Keeping Up With the Puppies

Whoever raises litters of puppies for fun is crazy.  Last week was a breeze - the puppies would play for a bit, sleep for hours and repeat.

This week is a different story.  They play for hours, sleep for a bit and repeat.  Last week their teeth and jaws were ineffective at destroying anything, this week I've caught them gnawing away at the baseboards, electrical cords, shoelaces, and more.  Thankfully only the baseboards have shown any wear, but I've got to be on my toes.

Lacey has started to play with them, Coulee thinks we brought them home to torture her.  The cats are pretty indifferent - Jack walks away when they get too close and Lu gives them a gentle (claws in) bop on the head when she's had enough of their sniffing.  They are pretty respectful puppies and tend to grovel when they are told to back off - which is a good thing.

They are still the cutest things ever.

Oh and did I mention we brought a third one into the mix?  This is Leslie. She is quite a sweetheart and has been doing a good job of keeping the play between all of them a little more balanced.

Its amazing how similar they are, yet there are little differences too.  Leslie was the first to go up the stairs (by a few days) but they can now all go up, but no one can (or at least no one does) go down.

Amy is starting to develop colour patches that I swear weren't there before.  See that little brown smudge next to her eye?  I thought it was dirt. LOL  Turns out it is brown fur.  She's got another patch on her back and a tiny hint of black on the edge of one of her ears.

Amy and Bernie will bark a little bit while playing but we've never heard Leslie do anything but whine.

Bernie is the first to explore new objects but Leslie is the first to explore new places.  Amy likes to sit back and assess the situation before making her move.

They have quite the speedy little runs now when they want.  When Coulee and Lacey try and get away they tend to have a little pack running behind them.  It is really cute to watch.

After much snarling and posturing, Lacey finally caved to the pressure of the puppies and now plays with them. Her favourite game is when she lays on the couch and they reach up to get her.  She tends to play more with them outside and occasionally tries to take on all three at once.

Bernie likes to sample the grass.  And the leaves.  And anything else she can find.

My favourite time is when they are just about to settle in to sleep.  They have the cutest little gentle play sessions.  Their favourite place is the big West Paw bed in the living room.

It doesn't matter how hard they try, Coulee is immune to their charms.

We've got them for almost 2 more weeks before they go home. They are actually going off to meet their first family tonight.  It's going to be bittersweet when they leave I think.  I'm going to miss the little gaffers.

Foster Puppies

Meet Amy

 and Bernadette (aka Bernie). 

They are two pups that are with the Windy City Canine Rescue that Marlin is letting us foster.  :)  There are 8 pups in the litter of Springer Spaniel pups - the mom was purchased from an ad on kijiji and when she went to get her spayed, the vet discovered she was pregnant.  Sure enough a few days later, 8 little cuties pop out.  As often seems to be the case, by the time the pups start to be about 5 weeks old, the owner of the mom is starting to feel overwhelmed by the extra responsibilities she wasn't planning on.  (And by the amount of poop these two produce, I'm not surprised!) So into rescue they came.  2 other ones are with Lorelei and the other 4 are with another foster home.

The first day was a breeze... all they did was sleep, eat and poop. They would be awake for maybe 5 minutes after pooping and then go back to sleep.

Their first night was also a breeze.  We kept our door open so we would hear them if they got upset (they are downstairs in the kitchen) but we didn't hear a peep.

These last two days have been more active and fun. Their little tails wag like crazy when they see me in the morning.  They eat their meals like champs. Bernadette even licks out the dish! (Coulee would be proud had she noticed, but seeing as she can't bring herself to look at them...)

I took them outside yesterday at lunch for an hour or so.  After spending a bit of time getting their bearings they had a great time running around and playing.

We've done pretty casual intros with the other critters in the house.  The girls want nothing to do with them for the most part, but I could see Lacey debating whether or not she was excited or scared yesterday when they were outside so I bet, given a little more time, they'll hit it off.

The puppies are super respectful.  A little grumble from Coulee (from 2 feet away) sends them sprawling on their backs.  A hiss from Lu gets them to back up.  Jack is shockingly the most comfortable with them. Amy was just relaxing on my lap last night and Jack came up and sniffed her, let her sniff him and even take a gentle little nibble at his tail.  :)

It's cute seeing little bits of personality already.  Loud noises send Bernie looking for safety.  She doesn't like it when Coulee barks, when the smoke alarm went off or when there are any sudden noises.  In new places though, she is the first to go off exploring.  Amy needs a moment to take everything in, but once she decides it's OK, she seems the braver of the two.  She is smitten with Coulee and Lacey and wags her little tail furiously at them whenever she sees them, but doesn't go running up to them. She just sits and stares and wags.

The Fabulous Fisheye

When I borrowed the fisheye lens for my weekly project, I also managed to find some time to take it out on a walk.  Oh what fun we had.  :)

Puppy!!

For those of you who know Jo, you already know she got a puppy from Blazingstar a little while ago.  Mr. Lync is almost 5 months old and I JUST met him! I'm pretty sure I was the last person in town to meet this cute little guy.  But it was worth the wait.  He is pretty perfect - fun, playful, respectful and of course handsome! And oddly enough, he got Lacey's seal of approval right off the bat.  :)  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Good Play

Most of the time when Coulee and Lacey play, it resembles bullying more than play.  But for some reason in the backyard, and only in the backyard, will they have balanced play.

When I was trying to get Coulee's 52 weeks photo the other day I was doing my best to not engage with them so they ended up having quite an extended play session.  I love it when this happens as it isn't a daily occurrence.

It always eventually devolves into Coulee bullying Lacey but usually when I put a stop to the bullying, in less than a minute they are back to playing nicely again.

I don't know why they won't play like this in the house or on a walk, but I've only ever seen it happen in the yard.

Plan A

Suddenly I'm finding myself terribly behind in blogging and completely overwhelmed in the number of photos I've been taking.  It's been a fun, experimental couple of days and I even have some cute puppy pics to share but first...

I already have my 52 weeks photo done for this week!  I love it when a plan comes together - especially because it seems to happen so rarely.  :)

The theme this week was "To tell a story".  My idea was to have Coulee peeking into the fridge.  I tried with my regular camera and found I couldn't see much of the fridge.  I tried with the GoPro and it was just kind of meh... so then I decided to ask a local network of photographers if anyone had a fisheye lens I could rent for a few days. I've always wanted to try one and figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.

And what do you know....

I love it. It's exactly what I was hoping for.  Fingers crossed that the weather cooperates and I can take the lens and the girls outside tomorrow. Today was HORRIBLE out but it was the perfect time to do an indoor pic.