February 22, 2006. 7 Weeks.
Puppies have grown so big that I can't get all of them on my small scales anymore. They are now around 12 pounds each. They are playful and getting into whatever they can reach. The first 3 pictures show one of the puppies that managed to get the rope part of a toy around is neck all by himself. Which was fine, until the rest of the puppies caught on and decided to turn him and the toy in to their personal play thing.

The weather finally warmed up into the 60's so we are getting them ouside. Generally, puppies cry and get fussy the first time their feet hit the grass because of the strangeness of it. But not this litter. They hit the ground running. Momma stopped nursing because of their sharp teeth, but she is still spending time with them and bossing them around.

February 22, 2006. 6 Weeks.
Smallest female is now 9 pounds 12 ounces, largest male is 10 pounds 3 ounces. Momma is no longer letting them nurse. There teeth got too sharp and they got too rough. The vet came to see the puppies today. They all passed their first vet check with completely good health.

February 14, 2006. 5 Weeks.
Smallest female is now 8 pounds, largest male is 8 pounds 5 ounces. They are playing with toys, and biting each other ears. We added a play box with cedar that the play in. We added toys and noise makers to introduce new things. Mom is still nursing, but only 2 times a day now. They are drinking water from a dish.

February 6, 2006. 4 Weeks.
Puppies have been eating solid food and drinking lots of momma's milk for a week now so they did a small growth spurt. The smallest female weighs 5 pounds, 13 ounces, the biggest male is 6 pounds 5 ounces. They will slow down a bit as we get momma to reduce the amount of milk she is producing. She stands up to feed them now and keeps a close watch on them from her hiding place on the bed.

We moved the puppies from the welping box to the puppy room yesturday. They were all scared at first but are adjusting to more room. One of the males has even started dancing around. We've put papper's down for them to potty on, but those will become toys to be dragged around in a day or two and will will have to pull them up. Most important, they are climbing out of the crate and on to the floor to potty, which is a great first step to crate training and house breaking.

January 30, 2006. 3 Weeks.
The third week always shows the biggest changes. Puppies start seeing, hearing and eating solid foods. The run on all 4 legs and chase momma around the welping box. Some even try to catch a milk tit as it goes by. They have begun to express themselves with cute pur-growels and have started to play.

January 24, 2006. 2 Weeks.
Puppies are now 3 times their birth weight. They have gone from the smallest being 15 ounces to just under 3 pounds, and the largest being 1 pound 2 ounces to 3 pounds 4 ounces. The tips of their teeth have broken their the gums and their eyes are open. They are beginning to stand and move around on very shaky legs. Sorta like little turtles. Very cute.

January 16, 2006. 1 Week.
Puppies will be one week old early Tuesday morning. I took these pictures today. The puppies do not change much the first week, but they do grow almost double in size and get stronger. Their eyes are still closed. Their ears are just starting to open. They crawl around the box like little turtles, sometimes moving very fast if momma calls them to her with a whine.

January 10, 2006. Just Born.
We took these pictures during the time the puppies were being born. Puppy birthing is very messy, so every few hours, we stopped, changed blankets.

Pictures below taken 1/7/2006.
Poor Helen is getting very big. Not too many days left before she delivers.