Bella and Hudson's Puppies - 5 weeks

Bella soaking up the sunshine with her puppies.

What an adventurous week this has been since the puppies were introduced to the great outdoors. They are spending a good portion of their day outside now, sometimes slumbering in their pen and other times on supervised expeditions in the yard. Their circle of comfort continues to widen and they are enjoying every minute frolicking about! With their vision and hearing now fully matured, they are very curious, learning about the things many of us take for granted: a blade of grass, a bark chip or a butterfly. One day during afternoon recess, Mr. Black, spotting an apparent gap under our gate, decided he would like to explore the previously uncharted expanses of our property. He recruited Mr. Crimson and Mr. Purple to join him in his quest, but all three were apprehended without incident.

Being the good mother that she is, Bella is still very protective of her puppies and the only dogs she never minds having around them is their dad Hudson and our senior Golden, Haas. Bella does make exceptions, so Sierra, our New Canadian Champion, spends long periods of time lying in front of the puppies’ playpen, contemplating them adoringly.

Our Sierra admiring the new puppies.

To Bella’s delight, the little ones are enjoying three meals of mush daily, so she only supplements their feeding a couple of times a day – a blessing for her since each puppy’s 28 baby teeth have erupted. The mush now includes some re-moistened dry food and continues to be a big hit. Every meal is like Thanksgiving as the puppies gorge themselves on this scrumptious offering. If they could undo a button on their furry little vests, they surely would. Afterward, they all stumble into a corner of the lounge and enjoy a nap.

Not surprisingly, the puppies are learning to communicate - not in a language that might be discernable to you or I, although it’s clearly understood by their siblings who respond just as emphatically. At playtime, they enjoy following us or their mom around the yard, honing their co-ordination by playing ball, or just rolling around in the grass. Their favourite team sport is scrimmage although they usually forget to use a ball. And after the giant knot is unfurled, there is no clear winner or loser, just a lot of happy faces. They are just puppies, after all.

That’s it for now, but be sure to join us next week for another riveting installment of “Puppy Tales”.