What changes happen in a puppy's life with each week!  A week ago puppies mainly slept, ate and pooped, not necessarily in that order!  There periods of wakefulness are longer and there is definitely some playing going on...mainly trying to fit an entire mouth or jaw in another puppy's mouth...no teeth yet but they will appear in the next few days.  They are also more vocal...cry when they think their mom should be feeding them.  They are growing steadily and all but Ms Blue have tripled their weights.  Mom is starting to feed them while standing and still very meticulous that their area stay clean.
I love to sit in their box and watch them interact with each other and with me.  They react as soon as the door to their room opens so their hearing is definitely working.  They are also stimulated when they hear me bottle feeding Ms Blue...often Jazz enters their box to feed them during this time.  One day this past week I heard howling.  We have a baby video monitor set up in their room so I can check on them, but mostly to respond if their are any odd sound noises or shrieks.  The howling heard was started by Ms Blue...she was sitting my herself and the others joined in with the howling...she made her way to them following the noise.    More on Ms Blue or Hope:  Her weight gains have been very good...it's like a switch went on past weekend and her gains are ones of a normal puppy...very seldom gets formula up her nose any more...she has learned to slow down the flow of the formula..a smart girl.  On the flip side, her eyes have not opened..her littermates' eyes open over a week ago...this causes me some concern...she manoevers quite well around the box by scent and hearing.  I have scheduled a vet appointment for tomorrow to get an assessment on her health and any problems that might be obvious to the vet.  Really hoping for good news.  Would be wonderful if tomorrow morning she looked at me with her eyes....my worries would stop.

Once their teeth are in, I will start feeding a mash of puppy food softened with warm goat's milk and feed 4x's daily.  They will still have full access to mom during this time.  Not sure how this will go with Hope...important that the mash not go into her hole and enter her nasal cavity.  6 week vet appointments have been scheduled for Oct 12 - they will be checked for murmurs, hernias, correct bites, and be vaccinated.  I administer liquid dewormer every 2 weeks until they go.

Here is some news to share.  Our Dion has just started her heat cycle - she will be bred to the handsome Romeo weekend of Sep 27.  Part 2 of the news is that her caregiver cannot keep her any longer due to personal reasons so I am looking for a permanent home for Dion.  She turned 6 in July.  This litter will be her 3rd litter....the plan is for one more in 2015.  Let me know if you're interested or pass on to the news to someone who might be.  She is a good dog, house trained, good with everyone.