Katherine's Puppies!

> After 12 hours, we had 10 little black puppies. Ten hours later another arrived! He is the one who was not supposed to survive, being born so much later - but no one told him! Speedy is actually by far the most active puppy of the lot. He is always hooning (aka crawling) around the bed after losing track of Mum.

With 11 puppies, you'd expect a little variety, wouldn't you? These guys are all identical. Ten boys and one girl. All the same size, shape and colour (although some of them will eventually go a lovely blue grey colour, like their mum).

They had their first visit to the vet today. All were pronounced strong and healthy.

You can't see much in the photos, but they really are cute.

We're back! It only took You-Know-Who 10 days to fix the severed phone line. You wouldn't want any emergencies, would you?

They are now 9 days old and looking pretty good. Most of them just sleep and eat ( I could say something about them being boys...) The girl and the smaller boys are pretty active, and they can all sort of stand up and walk. Sort of. Lots of falling over! They can even sort of sit up very briefly.

Katherine is being a great Mum. She wants to hang around with the family most of the time, and pops in to check and feed the pups every half hour or so. She won't let the other dogs near the bed, but is happy for them to have a close look if I'm holding the puppy. Very odd!

What's more, they're starting to play! Sort of weird mouthing, waving feet, and rolling around on their backs, but it's still playing. I'll have to start giving them toys.

At 2 weeks old, they can all stand up reasonably well, and stagger around the bed. Their eyes are mostly open and they are responding to sounds! Some of them will actually bark at a loud noise (Don't worry! They'll stop barking as they get accustomed to hearing different things.)

Now that they're 3 Weeks Old, these are tough puppies! Some of them have been known to sit up and bark when they're woken up!
They are starting to get fluffy coats and can all wander around very well, even trying to run and bounce. It's great fun to watch them all playing.
They look up and wander over when I speak to them and I have just started them drinking from a bowl. Strangely, the biggest, fattest puppies have no trouble with lapping up milk. Wonder why?
Actually, these guys are quite advanced for their age, about 4 - 7 days ahead of your average puppy.
They are very inquisitive and have already figured out how to escape from their bed. I did want intelligent dogs for some reason!

4 Weeks Old!. Now that they can all escape from their bed with no trouble, they've been moved into the lounge. (I can sleep!) They are living against the back of the fireplace, so it's always lovely and warm. They devour their food (puppy pal and milk) and end up covered in it (oh well...) Every time anyone says hello, they all come running!
They all had a lovely time playing around the house today, including appropriating the Teddy. This is Britt's teddy, adopted by Claudette, and now stolen by puppies. Poor Claude!

5 Weeks Old!. They all have a ball playing in the garden during the day. They're very big on bouncing, and when they stop bouncing it's only to find something else to do. It isn't easy walking around with puppies trailing along under your feet. They eat well, they all come when I call, and they run outside for toilet breaks. Not bad, eh?

6 Weeks Old! They all went off to the vet for their vaccination and checkup. Our vet thought they were wonderful, all correct and healthy, and beautifully behaved! He couldn't get over how similar they are - it was like examining the same puppy each time! Or possibly clones.

They love playing in the garden. The only problem is the tendency to hide under bushes, or run and play where they can't be seen. It makes it a tad hard to find little black dogs at night! And with our local fox sniffing around again (Hmmm, I smell food!)they can't be out alone.

7 Weeks old! Have you ever had 11 puppies playing around a small house? Bedlam is a nice way of putting it! Add the big dogs, and the cats, and it's fortunate they run out of steam quickly! It's been so cold that we are keeping them inside a lot of the time. Still, they are very entertaining.
We are working on sitting and shaking hands at the moment. They learn quickly with some food as a bribe!
Of course, some of them have decided they can escape from the garden. It wouldn't be a problem if it wasn't for the puppy-stomping horses looking to play.

8 Weeks Old! My puppies are starting to head off to their new homes. It's very sad. Poor Katherine is most concerned about people coming in and taking her babies.

On the other hand, there's less mess, less food eaten, and it's much easier to cuddle them all in the evening!
We have added some new words to the Puppy Vocabulary. Along with Dinner, Come, Inside, Outside etc etc, we have Bed. Meaning quickly go to bed and get a treat! They actually run and sit on their blanket. Oh, they watch TV, too. The puppies learn a lot from watching the big dogs, as the photos show... Like sleeping on the fireplace.

The boys are strangely quiet after the little girl left with with her new Mum. And here I thought she was the quiet one, just tagging along after the boys! I've mostly decided that Carradine will be staying, so Valentino (the other 'I can't decide which one to keep') puppy is now available. The real problem is finding the perfect home for Soap. Not that he's the favourite, as such, but I'm pretty fussy where he goes! Soap likes to fish around in the bathroom cupboard and appears carrying soap (loves soap), bath cusions, towels and so on. Hence the name.

I had to pop a photo of Claudette in, newly clipped and absolutely gorgeous.

The puppies are 12 Weeks Old now. While most of them are ruling their new homes, Soap, Spot and Fluffy are waiting for the perfect family. (I'm told I'm too fussy about where they go. I'd rather turn away ten imperfect homes to find one perfect match!)

Of course, I'm not fussed about having puppies around the house. Who would be?
They are wonderful little dogs, and are learning more every day about how to be good. We take them out one at a time to the local shops to see the big, wide world (such fun!)

Puppy Update!
The brats (ah, little treasures -so cute! - Um.)are all going well. There seem to be quite a few more Best Dogs In The World and they are all having a lovely time with special families.

Poor Spot (The Sweetest Dog In The World Next To Claudette)is waiting for his special home. What a pity if he has to stay here, eh? He is such a cuddly, friendly little chap. His big brothers Val and Bradman (staying here, and waiting for his Boy to come back from holidays)are the real brats and just love playing in the fish pond.