Day Nine A.M. & P.M.

Mary-Ann Sontag June 4, 2020

All is well here at Puppy Central. Three puppies have doubled their birth weight: Buttercup, Mallow, and Paintbrush.

This is Paintbrush doing his Yoda imitation.

Don’t worry — he will have normal ears for a Berner!

This is Clover — she is in second place in the Heavyweight division, which is rather surprising as she was not one of the bigger puppies at birth. She started off at 16.55 ounces and is now at 31.15.

A look down at the Milk Bar crowd.

Mariposa is posing for those of you who love tummy pics.

Clarkia (pictured here with Paintbrush) retains the heavyweight crown — for now. She weighed in at 31.3 ounces this morning — just barely ahead of Clover.

This is Sage and he is demanding a recount — apparently he is confused about how things work. He was just one-half ounce behind Clover this morning.

Mallow, pretending to be a bug below, remains the smallest puppy at 24.35 ounces. Given that he started off at 12.15 ounces, I think he is doing just fine.

You will note some new whelping box decor. Yesterday I braved the Great Viral Unknown — once Dear Husband was awake to watch puppies, of course — to do the monthly shopping and so I treated the puppies to new fleeces.

We love a fun whelping box — and good thing because the puppies got flocked!

Nine KaiBobs showed up yesterday.

For those who are new to the blog, that won’t be as funny as it is to those of us who have seen KaiBobs show up for multiple generations of Kaibab puppies.

Their sender is a mystery but we think we know exactly who that generous person is — and we love and thank you for your support and always being so darn FUN.

And speaking fun — click HERE to watch a morning meal with the Wildflowers and to see why we do quite a few shift feedings during the day (and night). It is a bit of a rodeo, as you will see.

A shift feeding just means we let 4 - 5 puppies nurse at a time while the others continue their naps. This helps ensure weight gain is even — bigger puppies easily push smaller puppies off nipples if we always allow everyone all at once.

In addition to shift feedings, we also make sure Daisy nurses puppies on both rows of nipples by having her down on alternating sides for meals. Like with humans, lactation in dogs requires some thought and strategy to make sure it works well for all concerned.

NEWS FLASH and evening photos

Eyes are starting to open!

The eyes open very gradually over a period of days and vision is not clear at first. Ears typically are a week or so behind the eyes — but this means that the Wildflowers are getting ready to take in more of their new world.

Here is a better mouthing photo — as I said, they are not very good at it just yet. This is Lupine.

Buttercup and Paintbrush — both of Buttercup’s eyes are opening.

Larkspur

I love this photo and am not 100% sure who it is — who do you think it is?

Paintbrush

Clover

Lupine again

A good night kiss from Mariposa!

Day Eight A.M. & P.M.

Mary-Ann Sontag June 3, 2020

What a big relief to get past that first fragile week of life.

The puppies had an adventure yesterday.

Some of you know that last June we had three rooms of the house gutted due to a dishwasher leak and have been in reconstruction ever since. The pandemic sure slowed things down but so did the arrival of the wrong countertops — black instead of white.

Yesterday the correct countertops were installed and Daisy and her crew relocated with me to the bedroom for most of the day while that was happening. Thank goodness for that floor chair Lori sent!

The new countertops are special.

They have sparkles and when the light hits the sparkles, little rainbows spread across the walls and ceiling.

The bad news is we once again have no running water in the kitchen — two steps forward and one back, but we are getting there.

While we were hanging in the bedroom, I observed two puppies attempting to mouth each other. It was awkward and clumsy but very definitely the start of interaction.

I saw it again this morning — how cool is that? It means the puppies are starting to engage more with the external world.

They are also gaining additional mastery over their bodies.

Rolling is now a thing, in addition to big stretches. They are also trying hard to get up on their tiny feet but mostly move around by dragging themselves, with occasionally lunges and staggers.

They continue to spend most of their time just eating and sleeping.

And being endlessly fascinating.

Daisy continues to be a relaxed and attentive mother, which is so awesome for the puppies — and us!

Mariposa and Paintbrush (???) or Clarkia (???)

Weights continue to rise evenly and steadily — and we have a new Heavyweight Champion this morning: Clarkia! She weighed in at 30.55 ounces.

Clover, Sage, and Lupine are all at 28+ ounces and so they are close.

Mallow is the smallest at 23.15 ounces but don’t feel too sorry for him as he is likely to be the first to double his birthweight — that should happen this evening or tomorrow morning.

The pace of a puppy is amazingly fast — it will be fun to see what new things happen today!

Click HERE for five minutes in the life of Clarkia — make sure to listen with sound so you can hear her audition for the Puppy Choir.

EVENING: Photos from the Day

I caught some mouthing! Not a great photo but you can get the idea — this is Mariposa and Lupine.

Note what is being used as a chaise lounge.

Good Night!

Day Seven A.M. & P.M.

Mary-Ann Sontag June 2, 2020

A friend asked if I had homes picked out for the puppies. No, she said, she was not looking for a canine sibling for her dog — she just finds “the CIA worthy process” fascinating.

She went on to say she imagines a color-coded spread sheet, fluid samples, finger prints, secret agents, and yes — a writing sample (she is also an educator).

She knows me well.

I have too many home options for the puppies. This is a good problem to have but it means disappointing people, which I do not enjoy.

Sage and Larkspur in the foreground, Clarkia and Mariposa behind

The truth is my commitment is to the puppies — they are my priority — and so I will make decisions that won’t land well on humans in order to do what I believe is best for the puppies.

Our website offers clues to what I value in potential homes. For example, I clearly identify we place puppies with those “…who are committed to giving our intelligent dogs an interesting life, and who value — and will contribute to — data transparency and integrity.”

How do we know if someone offers an interesting life for a dog and values data transparency and integrity?

Past behavior is an important predictor of future behavior.

In addition, my commitment to community should be evident: “thoughtfully-bred Kaibab puppies are placed with engaged members of the Berner community, and those seeking to join our community.”

I do not have grab ‘em and go puppies. Rather, I think in terms of building community around puppies — not losing them to strangers.

A child can never be loved well by too many adults.

In the same way, a puppy benefits from having a smart, caring community around her or him.

In fact, I think the benefits of community and teamwork are so important to a puppy that the CIA worthy vetting process my friend noted absolutely includes assessment of ability and willingness to play well with me — and others — in the puppy sandbox, so to speak.

I won’t judge those who prefer to just go it alone with their puppy (which won’t be one of mine, by the way) — if you agree not to judge my more Kumbaya approach to Life with Dogs.