instagram fam

More puppy visitors today which means more hoovering, dusting and general mud management for me.  These are the busy but fun days now as the puppies are growing up, becoming a bit more demanding, and without actually realising they are asking to go out, they are starting to wish they were outside to do their poos (yes, already!).

Best of all are all the visitors.  It's an unusually hectic time in this house that is generally unaccustomed to children for most of the rest of the year.  We get to see extended family and new friends and it's all great experience for the puppies.

No one will mind if I doze off over the custard creams?

Here's a bit of what the puppies' Instagram followers have been enjoying this week.  

Little bear  -  There's always one with a wet head
Enjoying a belly scratch  -  Howler of the day
Cute snoozer  -  Another cute snoozer complete with tongue
"I will stay awake..."  -  Howler of another day

5 weeks weights

Well, she did it.  Fooled most people, that is.  Granted, Mini still isn't, well, mini, but Sox has very quickly taken over the job of biggest puppy.  And he's rather a lot bigger when you see them.  In fact, I'm guessing that the people who guessed Sox are those who saw the puppies in person recently.  (Jay, you haven't been cheating, have you?)

Here's the news.

And here are some cute, sadly not-very-sharp photos of the gang scampering around in the frosty grass that I just couldn't resist a couple of days ago.  But first, and in haste because I have much to do before the arrival of puppy visitors today, evidence of just how incorrigible these water babies are.  New owners, consider yourselves warned.

5 weeks old

The time is truly zooming away and here are the Pippuri puppies 5 weeks old already.  Once again I pulled these photos out of the proverbial bag single-handedly.  Either I have a very well behaved litter of puppies or I'm going to start charging for puppy posing lessons.

Don't forget to vote in the poll - results tomorrow with the weight update.

Tito

Sox

Fiia

Tuulen

Mini

out in the world

By the age of 5 weeks, most of my litters of puppies have already spent quite a lot of their days outdoors in the garden pen.  This year the weather turned very cold just as the puppies moved downstairs so I held off a few days before putting them out and then they only went out for a few minutes. 

Since then they have been going out each day but only for a little while.  In fact, approximately the length of time it takes me to clean out the indoor pen.  What I ever did with earlier litters of puppies when it rained I cannot remember!  I shall have to have a browse back through the blog to find out - I distinctly remember the Monta puppies got rained on a lot. They were in and out of the outdoor pen so often that I wanted to install a revolving door in my lounge.

Anyway, the Pippuri puppies don't last long out in the garden because at this age they get tired quickly and it's too cold to leave them out there for a snooze.  But in the meantime they have a blast.  Straight away they were full of confidence.




In other news...  I see that some of you have already spotted that there is a new, final poll.  Final!?  How have we managed to get to the point where we are planning final anythings with these puppies? Nevertheless, it's true - the puppies will be weighed for the last time this week.  So the final poll is this:  Who will be the biggest at 5 weeks old?  Will Mini maintain her superior size or will one of the boys finally steal her crown?  You have until Friday to vote.

playmates

Between puppies and out-of-commission Jay, I've been run rather off my feet.  To save on 40 or 50 trips up the stairs each day, I moved the puppies downstairs a couple of days early.  They weren't complaining - they were already feeling crowded in the whelping box, enormous as it is.  They were definitely ready for the big pen world downstairs.

The best thing about moving downstairs, as far as they are concerned, is not the opportunity to finally get up some speed  in their zoomie games (although that is a big draw, to be sure), but rather it's the realisation that the world of big dogs comprises more than just mum.

Unlike Tuuli who spends a bit of time each day in the pen playing with the puppies (and their toys...), Neka never played with her own puppies at all.  She has, however, always loved being involved in her grandkids' upbringing, and they adore her.  And they never forget her - even long after they have moved on to their new homes.

Games with mum.

And games with granny.

Happy granny

And sometimes everyone plays together

yawwwwwn

For your amusement today, here are some sleepy puppies at various ages.

Fiia 2 weeks - photo @ Mark Treasure

Socks 2 weeks  -  photo @ Mark Treasure

Mini 2 weeks  -  photo @ Mark Treasure

Tuulen 2 weeks  -  photo @ Mark Treasure

Tito 3 weeks

Tuulen 3 weeks finding eating very tiring

Tuulen again

the week in instagram

The puppies have moved downstairs and I will try to do a report for the blog on the big move.  In the meantime, though, we are preparing for lots and lots of visitors over the weekend.  So we leave you with a quick report on some of what the puppies' Instagram followers have been enjoying all week.

Fiia having a pensive moment  -  Tito posing
Sox on his back (as usual)  -  Mini trying to escape
Tails are up!  -  Tito too sleepy to eat
Mini having a howl  -  Tuulen is the last one awake

4 weeks weights

You did it.  Well, some of you did, anyway.  A small majority of you guessed that Mini would be the biggest puppy at the 4-week weigh-in and you were right.  I was wrong, I really thought it would be Tito, based on the way he tucks into his meals now that they are getting real food 4 times a day.  Mind you, I failed to take into account how well Mini tucks in.  In fact, she is the first to start and the last to give up, so it really is no wonder she is the biggest by such a margin.   I am going to go out on a limb here and say that one of these days all of the boys will out-weigh their sisters by a kilo or 2.  Or possibly 3.  But not yet.

Here are the stats and the pictures.  You will notice that this litter is no longer the largest thanks, I think, to Tuulen's apparent reticence at mealtimes.  Yet, I'm willing to bet that he, too, will one day out-weigh even Mini.  Let's check back on this in 11 months or so, shall we?

I've said on many occasions that Neka is my pride and joy.  Here is one reason why:  puppies meeting their granny for the first time.

4 weeks old

You may have noticed that the blog posts have been appearing late this week.  And perhaps it didn't escape your attention that they have also been a bit more sparse than you are accustomed to seeing from me.  The reason is that in addition to having a houseful of 4-week-old puppies, I also have a bedridden partner in the form of Jay whose back has been out of commission for a week now.  To say I'm struggling to keep up would be an understatement.

MEGA BIG thanks to good friends who have been helping out in various ways!

But these all-important 4-week portraits were captured solely by me all on my own-some.  I'm pretty impressed that I managed it, I have to tell you.  Apparently I have become one of those people who can manage such things with puppies who are wiggly beyond description.  And, no, I didn't glue, tie or otherwise fasten them into place.  I wonder if that's a transferable skill - I'm sure it must come in handy for other things.  What else requires 4 arms, 5 hands, a strong back and lightning reflexes?  Answers on a postcard.

Tito

Sox

Fiia

Tuulen

Mini