space galore

Around the turn of the 4-week mark, the puppies' tails went up over their backs and really started to wag with intent instead of just for balance. Now, when you approach the pen, they come running, wagging, to be picked up. The trick is to make sure we don't pick up the one who is barking for attention! That's the kind of attention-seeking we try not to reward.

Today the sun shines - hurrah! So the pups have spent most of the morning outdoors in their newly expanded, enormous pen - a pen-thouse, if you will. I was worried about the outdoor pen being a little small for such a large bunch. Last year's litter only really seemed to grow out of it towards their moving-out time. This time, they seemed to outgrow it pretty much as soon as they went into it. See what I mean about those extra 2 pups making a really big difference?

The indoor pen is also getting a bit cramped. But short of letting the small furries run riot all over the lounge, there's not much I can do about that. You're all praying to the sun gods, yes? We really need to keep the babies in the garden as much as possible.

The new pen is twice the size of the old one - we now have two of these joined together. It's actually bigger than I was expecting it to be and it's trickier to collect anything that has been deposited in the middle - I actually have to climb in and then it's difficult to escape with 9 little piranhas hanging off my trouser legs. Also, with so much space available now, they can really build up some speed when they're running around. Great exercise for those developing muscles and also for tiring them out, of course. Unfortunately, it also means that they land with more impact when they run face-first into the sides. I keep telling myself that they'll learn... well, they'll have to, otherwise we will have some very short-nosed dogs.

Today's video is footage of said running in said pen (& with said deposit in middle, for which apologies).



And tomorrow is Thursday again! New photo updates complete with the puppies' proper names, with the possible exception of two girls whose future is still uncertain. That sounds ominous, doesn't it? All I mean is that we STILL don't know which is going where. But we will soon. Promise.