Tachi's 2018 Puppies - 5 Weeks Old

5 weeks old and FULL OF LIFE!  We sometimes just stand and chuckle as we watch their adorable antics as they romp and tussle with each other.  Puppies seem to come alive between weeks 4 and 5.  Although they still need long and frequent naps, they now spend a lot of time awake and playing with each other and our kids.

Their week was brimming full with new experiences.  My belief is that early, positive experiences with things in life aid in a confident adult who is not easily scared by new experiences.  (Of course, this extends waaaay beyond the puppies' 8 weeks in our home - new owners have a responsibility to utilize the window of time from approximately 3-18 weeks where most puppies are accepting of new experiences.)  New sounds for the week included thunder, gun fire, and fireworks - all played softly from my phone.  I'm always impressed that my adults don't react to these sounds any more than the puppies.

Another new experience was meeting my Slicker grooming brush before the photo shoot today.  I gave them a brief, fun brushing session.  They also got to meet our cat, Princess, today.  They got to see and smell her, and we plan to have them spend more time with her in the coming weeks.  

The puppies also received new Lupine 6-9" collars this week.  We are big Lupine collar fans around here.  Lupine collars are made in the USA and come with a "even-if-chewed" return policy.  That's right, you can get a new collar if you puppy (or dog) chews their collar.  Lupine truly stands behind their products.

Yet another new experience for the puppies was some new chewing opportunities!  Their little teeth are erupting all over their little mouths, and it's time to chew!

These are 2 of my all-time favorite chew products.  They are both single-ingredient products from Life's Abundance - free from all fillers and preservatives!  I also like them because they tend not to break off in pieces.  Both of them get soggy as the puppies chew rather than splintering.

The puppies made the transition from mostly Mama's milk to mostly food this week.  They love, love meal time!  We feed them three times a day.  They are currently eating softened food, but will be dry food by 7 weeks.

The best part of the puppies' past week was meeting some of the new families!  We had a delightful time playing with puppies and chatting with families who will soon have a new four-footed member.  Below are two photos that families graciously shared with us that they took while here.

To give you an idea how much the puppies have grown, I have 2 pictures for comparison.

Taken 1/1/19 at 1 week old

Taken 1/28/19 at 5 weeks old

To close, as usual, I'll share pictures from the week.  I've said this before on the blog, but I think it's worth repeating - 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 8 years old, he has earned our trust to play with them independently along with CJ (7) and JJ (5).

Thanks for stopping by!