Bedknobs and Broomsticks

Two weeks now and all the puppies have their eyes at least partially open. There's maybe 4 who's eyes are completely open but the balance are still working on getting the outside corners unstuck. With the eyes opening comes a couple other fun things like ears opening and with that comes tiptoeing in and out of the room because when they hear noise they wake up and start to stumble around and bark for Leeloo to feed them. This weekend is door project weekend since the room they are in doesn't have a door - it was taken off when I first moved in because it had holes smashed in it - I never bothered to replace it because the room became my dining room.  With the puppies in it now it definitely needs a door for both sound and smell! In the middle of the floor Leeloo is being treated to a dog bed for feeding time - I do this not really to spoil her, which is a happy by-product, but so that I can plug in the smallest puppies to feed for a few minutes before they get elbowed out of the way by such toads as Mr Black and Mr Blue there. Any guesses why?

They are also walking, or at least making the effort to try and walk. It's nice to see things going tickety boo just like normal puppies. You always want to keep an eye out for anyone who's not developing at the same rate and ensure they're hitting their milestones.  Miss Purple is one of the last to have her eyes open but she is the smallest puppy so it's not really a surprise. Not that she uses them much right now, mostly it's the nose that tells here where the food is at. And what a darling little nose it is.

Deliberate efforts at barking and growling is becoming more of a norm, they are going to start exploring their environment and each other and spend less time worrying about filling their tummies. For now though there is a lot of this ... Mr Green and Miss Pink had a darling snuggle together.

Mr White suffered some confusion as to whether Leeloo's toes would produce any milk. Fotunately his eye sight will rapidly improve from today onward and this sort of embarrassing mistake can be forgotten. Until his gradutaion and his mom can pull out this humiliating photo to show his prom date.

After every meal there is a sudden and delightful plummet into a comatose state - occasionally they will wander away from the puppy pile to pee and then wander back but for the most part that is their primary activity. I always put a dog bed in the pen that is just large enough to hold all the puppies at once. If the bed is the same size as their puppy pile they are less likely to soil it since they naturally move away from the bed to relieve themselves. Of course, when you have uncooperative puppies like Blue, Orange and strange Mr Black there (what *is* he doing?) the bed is more of a suggestion I guess.

The idea is, if they oblige, as they age I'll make the bed larger and place it close to the door of the room in the puppy pen. I do this because when they wake up the first thing they want to do is pee and poop. If the bed is at the other end of the room, the puppies have to run through the poop and pee to come see me, but if the bed is closest to me when they wake, they move away to pee, then back to greet me. Trust me, this is a lesson learned the hardway, nothing is as much fun as being sprayed with a mix of puppy poop and pee all mashed together. Nothing. Maroon, Red, Pink and Green deomonstrate the correct use of the bed - ample space since 60% of them are bucking my carefully contrived system.