Day 25 A.M. & P.M.

I start taking photos when I get up, and so these early photos are from before dawn and therefore, are not as crisp — but they help tell the story.

This is pre-dawn Clover. Sorry folks — the puppies will be early risers!

This photo is from Shift #1 in the Nursing Alcove — look at Larkspur! It is definitely getting crowded.

The father of the Wildflowers is Major — his sister, Jannu, sent her nieces and nephews some very, very cool toys. Mallow demonstrates one of them — it is a small ball that when bumped in the slightest…

…starts flashing and makes one of about a zillion different sounds — like a doorbell, barking, or a short song.

I love it! It introduces a constant stream of novel sounds — plus the flashing light. I will do a video later so you can see how the puppies are interested but not concerned — it is an excellent test of where they are right now with “novel” and it will continue to expose them to new sounds.

THANK YOU, Aunt Jannu!!!!!

But there is more.

Aunt Jannu also sent a set of age-appropriate toys for the Wildflowers. Here is a look at Puppy Central before the puppies joined — with the toys distributed.

SO CUTE — thank you!

Note the new potty zone. It is special puppy-safe turf over a used piddle pad so that it smell like the outhouse — Clover figured it out quickly.

I am also going to test a litter box set-up when the puppies move to the bigger space — we will see what they prefer.

The various toys are adorable but I notice an immediate preference for the chocolate donut. This is Mariposa.

Sage stretched out to also check out the chocolate one.

Of course, what is not to like about chocolate?!

This is Mariposa on her Toy Tour.

She was heading to the Puppy Pile to start winding down and sacking out.

But the red ramp was enticing, even for sleepy puppies. This is Lupine and Clarkia.

Mallow decided to give it a try. Note the towel on the one side — that is because there is a metal foot for the gate and puppies tumble a lot. We don’t want experimentation to hurt!

I bet you can see where this is going…

It was a well-padded landing and he was undeterred — back to the ramp he went but he decided to just fall asleep instead of climbing it again.

This is Sleepy Sage.

All nine!

They are resting up for the Big Adventures of today!

Video HERE — make sure to watch with sound.

EVENING: Photos from the Day

The original plan for the day was to introduce the puppies to their new outdoor play area/social distancing visiting area (aka the deck) but the weather was a bit sketchy and so we will try again tomorrow.

The puppies were well entertained inside with their new toys — this is Mallow…

Clarkia with the endlessly entertaining red ball…

Paintbrush

Larkspur

Clarkia

Clover

The play structure came out again today.

We switched out some of the hanging items just to build additional novelty.

It was Harper’s turn for the long walk today — she is the great-aunt of the Wildflowers and is 8.5+ years old.

A fun day was had by all!

Good Night, Friends!

Day 24 A.M. & P.M.

All is well!

Daisy seems fully recovered and all of the Wildflowers are doing just fine. They still spend the majority of their time sleeping, as is appropriate for fast growing babies.

But their periods of play are extending — also appropriate.

This is Lupine — the flowers stay in the Nursing Alcove and so they get played with when the puppies spend time in there.

I like having different places for them, with different experiences in each place.

This is Buttercup.

I also need them to have a place to be when I clean and change out Puppy Central, which I do at least twice a day; the Nursing Alcove works great.

This is Paintbrush.

This is Mallow — he is now close to 3.5 pounds.

The Heavyweight Champion of Puppy Central is Clarkia, who is now over four pounds.

The platform stays in today and I added a small crate. Learning to be relaxed in a crate is an important skill — the presence of a crate with no door is the first step in that process.

This is a look at Puppy Central this morning.

I will be doing some revisions to their potty zone in the next day or two — they will soon be ready for something a bit more targeted, so to speak.

I do not put puppies in or on the new things — their job is to be curious, explore, and master the new things on their own. This is Clover.

I have noticed the puppies’ tails are all up as they are moving more and faster, as if the tail provides some kind of balance.

If we try to force puppies into new experiences, we risk associating new experiences with fear and anxiety — that is the opposite of what we want.

If we create opportunities for appropriate experiences — and let the puppy be the expert of their own comfort level — we support both competence and confidence.

Every day I think they could not be more amazing - and the next day they are! This is Mariposa.

Enjoy your day!

Video: Click HERE.

EVENING: PHOTOS FROM THE DAY

Another successful day comes to a close.

The crate got investigated.

The platform remains a big hit.

The puppies are still a little confused about the purpose of the piddle pads.

Sage in the front — ??? behind.

Daisy is doing great.

Puppies are growing!

Lupine standing with Clover below

Clarkia

It was Sparkle’s turn for a long walk.

And I got my wonderful new totem set up — a gift from an extra special friend. I love the hearts!

