Today is the Day…….

That day has come when the puppies go to their new homes. They take their last worm treatment today and then their new owners can pick them up. It has been a real experience for our family to have puppies. We have never done this before and it was a real learning experience. Roxie has been a good mother and I’m sure she will miss her babies. She still follows you around if you are holding one of the puppies and she gets nervous if you handle the puppies for too long. She has been going thru the weaning process pretty well. The only problem is that if you put one of the puppies down anywhere near her, they run straight for mom’s “food”. They have not nursed at all now for two days.

The little rascals have grown sooooo fast. When they were born they were 14 ½ to 16 ounces. Two weeks ago, when they went in for their 3 ½ week check up they were 4 ½ to 5 pounds. That was two weeks ago. I wonder what they weigh now? They are still growing by leaps and bounds. When they started weaning I would make a mush out of their puppy food, now they eat regular puppy food right out of the bag. They chew on everything and it amazes me just how sharp their teeth are.

These puppies have done everything together. They play, eat, and sleep together. They sleep together on a towel that I put in their pen. I wonder what is going to happen when they are all separated and in their new homes. I have a feeling it is not going to be fun for them. They tend to cry for each other when we take one out of the pen. I can’t imagine this being easy. The vet gave me some information that tells you how to take care of a new puppy. I have put some puppy food in a zip lock bag along with the instruction sheet to give to the new owners.

The one thing that I won’t miss is the mess these puppies make. Every day I have had to pick up all the news papers that I have lined the pen with. There is not one piece of paper that doesn’t have poop or pee on it. What a mess. I get that all cleaned up, sweep and then mop. After the floor dries I cover the floor with new newspapers. The puppies go back into the pen and start all over with their mess. The other night I put the puppies in the laundry room while I cleaned. When I was done, I opened the door to find three piles of poop and their were little brown footprints all over the laundry room. They had to have a bath. My husband gave each one a bath in the sink and dried them off and put them back in the pen. I was tired but still had to clean the laundry room. What a mess. I won’t miss this part of raising the puppies.
Wish me luck....I'll need it.

Here are two current pictures of the puppies:
http://bonnietravels.blogspot.com/2005/08/puppies.html andhttp://tfsternsrantings.blogspot.com/2005/08/7-puppies-getting-drink-of-water.html