Bosley, closest, then Kate, and Farrah kissing Marc. They’ve reached official football Sunday cuddle status!
First meal and new digs! Puppies are 3 Weeks! ???
To celebrate, our friends at The Kong Company sent this lovely welcome bag! These will totally come in handy!
The puppies turned 3 weeks old yesterday, so we spent the weekend building their weaning pen. On Wednesday, Kate was the first to try and escape the whelping box. It was one of the motivators to get them in a bigger space and build the weaning pen. That and this look on Halo’s face when the puppies are nursing!
As you know, we are believers in Puppy Culture and Jane really stresses the importance of giving the Dam a way to get away from the puppies when she wants to wean them. Puppies who weren’t snarled and nipped at grew up to be better adjusted and have better dog/dog interactions. It is important to us to make sure Halo is never in a position where she feels trapped by her puppies. By today, the puppies can climb out of the whelping box and into the cushy bed Halo has been lying in when she needs to get a break from the puppies, so operation weaning pen commenced!
Weaning pen is vinyl flooring (with shower bladder liner over potty area,)
topped with playroom matting,
then hospital pads. Potty area is hospital pads with rubber drain matting, and K-9 grass. It’s all enclosed with a wood perimeter Marc built with door hinges and two 4′ ex-pens.
Thank you to fellow breeder, Lindsay Fetters the advice on the grass! We were so proud when the puppies immediately started using it as a potty area!
Current set up. Eventually, we will take the whelping box out of the enclosure. Halo is able to jump over the slide to get in and out on the far right side of the photo.
After we set up the pen, the puppies had their first meal — have you ever seen cuter babies?!