Today is a lovely day and they were outside early.

Once they got down the ramp, they were all very interested in sniffing the 'new space'.















I put one of the little tubs out there for pottying, and it appears one of them figured out really quickly why it was there. :+)















I placed the little tunnel between the aisle and the new pen space for entertainment.















It appears Blue Boy prefers the outdoor plumbing to the indoor plumbing.















After running and playing in their new area, they are pooped! Lunch will be served soon and it will begin all over. What a life. Sigh.

Our new experiences during week 6.

First of all these pics are the result of all the puppies going through the dogie door, so each pup is quite pleased with themselves for accomplishing this. They were allowed outdoors into what you see below as the 'aisle' which connects my puppy room to the outside playpens.

Olive is always trying to mingle with the pups and they consider her the 'Pied Piper' and follow her everywhere.















If she goes in, so do they. If Olive goes out, they follow. It is rather cute to watch.















Here, Yellow Girl is waiting for Olive to approach.















Another first is their experience with eating chicken necks and wings. Initially, they are only able to use their teeth to scrape off the meat. Today, when I gave them some, there was very little left. They are consuming the cartilage and bones.















Teal Girl is watching to see who will come out of the tunnel. She is getting ready to pounce on them when they do.















There is a group gathering near the potty tub.















They truly enjoy the added space and activity of this area and will be very anxious to utilize the added pen as soon as the snow melts and I can shut the gate. :+)

Here we are at 7 weeks old!

Unfortunately, I had a 'sizing' problem that I could not fix until a good friend helped me out, so there was a delay in posting the 7 week pics. Whew! Glad I was able to follow her excellent instructions. Thank you, Stefani!!!

There has been lots going on around Annabelle Doodles, so there will be several posts. Here are the individual shots, done by another friend who visited this weekend and used her camera. (Thank you, Kathleen!).

Yellow Girl is the cutest mini you will ever meet. She is diminutive in size but huge in heart and confidence! She has finally reached 5 lbs.!












Teal Girl is full of spunk and spice! She has great focus and is always alert to what is going on. This week Teal is 6 lbs.












Stripe Boy is ever so sweet. It appears the boys are always the more gentle, laid back types of my litters. No exception in this one either. He is very content to just be held. (6.8 lbs.)












Green Boy has always been a gentle soul. He loves to play but is just as content to snuggle with you. He has always surpassed the weight scales and is the 'Hummer' of the group at 8.12 lbs.












Black Boy falls into the same category as the rest of the boys. Those eyes get me every time! He is a momma's boy! :+) He weighs 6.12 lbs.












Blue Boy enjoys playing, cuddling and teasing. Everyone loves his touches of white, including myself. (6.8 lbs.)











The boning on these pups is exceptional. They are ruggedly built - even Yellow Girl has very good boning for such a little sprite!

Some miscellaneous pics of the week.

Auntie Olive loves to entertain the pups. Since Maple left, she has taken over. This is Olive teaching Yellow Girl how to submit, a very valuable lesson for puppies.
















I swear, they are listening to a lecture from Olive. :+)















I love this shot of Black Boy.



















Puppies investigating the new toy horse.















Oops! It looks like Stripe has bitten the horse's tail!














(Individual pics of all the pups are in the next post.)

We played 'Dress Up' today.

The puppy room has been going through so many changes this week because the pups keep 'outgrowing' the set ups! Here are a few changes:

• The potty boxes have been exchanged for new ones with pellets in them now.
• Bigger sleeping crates were needed.
• Some toys have been outgrown, so new ones are being introduced daily.
• They are drinking water very well and eating lots of food.
• Mommy Maple went home to her guardians and only visits every once in a while.
• I had to shrink the pen for a few days to help them learn where the bathroom is; then expand it again and continue monitoring. It is a bit better.
• Vacuum noise is slowly being introduced.
• A couple of times, I let them go outside for a few minutes.
• Auntie Olive is enjoying playing with them and they look forward to her interactions.

Here are the little munchkins!

'I have lost my parasol', claims Miss Yellow. (4.2 lbs.)





