We have some fun in store for the Wildflowers tomorrow! For now — Good Night, Friends.

Day 23 A.M. & P.M.

I am happy to report that Daisy seems almost back to normal — whew. Very little swelling and no fever, and Daisy seems to feel fine.

I mentioned last night that the Wildflowers’ teeth are erupting and yes, they are sharp! However, they do not yet have jaw strength to bite down too hard and so their mouthing doesn’t yet hurt — but it will soon. When that happens, toys and Puppy Palace items will have to change a bit and/or be closely watched because the puppies will be chewing on everything in sight.

These block toys, for example, are great now but may be too soft for stronger puppy teeth. Sage figured out how to crawl through the little tunnel — he is an Adventurer Puppy.

I try to get photos of new skills — like this puppy picking up one of the flower toys that Marti sent (they are SO cute — thank you, Marti).

Clover dishing out some sass.

Soon the puppy teeth will be capable of hurting each other and Daisy (and humans). People imagine mother dogs put miscreant puppies in their place — nothing could be farther from the truth. When a puppy gets too rough or annoying, the mother simply leaves. She has nothing to prove to a puppy, after all.

As I am writing this, it occurred to me that we absolutely do not want mother dogs modeling aggression or dominance to puppies. Rather, we want and need puppies to learn that when annoyed, they should walk away — not lash out.

Future puppy homes take note. Walk away from a biting, over-excited puppy and especially from anyone who tells you to show dominance to said puppy.

That whole show-them-who-is-boss is NOT a thing. People who need to prove something to a puppy need a therapist — not a dog.

I have strong feelings about this topic — can you tell?

Good leaders do not need force or fear to create a team.

Teeth do not impact nursing because it is impossible to bite and suck at the same time — try it! If a puppy bites, the mother will leave and so babies of all species quickly learn their good nursing manners.

We have some familiar toys this morning and new things.

One of the new things is this great platform because puppies like to climb. Sage is demonstrating what puppies do when they encounter something new — they chew/bite. Normal behavior for a puppy. We all need to remember this when they are chewing on us!

Clover is also an Adventurer Puppy and so she went over to check things out.

Karma decided the puppies needed some help figuring out the purpose of the platform.

The puppies are rarely all awake at once — only when they are collectively telling us they are on the verge of imminent starvation and need to nurse this minute or they will perish (because they have not eaten in 33 minutes!).

Some are usually playing and some are sleeping.

Daisy is free to come and go from Puppy Central but we do not want puppies wandering. The gate can close and lock them all in but Daisy needs to be able to get a drink or a break as needed and so I added this fancy puppy barrier.

Daisy can easily get over it but the puppies cannot. They will, however, soon be able to chew it and it is one of the things that will need to change when jaw strength increases.

Daisy is running off with that Mother of the Year award. Maternal care and attention is critical to building well-adjusted puppies — she apparently read all those research articles and is determined to do her part in raising Rock Stars.

Even when everyone is done and sleeping, Daisy likes to hang with her sweet babies.

#winner

EVENING: Photos from the Day

Daisy continues to be just fine — thank goodness.

Daisy and Buttercup

The other thing I wanted to share is that all nine puppies had their nails done today with the Dremel.

Mallow

I use a regular Dremel — not a pet one — because more power means it is faster. Mine is electric and has variable speeds — very important. I set it on the lowest speed and waited until the puppies were sleepy — and then I did about 150 little tiny nails.

Sage

I have previously used toenail clippers and so they are used to having their nails done — the Dremel was just a step up and no puppy had an issue with it.

Lupine

I will continue to dremel nails 2 - 3 times a week — it is my preferred way of doing dog nails for sure.

The platform was a hit!

Paintbrush

At first they simply walked off the edge and tumbled (hence the soft towels under the platform) but by the end of the day they were controlling themselves as they walked off — very cool to see.

There are no toys or other things in Puppy Central at night — both for safety reasons and also to help them understand about day and night. We play and have fun during the day — we sleep at night (in theory).

Mariposa

I had a great conversation with Dr. Laurie Lawson from the University of Wisconsin’s Companion Animal Vaccine and Immuno Diagnostic Service Laboratory earlier today — the topic was vaccinations, of course. I am a Big Fan of Laurie and her work — more on all this soon.

I also did yet another Zoom webinar today — when your specialty is Loss and Grief, a pandemic makes you especially relevant. I can no longer do Zoom sessions in the same room as the puppies — they tend to wake up and start choir practice at inopportune times.

The other dogs are not forgotten! Once Dear Husband was up to be with the Wildflowers, it was Claire’s turn for a long walk.

But mostly I spend my days watching the magic that is the Wildflowers — I know how very lucky I am to be able to do this. Thanks for joining us on their journey.

Good night, Friends.