It's so hard to believe that the pups turned six weeks old on Monday. Here are pictures from throughout the week. The last two pictures will give you an idea of how big they are in relation to River, who is 17 months old. Enjoy!!!
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Here are some pictures from Grainger (5 yrs old) and Hobbs' (just shy of 17 months here) first brace drafting practice. The boys made a great team! Doesn't Grainger have the world's best smile?
Ok, it wasn't a real pool, and it was only an hour or so, but the puppies had their first "pool day" in the front yard. Teal and Black thought the water was pretty cool - the rest of them didn't mind the water, but they didn't exactly want to be in the water, either. So, we'll do another pool day in a few days.
One of my clever puppy owners to-be asked me if I had a theme for what I am using to socialize the pups to strange things. I guess it was leading to pool day - the pool floaties and the beach ball. But, it just sort of worked out that way. The truth is that I have been picking up random things from the $1 bins at Target. I have a sand bucket with a shovel, a light up ball, a paddle ball game, and a strange mask for future days. The four girls and I are going on a road trip tomorrow to meet half-brother Hobbs and his human mom, Melissa. Hobbs and Grainger will be doing some brace drafting practice, and I want some independent feedback on the four girl pups. So, I will have some help to take pictures of the girls tomorrow. Now... to find some help getting pictures of the boys! Taking a break from puppy updates for a second with some exciting news:
Daphne is now known as BISS GCH Sawmill's Nymph of Riverwalk. Daphne won the Southeastern Regional Specialty in Perry, GA this past Sunday. BIG thanks to her handlers, Lenny Brown and Shelby Roberts, and to her other co-owners, Denise Glass and Judy Fletcher. Daphne is Grainger's littermate and half-sister to Oakley (they have the same mother, Deme). When her win photo comes, I will post it here. Wow - a HUGE accomplishment for Daphne! Thanks judge Dr. Bill Newman for this huge win! Daphne will be coming back to Raleigh when the puppies go to their homes. I cannot wait to snuggle my Daph again soon! At the same show, Hobbs (Oakley's son from her first litter and littermate to River) won Best Puppy in Sweepstakes, and his grandmother Deme (who is Oakley, Daphne, and Grainger's mother) won Best Veteran in Sweepstakes under breeder judge Brenda Naylor. What an honor! Deme also went on to win Best Veteran in Regular Classes and received an Award of Merit from judge Dr. Bill Newman. Hobbs also picked up some grand champion points by going Select Dog on Thursday and Friday before the specialty. Way to go Hobbs - who is only 16 months old! What a nice way to start his specials career by defeating some other nice male specials who are much older. So proud of my Swissy family.... I was a much better blogger with the last litter. I sincerely apologize for not being better with the updates. I could simply say the following:
1. They are super cute, and I love each and every one of them! 2. They are doing great, and they are growing big and strong. 3. I am going to cry like a 5 year old girl when each of them leaves. But, to be more specific, they are all between 6 and 8.5 pounds (Bright Green is the biggest, of course). I moved them to their play pen on their 4-week birthday, and they love the extra space. Their play pen is not only their living space, but I also use it as their sensory space for socialization. What does that mean? Well, it's very important to expose the puppies to lots of different things so they are not fearful as they get older. So, I have 4 different surfaces for them to walk on - a slippery tarp, a plastic pan, carpet, and their crate pad, where they all sleep. They have all sorts of toys - some plush toys, some chew toys, bully sticks, and some hard plastic balls they can push around. Every day, I find something new to show them - I'll wear a hat, or hold them with gloves, or drop a pan on the floor - anything that they may experience in their new homes. I vacuum next to their pen, I let them walk around one at a time with Grainger and River (who are both really good with the puppies) on the hardwood floors, and they have lots of visitors - of all ages. With the warm weather, we spend a couple hours outside on the grass every day. The sounds of airplanes overhead, cars starting and driving by, lawnmowers - and everything else - are so good for the puppies to experience. I've sort of made it a daily challenge to find something new for them. Today it was two big pool floaties that I waved around. They all wanted to chew them up. Yesterday, it was a big beach ball. It was a little intimidating at first, then, they took turns pushing it around with their noses. It's vital that each puppy owner continue this socialization process and expose their puppies to safe noises, safe animals, safe people, and other safe experiences. You want to make sure all experiences are positive and always supervised because one bad experience during this process can take a long time to overcome. The puppies are weaned and are eating hard kibble that has been soaked in goats milk. They eat four times a day, and I can't even count how many times they do the opposite of eating. So, I do at least two loads of laundry a day. Being home with the puppies is great, and I play with them for hours and hours a day. I start my new job on Monday, April 30th, and then someone else will be feeding them lunch and playing with them while I'm at work. It will be a good "weaning" period for me to get ready for them to go to their new homes. I'm really trying to narrow down which puppy will go to which home, but as I keep telling everyone, the evaluation is really necessary before being 100% sure, so I am narrowing it down to 2 or 3 puppies for each family. The evaluation will be the weekend of May 5th. Really looking forward to having Kristin, Judy, and Lisa here to help do the evaluation and to see the little darlings. New pictures (and maybe even a video) to come tomorrow.... This past Thursday and Friday my husband and I took the trip down from
