Lucky us!  One more week-end with the pups before they are off to new homes.  I was busy a good portion of the time helping the 4H kids at the Fair.  Skip got to puppy sit!  As you can tell...he really enjoyed being chief puppy sitter.

Exploration Adventure

For safety reasons, the pups usually hang out in the temporary play yard made up of 3 exercise pens, some netting, and sheets for shade.  They have great fun in the tunnel and hitting the ball around.  It is amazing to see such little dogs bat around such a big ball.  There are lots of exciting toys in the grass to discover.  Our fenced area is too big to allow exploration when it is just me and the pups.  The skies need to be monitored for hawks and eagles as well as the possibility of loosing track of a pup in the large yard.

This morning Skip and I were both out in the yard.  So Bonny, Zinger and the four pups got to explore.   What a wonderful adventure it was.  The pups played with the adults (well...Zinger is 9 months now), checked out the chickens, climbed the pile of bark in the yard, ran and played!

Temporary "play yard" with netting & shade covers.

Shoelaces, leather sandal straps and toes!  Yum.

June is pretty ferocious with that shade sheet!

Bonny teaches "show the teeth" border terrier play!

Always time for kisses!

So...those are what?  Don't act like border terriers.

"Come on. You can do it!"

Dodge is "King of the Mountain"!

Zinger gives "tug" lessons.

Probably the last week-end visit for the Birthday Bunch!

The puppies are 8 weeks old!  Going on 9!  My how time flies. It has been a great experience for Skip and I.  As our adopted girls will be bred again, it is a good thing.  We will be doing this again.

My observation: Puppies are made to be "oh so cute" so that the pups will all be wanted and adopted by good caring humans.  Puppies are made so that living with a litter becomes challenging at the end.  "Mama dog" looses interest in the care part of the puppies.  After all, those puppy teeth hurt!  From then on, the humans end up spending a good deal of time keeping them watered, fed, exercised appropriately and CLEAN!  The first portion is no big deal and really fun. Keeping them clean is a full time job.  I guess that is why there is no such thing as a "poop-free" puppy!  It makes puppy raisers happy to find good homes for these little darlings you can't help but to love after raising them from birth.  I always did wonder how Charlotte could raise such smart, adorable puppies and then let them go.

Here are some close-ups of the Birthday Bunch.  Notice some name changes - as per their new adoptive parents.

Cake or Cupcake

June Bug:  "Hi Zinger"

Char-latte renamed Genie

June Bug

Fos - Renamed Dodge

 Though Bonny is aware of what they are up to and where they are, she is only interested in playing with them now. She and Zinger both enjoy the play!

24 Hour BUSY Visit!

Charlotte was off to Canada this last week-end.  As Skip had a wisdom tooth removed on Friday AND we moved out of the house so the floors could be refinished as well - living in the cabin for a week - we only had the pups for 24 hours!  They got to "go camping" so to speak.  However, their social calendar was so busy, we really didn't get to stop and just enjoy them.  It was great however to see how much they grew in a week and to see how much stronger and busy they are! 


Kathleen, Charlotte's daughter, met me at the training center and we transferred puppies and Mama Bonny.  There is a workshop going on and Zinger and I were scheduled to participate for an hour.  This was late in the day, but we did have the evening to become re-acquainted. 


The next morning the pups had a date to visit the waitresses in a b'fast place we go to regularly.  Following that, they were scheduled to go and meet 16 students in the workshop at Legacy.  Lucky pups.  Loving and more loving. 

Active little "show-offs" - won everyone's hearts.

Meeting a new adult dog that doesn't look like a Border Terrier!

Play session terminated with LOTS of love.

Fos demonstrated a new behavior: running around with a ball in his mouth.  I had not seen any of the pups do that yet. Bonny's Dad - Juan - was a real ball crazy guy! In the genes? Hmmmm.

Following this experience, the pups came back to the cabin.  We were home a short time before some perspective, people parents came by to visit.  Those little guys still had energy to charm more humans.   What a terrific pups - this Birthday Bunch!!