6 weeks old

Yes, the blog has been very quiet. We, in this house, on the other hand, have been anything but.

In addition to all the visitors, there is an enormous amount of cleaning up to be done now - these puppies seem to eat much more than previous litters and so they produce a correspondingly generous amount of waste. And I don't know if you know, but at this point they think it's very entertaining not only to jump in any little piles they get to before I do, but also to jump all over my hands as I reach in to try and pickup. Jay & I both have very dry, chapped hands from the many, many times we wash our hands each day - make that each hour.

We've also reached the stage of the barking for fun and shouting matches between puppies as they compete to see who can make the most noise. We do our best to discourage this behaviour, obviously. But they're also learning to be housetrained and so they are barking to go out as well, which we encourage. It's a fine line.

Only some of the photos are ok this week. We ran out of time yesterday morning before puppy visitors arrived and when we went back to it my camera was giving me trouble. However, when it comes to puppies and puppy pictures, some is always going to be better than none, so here's what we've got.

Minna (2Toes)




Minna wasn't in the mood to stand or sit on demand yesterday. She didn't want to cooperate at all.













But she is expert at looking coy.









Kallio (2Tone)





Not exactly happy to stand, as such, but kept still with a firm grip on his tail, terrier style.
















He's very good at sitting, looking cute though. The Lappy specialty.













Kesä (Grey Wolf)






Kesä was another with no interest in standing on this occasion. Running, yes. Playing, undoubtedly. Standing, um, I don't think so thanks. Maybe tomorrow.














Usko (Dino)





In a bright and wakeful moment Usko was, unusually, more than happy to pose.














As for standing, I managed to get 6 or 8 photos exactly like this one before he moved. Not a wonderful stand, really, but clearly a comfortable one.










Jaana (Butterfly)




Also very good at sitting and I got quite a few usable ones, but a little camera shy - she chose to look away.















Again, not quite the best standing shot with the head turned to the side and the tail straight up, terrier-style, but the only one we could get.