Enough of the serous stuff. Let’s do a fun blog. Did you know pups are born with eyes and ears closed. They can smell. That’s how they find mom. Around 2 weeks of age their eyes open and they can hear. A dog doesn’t have great eyes sight like you think. They see movement more than actual definition. That’s how they recognize you. It’s by the way you move and smell and sound. A dogs brain is 90% developed by 14 weeks old. So any nutritional improvement you can make have to be done before that point. When a pup is first born it doesn’t even know how to defecate on its own. Mom licks to stimulate them to go. Studies show hip dysplasia can be linked to slippery surfaces in the whelping box. We use a vet fleece for traction. Pretty cool facts and finds.

We confirmed pregnancy on dolly yesterday. That’s a drive! It takes all morning to go up and back. Don’t fear, I left my son sitting beside the box while I was gone. I had 2 video cameras pointed at the box. Well one in the box, the other outside the box. And a microphone so I could yell if I wanted him to do something like move a pup or straighten out the bedding. Lol. He did very well. Like always. Anyways it was a long day so I didn’t blog last night. So I’m doing it now. I want to talk about making a plan prior to pup coming home. A plan is the do’s and donts that everyone agrees on. Like pre marital counseling. You talk about all the things that are acceptable and not acceptable when the pup comes home. Are you letting the pup on furniture? Where is the pup sleeping at night? Who is feeding the pup? Who is walking the pup? Who is in charge of training? At what age are you altering the pup? Have you selected a groomer? A vet? Barking? Jumping? Are you going to allow any of this? I like families to talk through the plan. I always tell the story of my son. He wanted curly to give him kisses when he got home every day. Curly was the first pup that he helped raise all the way to adulthood. Ok so he taught her to stand up and kiss him. Now that doesn’t sound so bad in a 10lb pup. But at 30lbs her jumping up to kiss is a pain. Now he took it a step forward. She would jump up on his lap on the sofa and kiss him. Now as an adult it’s pretty gross to be trying to have a conversation and she jumps up and sticks her tongue in your mouth mid sentence. He taught her this. So have a plan that everyone is on board with what is ok and not ok for the pup to do. You need to be consistent. I always hear the stories of oh I thought so and so was going to be the one walking the dog. Or feeding the dog. Be realistic. If you have young kids they can help but don’t expect they will do it consistently. So I try to incorporate it into our chores. If you do this, this and this for the day then you can enjoy xyz. Game time or tv time. I teach kids like pups. Everything is earned. If they don’t do the xyz that’s ok, then they have not earned the reward. No argument or yelling or even saying twice. My pups love earning a reward. Either a treat or a belly rub or head pat. Kids love earning rewards too like doing something they want to do. Just make sure what ever your plan is that you have a plan and can stick with it.

I thought all day about what topic to start with. And there are so many. Do I start with light topics. Or heavy topics. Ugh. I decided I just couldn’t decide. Lol. So I picked one. And that will be the flow of this. I most likely will get my topics for the day from posts from fb. I see so many every day. So I’m hoping this will help you guys prior to bringing home a pup. Not after.

