Day 8-Tuesday-1 week old today!

This is the 1 week old birthday of these beautiful puppies!

Today is the first day where I really feel that things are going in the right direction without any emerging issues that are going to need my undivided attention! That’s GREAT news for me! Today I’m going to revel in thinking about mundane things, like “what’s for dinner”, and “has the dishwasher been unloaded?” I’m going to spend some time in the kitchen cooking and I’m not going to complain about the opportunity to do so!

The puppies are all doing really well-Purple has been having what seems like the sniffles a little but it doesn’t seem any worse and it’s not really anything that is on the radar-just typical puppy things.

We continue with Sugar on her regimen of medications and every day I see a little more of her spunky self returning. Today, for the first time in over a week, she went to her toy bin and brought me a toy of hers and tried to engage me in some tug of war. How could I say no to that? It’s amazing that a simple gesture like going to her toy bin brought a wave of relief that things are good today!

In my nightly email update with the breeding coordinator I sent her this as a side note with all of the pertinent information about how the puppies and Sugar are doing-and I’m sure she realized that things were going much better in my house this evening:

“Fact of the day: This is why I get nothing done during the day; I live in a whelping box with 7 unbelievably adorable puppies and their momma …..and I’m not complaining 🙂 (but Ken on the other hand….)”

This is the joy of being a whelping home; the days that you wait for, like a present waiting to be unwrapped. Where you sit in a 20 sq ft space with them and you watch in amazement at their development-you don’t notice that you’ve worn the same jogging pants 3 days in a row, but what you DO notice are the smallest things of each puppy, and even though they’re only a week old you pretty much have already discovered some traits in them that allow you to give them nicknames. Because there are 7 of them, I felt inclined to give them one of the 7 dwarfs names as well:

Like Mr. Blue/Clutch/Dopey, who is small but mighty; he was the smallest in the litter, weighing in at 454 grams (1 pound) but he is the one that is continuously working his way around the box looking to stir up trouble with his siblings, waking them up and getting them chirping for their mom so they can get another meal. If I want the litter to stay sleeping, I place him in an area of the box away from his litter mates and gently rock him to sleep so everyone can have some quiet time; In a clutch,(thus his nickname) I would want him on my team because he just keeps searching for the solution to whatever his problem might be at the time!
Then there’s Mr. Red/Grumpy; we affectionately call him Mr. Trouble because he came out loud and he hasn’t stopped since. When he wants something, YOU KNOW IT! Don’t even TRY to hold him if he hasn’t eaten recently or anything with skin is HIS!
Or Mr. Yellow/Happy, aka Chunky, who was the biggest in the group and maintains his stature as the chunk ball of the group. He “chortles” in his sleep and it is ADORABLE! His face is extra “smooshy” with extra skin, and I think he will have the extra face skin like his momma and I try to kiss that beautiful face as much as I can;
Mr. Orange/Sweetie/Doc: I’m not sure what it is about him, but I feel a special warm spot in my heart for him and I have ever since he was born! He’s quieter, he’s happy with a corner and a “snake” (the tubes we use so that they will build muscles by climbing over them). He never instigates anything and he’s happy for me to just hold him;
Ms. Purple/dollface/Sneezy: I gave her a purple collar because I thought she would be spunky, which has been the personality of many of the purple collared pups in the program. But she is quiet and content and unassuming. She loves to stretch out just outside of the perimeter of the heat lamp as she sleeps the day away. I think about whether she will keep that trait or become chaos on four legs very soon!
Ms. White/Hunny/Bashful: I think this dwarfs nickname fits Ms. White well. She’s unassuming and seems reluctant to draw attention to herself which is the definition of the word. She loves being close to her siblings, and her favorite position is with her back legs draped up and over one of the “snakes”. I laugh every time I see it!
Mr. Green./Junior/Sleepy: He’s the one that I’m always looking for throughout the day when I’m constantly doing my 1,2.3.4.5.6…………oh 7 count to make sure they are all accounted for in the box. (I’m not sure where I think they would go as they can’t even walk yet; #theworriesofawhelpingmom)