It’s around 9:30am when I am writing this portion of the blog-I am on my 4th load of puppy laundry, and they are busy running around which insures I will have many more loads before the day is done!

They are getting so fun and active!  They come running when they see us at the door of the room, and when we step in to play with them they literally light up with joy!  I love watching their faces and excitement for the new things each day!

As the day progresses, I begin introducing some new things-Christmas has come a little early for them in the way of a large box of toys that I’ve been saving for them!  I have more than enough to keep them busy for their next few weeks at our house, and it’s interesting to see which puppy likes which toy.  Some of them prefer the little bird toy (hunting dog genes I think coming out…..) and others prefer the teeny, tiny, tennis balls.  Purple is definitely ball driven while White is more of a bird dog:)  They can finally wrap their little mouths around the small toys and they are starting to carry them places.

It was also a day to just start the process of putting some shirts on to get them used to having capes on their backs.  Not all dogs are comfortable with this and I would say most if not all need training in this area at a very young age to give them the best shot at not minding the capes on their shoulders and back.

I had fun introducing them to my face today as well!  I laid down on my back and let them crawl all over and explore my face-I think that dogs typically don’t get this type of exposure and I personally believe that this takes the excitement out and desensitizes them as they get older that peoples’ faces are really no big mystery to be all excited about. They were really excited at first and as time wore on, the excitemet wore off and they went to play.  I will continue to do this to see if that helps them regulate at a higher level. Next is vacuum cleaners, hair dryers, train whistles, piano music, and various other noise exposure to help them understand that there is nothing to be afraid of regarding noises.

And, so, as quickly as it began-the day is now over and the puppies are snuggled in their whelping box for the night.  Some days I wonder where the time has gone and then I realize just how little I got done, how much I was in the play area with the puppies, and how happy I am that I was able to prioritize in that order…….. 🙂