Puppies!! Week 5

The pups turned 5 weeks old today, Valentine's Day. Only 3 more weeks till they head for their new homes. The house will be really quiet when they leave. (We'll only have 4 kids, 4 dogs, a cat, and assorted other critters to keep me busy.) Knowing this will be my last litter makes it especially bittersweet.

This has been a busy week of growth for the pups. Their personalities are beginning to develop and it is fun to watch. All of the pups love to play. They especially love it when I let them out of the pen to run around in the rest of the basement!

We expanded the pen this week to give them more room to run and play, but even with all the extra room, they still like to sleep curled up in a ball.

The pups, like babies, still spend most of their time sleeping.

The pups love attention. It's great being surrounded by 9 puppies, all vying for attention every time I go into the basement! (Though it does make cleaning the pen harder as they all want to crawl on you while you are scrubbing.) Even when they are tired, they like to sleep near me if possible.

They especially like playing with kids!

They get most of their nourishment from solid food now, but they do nurse on Mom (Ditto) several times a day.

Ditto may not be with them all the time any more, but she is usually near the pen and if I go into the basement for any reason, she is right by me, checking on the pups. She can hear them from upstairs, and is quick to alert me if she hears something and wants to check on them. She's beginning to teach them bite control, putting their heads in her mouth gently if they get too rough.

Even with puppies, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. If I am in the room, they are always jumping on the fence, hoping I'll pick them up and bring them out. We had a first with this litter though, one pup (Orange) figured out how to actually climb the fence. We now have to keep the gate closed to keep her inside. The others tried, but were not successful. (Thankfully!)

It's been a good week, full of new and exciting things for the pups. This coming week, the pups will get to experience at least one new thing.....Baths!