northern Virginia to meet Oakley and her puppies. Our visit was all we could have asked for and more! The puppies were as cute as can be, every one of them with their own little personality to add to the group. Red, black, and hunter were the most active/playful, romping around and play fighting. Bright green was a tank who was always looking for a chance to feed – the first one to latch on and the first to push others out of the way to get the best teat. Purple loved to curl up and sleep in my husband’s lap – her go-to spot every time we came by. She was a total sweetheart, completely laid back and relaxed in anyone’s arms. She would give you kisses every time you stuck your face close to hers. RJ also loved a good cuddle. All the others were adorable as well and got pooped out after only a few minutes of play, settling in to a pile of sleeping swissy pups. We too had a good time matching the puppies with the appropriate names, it took us a bit, but we eventually figured them all out! We also got to witness their first time going outside, a new experience I think they all handled well. We brought an enclosed playpen outside and set all the puppies inside to let them get used to the grass. All the puppies whined initially because of the new, confusing environment, but they settled in within a couple of minutes. We then took them out of the playpen and let them explore more freely, each of them walking around, stumbling through the grass, and eventually passing out as always. Red and Hunter seemed to love the outside the most as they played and explored more than the others. They responded well to the new noises too, some waking each time an airplane would pass only to settle back into sleep seconds later. Oakley certainly was what everyone says she is – beautiful,a sweetheart, robust, and a great mama. She gave a warning bark to any person that approached her puppies and was extremely protective when other dogs came near (those being walked in the neighborhood) while we had the puppies outside. She would bark and bark with a watchful eye until they passed onto the next street. Grainger was an adorable, dorky , sweetheart as well with not one mean bone in his body. He was always pleased when some attention was directed his way away from the puppies. We were sad to leave, but were thankful that we had as much time with them as we did. We are counting down the days until we get to bring ours home and know they are in good hands until then. Laura is doing a great job! It’s a lot of work raising these puppies and Laura is certainly tending to them all day and night. I think I can speak for all the future puppy owners when I say thank you for all that you have done and will do in the upbringing of this litter. With help from visitors, the puppies had their first outdoor adventure on Friday. The weather was perfect for them - high 70s and sunny. We had a lot of fun playing with them and watching them hop and run in the grass, which was a little taller than ideal for little puppies. Here's a handful of pictures.... How cute are they?!?! And you'll see a picture of momma Oakley standing guard as a neighbor walks by with her dog. Oakley did NOT want that dog coming any where near our yard. What a good mom!!!
Last Saturday my husband and I went to visit Laura, Oakley, and her nine adorable puppies. Oakley was a protective mama at first (as she should be), greeting us at the house with a few uncertain barks and wary glances. But after we came in and said hello, she was super friendly and so sweet. We hadn't met Oakley before, and just... wow! She's a beautiful dog in her photos, but she's even more stunning in person! What a gorgeous mama. The handsome and spirited Grainger was at the house also, happy and enjoying our attention.
The first puppy we met was little Red boy. It was love at first sight! Laura was holding him in her arms, and he was so tiny! I've seen all the puppy photos and videos, but in person they were even smaller than I expected. We sat on the floor near the whelping box with the puppies all around us. They were so sleepy at first and slept in a big pile, except for adorable Hunter who cozied up to Kris, and Red who snuggled up on my lap. Later, Oakley came into the pen and all of the puppies woke up to see her. They were hungry! It was quite a spectacle to watch them all compete to get to mama. We had a lot of fun trying to match the puppies up to their names and seeing their personalities firsthand. It was so hard to leave the puppies at the end, even though we had been there for almost 2 hours. We could have spent all day with them, and we can't wait to go back again! I am NOT one to dress up my dogs or set up scenes with them in it, but I couldn't resist taking them. Finally able to post the rest of the pictures! :)
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