Monday the puppies were four weeks old and they are getting much more active. They still sleep quite a bit, but when they are awake they want to play. They have discovered each other for more than just snuggling. They are pawing, mouthing and mildly wrestling with each other. Outside they are exploratory and will follow the kids around. Their teeth are showing and I’m guessing nursing is getting uncomfortable. We have introduced solid food (puppy mush) and expect them to start the weaning process over then next several weeks. They are at a fun stage and the kids and all the neighbors love to come play with them since it is a good mix between snuggle and play. All of the puppies are spoken for, and we are excited about the quality of homes and families they are going to.

Have you ever thought about the term dog pile? There’s a reason. Puppies love the comfort of a pile of siblings. The puppies are all doing well, growing rapidly. We are expecting eyes to start opening anytime now (day 10 – 15). A few of the pups are starting to lift up on their front legs and bear weight. Though they still look like prairie dogs dragging themselves around.

Sam, our 7 year old is so excited about the upcoming litter of Labrador retrievers. We told him that the puppies would be coming this weekend and he couldn’t stop asking questions and pestering us as to when it would happen. We all put in our guess as to how many pups there were. Then this morning when we got up we found Sam sleeping with Allie in the whelping box. It was so cute.

I have a special place in my heart for wirehair pointers. They’re just neat dogs.

We recently had one particular wirehair named Zoey. She had so much personality and her eyes were so human-like and expressive. She had so much play in her; she loved romping on the trampoline with the kids. I often wondered how much she could see through the locks of hair over her eyes. She was a joy to have around.

 

12 Dove Breast Fillets
1/8 cup Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1 sm/med Onion, finely sliced
1+ Clove Garlic, minced
Salt to taste
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
12 strips Bacon

Season fillets with salt and pepper and marinate in soy, oil, onion & garlic four (4) hours.

Wrap fillets with bacon and secure with toothpick. Grill over high heat for 7 – 9 minutes, turning as needed. Alternatively, bake in shallow dish with bacon strips on top at 350 deg (f), for 30 minutes. Important not to overcook dove or it becomes dry and liver-like. Serve hot over sticky rice or with grilled veggies.

 

A little neighbor girl got a new puppy the other day. She is so cute with the pup. Kids and puppies just go together. She came over to find out all about puppies and how to take care of him. I hope the excitement lasts. She sure does love this little puppy.

 

April 10th and we got more snow. I’m not complaining. It will make for a beautiful green spring, and the dogs certainly weren’t complaining. It will be too hot for them soon enough. They loved romping in it. Although later, Allie did decide to come in and warm up.

 

Every morning we let the dogs out for exercise and to do their business. (Which is a lucrative one for our kids because we pay a “by the piece” rate for clean up.) The dogs tend to pair up, the two older males play-wrestle and they do it a LOT. This reminds me of my son and nephew, both 5 year olds, when Chris took them on a scout camping trip and all they did was roam around camp and roll in the dust wrestling. They could not keep their hands off each other.  They had a blast. The two younger puppies roll around and play keep away with a stick and the new rescue dog we are trying out plays and checks things out, like he is trying to figure the pack out. This doesn’t take long; he has already gotten the hang of the exercise program every day with the roading set up. Eventually they all end up in or near the kennels waiting for the morning feeding. They get an hour or so to digest then it’s off to the run.

We’ve gotten a lot of snow this year and the dog have loved it. Today we had a good long romp in the fresh snow. It was kind of an ethereal experience because it was foggy and you couldn’t see more that 50 meters, but the morning sun was filtering through and provided a beautiful light for taking photos.

 

It’s a muddy spring here. We had 15 tons of gravel delivered today to cope with the mud. Chris, the kids and I spent the morning shoveling gravel. Allie wanted in on the action. (Sorry about the cheesy photo. I couldn’t resist.)