“Rise and Shine!”
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| Checking out their new play area! |
When
they are in the mood to play, it doesn’t seem to matter to a puppy if their
intended playmate is asleep or not. We observed Miss Holly, intent on playing
with Mr. Gingerbread who was sound asleep, biting on his ears until he was
aroused enough to engage her in playtime activities. From there, the
festivities ensued and each of the puppies picked out a partner or two for the
hoedown. They stagger around, bump heads and noses and bite one another
anywhere their mouths will fit. Now that the whelping box has an extension on
it, the puppies have room to spread out in what must seem like a vast arena.
They use the original portion as their lounge where they sleep, play and cuddle
with each other. The new area, which is lined with shredded paper is mostly
used for “relief” and is a step toward potty training.
Bella
couldn’t be happier at the moment as she’s gotten a reprieve from being the
sole food provider to her puppies. The little ones are being weaned and are
enjoying a canine-style smoothie - a concoction of moistened puppy food, oatmeal,
goat’s milk, vitamins and honey, all blended to perfection. Puppies are always
taken aback the first time the dish is presented. Small wonder they’re
apprehensive, because normally it’s their mom delivering the food. Miss
Snowflake and Miss Shortbread were the first to partake. The others were
inspired to gradually follow suit, when all of a sudden, Mr. Icicle perked up
and made a bee-line toward the dish. To our surprise and bewilderment, he not
only marched purposefully toward the dish, but into it, atop it and straight
through the other end, ankle deep in mush. It almost seems as though the
puppies get more on them, than in them at the start, but it all adds to the enjoyment
of having ready access to dessert by being able to just lick it off another
puppy.
While
Bella is relishing the relief from her teething puppies, she still devotedly brings
the milk truck around several times a day and night. Her job now is to provide
top-ups from the milk bar, to help clean up her puppies, to protect and to cuddle
them. A recent perk for Bella is that she gets to finish the puppies’ smoothie leftovers….
when there are any, that is.
Despite
the occasional mayhem in puppy land, the puppies seem so innocent when they
receive visitors, likely because they are generally caught enjoying their other
favourite pastime of napping. It doesn’t take them long to come around and
entertain their guests and each other. The gang is enjoying lots of human
contact which is so vital to their being. They are, after all “man’s best
friend”.
That’s it for now, but be sure to join us next week for another
captivating installment of “Puppy Tales”.
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