There's not much to chat about this morning other than the fact that the radio went off entirely too early. Surely it's not much past 3:00 in the morning!
The buns are fine. Duncan is adamant that he is not ready to be weaned yet but the girls are pretty much over that. Could it be a guy thing?
Sits are coming along nicely though it'll definitely be easier once there's just Duncan to work with. I am still trying to give equal time to all the pups that are here but that shorts the one that will be my dog. I can't believe he is nine weeks old and not really very far on house training yet. Bunny was nearly house trained when I got her at eight weeks and Kathy was trying to recover from a serious injury at the time.
Guess I will have to see if I can change the title of this blog site to "Life with Bunny & Duncan".

Ah, a cool and relatively quiet afternoon. The three buns are napping off a particularly boisterous play session and Bob and I are taking advantage of it to get some mowing done. Well, okay, I am taking a break at the moment; haven't quite figured out how to get the computer to stay put on the mower yet. The three musketeers have had a blast playing in their pool this afternoon, despite the coolness in the air.

Once again, yesterday's posting in lost in cyberspace I guess. By now, Kenny, Christina and Rivet are in their forever homes as are Natty, Elle and Lennon (and Duncan too for that matter). I don't know how Kathy and Wendy have survived 32 hours of driving over the last few days but my 9 hours today have left me exhausted but oh so proud of the buns. Duncan figured out that if he stuck his nose straight up in the air and howled, I would pull the car over and take him out of it to pee and pee he did! I about peed myself laughing at the sight of his wee little nose pointing straight up and hearing that mournful howl. Neither he nor Alice was the least bit concerned about the traffic roaring by not feet from us while they relieved themselves.

Well, Rivet, Kenny, Munroe and Christina are leaving today for their forever homes up north. The five left here don't seem to notice their sibs are gone but then, I believe they know what is happening and accept it for what it is. They each know they are loved and will be loved by special people all their lives. I am looking forward to some one on one time with my own little boy, Duncan. I am also looking forward to NOT cleaning up after puppies over and over and over again! :) I knew it came with the package but I am ready to move on.
Stairs up have become no problem for the gang. The stairs back down however are another story. The short flight of 8 steps off the deck doesn't seem to bother them but the 14 to get back down to the basement is daunting to say the least. My first walker, Carabean (green collar girl) is braver about it then the rest but she'll only get halfway before she begins to lose her nerve.
Duncan, Natty, Lennon, Alice and Carabean are going to work with me today. I have somewhere I have to be at lunch time and won't be able to come home to take care of them. Plus, I believe it is my Thursday to stay late at work so there's no answer other than to bring them with me. I think my coworkers will understand.

The wrestle mania and mad dog races are too funny. They are having so much fun, there's no way a depressed person wouldn't at least chuckle a little and feel a bit brighter. I have given temporary names to the four whose names I don't know yet. The yellow collared girl is Christina Columbus because she likes to explore. The little green collared girl is Carabean (from the movie of the Last of the Mohicans, a take off on the name Long Rifle, in french). And the little pink collared girl is Alice (because she is a bit shy, like the younger sister in the same movie). And last but not least is the white collared male whom I dubbed Munroe (from the same movie and because it just seemed to suit him, he likes it). So now, I try and call each one by a real name instead of their collar color.

Sorry for the delay in posting anything today. All is well, just incredibly hectic. I have developed an incredible respect for kindergarten teachers who are attempting to get their classroom full of children ready for a field trip and graduation to first grade! The paperwork involved with all of this seems like reams and reams but I suppose if one did it regularly, it wouldn't seem so confusing and overwhelming. I am excited for all of you getting a puppy within the next four days.

I am so proud of our little buns today. They spent their first morning confined to crates and there was only one little wet accident! Considering the number of bladders (and bowels) we are talking about here, that is no small feat! The afternoon they spent back in the puppy box simply because if they had been crated again, they would have been unbearably full of themselves tonight. We may try that tomorrow, we'll see.

This week will see the buns in crates during their nap times. They will go in three and four to a crate today and then I will decrease them to two in a crate by the end of the week.
They got their nails trimmed again this morning; quite a challenge when four of them threw temper tantrums over the task. They've had it done once every week or so since they were a week old but now they're checking out their limits. The pup I am keeping, Duncan, threw such a tantrum that he peed on me! The other three were not nearly so bad. But, struggle and fuss all they wanted, I won and got the job done and no one had the nail taken off at the elbow. :)
We go to the animal hospital at 11:30 for first vaccinations today. They will also be microchipped. They will probably take an extra long nap this afternoon and I may take advantage of that and take one myself!

