Quick/Spryte puppies are 20 days old

top-bottom: Merlot, Pinot, Ries, Syrah, Zin

    Merlot discovered the little grey fabric ball today. He picked it up in his mouth and carried it around. He even tried giving it the death shake and managed to fling it up into the air instead. He then clumsily pounced on it and carried it around some more.  

All the puppies are playing with the toys and their siblings more often.  They chew on each other grabbing tails, feet, noses and anything else within reach. They bark and growl and will even pounce on an unsuspecting sibling. Slowly their movements are becoming more coordinated and purposeful.

 Merlot

Merlot with his ball

Zin, Syrah, Pinot

Merlot & Ries

Syrah 

Pinot

Zin

Syrah

Ries

Pinot sniffing my socks

Quick/Spryte 18 Days old

Spark is absolutely fascinated with the puppies. She quietly sneaks into the room to watch them when Spryte is away.  She wiggles up to the whelping box wagging her tail and grinning.  She really seems to adore them.  Spark is going to love it when they are big enough for her to play with them.

Spark and Ries 

Now that the puppies eyes and ears are open it was time to add some variety to their whelping box.  Toys were added a few days ago.  The puppies checked them out immediately and began crawling all over the toys.  I will rotate the toys with different toys every few days. This adds variety and novel items to explore and experience.

  I have also started playing the sounds CD's to the puppies. These include an agility trial sounds disc and a variety disc with babies crying, dogs barking, heavy machinery and tool noises, thunder and other  important noises that puppies should be exposed to from an early age. I will play these CD's daily until the puppies leave for their new homes.

  

Pinot

And one more fun update from our whelping pen… Pinot was the first puppy to climb out of the box by himself. We found him happily exploring our bathroom this morning.  This puppy is going to be pure trouble ;)

   

Merlot checking out the new toy

Ries

Zin

Syrah

Pinot and Syrah sleeping on the pillow toy

top: Merlot, bottom: Zin

Zin

Ries

16 days old

All the puppies have their eyes open now.  They are beginning to realize that their siblings are not just hot water bottles. The puppies are starting to paw and mouth each other in play. It is still very awkward but adorable to watch.

Today while I was cleaning the whelping box I placed the puppies on a blanket that they have never been on before. They were all very curious and intrigued with the new surface. They crawled all over it smelling it and tasting it.  It entertained them for 20 minutes and then they all fell asleep in a big puppy pile.

Pinot, Zin, Syrah sniffing the blanket

Pinot exploring the other side of the blanket

Zin, Merlot, Ries 

Zin

Ries, Zin

Merlot, Pinot, Syrah

Merlot, Pinot

Syrah

momma Spryte in the whelping box wondering why her kids are not with her

Puppies are two weeks old!

 Ries opened her eyes today!

Ries

Zin

Pinot

Syrah

Merlot

L-R: Merlot, Zin, Syrah

Zin, Merlot

Ries

Pinot

Merlot, Ries, Syrah

Quick/Spryte puppies are 12 days old

Today we had our first eyeball!  Merlot is the first puppy to open up an eye and view the world.  This is always a favourite milestone of mine.  It is very exciting to watch the puppies open their eyes and begin to take in the world around them. They look at us, look at their sibling and their mom. Now they can move around with a direction in mind, instead of aimless wondering. It's an exciting time in the life of a baby puppy.

Merlot

Syrah, Ries

top-bottom: Ries, Syrah, Zin, Merlot

Merlot

Syrah

l-R: Syrah, Ries, Merlot

 Zin

Pinot

Ries