GOODBYE CHARLIE, MOLLY, LUNA AND MURPHY!

Charlie with her owners, the Haydens!

Molly with Mrs. Mechem!

Luna with owners Sharon and Ana!

Murphy Tucker and the O'Brien Family!!

Prepared for everyone's arrival tomorrow!

'Good Golly, Miss Molly!'

Murphy Tucker O'Brien

  Tomorrow brings an end to my relationship with these pups and the beginning of yours.  I hope your experience with them will be as wonderful as mine has been.


The group is outside playing in both paved pens as they are doing so well with their healing.  Charlie (red) is still trying her best to climb the slide as are the others.

Charlie

Both yesterday and today, I have been able to do some leash walking with them.  Yesterday it was just in the yard and all of them were a bit sheepish.  Today, they were much more bold.  Charlie and Murphy, especially, were quite happy to be exploring at the end of the leash.  I took them all across the street as that was an entirely new place and they did very well.  I always make them sit when I stop and reward them with a treat.  Molly, (pink) still needs to build more confidence and Luna (Teal) is also a bit cautious but they have come a long way and with more exposure and treats will become quite good on a leash.


Last night, they all did very, very well with crating.  Barely 10 minutes of objection and slept peacefully from 11:10 pm to 6 am.  What a difference from the first night!  Whoopie!!

Luna

Their packets are all made up and tucked into their tote bags and I just finished their baths for the big day tomorrow.  We are ready, ARE YOU????  :+)
They are still a bit damp when I took these pictures but what a gorgeous crew they are!  I am sure you will get lots of compliments on both their good looks and sweet temperaments.

Rain, rain go away, you are crimping our style!!!!

  I know the rain has been crimping my schedule!  Because of it, I have not been able to do much with leash introductions.  :+(  We are suppose to have intermittent rain showers today, so maybe I will get lucky.

In any event, the pups did slightly better in their crates last night.  They were only yowling for 45 minutes versus an hour, so we are making progress.  I did not have to get up in the middle of the night either, which was nice.  I locked their crates at 11 PM and opened them at 6 AM, so a huge improvement in my eyes!

Due to their surgeries, I have only allowed them access to the outside alley and first paved pen.  You always want to curtail hard running or jumping for at least 8 to 12 days.  All of you will have the 'Instructions Page' in your pup packets for follow up.  They will not need any meds.

In order to give them some stimulation, they have been spending much more time in my kitchen and dining area with all the adults.  Right now, as I am typing, they are all sleeping in there in various spots.

I have not found this litter to be hard chewers.  Not a one has tried to chew my stools, chairs, table legs , etc.  That is pretty remarkable!

These pics shows them playing in the dog bed on the far side of the dining area.  Luna found the red ball and at first all of them were chasing her to get it.  Murphy really likes balls as well and had it most of the time.  Then Molly got it and they all seemed to have turns.  This particular ball makes noises and squeaks depending on how it is bounced, so they were very intrigued.  :+)

 It was so cute to see Luna pick a spot to settle in next to Olive who is still playful enough to want to interact with her pups.  When the play yard was available to them, Olive would lead them out to play there.  Very sweet.

Finally all there poops are back to being normal after the anesthesia.  The incisions look very good and are closing well.  Some have a bit of swelling near the surgical site, but that is normal because I am not keeping them totally still.  Pups need some exercise or they will go crazy!  (Me, too!) 

So I minimize as best I can so that they get a bit of exercise within confined areas.
 
They are a sweet bunch of puppies.  Every one of them just laid in my arms (bellies exposed) and enjoyed a belly rub this morning.  Luna actually closed her eyes and went to sleep.  A more cuddly group would be hard to find.  A great litter for children that are gentle and non-threatening or loud.  At least until they acclimate to their new environment.

Murphy says it all in this last pic - LIFE IS GOOD!

A busy morning for surgeries today! Update.

After I dropped the pups off, I immediately got busy rearranging the puppy room into a 'hospital ward'.

Luna (Teal), picked out her own crate to rest in after having a small snack.

As is typical of the male species, their surgeries are MUCH easier and Murphy was doing
his best to cheer up Charlie (Red) who was settled way in the back of the crate.

Here he is again, showing compassion to Molly, who settled into her private 'room'.  :+)

I was greeted by these four little monkeys this morning.  They are up and running like nothing happened.
I will say they were not happy about being individually crated last night and let me know loud and clear!  I am hoping
each night will get better and they will have an excellent start by the time you all pick them up on Saturday.  All of them are
now taking a nap.  Hmmm....I could use one of those!  :+)

If you noticed, the doors are not shut on the crates.  The pups are free to move about if they wish right now.  I know they will need to use the outdoors for pottying due to long drinks of water and a small meal.  Later tonight, I will give each of them a pain pill after they have pottied for the last time.  I will then close the crate doors for the long night ahead. 

We are all assigned!