Whirlwind morning for sure! Buns are all fed and cleaned up and are ripping and snorting downstairs. I found a minute to weigh them last night and they range from 14' 12 oz to 11' 4 oz. Rivit weighed 13' 12 oz; Nattie weighed 13' 4 oz; Duncan 13'.

Well, the red collar female is the pick of Papa Hawkeye's people so she will be our Charlotte, North Carolina contingent. Maybe if we can get Bunny ready for the Open Division in Obedience by the February Lab Specialty in Charlotte, we can visit her at the show! It will so cool so see how all the buns shape up in their adult lives.

The testing went well yesterday evening though we ran out of light before we could properly finish up. Kathy is going to run the last few through a couple more things today.

Miss Red got out again yesterday so I have rerigged the expen to hopefully prevent that. Miss Red is definitely taking after her grandmother!

I used the ex-;en to give the buns a bit more room to romp and, hopefully, cut off the escape rout that Miss Red has begun to use. It seems I just gave them more area to poop in though. :( They are peeing well outside and try to hit the newspaper when they're inside. Miss Pinkie is the best at the rocket booster run (you know, when the tail seems to push the dog into a fast start run) and she loves to do hit and runs on Bunny. Mr Big (the bigger yellow) is wanting to get every last drop from Bunny; he's always the first and last at the milk bar. Bunny isn't nursing them much anymore, she's too busy. Well, time for their morning nap in the pen/box. I have to finish getting ready for work.

Well, Duncan and four of his sisters made it up the basement stairs finding Bunny and myself working here in the office. I was shocked to say the least. I had been keeping an ear on the basement activities and when it got very quiet, I assumed everyone had crashed for a power nap. Imagine my surprise when first Miss Red, then Miss Green, then Duncan, then Lennon, then Miss Pinkie trotted into the office to say, "hello, whatcha doin'?" The ex-pen may be going up in the basement tomorrow! Right now, they're all confined on the side deck ecstatically gnawing on the bones Kathy treated them too yesterday.

Not long now, folks. Just under two weeks and everyone will have their bun in their own home, entertaining, exasperating, loving and squirming their way into your hearts.

Whirlwind morning trying to get 10 seven week old puppies fed, changed and allowed time for playing. Their play is so much more sophisticated now than it was just 10 days ago. They are ambushing each other, racing around the top of the pig rail, pouncing off any level they can climb up on. Only one has been brave enough to attempt the stairs from the basement (or had any interest in) and he has only made it to the sixth step before losing heart. I wish I had more hours in the day to devote to them.

No, I did not vanish off the face of the earth; just went out of town for two days and then had to deal with catching up most of today. Tonya was wonderful to come and serve as puppy nanny for me while I was gone.

Weights range from 9' 4oz to 11' 13 oz now. They love sliding down the slide in the little pool to splash around and get a drink. The plug is shot on it so I can't put more than a few inches of water in at a time but they don't mind. I have them outside in the ex pens while we are mowing. Well, no I am not mowing this very instant, I am taking a break. It got kinda hot on us again.

I wish everyone could see what I get to see every day. :) What we need is a film crew with multiple cameras that could get all the action, all the time.

The smaller yellow male came up four of the basement steps last night, following us. He seemed to get stuck there though and wouldn't go up or down, he just sat there. No one else attempted it. They have been water bowl diving this morning.

The puppies got to spend most of their day outside the box yesterday since I was home. They seemed to enjoy that immensely. I gave out some little rawhide squares yesterday and monitered their activity with them. They didn't take two seconds to figure out what to do with them! They really enjoyed their chews! They are climbing and sliding all over the pool Kathy & Donald brought over last Sunday and they love the bouja board. Nothing seems to faze any of them!

Well, I have spent the past three hours doing puppy stuff. I have organized things so that Tonya will have everything laid out for her to take care of the babies Saturday and Sunday.
Weigh ins this morning has them ranging from 7' 7 0z to 10' on the nose.

All is well in the puppy palace. They didn't want to go back into the box but have settled down nicely. The orange collar fellow had me rolling in the floor as he pestered his siblings unmercifully this morning. When one would get fed up, he would romp on to the next. He certainly loves life.