8 weeks old

In case you ever wondered what it looks like when puppies are ready for their new homes, it looks something like this.  Mayhem reigns in the outdoor pen.  It's a bit trashed, there are a couple too many squished-in poos, there is shredded cardboard everywhere, the toys and vet beds are all a bit worn around the edges, and in the case of these particular puppies, the water bowl is up on bricks like an old jalopy.  I'm warning the new owners now, you literally cannot keep water in the water bowls. 

Many of my puppies have been water babies to one extent or another.  I've usually had at least one who would sleep snuggled up to the bowl, or with head or other body part dipped in.  Occasionally there would be a water digger.  In fact, at least two of Tuuli's last puppies are water diggers to this day.  I have assured their owners that they will grow out of it ... eventually ... we hope.

These puppies were a tad late to the water party.  I was pleased and, frankly, surprised.  You have seen their sire, Salo, right?  No?  Well, check out the videos at the very bottom of his page.  Yes, that is the father of these puppies lying in the waterfall and swimming with the goldfish in the ornamental pond. 

In the end, genetics kicked in and the puppies did discover the water bowls, and, lo, they did create a mess.  Over and over again.  It's mainly Jaakoppi and Ulla, though, so perhaps the owners of the others will be off the hook.  We will see.

Anyway, jacking the water bowl up on bricks did work briefly, but Ulla eventually delighted in finding a way to climb up there and still get her front feet in, occasionally tipping the bowl entirely over.  But often it's too much trouble, apparently, so it usually remains more or less intact. 

The indoor bowl is another matter entirely.

Tomorrow the first puppies fly the nest (or the damp pen).

lunch

We had no visitors this weekend for one reason and another.  Considering the weather, it was perhaps just as well!

However, Mark did pop by to drop off some stuff, so while he was here I took advantage of the opportunity to get a little video of the puppies having lunch.  It took all of, what, 35 seconds? 

You get the feeling they like scrambled eggs?

7 weeks old

Busy, busy, busy.

Apart from the pints of stuff that these puppies produce that needs to be cleaned up every 5 minutes, they are also now very fond of ripping things to shreds.  So the puppy pen inside & out is always a complete mess. 

The puppies have been busy socialising this week.  They have all had a little ride in the car and have visited the town centre to meet strangers & get cuddles.   The coming week will be full of more social activities and more car-time as well as vet visits for their eye tests and microchips.

They're pretty much ready for anything.  I hope their owners are.

At long last, there is an Infindigo Facebook group, so if you would like to join us, hop over there:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/infindigo/

photo shoot

Thank you to Mark Treasure for our somewhat rushed photo shoot yesterday.  We managed to grab a few shots between showers and just before it got dark.  More or less.

These puppies will have the middle name "Maila" which is a Finnish word meaning tennis racquet and also a girl's name.  If you're wondering what tennis has to do with these puppies, then have a quick look at the birth announcement.  It also explains where their baby names came from.

As usual, all these names are subject to Kennel Club approval.

Infindigo Maila Siinto
(Novak)
Siinto is a Finnish word meaning "gleaming"

Infindigo Maila Koru
(Roger)
Koru is a Finnish word meaning "jewel"

Infindigo Maila Loki
(Stan)
Loki is the Norse god of mischief

Infindigo Maila Ulla
(Serena)
Ulla is a Scandanavian girl's name

Infindigo Maila Jaakoppi
(Andy)
Jaakoppi is a Finnish boy's name

6 weeks old

Admitting defeat here.  I won't go into the series of catastrophes that we had this week, let's just say it culminated in the fridge dying yesterday (or in fact sometime before yesterday) so that we had to throw away more or less all the food inside (and clean up a rather big mess).  A quick prod later and it's in perfect working order again now.  Ever get the feeling someone is conspiring against you?

Or perhaps the culmination was actually Keskiyo getting up for a poo three times in the night last night because he had a rather wonderful fresh bone yesterday.  If you don't keep up with the fresh bones, then when they do have one, it does have this unfortunate effect.  Keep up with the fresh bones, people!

