First Bath!

It's always interesting to give the puppies their first bath. They get so excited when you pick them up and carry them to the laundry room, then they probably begin to wonder, "what's happening?"

First, I hold them and trim their toenails, then I set them on a towel on the washing machine and put little plugs of cotton in their ears to keep the water out. At this point they're usually holding pretty still wondering what's going on.

I have a small bucket that I use for the puppy shampoo. I add some to the bucket and then put some warm water in and mix it up. Since I'm not using straight shampoo directly on the puppy it makes my shampoo go further. A trick I learned from my dog groomer friend.

Next we gently set the puppy in the laundry sink and turn on some warm water and start getting the coat wet. It's pretty easy at this age and size since I can just hold them under the faucet and turn their little bodies any ol' direction to get all the hair wet. Then I dip a sponge in my shampoo and started lathering the puppy all over.

At this point we get different reactions; some kind of freeze and just sit still, some whine, some wiggle, and some try to just climb out of the sink. "Get me outta here!"

 Coco

Little sable girl

Oscar

It doesn't take long to bath a small puppy, so soon I'm done shampooing and start the rinsing phase which is basically the same as at the start. Then I use my hands to squish as much water off the puppies coat and towel dry. If it's cold weather I use a hair dryer for the next step. But since it was so warm today, I put the puppies back outside in their pen to air dry.

They look so cute, all fluffy and clean, and smell good too!

Cavapoos-Eight Weeks Old

Well, it's that time again! The weekly puppy update! This should be the last one as the pups turned eight weeks old today and are ready to go to their new homes:) The little boy, Oscar will be going to his new home on Sunday. (His new "mom" is sooo excited!) But the girls will actually be staying a couple weeks longer as their new families already had things planned and can't get them yet. So maybe we'll have a couple more puppy blogs after all.

This week my family was visiting from out of state and my seven year old, animal loving nephew was here, so the puppies got extra attention! Sometimes I would look around for him and not seeing him anywhere would ask his mom, "Where's Ethan?" She'd give me that look like, "Where do you think?" And we'd find him in the puppy pen with the babies. He was always so gentle with them too.

Because of the nice weather we have been spending a lot of time outdoors and so have the puppies. I have their exercise pen out under the trees still, so they would be out there most of the day. One day we woke up to rain, so they couldn't go out.  We have another big pen right in our garage, so we layed a new sheet of linoleum down on the floor and it gave them a large area to play when the weather was bad. It had plenty of room for the potty boxes, bed, food, water and toys, with room to run!

 The puppies love to run around that tree and play "catch me if you can" with each other.

One day Ethan's mom found him in there laying on the dog bed with the puppies crawling all over him! Too cute! He really wanted to take the "little brown" one home. He thought maybe I would have more brown ones and also mentioned that he was going to put a puppy on his Christmas list;) (hmm...could that be a hint for Auntie Jen?)

His favorite:)

The puppies have been completely weaned off mom now and are eating and drinking like "big kids". They will be getting their first bath today and their first shot today or tomorrow also. They also finished their second type of de-wormer this week.

They are so adorable! Their hair is growing and getting thicker and longer. This litter has some of the riches colors we've ever had too. I can't wait to see pictures of them as adults!

My aunt and uncle came for a visit this week. She loved the puppies too!

They say that Cavaliers are cat-like, in that they like to climb up on higher places. Our first Cavalier loved to sleep on the back of the couch behind me. Well, Coco, the Cavapoo loves this box! She jumps on and off of it, sleeps on it, and stands on it. I think she'll be one of those "back of the couch" sleepers if her new family approves!

A lap full of puppies!

And a good-bye kiss from Oscar!

Cavapoos-Seven Weeks Old

Only one more week and they're ready to go! Although only Oscar will probably be leaving then. The girls' families both have trips planned so they won't be leaving until later in the month.

So this week they have had more time without mom. By now they spend their days away from her, but she comes back with them in the evening and through the night. They have playtime in the house and also outside. Right outside our front door under the pine trees, I set up a couple exercise pens attached together for them to safely play. That way I can water the garden or work and not worry about them wandering off or getting into trouble. If I'm right there, I'll let them out of the pen for more exploring and visiting with the big dogs.They have their food, water and some toys. And this week I cut a door in a cardboard box and they enjoyed playing and sleeping in their new "fort".

We also started them on the second kind of de-worming medication which is given daily for six days. By using two different medications over a period of several weeks we hope to remove any chance of parasites by the time they go home. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee, so we always recommend the puppies new owners have their vet do a fecal exam on the pup once they get settled in their new home.

Babysitter

Big leap!

"Hey, sister...Get off me!"

Looks like she's going to slap Moriah with her paw!

Notice here she is now in the belly-up/submissive mode to "Auntie" Moriah.

"Coco"

"My, what a big nose you have!"

"Fort Pinewood"

"Can someone get me outta here?"

"Me too."

Fun!

Cavapoos-Six Weeks Old

I can't hardly believe they're six weeks old already! Only two more weeks and they'll be ready to go to their forever homes! Bittersweet; happy to see them with their new families, but will miss their silly puppy antics and sweet puppy kisses. But I'm getting ahead of myself here!

This past week has been a busy one for the kids. They've had new visitors besides the locals they see around the neighborhood. Sherry came at the beginning of the week to meet her new little boy in person, and it was love at first sight. She's thinking of calling him, Oscar, which I think is adorable.

Then later in the week, Joan and Garland drove over to meet their little girl. They've decided to call her Coco.

The last little girl has a couple anxiously waiting to meet her in another state.

