I should have named this the smoky furnace litter. Usually keeping the puppies warm enough during the first couple of weeks is the hard part. This litter is confined to indoors due to too much heat and unhealthy smoke. But then, they are quite satisfied with games of attack-your-sibling and king-of-the-pile-of-puppies in the AC cooled whelping box. They can hear a bit now and make attempts at sibling intimidation with high pitched barks and a rare grrr. Mainly the vocalizations continue to be seagull squeals which have not diminished in volume and bring all adult dogs running. The daily routine continues.
Eat:
The puppies have taken great interest in Koyuk's meals...
with all crowding around and in her bowl...
then there are some who spy the tantalizing milkbar...
Kate was not quite tall enough to reach her goal. So close...
With puppies tumbling in unpredictable directions, I wasn't able to catch the attempts to climb up Koyuk's leg or make a puppy tower to reach the milkbar. My amusement at the puppy antics also made for difficult photo focusing.
Puppies inspecting the licked clean bowl.
Sleep:
Wander about:
Today I re-purposed some agility poles to make a sensory cube. I saw one on-line and couldn't resist. Part of my job as a breeder is to expose the little ones to as many stressors as possible to make them shrug off new, possibly frightening, experiences in the future. To that end, their feet touch a new type of surface every day. Now that they can hear, they will start being exposed to different noises. I have a handy breeder's CD made up of all kinds of sounds from crying children, to vacuums, to traffic, to thunder... I am a fan of quiet and nature sounds but for the next few weeks the TV and radio will be playing. The sensory cube is to expose them to being touched and having to maneuver through different shapes, colors and textures of hanging items.
I wanted to make sure it would not tip over and would attract attention so Trask, Cedar and Koyuk checked out the sensory cube for me..
The puppies will be placed inside to start off and then the cube will hopefully become a playful distraction in their outside pup-pen.
The covered pup-pen. Eventually this space will be outgrown but until then, it promises of fun adventures for puppies and humans alike.
Paradise. Now all I need is cool enough temperatures to bring out the puppies and a glass of wine.
After dinner puppy pile
One thing about forest fire smoke is that you get awesome sunsets.
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