character building

Late post today as I've been preoccupied with puppies-in-puppies-out all day long. Amazingly, at just short of 6 weeks old, these little 'uns are asking to go out for wees and poos. If I had a few extra arms & a few hours more energy, they'd be housetrained in days! As it is, I only get half of them out about half of the time. And, yes, it's still raining. Or should I say raining again. Much muddying of puppies. Much towelling dry of puppies. Much laundering of muddy towels. All good fun.

Their characters are developing nicely and their temperments are much more even than they were, say, 2 weeks ago. There is no clear dominant pup anymore (I can hear Jo breathing a sigh of relief from here). They are learning not to play so roughly with each other. Rather, they save their most ferocious biting for when I dare stick my fingers in the pen. Their favorite game is to see how many can hang off my sleeve by the teeth at once. There are still skirmishes that need to be broken up from time to time, but in the main everyone plays nicely.

The label of "noisy pup" of the litter has been passed from puppy to puppy over time. It seems to be a phase that each one goes through and then reverts back to a little whining for attention and only a little barking and growling in play.

The socialisation progresses. Each puppy is getting a trip down the park to the main road to get their first taste of traffic and the ooh-ing and aah-ing of strangers. They also get to sit in the car for a few minutes (no engine) and stay alone 5 mins inside and 5 mins outside. I try to make sure that each one gets one new experience everyday. Yes, I have a chart on which I keep track of who has done what so far!

Too bad I didn't take a film today when the puppies had their first taste of chicken. The reaction was "Man! You mean there is food like this!?" The crunchy puppy meal will never be the same. I missed that event, but here is a little video of how cute they are when you approach the pen. See how big they're getting?