm

Gone too soon. My condolances and deepest sympathy to Lynne, Norm and Chad on the passing of their beloved "Kenyan".

Nursing Positions

Sparkle is now standing to nurse the pups. The progression goes from laying down, sitting up and finally to standing up.

Pups First Meal

The pups enjoyed their first meal of goat's milk. They did very well, lapping instead of snorting the milk and no one walked through the dish. Sparkle cleaned up afterwards. I will start adding yogurt and eggs in the next couple of days and then I will soak puppy kibble in the milk and get them started on solid foods.

Sneaking Around

Moms are very protective of their babies and will not let any other dogs even look in the direction of the whelping box. That is why it is so important to have secure, private spot for moms and their babies. Anyway - now that the babies are 4.5 weeks old, they can meet the other dogs...but I have to sneak. When I put Sparkle outside, I let in a dog to sniff the babies. These pictures are of Lola (big sister) sniffing her little brothers. It's all on the Q-T...shhhhhh...don't tell Sparkle.

Splish Splash

Lola goes for a swim in our pond.

The View

I took these photos from my roof top early last evening.

Mommy and Her Boys

Sparkle really enjoys her babies. See the look of contentment in her face when she is nursing them.

Dust Devils

I was driving back from Colonsay late this afternoon when this dust devil whips up on the grid road we live on. I tried to capture it has it moved along the field. This field had been set on fire earlier today to burn off old stubble and wind rows of flax chaff.

Sunday Morning Pupdate

The Three Tenors
The boys are doing great. Their teeth have erupted, so they can bite now. They are scooting around the kitchen and exploring. They tug and shake toys and play with each other. They bark and growl and are starting to come to me when I call them, "Pup, pup, pup, pup!"

Red 4 weeks: 9 lbs 2 oz

Purple 4 weeks: 8 lbs 12 oz

Gold at 4 weeks: 8 lbs 10 oz

Weight Watchers

I weigh the pups every day and as you can see I have an ultra high tech system. I've used these same scales since I started breeding bernese, and while they may not be extremely accurate the only reason for weighing the pups is to make sure that they are gaining weight. So, by using the same scales my weights are consistent from litter to litter. Yes - that is a plastic salad bowl that the pups sit in. The only problem with these scales is that it only goes up to 10 pounds and then I have to switch to the bathroom scales. That means I have to get on the scales and hold a puppy. Talk about a reality check!

Here is Mr. Purple being weighed today and he tips the scales at 8 lbs 12 oz.

Floor Shots

On the floor with the pups.