puppy news

Well well well, whaddeya know - there is puppy news in the air.  I've been feeling puppy broody for a long time now, so it's very exciting to be looking forward to welcoming puppies from Tuuli and the handsome Arvo before Halloween arrives.

Tuuli and I had a very quick visit to the Netherlands to meet Arvo and his lovely family.  We had a great, if brief, visit and I'm already looking forward to going back someday.  The coffee cannot possibly be better (thanks Ron!), but hopefully the weather, at least, will be as good as it was while I was there.  And the pretty photo above is thanks to Mel.

You can see more photos of Arvo on my website.

See you in a few weeks!

happy birthday to the mailat puppies

My blog has been sadly neglected for far too long, but as Wimbledon season rolls around, the Mailat puppies come up to their first birthday.  They were born during the men's semi-final matches and thereby earned their baby names of the top male and female tennis players of the time and they will hit one-year-old during the men's final today ....just in case you understand Finnish and recognised the word "mailat" and were wondering why they are called tennis racquets....

Here are the little tennis racquets at one year old.  I have an unpublished half-finished blog showing these puppies going off to their new homes with comparison photos at about 14 weeks old.  However, as I didn't manage to find my way clear to finishing and posting that one, you can have those too for a nice little comparison of 2 months, almost-4 months and 12 months old.

The first puppy out the door back then was Loki, which was fitting considering he was going only 20 minutes up the road, but I'm posting in birth order, as I normally do, so first up is Siinto who was already 11 weeks old before he left because his new owners, Michaela & Chris, had one or two things to do before picking him up.  Like getting married for one.  And like moving house for another.  You can see he was already considerably bigger and more bear-like.

Infindigo Mailat Siinto

Pet name Siinto

Laughing boy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Infindigo Mailat Koru

Pet name Koru

Koru heading off to Scotland with the Sheas at 8 weeks, growing up and then followed by one year old - he hasn't actually changed a bit!  A wee bit bigger, perhaps...

Another pup having fun at the beach

Ears up!  ... but not for long :-)

Just under 1 year old - a fine handsome Scottish dog

Quite the poser

Infindigo Mailat Loki

Pet name Loki

Loki getting ready to run up the road to Exeter with Heather & Ethan then a couple of rare moments of stillness and a not-so-rare moment of silliness.

A bit less wiggly at 14 weeks practicing his show stand

Visiting at just under one year - good as gold

Goofy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Infindigo Mailat Ulla

Pet name Ulla

Ulla on her way down the road to Plymouth with Tom & Leisha then being cute.

Gorgeous smiley girl

Up to no good with the garden hose

Just under one year old in the bluebells

Looking innocent as can be - another puppy who has lost a coat

Infindigo Mailat Jaakkoppi

Pet name Jake

Jake heading off to his new home in Bristol with two of the four O'Sullivans and then a growing up boy.

Having fun getting mucky at the beach

A couple of hours later at the pub - miraculously clean!

Smiley boy at 12 months

Losing his puppy coat already

escape

With each litter, the thing we worry about most at this stage of the puppies' development is that they will escape from the whelping box.  The wees on the carpet are not the end of the world, but we are super careful opening the door of their room each morning in case someone is on the floor on the other side.

And I will never forget the time we found a sleeping 3-week-old Kiittaa on the landing at the top of the stairs.

Whelping boxes traditionally have a cut-out dip for the bitch to easily hop in and out.  Of course, she can easily hop over the side, but in doing so there is the scraping of the milk bar against the edge (not comfy) and the danger of landing on a puppy (cue much screeching, generally in fright rather than injury).  The old whelping boxes I have had solved this problem either by being quite high-sided, including the cut-out, or by having a convenient "door" that fit over the gap at appropriate times. 

The new whelping box, while having one or two features that are superior to the old boxes, does not have a high gap nor a door.  So we have been blocking it off at night with a piece of stiff cardboard.  Ideal. 

Well, almost ideal.

It's less that absolutely perfect because it can be nudged out of the way by Emmi as she jumps over, or even by an unsuspecting puppy.  Or even a suspecting puppy, for that matter. 

So it was that I opened the door this morning to find 4 of the 5 puppies rampaging all over the room.  And who was the one left behind in the box?  Not who you might think - I probably would have put money on Stan being the first out of the box, but in fact he was the last. 

So tonight the cardboard will be taped securely in place.  See how long that keeps them in.

Yesterday the puppies had their first taste of raw meat paste.  They were quite surprised to find something soooo yummy that not only isn't warm, but it doesn't even have honeyed milk added to it. 

NOM

Serena chewing her way out

Stan chewing his way out

Getting a leg up?

Trio

Another trio - with someone else on the bottom

Stan being The Man

Roger being The Man

Andy being The Man

Andy being a cutie

Sleeping like a Lappy already

Today's happy mama & babies shot

a bit more cuteness

A couple more days' worth of cuteness before the big three-week milestone tomorrow.

But first, a funny one of Jaana from when Jane & Mark visited last weekend.

Am I allowed to come up & see the puppies?

Nom nom

My plate!

Zzzzzz

week 3 in pictures

There has been playing, there has been barking, there has been growling, there has been porridge!

Happy mama, big babies

Serena sitting up like a big dog

Novak sitting up like a big dog

RAWR!

Porridge time

Nom nom

Getting sleepy

You can almost hear the snoring

Playing is hard work!

2 weeks old

The puppies have reached the next big milestone and everything that goes with it.  At 2 weeks old they are walking (sort of), barking (again, sort of), their eyes are open and they are squatting to do their wees and poos instead of waiting for mama to do the honours.  And they are just starting to think about playing.

They are moving pretty quick when they put their minds to it, and so it can be difficult to get photos - at least to get any that are sharp.  I don't think I have taken a single picture of Serena yet that wasn't at least a teeny bit blurry.  There is a fuzzy one or two in this selection, but the good news is that Emmi's hu-parents, Jane & Mark, are coming to visit tomorrow.  Those of you in the know will know about Mark's famous skills with the camera.  You may remember he took some really outstanding shots of Tuuli's first litter at 2 weeks old.  I'm hoping he doesn't forget his camera tomorrow.  Chances are he will remember.  Do you suppose I should remind him?  Perhaps that would be better than risking sending him immediately back home when he turns up without it...

Normally no one is allowed to visit in the first 4 weeks of the puppies' lives.  I'm careful not to introduce too much in the way of new germs to the house.  It is a moot exercise, perhaps, when you consider the rest of the dogs have their daily walks, coming into contact with all sorts and then coming home.  Emmi doesn't mix with the other dogs a lot, but there is some fraternization - we don't keep her locked up in a room with the puppies, after all.  So I do what I can. 

In addition to the germs, I really don't want to do anything that will unsettle the nursing mum.  Before the puppies came I had warned Jane & Mark that they would not be able to visit before the 4 weeks under any circumstances.  I know what a close bond Jane & Emmi share and I was worried about Emmi abandoning her puppies in the hope of going back home if she saw her hu-parents.  However, now that I have seen what a wonderful mum Emmi is, and how protective she is of her babies, I have no worries whatsoever about her trying to leave them behind and heading for the car and home.  I'm looking forward to seeing how proud she is when she gets to show off her brood to Jane & Mark.

And so to the photos, blurry and all.