Cocoa's Puppies - 7 Weeks

Our puppies are 7 weeks old today.  Let me just begin by summing up photographing 7-week-old puppies with a word from Charlotte as she watches her siblings....

7-week-old puppies have no time for photo shoots!  There are smells, sounds, siblings, toys, food - just about anything is more interesting than that lady we've seen for weeks who tries to get us to look at her!  (The sounds she makes are soooo last week.)

The puppies are doing fabulous!  One big event in their life this week was a trek to the vet.  They were all very well behaved - no barking, whining, or accidents!  Below are some pictures of my puppies & helpers at the vet.

On a different note, we were quite surprised this week to see a change in Flower's ears.  Here she is at 6 weeks and 7 weeks.

I've read that teething can cause a mini schnauzer's ears to do odd things because the inflammation in their jaw affects the ears as well.  Teething begins around 6 weeks, and her ear change came right after teething started.  Ears can change a lot in the first year, but typically by 6 months you can have a good idea what your schnauzer's ears will look like.  We are eager to see just what Flower's ears will do.  One tip we picked up from another mini schnauzer breeder is not to have the ears clipped or groomed until after six months.  Just the slight extra weight of the hair can be enough to keep them down (if you prefer them down).

Since the puppies will be off to their new homes at 8 weeks old, this will be my last post for this litter.  I'll end with my favorite photo from this past week.  CJ is my perpetual early riser.  This morning as I was hurriedly trying to get pancakes mixed up before the hungry munchkins woke up, he was awake & ready to go.  To buy myself some more pancake-mixing time, I told him to play with the puppies.  He was delighted (as were the puppies)!

CJ in pjs cuddling with Flower