Last weekend marked the first visitors over to see the puppies. On Saturday, Kyle Pershing and his mother and sister came by to see Charlie and the other pups. Charlie will be going home with Kyle in a couple of weeks and already has a great new name picked out. So, Charlie will now be known as “Marlin” and will be registered as Caliber’s Atlantic Blue.

Sunday, my neighbor’s three young girls came by and they had a blast playing with all the puppies. They were here for a couple of hours and wore the pups out well!

Today, the pups got to take a trip to the ophthalmologist and they were loved on by the young ladies at the clinic. Good news - all four pups passed their first CERF exam!

All of the photo’s from the puppies’ fifth week are now in the Gallery.

The A Litter will be 5 weeks old tomorrow! I can’t believe how fast the last two weeks have gone by. I have a feeling the next three will be just as fast, and it will be time to send the pups home before I know it.

The pups enjoyed their first day in their new puppy area today. I had a smaller puppy area setup previously and the pups were still staying in the whelping box when no one was home to supervise. Today was the first time they had free run of the full area while I was at work. The new area is about 4′ x 12′ with a 2′ sq ft spot off to the side as their potty area. The puppies are all doing well with going to the bathroom on the newspapers so far. This past week we began paper training in earnest. The pups have all learned to associate the paper with potty time now, and will even go to the area on their own. Red and Miss Green seem to be the best about using the papers more often than not. The pups all have the right idea, but don’t always get the execution down well. Apparently one foot on the paper is close enough as is walking on the paper, walking off and having a tinkle on the floor anyway. LOL! But, for baby puppies they are doing great.

Last week we also started introducing the puppies to solid food. This week we are starting to concentrate on feeding the pups more regular meals and getting more serious about weaning them off momma Zeppe. They love their puppy mush and have even learned to eat out of the dish without walking in it. Smart puppies!

Photos from Week Four have been posted to the Gallery.

Today the A Litter turned 4 weeks old. Everyone is doing well and they are getting so big! Charlie has really grown this past week and he is the heaviest puppy weighing almost a full pound more than his brother Red. Every day now I try to introduce something new to the puppies as they get their exploring time. It might be a new toy or some new object with an odd texture. So far the puppies seem to be attracted to anything that is red more often than other colors. They can’t see red the same way we do, but for some reason that color attracts their attention. Tonight Miss Orange pulled out an empty newspaper wrapper and was running around with it quite proudly. She carried it around for several minutes which is a long time considering their short attention spans. The puppies got their 2nd worming tonight, and I also gave them a little bit of solid food. The food is not totally solid, but more of a mush consistency. There is no rush to wean as Zeppe has tons of milk but, the pups have been showing an interest in mom’s food so they are ready to start learning how to eat the real stuff. Last night was their first solid food and they loved it. Tonight they were anxious to get to the food as soon as they smelled it. It didn’t take long to make that association! The puppies are getting rougher in their playing now. Some of their fights seem quite serious but they are all a normal part of their development. The puppies initiate play with Zeppe now also, and it is so adorable to watch her play with them.

The remaining Week Three pictures have been uploaded to the Gallery. The new pictures start on page 2.

It has been back to work this week after the holidays. I sure got spoiled being able to spend all day with the puppies. They are so fun to watch. It is easy to spend too much time with them and neglect the chores. Except the laundry, that is. The washing machine here has been running non-stop since the litter was born. Especially now that the puppies are going to the bathroom on their own, they can mess their bedding pretty quickly. And usually they do it after I have just changed all the pads out!

The pups all get time out of the whelping box every day to explore. They are becoming more comfortable with the area just outside the box and are venturing out further. Miss Orange made it all the way down the hallway on Wednesday night. Red and Miss Orange are still the most adventurous ones. Tonight, Red came to me when I called “puppy puppy” to him. That was the first time any of them made the association to follow the sound to find me. He came running from about 4 feet away which is a long haul for a 3 week old puppy! Charlie also likes to explore but sometimes he wanders farther than he realizes and will cry until he figures out how to backtrack his steps. He likes to attack the the plastic bag I have on the floor for them. They seem to like the crinkly sound it makes. Miss Green is getting around pretty well on her feet now, She does some exploring, but is not as boisterous as her siblings. She is the mouthiest of all the pups and she likes to play bite on your fingers. Harley came in to the office watch the pups do their exploring tonight. He tries to feign disinterest, but secretly he is as curious about the pups as the other dogs. He is very good with puppies, and when they get older he will play with them. But, only if he thinks you aren’t watching.

The pups are weighed weekly now where as they were measured daily for the first two weeks. Charlie has the most bone of all the pups, and not surprisingly he is the heaviest now weighing 4.5 lbs. The girls are still pretty close in size and weight and Red is still the smallest at a little under 4 lbs.