The puppies are still with mom, but she spends less and less time with them. They happily crunch away at the dry puppy food that is kept in their food dish and drink water from the bowl too. They spend time in their playpen but have playtime here in the house too, and are getting more brave and inquisitive.

"What's this big thing?"

"Hey, who are you?" (Meeting Auntie Hope the Cavalier)

Today was there first foray into the great outdoors! They were a bit tentative when I first set them in the grass, but then their adventurous spirits kicked in and they were having a ball! Romping through the grass, wrestling with each other, jumping and playing and just having fun!

 Coco~"What's all is soft, green stuff?"  Oscar~"I don't know, but I think I like it."

 

"My world just got bigger."

Getting some love from Austin.

Meeting Jack.

Don't mess with little sister or she WILL take you down!

 

Isn't he cute?!

I know this picture isn't very clear, but I love the action; running along with the ears flapping!

A Fairy Tale of Hope

Once upon a time in the Piney Woods, a fair maiden was born. She was of good stock, of the line of King Charles the Cavalier. Her mother was Mistress Bunny and her father the brave Sir Baxter. She was born with beautiful red and ivory locks. But alas, the wee maiden sustained an injury at birth, leaving her mother wondering if she would survive. Part of her skin with the beautiful red and ivory locks was missing from the top of her fair head. Her mother christened her with the name “Bright Hope” in anticipation that she would survive and have a wonderful future in the Piney Woods.

And Bright Hope did survive and thrive in the kingdom of the Piney Woods! She grew up with four robust half brothers as her playmates. Three of the brothers moved from the Piney Woods to kingdoms of their own, but the one brother stayed to be her playmate and confidant. He was a brave, daring young lad known as Trail Blazer, but his close friends called him Scout. 

Life continued for about a year and a half as the two youngsters grew and learned their lessons. In the spring of their second year they went to the far away kingdom of the learned doctors. There it was found that the young lass had a medical condition which would prevent her from staying in the Piney Woods to produce heirs for the kingdom.

Bright Hope didn’t know what to think of this news, but her mother assured her that all would be well and she must be brave and hopeful.

A few months later visitors arrived from a far away country. Hope met these visitors with much joy and anticipation. The visitors fell in love with Bright Hope and wanted to take her home. But alas, they had plans to travel to another land, but promised to return for Hope. 

She waited with eager anticipation for the day to arrive when her new family would take her to their own palace and they would live happily ever after in the kingdom of the Sea.

"I am your humble servant"

The maiden, Bright Hope

 

Cavapoos-Five Weeks Old

wEll, gEusS WhaT?! Our "PeOpLE"moM Said WE couLd rIte tHis WEeKS BloG! SO, cEnTS I'M thE LEadEr of tHE paCk, I'M n chArGe HErE! I Am The bLacK GiRL.

oUR "doG" MoM DoeSn't LikE 2 hAnG ouT WITh us aS mUCh aNY moRE. ShE KeEps cRAwliNg ouT of OuR Pin. But We StiLL liKe 2 DriNk HeR miLK. WE hAve sTartED to Try heR cRunChy fOoD In HER disH tOo. SomETimeS we Even Git In THe Dish & sPilL it!

OuR "PeoPle" mOM WeiGHed Us ToDay....I AM thE BiGgESt! ANd sHe trImMed oUr tOeNaiLS....aGain! *siGh* AnD ShE gaVe Us Mor MEDiciNe, So WE wOn't HAve sOmeTHing caLLeD wOrms...YuK! sHE tOok MOre PICturEs 2. SHe's ALWays tAKiNg PIctures. I thINk i am tHe cuTEst!! SHe saYs WE R GiTTing More INDepeNdant aNd wE BaRK aND pLay moRE.

ThIS iS wHat wE caLl "mOUth wRestLinG"

my bRotheR cHEcking ouT a tOy

my LiL siS tRyINg moM's fOOd. Oh! ANd C tHAt gReen & wHitE tHiNG? THAT's WherE wE gO pOtty, aND we'Re pRettY Good ABouT iT 2.

tHat's ME & mY bRO cHEckiNg oUT suM ToYs

GRrrR! MY brOTheR thinKs he's TuFf pLayinG tuG o' wAR

heRe i aM aTTacKing mi broTHEr...Um, hE diDn't LiKe it!

"HeY! do U tHinK we CAn aLl giT in HEre aT onCe?!"

"hI sHeRRy, i cAn't waIt 2 Meet U!"

Cavapoos-Four Weeks Old

Wow!  A whole month has gone by since this litter was born, or as we say in the dog world, whelped.

The babies are changing so much. This week we have moved mom and "the kids" into our puppy play pen. They are still in our living room; our living room is not very big, but there is a nice spot right next to our staircase for the puppy pen.  It is also close to the front door, so they're seeing and hearing lots of activity. This is all part of the socializing and training process which makes well rounded, healthy puppies!

The play pen has a nice bed for them, water and food dish for mom (the puppies have started to investigate the food dish, but haven't tried any yet), toys and the litter box area (which I've already seen them using!) The toys at this point are small human baby toys that I've picked up at our local second hand kids store, or things left over from mine. (Those are old!) As they get older, we'll introduce some more durable puppy/dog toys.

It's so cute to watch the puppies play and interact with each other. They go to the edge of the pen and sniff when the other adult dogs come over and they're barking and growling! They're getting more independent and mom is spending more time away. Poor girl needs a break!

Today we took a small video (which I'll try to get posted soon), more pictures, and the pups be getting their second toenail trim and dose of de-wormer.

Can't wait to see what this week brings!