Sunny Sunday Pupdate

Great-Granny Chili is still the cutest retriever ever!

The puppies had their 4th week birthday on Friday and officially entered the "Second Awareness/Identification Period" (28-35 days)
Information from "Behavioral Development of Puppies" an article by Kathryn Lanam:
During this week, play behavior becomes much more sophisticated including growling, chasing and "kill" games. Distance perception is much improved. Puppies need physical and mental challenges--things to move, chew on, climb on and carry and tug toys to share with littermates. Play helps develop strength, agility, coordination and skills to function as an adult. Puppies raised in environments lacking challenges are more likely to develop into fearful, less successful adults.
More time should be spent individually with each puppy, observing the puppy's behavior when taken to a strange place. Behavioral characteristics will begin to be very different when the puppy is with its littermates than when it is by itself. Separating each puppy from the litter for increasingly longer periods of time will teach the puppy independence, prevent separation anxiety problems later in life and will encourage bonding and acceptance of humans.

So what's new?

Scout and Titan safe at Jan's feet

• The puppies moved to a bigger pen on Friday night. They are now in the dining room and have about twice as much space as before.
• The puppies have experienced a new interactive toy in the form of a child's keyboard that either plays a tune or makes farm animal noises when stepped on.  They have a footstool in their area at the moment and have crawled under and put their paws up on it to explore it.  They have a small kennel in their area with the door removed and have explored it and sometimes sleep in it.  We are adding a cardboard tunnel for them to climb through this afternoon and will add a "tippy board" in the next few days.
• The are playing with and noticing toys more now.
• The pups had two sets of visitors on Saturday and are expecting more today.
• They spent about an hour on the patio in the sunshine today.



Granny Stoker makes her opinions known.



The puppies liked the Chair Cave

• They ate their first "real" food - grain-free kibble blended into mush with the formula we have been supplementing them with. 

Never a dull moment with these little guys!