4 weeks old tomorrow!  Time goes just so fast.  I cant believe how fast the last month has gone.  And already almost weened and now able to run and play, Molly's puppies are growing and changing so quickly.  This picture is of their cousin Chai, who is absolutely enthralled with them.  They are starting to show their incredible little personalities now.  I'm actually taking notes so I can keep track of it.  I know little Ollie is one of the sweethearts. He LOVES to give little kisses on my nose.  He is soooo affectionate.  Abbath is a bit of a whiner.  He gets himself away from his litter-mates and then starts to cry and wonder why he is alone, when all he has to do is go to the other side of the pen and curl up with them.  Quinton is super playful and the first one to try to grab at someones ear or cheek to instigate a game.  He acts all tough and come out with these little barks and growls.  But then he gives them a lick to say its just a game.  I am on constant poo duty now.  Trying to catch them before they even hit the ground, but for sure before it gets trod on.  Its a full time job!.  I have been keeping Molly out during the day to give her a rest now that they are eating quite well, but she is with them all night.  And she doesnt leave the side of the pen for very long.  She keeps vigil over her crew, but seems happy to be able to watch over without being attacked all the time by a hungry hord. 

What can I say?  This little man has become my favourite.  I know you are not supposed to have favourites, but he is the smallest and he is absolutely adorable!  He is a loving sweet little man and he seems to get cuter and cuter by the the minute.  I have nick named him Ollie for Oliver Twist. 

The weaning is going great!  But its SUPER messy!  The puppies are getting covered in puppy milk from head to toe.  One will be eating and another will step in the mixture and then plomp his paw on his brothers head in an effort to instigate play.  I am going to take some video footage this weekend and see if I can figure out how to put it on the website, because this is some fun to watch!  If I cant get it to work, I will be putting it on a cd or some other form so dont worry.  Im not the most computer literate, but I will figure it out. 

Well, things are going great here!  Weaning has begun!  Actually, I am surprised at how well they are taking to eating.  About 5 days ago, little #4, the smallest baby, was watching as Molly ate, and he went to the dish and poked his little head in and started to lap at the milk (I mix puppy milk replacement in with Molly's puppy food).  Some of the milk would drip off his chin onto the edge of the bowl, and he would like it off.  So, starting then, I began to introduce some canned puppy food mashed up in the milk, and now, pretty much every one of them is eating.  Some better than others, but progress none the less!  Its soooo cute watching them learn this.  They get so absorbed in figuring out how to eat, that they forget to be careful about balance and will tip over and fall face first into the mash.  Or they will put a foot down to steady themselves and wonder why their foot all of a sudden feels cool and wet.  They are an endless source of entertainment and amazement for me at this time, and I could literally stare at them for hours...even when they are sound asleep!

Three weeks old today!  Time flies so fast.  This past few days has shown a lot of changes in the puppies.  They are really getting active now.  They are getting into little mock fights with each other and growling and even let out the occasional little bark.  This morning Abbath was awake first, and he wanted to play.  He kept crawling over his lttermates and he would grab at them with his mouth.  But no one else wanted to play.  They just kept sleeping.  He kept at it until he finally woke someone up enough to play, and then they had some fun until Molly came in to nurse.  Right now, everything is in slow motion and looks so animated with them.  They lose their balance and fall and roll over and then get a perplexed look on their faces, somewhat confused as to how that happened.  Then they get right back in there.  Its just the perfect age!

This was taken last night while we were watching tv.  Dandy LOVES sleeping on his back, all sprawled out.  I have noticed his puppies like to sleep like this as well.  It will be interesting to see if they continue to prefer sleeping on their back as they get older.  You know what they say...like father like son.  If that is the case, then his little guys will be laid back marshmallows too!

Life is easy when you're THIS cute

Here is a picture of the proud dad.  He abolutely LOVES his wubba.  First thing every morning after we get up, he goes in search of it.  When he finds it, he usually spends the next 20 to 30 minutes of the morning squeaking it like crazy! 

The babies this morning are busy!  They are now strong enough and big enough to reach up to nurse, even when Molly is still standing.  Little Bumper seems to always be one step ahead of the others, and yesterday, he looked at me when i was holding him, and when i brought him close for a nuzzle, he licked me on the nose!  It was love!!!  It wasnt him trying to suckle...it was a purposeful lick!  It was soooooo cute and adoring.  My heart melts at least 10 times every day, but that was a special moment. 

Here are the two week weights of all the babies now.  They are getting so fat!  I can't believe how much they have grown in just two weeks!

Bumper is now 610 g
Quinton is now 615 g
#3 is a whopping 750 g!!!
#4 (my little guy) is 510 g
Abbath is 730 g
and little Luna is 705 g

They have now started crying quite loudly when they want something...if they are hungry mostly, but also out of frustration if they cant get a teat or manage to get lost in a blanket.  Then Molly dutifully goes and gets their needs attended to.  They have begun to growl now and then too....and that makes me howl!  Sounds sooooo cute.  Like what could they possibly be upset about? 

Meet our newest edition!  I have started calling her "little storm" as she came into this world the day of our first real thunder storm!  She was born June 4th and her Mom (Faith) is doing terrific.  Faith is Chai's mom and this little sweety is her second baby.  Chai was born in Sept of 2010, so although it has been awhile, Faiths maternal instincts kicked in immediately.  I am so lucky my girls are such amazing little mommies.  I will give updates on Little Storm as time goes on as well.  :)

 I ran progesterone testing on Molly and Faith with their last heat cycles, and was able to narrow down ovulation date pretty closely.  Based on the date of ovulation, I was able to predict their due dates.  For Molly, I had predicted that she would be due on May 23.  She had half her pups on May 22, and the other half on May 23.  Pretty close to the dates I had estimated!  Well, Faith was bred about two weeks after Molly, and her predicted whelping date was June 4.  I was quite worried being that Faith was pregnant with only one...for the second time!  The problem with having a litter of one is that that ONE can be HUGE!  Faith is smaller than Molly too.  But, she free whelped her first puppy (Chai) without a hiccup, so I was optimistic about this one.  My worry though, was that she would be a day early and go into labour on Sunday the 3rd, when my vets would not be available.  I have complete trust in the vets at the CARE centre, but of course the vets I work with on a daily basis are the ones I trust the most. 

Anyhow, Faith went into labour on June 3 at about 6 pm.  panting, restless, nesting.  All the signs of imminent whelping.  She was digging in my sheets until 1 am and would not settle down.  I was hoping she would just relax and sleep through the night!  She was going to destroy my bed, so I took her downstairs to the whelping pen and layed beside her on the couch.  She instead choose one of the dog beds and settled down for a nice sleep.  At least SHE slept, but I didnt.  I was too worried, but she rested for the entire night and did not start acting restless again until morning.  We woke up at 8 am.  I felt MUCH better knowing my vets would be available if I needed them.  Well, at 1:54 pm, she delivered a sweet little girl!  Bigger than any of Molly's puppies were at birth, but only by a hair.  So, I am happy and proud to announce that we now have 2 girls out of the 7 babies.  I am hoping Faith will be able to help Molly with her puppies if the demand gets too much.  Things are going to be busy around here this summer!

Today is just a gorgeous day to be alive!  Its sunny and warm out and these babies are all starting to open their eyes to the world!  After I wrote yesterdays post, I went to check on them and little bumper was looking right at me!  His right eye was wide open and his left eye was about half open.  The others are all starting to open too!  Pictures to come!