busy

There's no let up around here. Seems I'm busier this time around with only 5 puppies in the house than I was last time with 9. Maybe because with 9 I didn't try to do anything else and this time I'm trying to do everything else.

3 of the puppies' homes have been decided and their names have been picked. Until someone changes their mind again, that is.

Most breeders will pick their litter's kennel names and register them with the Kennel Club straight away. No fuss, no bother, and the registration certificate comes back in good time to go to the new owners with the puppy.

I, on the other hand, like to give my puppies' families some input into choosing their names. With the last litter, I knew who would be having males and who females, and they were all the same colour, so I was able to just register 'these 5' female black & tans and 'these 4' male black & tans. It's a bit trickier this time, so I won't get the registration done until this weekend when the final names are determined. That means the certificates will probably be late. But worth it, I think.

All the puppies in the litter will have the same first two names: Infindigo Tuisku, the first being my kennel name and the second being the Finnish word for 'snowstorm'. I think it's nice to have a name common to the whole litter to identify the family. The litter of 9 were called 'Monta', which is Finnish for 'many' because of the size of the litter. The Tuisku bunch will be named in honour of the terrible - and unusual - weather Kate & I faced to take Taika to France and back for her date.

But just wait until you hear the given names. I really like them all, but it's going to make their full monikers real tongue-twisters. What fun! No, really.

This is all dependent on the Kennel Club accepting the proposed names. They do have the right to veto anything a breeder proposes, although I understand this is only done in the case where a name is very similar to another dog. It hasn't happened to me yet, so hopefully we'll all be lucky again this time.

More visitors this weekend, starting this afternoon, so to keep you going, here's a treat or two.

The wine box is not only a great toy, but it also makes a terrific 'castle' onto which a puppy can climb and then leap off onto the back of her unsuspecting brother... I really must try to get that on film, but they've been a bit too quick thus far. In the meantime, 2Tone has discovered another great use for the wine box:


















How cute is that! We have several photos of him snuggled asleep in there - it's his favorite.

Since the puppies have moved downstairs, Granny Neka is delighted that she's finally allowed to help out. Here are mum & babies with granny on hand to help clean up. She's excellent at licking porridge (or other unmentionable stickiness) from the puppies' faces and coats while Taika is busy nursing - or otherwise occupied playing with Maija.



















Neka is also very good at playing with the puppies and she has already started to teach them how to play with toys. The first video shows her with the squeaky and it looks so much fun even Taika decides to join in. Of course, in these games there's always the temptation for the older dogs to simply try and steal the puppy toys away to play with the other older dogs...

In the second granny is having a game with GreyWolf.

Apologies - there are voices on these films interfering with the full appreciation of puppy noises.