Having 10 puppies in the house and more specifically, in my bathroom is quite an adjustment.  Sound sleeping is not an option.  If there’s an abnormal squeel, you gotta get up and check it out.  Roxie is torn between feeding and sleeping in her own bed so most of the night she goes back and forth keeping us both awake.  Plus, when she comes or goes from the bathroom, she leaves the door open behind her and lets in a draft.  What, was she raised in a barn that she can’t close the door behind her??  I think she needs some lessons from her sister Lily the service dog on how to close the door behind her. 

Everyday I try to give special one-on-one snuggle time with the puppies and make notes on how they are doing.  Do they like the attention? Do they struggle or do they settle right in?  In these early days, they can’t see or hear so all they can do is smell.  Some say they don’t even know they are being held by humans.  All I can say is that they know that they were comfortable doing whatever it was they were doing (eating or sleeping) and something disrupted them and now they are upset!  Some do struggle, some cry, some scream and some just relax and enjoy the belly rubs.

The puppies are doing well.  They are all gaining weight nicely.  We have a couple of screamers in the bunch.  Blue boy and black boy both like to be sure everyone knows (including the neighbors) that they are enjoying their meals.  Although the funny thing is, they seem to be noisier at night than during the day. Hmmm a conspiracy to keep me from sleeping, I think.  Several puppies have taken to sleeping under the pig-rail on a regular basis.  Everytime I go in to check on them I’m sure to count them all, just to be sure.

My mom is visiting for a few days and is excited to be able to help (play) with the puppies.  But she doesn’t just get to play, I put her to work almost immediately.  She gets to help me move them around so I can clean the whelping box, help me make notes on those she gets to cuddle with, and help me weigh them.  Tomorrow (Monday) she gets to help me take them to the vet to have their tails and dew claws done.  Here she is getting some cuddle time with black collar boy.

Today, I started the Bio-Sensor Program or “Super Dog”.  This is a program developed by the US Army to improve the perfomance of military dogs.  The program starts when the puppies are 3 days old and continues daily until day 16. There are five daily exercises designed to improve the development of the puppy’s neurological systems by early stimulation and stress. Five benefits have been observed in dogs that were exposed to the Bio Sensor stimulation exercises: 1) Improved Cardiovascular Performance; 2) Stronger Heart Beats; 3) Stronger Adrenal Glands;
4) More Tolerance to Stress; and 5) Greater Resistance to Disease.  You can read more about his program by clicking this link to a PDF article written by Dr. Carmen Battaglia: Bio-Sensor Program Article.  Here is one of the blue boys practicing his “erect” position of being held upright perpandicular to the floor.  Sorry, forgot to get a pic of him in the upside down position.

Tomorrow (Monday) is a big day for everyone.  We get to go on a car-ride to the vet to have the tails docked and dew claws removed.  I think Mama Roxie is going to have to come with us because I’m pretty sure she will tear up the house if I leave her at home. As it is, she has a fit when I lock her out of the bathroom so I can clean. It’s just as well, I can have the vet take a look at her while we are there.

For those who just can’t get enough of these adorable little creatures, here is a new video from yesterday showing the chow line and the aftermath.  As I was just typing that last sentence, I had a flashback to the 2010 litter eating solid foods.  In just a few weeks the terms “chowline” and “aftermath” are going to look a whole lot different!

I will be creating a separate YouTube playlist just for this pregnancy and puppies so if you ever need to see one of these videos, you can just click on the Video Gallery link in the Galleries drop down menu above.

I’ve also added new pics to the 2012 photo gallery in the Roxie x Charley menu as well.

I think that’s all for tonight!  Have a great Monday and send us postive thoughts at around 11:00 pacific time tomorrow.

Renee, Roxie & the First Litter

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