Jolly's 2017 Puppies - 5 Weeks Old

What more could a boy want? A puppy, a kitten, & summer time!

I'm beginning my post this week with my favorite picture from last week (shown above).  It is AJ with Charity and Starlight (one of our kittens) enjoying the summer sunshine.  We introduced the puppies to the kittens this week.  Their introduction can be summed up with the photo below.

The puppies meet a kitten for the first time

Both parties seemed a bit bored and unfazed by the other.  The puppies aren't at the age where they are interested in chasing a kitten.  Yet.  But, I'm hoping the early introduction will give them a good tolerance and acceptance of felines.

And now...the photo updates!

The puppies continue to grow and change so quickly at this age.  The major event in their lives this past week was the introduction of food.  We start them on Life's Abundance Small & Medium Breed puppy food soaked in our own goat milk from our small herd of Nubians.  We chose goat milk because it is very gentle on their little digestive systems, and it is fresh and available from our homestead.  Goat milk has a reputation for being a universal milk that can be used to raise species of all kinds.  (Our goat milk has gone to others for raising things such as orphaned fawns & raccoons!)  As they grow, we lessen the amount of milk and increase the amount of food.  Below the puppies are enjoying their first meal.

And, of course, the puppies continue to be socialized with life in busy household.  They are constantly hearing the noises of the house - the washer, the baby crying, the radio, the blender, people talking, and on & on.  They are experiencing the hands of little children that don't always know exactly how to hold puppy.  As I've watched my children interact with puppies over the years, I've decided there is a balance when allowing young children to play with puppies.  On one hand, the child needs to learn to be gentle, and, on the other hand, the puppy needs to learn how to tolerate hands that don't always know the best way to hold them.  We have to be constantly monitoring our children as they handle the puppies.  As I think back, when we had our first litter of puppies here at Russell Homestead in 2014, AJ was 4 years old.  At age 4, we could not trust him to be alone with the puppies.  Now, at almost 7, he has earned our trust to play with them independently - a good experience for him and the puppies while his younger siblings are napping.

I will close with a few snapshots of enjoying the beautiful weather outside with the puppies.  If you can't tell, little MJ is just enthralled with these puppies.​

CJ & Sasha (he calls her Sa-she-a)

MJ & Ranger

Thanks for stopping by & have a great weekend!