Hello,

It has been quite a day.  This morning, the second round of temperament testing was completed and each one of you were called about the 'match-making'.  As I stated in many posts, ALL of these puppy's are VERY soft natured.  This means they need lots of confidence building experiences and THAT means POSITIVE not negative experiences.  So the following should be followed:

• Use a positive based training facility/trainer (no choke collars, 'hard handed' techniques, or negative based methods).  Be sure to check with your choice that they use positive methods only.
• Don't smother your pup or try to protect them from what they might fear.  Instead, coax them using treats to confront but do so slowly and look for the smallest improvements.  If they fear a hydrant, let them approach it at their speed.  Don't force the introduction.
• Do not allow people or animals to run up to them.  Ask people to use low voices and sit down to allow the pup to approach them on their terms.  Give people a treat to give your pup and wait until your pup has more confidence to happily trot up to them to get a treat.
• Don't coddle!  If your pup shows any type of fear of anything, don't pick them up and coo to them!  You are re-enforcing the reason why they 'think' they should fear this person/thing/sound.  Yes, you can pick them up, but go in a different direction and put them back down.  Get a special toy to interact with them if it is a sound so that they realize the 'sound' does not hurt them but it DOES initiate playtime!  If they fear a dog, pick them up and move away from the dog that is scaring them but use a normal voice of confidence.  
• Lots of interaction with social dogs would be great but NOT dog parks!  You never know what type of dog is at a dog park and one bad experience could be very detrimental to your pup.  Stay away until your pup has built up enough confidence to not be overwhelmed.  So visit friends with friendly dogs; go to Petco to meet and greet with other people and dogs; go for walks; car rides; Home Depot allows dogs; garden centers are fine with dogs; and always make your excursions positive ones.
• Car sickness:  Short trips at first.  Sometimes just placing your pup in the car in the driveway and giving it treats for a few days is all you should do.  Then a treat after you drive around the block; and lastly a short trip to get an ice cream.  All positive until they get very excited when you say 'Let's go for a ride'!
• Whining - expect it.  They are not going to have their siblings with them anymore.  They need to make new friends but it will take some time.  Be patient.  Place a blanket over their crate if it gets too loud but don't give in.  If it is very loud and pitiful, wait for a split second that they are not whining to take them outside for a potty break, etc.  DO NOT PUT THEM IN BED WITH YOU!  Worse mistake you can ever make.  Puts them on an equal plane with you and they lose 'respect'.  This is very important.  When they are trained fully, then you can invite them up on your bed for a cuddle.  :+)

This afternoon, we all piled in the car to go visit the CERF vet in Portsmouth, NH.  The ride down had some harmonizing going on, but not for very long.  A couple vomited because I fed them too late, - my fault but we were still discussing placements earlier.  It was a warm day and we had to wait in the car so they drank a lot of cool water.  The exams themselves went very well and they were very good patients.  The ride home was uneventful and quiet.  :+)

We now all have names!

• Red Girl is now 'Charlie'
• Pink Girl is 'Good Golly, Miss Molly'!  aka Molly 
• Black Collar Boy is 'Murphy Tucker'
• Teal Girl is 'Luna'  

CONGRATULATIONS EVERYONE!

Joyce

One more week till they go home!

Black Boy never seems to change his 'look'.  So handsome!  He is 10 lbs.

Dreamy Teal Girl weighs 10 1/2 lbs. and is still a lap climber.  :+)

An overstuffed pillow in both size and softness, Pink Girl weighs 12 1/4 lbs.

Perky Red Girl, a little imp you can't resist!  Weighs 9 1/2 lbs.

Can you guess who owns these backends??  (from the left:  Red/Pink/Teal)

My neighbors grand-daughter came to sit and play with the pups this afternoon. 

We had visitors today and had a blast!

Everyone is excited to add a new pup to their family!

Proper handling is being practiced.

As well as proper introductions.

Doesn't this look like a great match?

Even the grandparents look very excited!!!  :+)

Tomorrow we have another family coming to visit.  Monday is our last temperament test with ASSIGNMENTS!  Tuesday is their surgeries and then the rest of the week will be quiet for a good start to healing.

Saturday, May 12th is the big day for puppy pick ups and I bet everyone just can't wait!!

It's raining, it's pouring...the play ground we are ignoring.....

but we still have the paved pens and there is lots to do here too!
This is Red Girl who has been trying and trying to climb this slide.

In the meantime, her littermates have been enjoying the baby slide
where Pink Girl claims the 'throne'.

I actually took these photos through the window of my office when I looked out and saw them playing in the misty weather.  We have an awning that covers the ally and part of the pens so that they do have a dry area to play in on rainy days.  Tomorrow, they should be able to race around again in the play ground.  :+)

The play yard at last!

Looks like Olive is explaining the rules to both Pink and Teal Girls.

What good pups to listen.

Look at Black Boy just 'high steppin' his delight at finding a little branch.

The 'tire fence' is so entertaining!

Teal Girl needs a break from all that exercise!

Red Girl looks maaahvalous against the green grass.

Wonder what smells so interesting???

Mom supervises their activities.

Pink takes five.

While Teal and Black toss and tumble all over each other.  :+)

Needless to say, the pups so enjoyed their foray into the playground area yesterday while we had sunny weather.  It was their treat after the trip to the vets and getting shots.  They ran and ran and ran all over the place!  After a while, I let Olive in to interact and have a good time too. 

The same thing happens each time I finally allow the pups into the playground...they see all the space and cannot stop running, rolling and tossing themselves into oblivion!  It is so funny to watch but hard to capture because they are truly little blazes of movement!

'Our vet visit experience'. (written by Olive's litter.)

Are we in jail?

No, I don't think so, but....

we are moving!!!  Look!!

Whoa!  What is that?????

We don't know but someone is coming.

Hello!  This nice lady thinks we are soooooo cute!

Um.......where did everyone go????

Here we are!  All together once again!  The vet was very nice and didn't hurt us at all!

The pups did very, very well with their first trip to the vet that they are old enough to be aware of.  There was some minimal crying initially on the ride to the vet but very faint.  No pup threw up, however, which I am so grateful for.

When we arrived, they were quiet and we went into the room and not a one of them had an accident (which my vet was grateful for!  ha, ha.).  The exams went well and their stool samples were perfect - YEA!

Dr. Lowe looked in their mouths - no under bites; ears were good; no fleas detected; temperatures were all normal; eyes showed no issues; and they could not have been better behaved while getting their shot.  It was a wonderful trip.  :+)