so the topic today is insurance. Pet insurance. I send you home with 30 days of free insurance from trupanion. No string attached. No waiting period. There are lots of companies on the market. Trupanion just happens to have a great Breeders program that I can give you with no waiting period. First let’s start with if insurance is important or not. I recommend doing it for 1 year. By a year they are adults and don’t tend to have as many emergencies issues. Puppies eat everything. And I don’t want to scare you. But 3 of Maggie’s pups last litter ate mushrooms the first week home and ended up in er for 3 days checking liver. Not joking. 3 different pups in different areas. 2 in Maryland and one in Virginia. Up until that I have only had a handful eat weird things. But I had 2 jump things and break legs. One jumped a baby gate. Another ran head first into a deck step and break a leg. Crazy things. Now remember I’ve sent home over 100 puppies in 7 years. So static’s are not common that you are going to need insurance. But having it is peace of mind. I like insurance for the first year. After that I feel you have adjusted to having a pup, they are not eating everything possible and it’s not as necessary. Now the companies I’ve heard good things about are healthy paws, embrace, and ASPCA, and obviously trupanion. If you decide to pick a different company, at least enroll in trupanion for the first free 30 days. Because most companies have a waiting period. This way you are covered with no lapse. I will give you a certificate the day you pick up your pup. You must go online and enroll with in 24 hours of picking up the puppy. I don’t get any kick backs from this. I don’t know if you enrolled or not. The only thing trupanion gives me is free blankets every spring and a bunch of literature to send home. That’s it. I don’t make money for referring them. I always get the call a couple weeks later, hey we had to run to emergency vet and we are wondering why we don’t have insurance. So I try to stress this and I’ll say it a couple times, you have to enroll. I can’t do it for you. And the free insurance only covers 80% of the bill for emergencies. Not shots. Not normal care. Emergencies only. 80% of the bill. They have other plans. So do other companies. Which leads me to the next topic, wellness plans. I do not like wellness plans. At all. I really don’t like them. First, pick a good vet. I don’t like chain store vets. I like an actual veterinarian. Most at those places are not fully licensed vets. You will need to go to the vet 3-4 times for booster shots. Then not again till spay/neuter. Then yearly shots. We will do a blog on spay neuter as well as shots. So I won’t get into all that now. But I will. So homework is start looking at insurance plans. See what the monthly costs are from different companies. Decide if you just want an OMG emergency plan. Or if you want everything covered. Pick your deductible. If your company offers health insurance, some also offer pet insurance. I know a couple families that went that route.

I feel really good about my description from earlier in the week. Blue is so happy and out going. Probably the alpha but he has a shy side. Once he is confident he is right there. Orange is the middle man. Always in the pack following everyone. He will be a follower. Green is the observer. He watches everything. Just sits and watches. Black is the laid back sleeper. Yellow is the silly sassy girl. Red is also a watcher. She likes to sit and observe before joining in. Purple and pink are like twins. Hard to tell a part. The good time girls. Goofing and playing.
this is the happiest litter I’ve ever had. Tails always going. They love people. As soon as they hear my voice they are awake. I’m excited about this litter. Maggie has the best personality. I really think the pups are just like her. This silly goofy playful soul that likes to give hugs and snuggle.

Pick weekend always comes up so fast. I can’t believe they are 5-1/2 weeks old. I’m really starting to see personality in each one. The good news I haven’t had a litter with this much consistently in a long time. Between weight and personality they are like 8 little twins. Seriously. All are very happy puppies. Tails wagging all the time. Especially blue. He is so happy his butt waddles too. He is a little shy with loud noises. But comes back right away. Black is my looker. He is always sleeping or watching everything going on. Green is a little more independent. He will go off and fall asleep in the crate or play by his self. Orange is the follower. He wants to see what everyone else is doing. Yellow is a fun and sassy little girl. She holds her own. Pink is playful and always engaging with someone to play. Purple is the funny girl. Silly. And red is my kisser. She comes running and wants to snuggle.
​these are just quick little blurbs and I’ll do more as the week goes on.

I am so happy with the way litter 11 is gaining weight and growing. Having 12 pups and willow could only nurse 8 at a time so they rotated. I don’t like to supplement food if I don’t have too. I’m a firm believer that introducing foreign foods too early causes allergies. So when I pulled willow at 4 weeks the pups were thin. So I did the normal feedings at 4 times a day. Increasing each feeding till I saw diarrhea then backing it off a little. But I still wasn’t happy with how thin some where. So I decided to free feed. I don’t usually do this. I really worry about diarrhea. But to my suprise they all had and have nice firm poo. And they are gaining like crazy. Each one feels nice and filled out. I can’t wait to weigh everyone tomorrow. I know the gains this week should be much larger than last weeks. They all feel fantastic. Only down side is they are not as eager to take my treats for training as most litters are. Over the next week I will transition them back to formal feedings and times. So it’s easier to go home. We have been potty training all week. They are doing fantastic with this. Crates should arrive tomorrow and we will start in pairs.