The A Litter is 18 days old today. The puppies are really going through a fun stage where they are becoming aware of the world around them and at the same time learning how to walk around and control their little bodies. The past few days have seen lots of “firsts”; the first eyes to open, the first reaction to sounds, the first to eliminate without the dam’s help, the first attempt at play, etc. A notable first came tonight when Miss Orange finally made it out of the whelping box. She has been contemplating it for a few days, but I don’t think she was strong enough to get over the side yet. Tonight she made it, and I am glad I was there to catch her! Thankfully, she plopped on to the top of the little box I place them in while cleaning and such, and not the full drop to the floor. I have extra rails I have now added to the sides of the box to add a few extra inches of height.

Now that the puppies are exploring more, all of them have had a little time outside of the whelping box “in the real world”. When the pups are up and active, I have taken one or two at a time and placed them on the floor. I have three small dog beds on the floor outside the box, and I would sit on the floor and place the pup in there. This way they would feel safe next to me and with the familiar scent on the bed. The raised sides of the bed offer a sense of security, but are small enough they can crawl over. The first time, most chose to explore the dog bed, and all ventured onto the carpet, but would stay close, and check back in with me.

Here are a few observations about the pups so far:

Red has been playful, but not as exploratory inside the whelping box as Orange and Charlie. He enjoys picking on the toys, and was the first to initiate play with his siblings. Red is still the smallest, but that does not stop him at all. He will push his brothers and sisters off at meal time to get to his favorite spot. Thankfully, there has been plenty of milk with only 4 babies, and no one has had to really complete for a meal. Red gave me quite a surprise his second time outside the box. He took off across the floor! The other dogs all came to check him out and he didn’t pay them any attention. He was the first to walk on all fours, and is the most coordinated when walking. He managed to make it all the way out of the office and half-way down the hall before he decided he had had enough. That was quite a trip for a baby puppy! Today he saw himself in the mirror, which made him do a double-take. In looks, Red reminds me of his father, Marcello, and I have a feeling he will take a lot after his dad as he gets older.

Miss Orange does the most exploring, she is very curious and will go in and out of the several beds I have on the floor. She will venture out to the open carpet, but doesn’t stray too far and likes to stop and return to check in with me or momma Zep, then go back out again a little farther. She has a feisty spirit and will sometimes give a little growl when I lift her out of the box. Miss Orange has reminded me of her mother, Zeppe, since the moment she was born, and she continues to take after her in many ways.

Charlie likes to explore the area in and out of the dog beds, but stays a little closer then Miss Orange. He is very comfortable being handled, and seems to enjoy it. This is the pup that would fall asleep during his Bio Sensor exercises. He is the 2nd most exploratory in nature after Orange. He has the most bone of all the pups, and has a large masculine head to complement his generous amount of white. The first nubs of milk teeth are starting to come through his gums. So far Charlie has been a nice, middle-of-the-road pup.

Miss Green has been a couple days behind her siblings developmentally. This is normal, and in any litter there will be a range of those who develop faster or slower. She is walking around on all fours now, but she is still pretty unsteady in her rear and will need more time before she is getting around like the others. On her adventures, Miss Green liked to check out the dog beds, but preferred to snuggle up to me or fall asleep rather than do much exploring just yet. She is fairly playful and likes to play and mouth my fingers quite a bit. Ironically, though she has been trailing behind her littermates in several areas, she is the first to get in most of her milk teeth. Right now Miss Green is a pretty quiet pup that still sleeps a lot. She is very sweet and not as outgoing as her siblings, but that may change in a few days as she catches up to them.

The third week album has been created and pictures are now available. The pup’s third week lasts until next Tuesday, but I went ahead and posted the ones I have so far.

The pups were pretty active this morning. Everyone was alert and moving around the box checking out their surroundings. Red was in a playful mood, and tried to pick a fight with a stuffed toy. That not working, he went after brother Charlie instead. At this age, “fighting” is limited to a little mouthing and lasts for less than a minute before they wear out, but it was very cute.

Mom and pups all seem to like the new flooring in the box. I bought one of those egg crate foam cushions, lined the bottom with it, and put the pads the pups sleep on back on top of it. It didn’t quite fit so I had to cut in in pieces and sat the extra piece on top to form a little hill. Momma Zeppe likes the extra cushion and the traction created by the egg crate shape is excellent to help build those little leg and foot muscles. It has paid off already, Miss Green who hadn’t quite been able to get her rear under her yet was taking her first wobbly steps today.

The antibiotics have been helping their little feet, and everyone looks better now. Red and Charlie still have some swelling each on one foot, but both have gone down quite a bit since Christmas Day.