Today the pups had no toys! But they did spend the day in the garden, chasing leaves and each other, and having a chomp on their first chicken wings.
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Another day of taking the puppies out in the car, this time to the bank and the supermarket. I'd been asked by the staff at the bank to take in the puppies as they all know my adult dogs and couldn't wait to meet the little ones. Needless to say, not much work was going on while the puppies were in there, and even the customers who are usually in a hurry, all came over for a puppy cuddle.
The puppies reached five weeks of age yesterday, and the weather was glorious. So we went ahead with our plans to put them in the car and visit the farm. It took a lot longer to get around the farm than we had anticipated, as they had so many cuddles to give out to their numerous admirers. We met so many different animals, and people of all ages, we sampled quite a few different smells too. The pigs were our favourites. Then we met Muriel and her other goat friend Then on to meet the numerous hens We wanted a picnic so sat on the table and watched the rabbits and guinea pigs The cows were huge! But lovely. And then we met her! The Cat! She was so friendly.
''the cat purred so affectionately that it was impossible not to believe in her good intentions''. Animal Farm: George Orwell. The French naming system follows the alphabet. This years puppies in France will all have names starting with the letter i. And here is my little London Eye, a tired little girl after a very long day of lovely visitors. Tomorrow she will be having another busy day at the farm. Hopefully we wll get some nice weather for photo's as it has been quite monsoonal at times over these past two days.
I know it can be like navigating a minefield, when researching what food you would like to feed your new puppy , and you want to find what is best for it. I feed mainly a raw diet, but can easily understand why it doesn't suit everyone. I found a great link where you can compare the majority of commercial foods sold in the UK, it's well worth reading, it may surprise you, expensive is not necessarily the best.
http://www.whichdogfood.co.uk/dog-food-directory.php Then another link to a great article on "How Dogs See'. This is a must for anyone going out to buy some new toys for their puppies. In fact, there are lots of great articles on this site. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/canine-corner/200810/can-dogs-see-colors Odo loves his walks in the woods, he finds everything you don't want him to... the stagnant pond, the muddy puddles, the brambles and thistles that prickle your fingers, he races rabbits but has never yet caught one, and sticks his nose down every fox and rabbit hole, and even when he is covered in mud and dripping wet, you still can't help but find yourself smiling.... It has been a really busy week here, lots of visitors, and lots of puppies running around, so it is nice to have the normality of daily walks and adventures. Puppy updates are late this week, but they are all doing really well and getting up to lots of mischief. They have been playing in the garden, though not for too long as it is still quite chilly, and I don't know how they grow so quickly, it seems like just yesterday that they fit in the palm of my hand.
After a pretty hectic week, it's nice to get out for a one to one session with just your thoughts, and your dog, especially when the snow and wind has gone and it is beautifully sunny outside. Odo was excited to be going out on his own, he has been missing his old pal Lulu. So, what better than taking him for a long walk followed by a refreshing swim? Come on Mum, stop looking at the new houses, I spy WATER! I never was one for testing the water to see how cold it is. Just JUMP and SPLASH. I'll shake here so you don't get wet. Aren't I kind:-) One last dip whilst you enjoy the view!
The puppies are now three and a half weeks old and things are rapidly moving along . They can now stand without falling over within the first few seconds, they have discovered how to walk backwards, most seem to think they can run and jump, and rolling in the food dish is one of their favourite pastimes. Oh, they have certainly found their voices too (think piglets), and have Mirabelle running to check on them at each little squeak and woof. Mirabelle has decided that these puppies are her responsibility, she cleans them, sits with them in their playpen and has even started producing her own milk to nurse them. Nelly is comfortable to let her get on with it, but returns to feed them as often as they demand. They have just started now to play with their soft toys, instead of just snuggling up to them, and they have also started mouthing and playing with each other. We started weaning them on Sunday and they have thrown themselves whole-heartedly into devouring everything in their dishes, it's a rather messy affair as they are having steak mince with goats milk, but most of it does seem to end up in their tummies! The ones that seem to be pushed out or are too slow to compete with the fatties, get a little extra when the peace has ensued once more!
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