Day 41 - Rain, rain go away

Okay, so I really don't want the rain to go away when we look at the bigger picture of California being in a drought and all, but having puppies makes it more than a challenge. They all sat there in their pen this morning crying for me to come play with them as I walked back and forth from the kitchen to my room/office, etc.

I can deal with puppy whining no problem, but geez, give it a rest already.

So I really don't like how small their house pen is so after a while I decided to just kick them to the back yard and call it good, which I did. I knew rain was coming, so I set up a tarp for their pen, but it was interesting to see the ponds that resulted from the tarp dumping rain.

I have a feeling that very shortly, I will be bringing in damp puppies. At least it gives me a chance to really clean their space out. Otherwise, they run loose in the house and potty training goes all to heck.

Here's Fury, who dutifully lures them out with the promise of suckling, only to take it back, screaming "suckers!" when she jumps out of the pen. They are pretty close to weaned now. Only suck on Fury twice a day, and hopefully she's drying out without too much discomfort. I notice she eats a lot less these days, which is awesome. I would love her to maintain her post-baby svelteness.

Fury went on a prolonged adventure with us yesterday as we scouted for an adventure race.

When I came home (without Fury, long story short, but Yishai had to do an extra six miles and I figured since he was alone, he should have the dog), the puppies heard me start to shower and started bellowing and hollering so badly. A couple of them even howled (oh yeah, we here in SLO love it when they howl). When I was all cleaned up, I brought them inside and it was pile on Breedermom time! WOO!

My parents dropped by on the way down to see my brother and his kids. As usual, they loved the puppies. Mom can't believe I am not keeping Dactyl - she is in every way, looks, behavior, a mini-Fury. "Don't you want one for in case Fury dies?" Creepy. Nothing like a mini-Fury to make life easier on you. Actually, if I were keeping one for myself, she's probably the one I would keep. I really like her go-for-it attitude. It's a fun thing to train with. It's also high maintenance to live with . . . at least for the first three years. :) Her ears are starting to get lift to them - once again, I am quite sure she will have Fury's ears, too.

Ordered vaccines online today, need to go to the dollar store and pick up some collars/leashes for training. Tracey sent Fury home with a set and I still have the leash. I thought it was cool.

Now I just have to figure out how to get cheap crates - it looks like the majority of puppies will be taking flights to their new homes. And what sizes? I guess I can always just ask the homes what size they want (puppy or adult) - after all, they're paying that cost.