'Did someone ask for 'Superdog'? (Black Boy - 5.10 lbs.)


















Blue Boy (5.8 lbs.) looks a bit worried, don't you think?





















'I am ready for Spring'! says Teal Girl. (5.0 lbs.)
Teal Girl is a possible candidate for a Guardian Home opportunity.





















Doctor Stripe (5.12 lbs.) can take my pulse anytime. :+)





















'I have my hat, but not my fishing pole'! Green Boy (7.4 lbs.!) Green is definitely going to be the tanker of the group - not huge but a larger medium than the rest.

5 Weeks but back to basics.

I had decided to expand the pen a bit so that the pups would have more room but I might have been too optimistic. A number of accidents has had me rethink my position and I have decided to make the pen much smaller until they really get the idea of where to go potty. When I feed them, I open up the pen so that they have more room. When Maple wants to nurse, I expand the pen to accommodate everyone comfortably. This will be done for a few days and then I will expand it little by little until they know how to read 'BATHROOM'!

Today however, I took each pup out individually and let them check out their 'dogie' door corner. I wanted to see how much of an 'adventurous' nature they had. Here is what happened.


Little Yellow Girl initially looked like Little Miss Muffet looking for her Tuffet! She sat there for a minute until she spotted me sitting on the floor not too far away. As soon as she did, she came running wagging her tail. :+) She is such a little thing but did finally hit the 3 lb. marker.















No surprise here - Stripe is very interested in what is in the wastebasket and then proceeded to the pail, the mat, the steps........ He is 5 pounds this week.















Blue Boy was like Little Jack Horner sitting in the Corner! As is typical of his nature, once he noticed me he came right over to give kisses wagging his tail like crazy. His weight is 4.13 lbs.


















For once Black Boy was not SLEEPING! :+) He was actually quite animated and thought his 'image' on the wastebasket was quite handsome! A 5 pounder at 5 weeks.















I think Teal Girl will be a hunter - just look at that tail point! She is at 4.7 lbs.















Green Boy is all about seeing the world outside! It did not take him long to realize the door opened and he was ready to take his first walk outdoors. See ya! Green Boy!!! (I hope he packed a lunch because this guy is a hefty 6 pounds!!)

Two parents, two children , two ........

A few years ago, a caring couple thought that their son would benefit greatly by having a puppy to love. The puppy was named after one of Eli's stuffed animals and looked remarkably like that favorite toy as 'Fuzzer' grew and grew. They became great friends.

Today, his little sister wants to have a 'special' friend too and they all revisited Annabelle Doodles for a possible new addition. I think the pics below say a lot about children and puppies. :+)


















Mommy Maple, Mira and 'a prospect'.
















'Daddy, look.... she LOVES me and I promise to use my allowance to help defray the cost of her upbringing.....yadda, yadda, yadda.....'



















I think Daddy has been smitten by the 'Doodle Bug' once again! (Good job, Mira!)

What do you call something that is cuddled, kissed, rocked and bounced?

Why - a puppy, of course!!

Thank you for your visit today Claudia, Jerry, Alexandra and Noah! The pups were glad to have all that attention and slept very well after you left! See you again in April! :+)















Yellow Girl gets lots of cuddles.



















Stripe played 'musical laps' a lot.

























































Green Boy kept Ali's lap warm for some time.






































Jerry and Black Boy bonded pretty well as Green Boy peeks from Ali's arms.














Yellow Girl and Blue Boy found 'their beds'!














Yep - Jerry and Ali still have Black and Green Boys and seem quite pleased? Sure you don't want two?? :+)

The 'Tunnel' takes a beating but keeps on ticking!

Last year, I bought this Cat Tunnel because I figured young pups would have a ball with it. I was certainly right. :+)

It is quite furry and soft and the inside of the tunnel 'crunches' and the pups love it.















The pups just finished nursing, and when that happens they are so energized for about 15 minutes. :+)














Some peek, others chew and....















some crawl through...Green Boy has become distracted....















but gets back into the game.















I wonder how long this tunnel will survive this onslaught?