Or - horror of horrors - the culmination is yet to come!  Don't even go there.

Anyway, yesterday's photo shoot was a rather hurried affair.  And it was raining or drizzling all day so the light was terrible too.  Cue some truly awful photos!  But better than nothing, is what I'm hoping.  Right?  Right??

It has been just about all decided which puppy is going where.  I have given a choice to one person because her family has had a looooong wait for this day.  As soon as they choose, the rest will fall into place, so to speak.  Then I will be able to reveal all the names as well.  And the best news is that Mark and Jane will be visiting today and we have a photo shoot on the cards, so I'm hoping for some really terrific shots for the name-reveal.

Of course, it would help enormously if it stopped raining sometime before they get here...

busy

Took a little post-lunch video a few days ago before it started raining.  Somehow forgot to post it.  Six-week pics tomorrow.

5 weeks old

The puppies are 5 weeks old already.  I know I say it everytime, and I know that the time drags for their new owners, but the weeks since they were born have just flown by for me.  I dare say it's been rather slower for Jane & Mark waiting for Emmi to come back home.

There has been a multitude of visitors already, including a big posse of children of various ages.  The puppies have been thoroughly cuddle-tested, and this week they will start venturing out into the big world for little car trips and visits to the town centre.  And then there is the worming which is due again now.  At least there will be scrambled eggs to lessen the trauma this time. 

The photo shoot was tricky this morning.  I must publish some of the out-takes sometime.

 

games with auntie

Ever since the puppies were born Tuuli has been desperate to see them.  I was wondering whether she would still like them once she actually had access to them.  After all, as far as she is concerned, she is the one who has puppies around here.  She would be well within her rights to object to someone else moving in and taking over puppy-making duties.  It would not be completely out of the question for one bitch to try and kill the puppies of another.

With Tuuli I didn't have to worry.  She couldn't wait to hop into the puppies' downstairs pen. 

4 weeks old

At 4 weeks the puppies have teeth, they are getting more mobile and starting to give some indication of what they will look like as adults.  Whereas at 2 weeks they looked like guinea pigs, and at 3 weeks they looked like generic little dogs, at 4 weeks they looks like little Lapphunds.  Even their tails have gone over their backs.  All that's missing is the pricked ears.

This is an age for big milestones.  They are experiencing lots of different types of food each day, they haved moved downstairs, met all the big dogs and they have even started to go out into the garden.  Although it does have to be said their first experience of the great outdoors could have gone better.  I don't think they are impressed with warm sunshine and summer weather.   I'm sure they will be thrilled to discover they won't be troubled by too much of that rare stuff.

      

moving day

I was getting worried there for a minute.  These puppies were getting really unbelievably noisy.  Especially at night.  The more noisy they got (at 2am and 3am and 4am), the more we shut them in, sealed the windows and doors and tried to find a way for us (and our long-suffering neighbours) to get some sleep.

And then there was the worry about how the new owners would cope with them.

After two nights of increasingly disturbing decibels, I moved the little sods downstairs 3 days earlier than I normally would.  And then - voila! - the noise stopped.  Looks like the poor little mites were overheating in that small room.  And of course the more I shut them in the hotter they got.  It was a bit of a vicious circle - or a figure-8 even.

And in case there was any doubt what they were squawking about, this morning they went out into their garden pen and had a fabulous time.  A bit later they went out again ... the sun was shining ... it was quite warm out there ... I was a bit slow in getting some shade up for them ... and, lo, the racket started up again.  They were stomping around, tongues hanging out, yelling their heads off.  Brought them back in, quiet ensued. 

Proper little snow dogs.

They are 4 weeks old today, so new portraits going up tomorrow.  If I find time to edit them, that is.  Because we have a houseful of people coming to see the puppies this weekend and I have about an hour of work per person to make the house halfway presentable.  Wish me luck!

When the puppies moved into the big pen downstairs, the first point of business was to get to know their great-granny Neka.

Neka wastes no time getting acquainted (& checking for food)

And then there was Auntie Tuuli to meet

Too much excitement!

Eating from their own little bowls now

All in a row

First time in the big wide world