Raising These Pups

The puppies have finally become mobile, running, hopping, biting, attacking, climbing out of their box, ganging up on one another, and causing problems all along. I can really only get them to stay in their box for nap time, otherwise they want to be out and about like their mama, but this causes so many accidents. They seem to use their pee pads less when they have freedom.

The puppies are big enough now that I can tell what size they will be at adulthood. There is one fatty, a boy, and then a medium sized girl, and then a small boy and a tiny girl. The small boy and tiny girl already have their ears standing up! They look so darling. The other two look nice too, it appears that their adult coat is starting to come in, mostly around their eyes.
 
They also really enjoy the non-mushy version of their food,  Blue Buffalo, although occasionally the tiny one will throw it back up and it appears to be solid like it was swallowed whole. The pups are at that age where they get into trouble and hurt themselves often, so I am keeping a close eye on them when they get out of the box. There are only 8 more days until I start sending them home. I really want to keep the tiny girl for an extra week or two so she can stay with her mom and get all the breast milk and socialization that she needs.

I still haven't de-wormed them or given them vaccinations. I guess I'm putting off the inevitable, but I get lost in my thoughts as I stare at them, jumping around and hopping on each other. I invite friends over to play with them, to make sure they are well-socialized with humans, and my friends don't know how I ever get anything done with four pups this cute running around. I tell them, I don't get anything done, the pups start crying every time I sit down to work on something!

I got their AKC registration papers in the mail. I guess they'll really be leaving soon. I still haven't sold the boys yet, and Matt has a lot of phone calls to return. I'm not looking forward to meeting with more people, I hate having to clean the house every time a visitor comes by to see them, plus I've got to look nice and seem happy when I'm really worried about missing deadlines with my schoolwork. But it's worth it at the end. Matt has ordered a nice big television to put in our nice big bedroom, which will be here Wednesday. Matt gets to keep most of the puppy money so long as he takes all the phone calls and does the hard stuff. I told him I had too much school work to worry about to raising these puppies all alone.

I'll be sad to see them go, but I know their new forever homes will be fantastic! Plus I haven't had time to take care of Simon and Layla as much.... I need to give them baths and trim their nails. Its hard to get everything done with six dogs running around. Matt thinks he is helpful but he mostly takes phone calls, and sometimes he doesn't even do that!

Raising pups is a challenge. You have to change the pee pads in their box every day, and try to keep their linens generally free of pee smell. You have to feed them and water them, give them something to teethe on if you value your stuff, shut them up by letting them roam free... Make sure what they are chewing isn't poisonous...