Halia's litter is 8 weeks old!

Can't believe how fast time passes!

Fun in the Sun! Halia's litter is seven weeks old!

We decided to do candid shots this week of Halia's litter playing in the yard. Such fun! By the end of the photo session, the puppies had found the muddy patch from the raspberry drip line, so it deteriorated to a mud bath--but that will be another post :)

Drum roll, please.....and the father of Halia's litter is.....

SPANKY!

As we suspected, results of dna testing confirm that Spanky is

the father of all the puppies--sorry Harvey!

Six weeks old, and all the puppies are showing Spanky's

gorgeous, silky coat and sweet, gentle nature!

I'm awake....wanna play??

After a busy day visiting with their new families, the puppies were totally exhausted--I could hardly wake them up long enough to eat their dinner. At midnight...they finally woke up!

Wanna Play, continued.

After about a half hour of hectic activity, the puppies finally wore themselves out and crashed for the night.

And they just keep growing!

It's unbelievable that another week has flown by!

Halia's Puppies

White Boy, Lime Green Boy, Purple Girl, Blue Boy, Yellow Boy, Aqua Boy

Red Boy, Dark Green Girl, Tan Boy, Orange Boy, Pink Girl 

Bella's Puppies

Halia's puppies sleeping

These puppies look and act more like dogs every day! After a great breakfast and playtime, everyone settled down for their nap. Of course there's always at least one that likes the litter box--go figure!--there's the group that gathers around the "water cooler," some like the "cave" under the Kuranda bed, some just crash where they land. Such fun to watch these puppies grow into little dogs!

How can that possibly be comfortable!

Amazing how fast time flies!

Bella's litter is three weeks old already! and Halia's litter is four weeks old!

Food Fight!

Well, it's just dinner, but it does get messy! Mama Halia just couldn't keep up with feeding all these puppies, so a few days ago we started them on real food--and they love it! We start the puppies off with a thin gruel of goat's milk and baby rice cereal. Then we begin adding softened kibble to the mush and over the next few weeks we'll gradually make the mush thicker and chunkier.

The first few meals the puppies wore almost as much as they ate, but they caught on quickly to standing around the dishes rather than in them. We let Halia in at the end of the meals to tidy things up--she does the dishes, mops the floor and gives everyone a bath. A few of the puppies always take the chance to grab dessert while she is preoccupied with her housekeeping duties. Then we change the bedding, and everyone settles down for a few hours of sleep.

Halia's puppies are three weeks old!

Hard to fit eleven....

So Much Cuteness!

Really?? Box o' Puppies Revisited.

"You've got to be kidding--you really think we still fit in this box?
Yeah, yeah, it was cute the first time, but this is just plain crowded!"

Photo session today!

Halia's litter--two weeks old!

Girls collar colors are Purple, Pink and Dark Green
Boys collar colors are White, Lime Green, Blue, Yellow, Aqua, Red, Tan and Orange

Pink girl could not stay awake! Our conversation went like this:

Pretty Pink girl....open your eyes.
Do I have to? I'm soooo tired!
Please little girl, everyone wants to see your lovely eyes.
I....can't....hold....my....head....up............zzzzzzzzz........

Box o' Puppies!

So tired after being weighed, doing Early Neural and Scent Stimulation exercises and whelping box being cleaned. It's a good thing we have no concept of personal space....

What a mom!

Halia refused to get out of the whelping box to eat dinner tonight, so I brought it to her. She ate her entire dinner without changing her position--the puppies draped across her front leg never stirred.

What good mama dogs!

Halia and Bella are taking such good care of their babies! Both mama dogs are at maximum capacity, and yet their babies are still well-cared for and gaining weight. Bella has a tiny baby that is gaining very slowly, even with tube feeding. The little girl finally was able to latch on today--Bella carefully lay on her back while the puppy drank its fill. So proud of our girls and their beautiful babies!

Bella

Halia

Halia's litter is one week old!

This is the best we could do today for one week old puppy shots! I promise all eleven are in the pictures....if you look very closely at the middle picture in the collage, you'll see a toe right next to red girl's head--one of the puppies is tucked up at the top under the pig rail.

Everyone is doing well and gaining weight--it's such a miracle to watch them grow!

Puppies are here!

On June 9th, thirteen puppies were born over 14 hours! Mama Halia was a real trooper. Guardian parents came to help with much of the delivery--it was good to have the company, and Halia was so happy to see her family. Sadly, one puppy was born with a birth defect and another was too preemie to survive, but we have eleven gorgeous and healthy puppies. Congratulations Halia, Harvey and Spanky!