One of my enjoyments in photographing puppies is trying to capture puppy yawns - this week I had two wins!

And now for their new pictures...(remember to click on each one for more details)...

The puppies continue to do very well.  Their weights at 4.5 weeks old are as follows: Samson - 3lbs, 6oz; Whitaker & Charlie - 3lbs, 1oz; Silas - 2lbs, 12oz; and Lena - 2lbs, 9oz.  We are beginning to teach them to lap from a bowl starting with goat milk fresh from our homestead. 

Though we teach our children NOT to stick their fingers in our puppies mouths, IF you were to stick your finger in right now, you would feel their little needly teeth erupting from their gums.  As the teeth emerge, so does their desire to chew - enter chew time!  ​My favorite chew for the puppies is the buffalo lung.  They love it, and I love that it’s one ingredient – buffalo lung!  Life’s Abundance has several wonderful chewing products that are one ingredient – no harsh chemicals, fillers, or preservatives!  We use these products on our adults and puppies because chewing is an important part of a dog’s life.  In addition to help easing the pain of puppy teething, it helps clean their teeth throughout their lifetimes.  And, chewing is just fun and enjoyable for dogs!  I think it can help relieve stress and anxiety, as well.  We don’t believe in trying to teach puppies NOT to chew, we believe in teaching them what to chew on.  We already are training our puppies there are things not to chew on – mainly our toes (which seems especially delightful to puppies) and the newspaper in the potty box.  We instruct our children never to let puppies “play bite” or chew on them – even though it’s adorable right now before all their teeth are intact and before they have real jaw strength.

Socialization is such an important part of the puppies' young lives.  We spend lots of time with them - especially during our schooling hours because they sit well right now.  They make a perfect companion during read-aloud time or a page of math problems.  We intentionally have them experience different rooms in our home as well different sounds - blenders, radios, vacuums - in a gentle, non-scary way.  As I was photographing the puppies for their update pictures, the radio was on in the kitchen just behind them.  It did not even faze them because they are used to hearing it.  So much of their socialization happens spontaneously because they are doing life with us, which you can see in the snapshots from this week.
​Thanks for stopping by!

Come take a look at our 3.5 week old puppies - they are becoming more alert every day!  Be sure to click on their pictures for more pictures of each one.

What does a 3.5 week old puppy's day look like?  A lot of this...

...(sleeping) for most of the day.  Though, their need to sleep nearly all day is decreasing as the days go by.  They are becoming more aware of what's going on around them.  Another important part of their day is nursing from Sheerah.  Sheerah feeds them several times throughout the day.  As they grow, she spends less time with them, and we spend more time with them!

Other than sleeping and eating, the puppies are now beginning to play with each other and spend time interacting with us.  They are able to sit and take tottery steps.  With the ability to move, comes the beginning of house training.  We use the Misty Method to lay a solid foundation of the understanding of a place to sleep, play, and potty.  At this stage, we put a potty box with newspaper right outside of the puppies' sleeping area because when little puppies wake up, they need to GO.  They naturally try to potty by themselves, which means by instinct they will wander away from their siblings.  We arrange it so that when they wander, the only place to go right now is the potty box.  As they learn to go in there, we gradually open up the whelping area to include a play area.  (You can read more about our house training process here and here.)

The puppies' weights as of this morning are as follows: Samson - 2lbs, 10oz; Whitaker - 2lbs, 9oz; Charlie - 2lbs, 8oz; and Lena & Silas - 2lbs, 5oz.  All their nutrition comes from Sheerah, which means her nutrition is very important.  We believe feeding a high-quality diet at all stages of life has a direct effect on a dog's health and well-being.  We have been feeding food, chews, and treats from Life's Abundance to our dogs for over six years.  Their food, treats, and chews are of such a great quality that we are representatives for the company (ID 20249934).  If you are bringing one of our puppies home or are simply looking for different dog (and cat) products, please check out Life's Abundance.  Below is the food we feed our adults.  During pregnancy, whelping, and any other especially stressful times, we also give our dogs the Wellness Supplement.  (Important Note: If you are bringing home one of our puppies, you'll receive an invitation to order Life's Abundance within the next week that gives you wholesale pricing.  If you are not bringing home a puppy, but would like to request an invitation to order, contact me.)

I'll close this week with some snapshots of some of the first snuggle times with the puppies.  Our children love holding them in soft blankets and putting them to sleep.  Each puppy has his/her own blanket.  That blanket will go home with the puppy as a comfort with the scent of "home" when they go to their forever homes.

Thanks for stopping by!  Blessings!

We are snuggled down against the elements today with our litter of puppies!  Our area has several inches of snow and high winds after a delightfully warm spring day yesterday. 

​When I went to film the video clip for today, I came upon this:

I had to share because it was adorable, but also because it shows the natural way in which are puppies are socialized.  When the puppies are older, I purposefully expose them to various things - umbrellas, hats, etc.  However, here it happened already without any effort on my part.  Though I have no idea why EJ decided to hold a puppy with a cowboy hat on, I'm delighted the puppies are already getting gentle, early socialization.

This week, I'm going to share a short video clip of the puppies with you.  (Note: The little whiny noise you hear near the beginning is not the puppies; it was Sheerah shoving her head between me and my device trying to get in the recording and see what's going on with her babies.)

Thanks for stopping by!