Rocket Launch

The rockets are all launching to their forever destinations with their new families.  Juno and Redstone went home on Friday.

Yesterday, Titan and Scout left for home.  Loki and Atlas' families came for a visit and are taking their babies home today.  I posted a few more photos in the album this morning.

Titan with his new family.  Titan is now "Pocket"

Scout with her new family.  Scout is now "Skipper"

Atlas with his new family.  No they are not taking me with them...

And then there were two.  Loki and Delta taking a nap together.

Heading Home...

I posted a few new pics this morning in a new album on the sidebar.

The first two pups went home last night.  I wonder how much sleep Juno and Redstone's new families got?  It's bittersweet letting them go, but we know they will be loved in their new homes and it was time for them to move on....

We are overflowing our little beds...

We want to explore the world outside our window...

 We are heading home with our new families...

Juno heads home with Nancy and Jerry

Redstone heads home with Chad, Tricia and Carver

Eventful Weeks

Seems like every minute is full of things to do these days and last week was a blur of activity.

Learning to go up...

On Monday (14th), I loaded the boy puppies in the car when Stoker and I went to agility class.  I set a pen up for them alongside the arena and they got to visit with my agility classmates.  This was good practice for car rides and, other than a small amount of howling in the car, everyone did well (no pooping or vomit during the car ride).

On Tuesday afternoon (15th), Maquah's "Mom", Elaine, flew in from California.  She spent the day at the house Wednesday getting to know the puppies while Jan and I were at work.

On Thursday (17th), we loaded the pups up and headed for Pat Hasting's house in Aloha.  Pat is renowned for her "puppy puzzle" litter evaluation techniques and evaluated the pups for structure.  We were pleased with the results from Pat and always learn a lot when we visit her.  Elaine got an autographed copy of one of Pat's books and we put the pups back in the car and took them home for lunch and a romp on the patio.

In the afternoon, we loaded the babies up again and took them to the vet for their first vaccination and microchipping.  Everyone checked out well at the vet and we got comments on how social the pups are.  They REALLY like people!

Learning to go down...

Elaine left to head back to California on Thursday evening.

Friday was uneventful, but the puppies had lots of visitors again over the weekend.

This Monday (21st) Great-Granny Chili and I took the girl puppies with us to agility class.

Yesterday (Thursday the 24th) all the pups went to the eye vet for an eye exam.  They checked out just fine, as expected.  

It's really fun to share the puppies with everyone and it is extremely good socialization for them.  They are getting stronger, more confident and more active seemingly by the minute and it is harder to keep up with them.  It's a good thing they are heading for their new homes this weekend!


We've continued to load pics on the flickr albums linked on the sidebar of the blog, although we do have some we haven't uploaded yet.  We'll post "going home" pics as the pups leave this weekend.

New Pics and Favorite Pups

Balancing Act

We added pics to the two most recent albums today.  Links to the albums are on the sidebar to the right.

You'll see the pups balancing on and walking along a plank in several of the photos (including the one to the right).  This was something Scott and Jan made to stand on when they were working on the siding for the house, but I thought the pups would like to climb around on it.  They did.  They enjoy and explore almost any new object you put in with them.  I bought them several new toys the other day and they already "killed" the squeaker in the little squeaky pig toy.

Do we have "favorite" pups?  You might think so based on the photos.    We don't consciously focus on any puppy in particular but just look for cute photo opportunities.  Maybe these are the pups that are most active during the time the camera is in our hands?  Maybe they are going through behavioral phases at a slightly different rate with ebbs and surges in how busy and active they are?

Ecko Playing with and Schooling the pups

Outdoor Dining

What 6.5 week old puppies can do to a chicken wing.

The Rule of Sevens

~~ The Rule of Sevens ~~
By the time a puppy is 7 weeks old it should have....

..

• Been on 7 different surfaces.

The Rocket pups have been on carpet, tile, newspaper, concrete, dirt, barkdust, grass, laminate, wood...

• Played with 7 different types of objects.

They have played with fabric toys, rope toys, water bottle, milk jug, plastic ball, ricotta cheese container...

• Been in 7 different locations.

Living room, family room, kitchen, dining room, patio, grassy yard...

• Been exposed to 7 challenges.

They been on the tippy board, in the tunnel, gone in/out a doorway with a step, played with water in a shallow tray...

• Eaten from 7 different containers.

Pie pans, metal bowls, metal muffin pan. paper bowls, glass bowl, glass plate...

• Eaten in 7 different locations.

Whelping box, pen, patio...  (need to add more here this week)

• Met and played with 7 new people.

They have met WAY more than 7 new people!  

When your puppy goes home with you taking him to new locations, and exposing him to new challenges and new people will be extremely important for the first year or so you have him.  You will need to continue what we have started.

Temper, Temper!

The puppies all have good lungs and strong opinions.  When they want something, they think either Mama Ecko or whatever human is handy should deliver it immediately.  It is very tempting to scoop the little devils up and entertain them when they are screaming because they want out of the pen to visit with us but we have been refraining in an effort to teach them that such behavior does NOT get rewarded and have the desired results.  Be sure your volume is on when you view this clip.  BTW, while Atlas stars in this little video, all the pups know how to howl.