Day 30 (updated)

Mary-Ann Sontag July 4, 2025

Happy Heavenly Birthday to Abra 🌈🎂

It has been 28 years since she was born and started my little family of Berners. The family tree back to Abra goes like this: Abra —> Halo —> Zoey —> Sparkle —> Claire —> Capella —> GEMS 💎💎💎💎

I am so grateful to Eden Jonas for trusting me with my wonderful, smart, beautiful Abra 🙏

Camp Puppy is now in session until Sunday night. The Campers and I started by having a meeting to establish our Camp Puppy rules. Here are the rules they set for Camp Puppy:

There is LOTS of puppy biting going on but it doesn’t hurt just yet. I have instructed the kids that when it does hurt, which could be in 12 minutes the way puppies grow and change, they are to communicate that the bite was too hard — like a yip or a genuine OW! They have also been instructed to offer a substitute if they do not want to be nibbled on.

Puppies MUST bite and chew, and it is not fair to try and stop them. The goal is to help them develop bite inhibition — in other words, to teach them to moderate the pressure they use when they bite. We do this by communicating when the bite hurts — and we do this verbally by making a hurty noise, and physically by removing ourselves. This is what littermates do.

Jasper balancing on the wobble board

Star Garnet is VERY attentive.

Sapphire and Star Garnet.

Jasper was having a great time engaging in a play session with Lincoln.

🩷💙💙💙

(Later)

Our big plans to create the outside yard was a bust — we got rained out. Too bad it isn’t raining right now because it might dampen the firework enthusiasm! The dogs (including the puppies) are unbothered but the loud booms make the kids nervous.

The puppies are true Berners — they already figured out fans 😂

While the puppies are growing their teeth, Lincoln has been losing his. This is him with Sapphire.

Topaz on the wobbleboard.

As I mentioned earlier, Star Garnet is attentive!

And Jasper is very observant. The kids had a movie on — can you see Jasper watching it?

I don’t typically watch TV and so that was the first time it has been on since the Gems arrived. Jasper noticed right away. Super interesting.

Happy Fourth — I hope it is a safe one for you ❤️

Day 29 (updated)

Mary-Ann Sontag July 3, 2025

There will be some big changes here today because of this handsome dude — Jasper.

Or as the kids call him, “The Big Guy.”

Jasper now climbs out of the whelping box and so it is time to transform their inside space. Photos of that later.

In the meantime, we are having a delightfully cool morning on the deck. This is Star Garnet.

The puppies are very interactive with Capella now, which basically means they bite her 😂 This video is Jasper with Capella.

Star Garnet.

They are in constant motion and are biting everything and everyone with their shiny new teeth.

I get the best pictures when they are tired. This is Sapphire.

The boys are figuring out water — this is Topaz.

Topaz and Star Garnet.

Capella and Sapphire.

Topaz sleeping on Capella paw.

Sapphire.

🩷💙💙💙

(later)

Cindy, Kira, and Aubrey came for a visit.

Kira summoned Logan, the one who built the beautiful whelping box, to the party. Well, we really needed him to dismantle the whelping box before Jasper hurt himself escaping so not much of a party 🤷🏼‍♀️ Logan, who likely wonders if I will ever run out of projects for him, came right over.

Aubrey wrangled puppies while the whelping box went away. We added the second piece of marmoleum on the floor — here is Sapphire being very helpful.

And just like that, Puppy Land expanded and got pretty fancy — and escape-proof! 🍀

So much gratitude to Cindy, Kira, Aubrey and Logan ❤️🙏

With Jasper busy contemplating the wages of sin (i.e., jail), Sapphire was able to be the first puppy on the slide 🏆

Star Garnet was next.

Tomorrow the kids and I will be setting up the outdoor play area — that will be fun 🎇

Thanks for following along with our adventures 🙏

Four Weeks (updated)

Mary-Ann Sontag July 2, 2025

It really is hard for me to believe that the Gems are four weeks old.

Isn’t time such a strange thing? It seems to go quickly when we are savoring something, and so slowly when we are waiting.

Puppies seem like they are in fast forward mode. Everything happens so quickly. You hardly get to enjoy the latest version of puppyhood before the next one arrives — hours later, it seems.

Teeth are growing and jaw strength is increasing. We have arrived at that stage when puppies hurt each other but are clueless about how that is happening. They will simultaneously chomp the ear of a sibling and look very concerned about the cries of pain from that sibling — but not understand how to make it stop (i.e., stop biting!).

It is a painful stage for all of us.

The Gems are still exclusively nursing. Teeth are not a barrier to nursing — you cannot suck and bite. Try it!

And when they do bite, which they will, Capella will remove herself and puppies will quickly learn that biting closes down the Milk Bar.

Milk from their mom is optimal nutrition for babies, and the Gems are still babies. There is no need to substitute inferior nutrition by introducing “solid food” at this time. They are growing and healthy, and so they will be exclusively nursed until they are close to six weeks.

The Gems will not be fully weaned until they leave for new homes.

Creating new life is a significant responsibility — I believe one should do it as well as humanly possible.

That is why I am so focused on such things as optimizing the lactation process, doing fecal samples instead of unnecessary deworming medication that can upset the developing GI system (which is part of the immune system), and using titers to avoid overvaccination.

My commitment to doing things well is why I have slept next to the whelping box for the past few weeks, only leave my house — very briefly! — if I have a puppy sitter, and pay close attention to the puppies’ environmental stressors and their reactions.

It is all about getting things “just right” so that the puppies have the best possible start to their lives. I want that for the Gems, and also for the humans who will share their lives with these puppies 🩷💙💙💙

(later)

I think I am going to give up on the official photos! UGH. This photo of Jasper is perfect for how things went — for such a handsome dude, he was not in the mood any of the five attempts I did with him 😂