Day 33 - First trips outside

So I gave up and couldn't help myself. I don't like how big they've got in relation to their living space.

"Come on guys, we gotta get out of here!"

The puppies are actually choosing to sleep on the linoleum instead of in the crate sometimes, maybe because they are not feeling the need to make piles any longer.

The sun was up and they were all clamoring for some excitement so I said, "To heck with this" and built them a run outside. I'm quite pleased with it.

I need to get some things for them to poke around with in there, but so far so good. Fury is not super pleased with being stuck outside with them, but the fences are low and she could jump if she wanted to. Not yet.

Pardon the yard, it looks kind of hellish after weeks of rain and neglect. I can't mow it yet.

Putting them out there was pretty fun. I have this screen that kind of lives outside because I don't know what to do with it in the new house, and they all hid behind that at first, whining and poking their heads out occasionally.

At first, Fury is there to make them confident, and then she decided she wanted to go inside instead.

This is all very new. We will stay here, thankyouverymuch.

Well, hmm, not so bad.

Something smells interesting.

Yeah, still scary.

They'd bop around at the doors and gates (though I am not sure how they know what a gate is for and you could hear the plaintive "let me back inside" whines. Eventually our braver puppies explored enough to be confident to come over to me and have a puppy party in my lap.

Our brave explorer puppies.

It's funny how their personalities are really showing now - Reid, Moto, and Firma had no problem trucking the ten feet over to me to sit with me and keep exploring. That's their MO in the house, too. The other three girls are a lot more cautious. In the end, all six little guys were sitting in breeder-mom's lap happy as clams. As you can see, I took oodles and oodles of photos of them.

Fie (I think her best side).

Lap puppies.

Fie and Oppie.

Oppie.

Reid in his classic pose. Sittin' and thinkin'.

Daca.

Fie's other side. She and Daca are totally different dogs depending on what side you look at. What do you feel like, big spots, or little ones?

Daca's other side: would you like stripes or to see my impression of a solid red?

Daca, Fie, and Oppie. We'll try this gate, maybe that's how we'll get in.

Daca's red bi impression side.

Reid and Firma, "Let's make a break for it - she's not that far away!"
Moto leads the charge.
Reid, thinkin'.

Firma!

Dude, where'd Mom go again? Safety in numbers!Yeah, I don't trust this.

On that note, it's also cool because I am starting to see their instinct coming out a lot - Firma consistently works dogs she's playing with wide, checks their eye and then chases them parallel to head them off. Last night Fie started playing with Laura (my roommate)'s dog, Rex, and she was clearly heading him. Daca has this intense play drive but is so sweet. Reid and Optimus are both more of sitter and watchers. They think about stuff. Then they act. Moto is a cute guy, he is also a bit of a wuss - or so I like to tease. He screams bloody murder when something happens that's uncomfortable (ie, he bashes his head into a fence when playing or I grab him by the scruff to stop him from something), but he recovers pretty well. Fie and Firma are always sparring and making the most horrible sounds!

And in other news, someone asked about my feeding - this is kinda funny. As I said, I suspected that Fury would likely wean her puppies early, and she seems to be doing that. Unless she is really full, if a puppy tries to suck, she plays "bite the head with them." Basically she gently tries to redirect them into play, but under no circumstances will she let them suckle. My method has been to let them suckle, Fury gets over it, and out comes the puppy food. If I think they need extra nourishment, I give them some warm water with the kibble and they go to town. If they're obnoxious or need something to do, I just give them hard kibble so they have to really work at it and occupy themselves. Puppies still thriving, no one seems hungry, and it's going well.

Pups at the bar.

"Oh, check it out, Mom came back out! Soup's on!"

Moving the pups out to the yard has also had a positive effect on their housetraining. When they come back inside, most of them opt to use the ground cover I've bought. It's looking pretty sick. Hopefully with them outside all day it will get a nice break and recover. I don't mind buying more, but . . . hey, I was raised frugally.

Super special bonus!