We have been busy. Everyone is enjoying going outside. We started early in the week just on the concrete. By today they got to explore the whole yard. They learned to go up and down the 3 steps at the door. I place a very big soft bed at the bottom so no one can get hurt. They do tumble still. I’m working on the clicker. When it’s time to come in I click and they are to come in. I will be introducing treats Saturday. This helps with wanting to come in. They are to sit when they come in for treat. So this is the next training task I will be working on. More pictures to come this weekend. Hopefully it stays dry and we can be outside a good bit. I ordered all the crates and going home items today. So by next weekend I will be making up the bags to get ready.

It will be a crazy 2 days. So be patient with me. So far red (ginger was selected by the Hoover family. I will try to keep up dating fb page as each is selected.

I’m so sorry this is so late. I did lots of one on one today then one last group play. I gave them baths and did pictures. So I could evaluate one on one. Then we did one last play session tonight. I even ran the vacuum to see responses. I don’t have any pups being placed for therapy this litter so I didn’t do the volhard test. Instead I do my own little tests. This is what I have observed below. I also have my first round of picks done for everyone. I’m now working on pick 2 and 3. I’ll finish that tomorrow. Remember it’s ultimately your choice. But I’ll me very real and honest. The good news I don’t see much outliers. I really don’t. I don’t see anyone I’m upset worried about placing. Either way shy or way outgoing or clingy. Nothing. And I have had litters like that. I always tell the story of brown litter 4 and him screaming through the glass door while I sanitized the floor each morning because he wanted to be with me. I don’t see anyone that’s real hard headed either. Like curly was. Like Becca was. These make great moms by the way. They seem to chill at about 3 months old and are fantastic pups and then moms. As long as you stay in control and they know you are the owner/boss they are fantastic dogs. It does take a stronger owner to keep them in line so you don’t get walked on. Anyway I’ve rambled enough. Hear it goes in no particular order.
Pink. She is the investigator. She has no problem seeking things out and exploring. She played with Becca most of the evening and was not scared of her size or rough play.
Wine. She is the snuggle girl. She likes to be held and made over. Loved and cuddled.
Blue. He had a toy every time I seen him. He was playing with something and stayed occupied.
Red. She is a little reserved. Not the first to run to stuff. Stayed back and watched what was going on. She liked to sit at my office chair and watch the others.
Orange. He was always playing with someone. Sometimes grey sometimes the girls but always with someone. So I consider him social.
Grey. He is just gentle. He plays with the larger pups mostly but never rough considering his size. He is very gentle and easy going. Laid back.
Yellow. She preferred to follow me. Not always under my feet but not far from me. If I moved she did too. She is quiet.
Tan. He likes to play with the other little ones. Him and purple and white all look alike and seem to group together. I consider him social and he gets along with the others well.
Brown. Another explorer. He was up on the window for awhile. He had no problem investigating and checking everything out.
Green. He is probably the alpha. I know his size you wouldn’t think this. But the alpha is the protector that everyone respects. He was snuggling wine when she was cold earlier today. He is not scared to stand up to the bigger ones but he does this to protect his honor. To show he is in charge. He takes care of all his members.
White. She is playful and a little shy with the vacuum. She preferred to go back in the crate when I turned it on. She wants to be with me the most. She is content being a lap dog and loved.
Purple. She actually chased the vacuum. Loved it. Not scared of any noises. She is playful and most pictures you will see white following her lead.

We had a great day. Lots of playing and eating. This litter seems to get very messy while eating so I purchased a larger bowl for them. It seemed to help. See fb for the video on eating this evening. We played in the pen and out of the pen. I’m still making notes and watching. I’m going to wait till tomorrow to post more on personalities. I’ll be doing individual pics and weights tomorrow. Each will get a quick bath and toenails trimmed. Then I will blog. Stay tuned and have a great evening.