On Friday the pups became 5 weeks old. It's hard to believe that in just three weeks they will be heading to their new homes. So far, only 4 still need homes, 2 males and 2 females. This has been a fun week for the pups. Though they still sleep a lot, they love to play with each other, with toys, and with us. Ditto has been teaching them through gentle mouthing how to be gentle in their bites. They are becoming much more social and are developing personalities.
They have sharp little teeth and love to chew on toes.
They love to play, but they get tired quickly.
We've decided that Black takes after his dad, Gryphon.
Mom is beginning to wean them, only nursing them a few times a day, and then only for short periods.
This doesn't mean that she doesn't still want to be with them though. Whenever I go down to the pen, she is right there with me, making sure I do things right. And if I don't go down often enough, she'll come and tell me and nose me till I go down to check on things. Often when the pups are playing, one will yip if the other is too rough. As soon as Ditto hears it, she is right there, checking to see if everyone is ok.
The pups have really gotten the idea of solid food this week. Their appetites are growing!! Not only do they like the kibble, which I mix with water and a little pumpkin to make sure their stools stay solid, but they have discovered the joys of dry kibble as well. (Stealing Mom's food was fun!) They also have discovered that the water bowl in their pen is for drinking and not just for wading in.
For their 5th week birthday, we celebrated by having their first bath. 10 puppies can make quite a mess. The kids helped me with this. I gave Jeremiah the camera to record the event. (Afterward, I discovered he'd taken 463 photos!)
Isaiah and April helped dry the pups and guarded them in the makeshift pen in the bathroom. (Ray mostly stayed out of the way.)
The pups did well. None of them liked it very much, but they didn't whine or complain. While I was toweling them off afterward, Ditto made a point of checking out each pup and licking it dry. She watched the bathtime closely, to make sure I wasn't hurting a pup.
I had planned to do a fun photo shoot when the pups turned 4 weeks old, but after 2 pups, the reality of having 4 kids upstairs unattended set in, so this is as far as we got.
The pups are so much fun, but at the end of the day, sometimes I wear out before they do.
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