"Almost outta here!," thinks this pup ...

Of course, she's wrong. This was taken on April 23. It is now April 26 & not 1, single pup has managed to get out of the box.

Of course, the growing pups are much closer now to escape and soon would be able to hike themselves out of the whelping box.

I hope to catch the Epic Pup Escape on camera!

Small pups, Big box ...

worries this crew of puppy-wanna-be-escape-artists.

"What to do??????," the pups ponder. Standard Schnauzer pups are nothing if not focused, determined & resourceful.

"We *will* find a way out!," the pups exclaim!!!!

"If we don't escape this time, we will tomorrow!!!!!," the pups cry out.

Can you see how much the pups have grown?

Part of this growing is that the pups are now ready for whelping box preparation for later house-training.

The whelping box is now separated into a 1/3 section of newspaper layers & a 2/3 section of fabric for sleeping, nursing, playing with each other & toys (note the plastic bottle behind them--at this stage, a bottle can be great fun and they cannot injure themselves by biting into plastic because their teeth are still tiny and only just breaking through their gums. Of course, the pups also have great, squeaky fabric toys that are not in this shot).

By providing the pups with a place to eliminate that is separate from their sleeping area, pups will generally move to the paper to go rather than go on the blankets. Given a choice, pups are very smart about eliminating away from their sleeping area because it is canine instinct to not dirty where they live. Also, as an important part of her maternal duties, Kit has done a wonderful job keeping the pups and their "nest" clean, which shows pups that their instinctual preference for cleanliness is correct because their mother makes sure this happens.

Of course, the eliminating only on the paper is not 100% ... but, as seems appropriate to say, it's baby steps ...

Ears are growing! Compare this ear with the tiny, tiny ears of the pups' first days

Special friends together again: Yellow/Amber & Boy/Ash: April 24, Evening

It's interesting to me that these two can be found together at almost any moment, whether they are sleeping or playing. Last night, while the other hungry pups were nursing, Amber & Ash stayed curled up together asleep for the whole nursing session. It will be fun to see how their relationship develops as they pups grow and their individual personalities begin to show more clearly.

Looks comfy, eh? Green girl/Absinthe stretches out on top of Red girl/Apple.

My how they have grown!! "Fat butts" nursing: April 23, Night

Purple girl/Aubergine innocently sleeping
& not-so-innocently biting Kit's ear!!!!

Special Friends: the Boy/Ash & Yellow girl/Amber playing

"Who said black pups don't look great on navy?," asks this girl.

A Contented Family: April 23, Night

All tuckered out in their nice, clean box

After their big, messy adventure, the pups needed to be wiped clean and their whelping box needed a thorough cleaning as well. The pups snooze & wait for the box to be ready in this tub. Can you see Kit keeping guard on them?

The messiest of all!
I wonder which girl this is ...
She seems to realize that she's a fright!

"A mess? Look who's talking, Amber!," replies the other girl.

"Oh, I'm a mess," says this girl.
"You are a mess," says Yellow girl.

"Is this supposed to be good?," asks this girl.

Tune in tomorrow for more adventures with the messy milk pan
& play in the whelping box ...

"Did I say overwhelming? I mean really overwhelming,"
says this girl, who has been attacked by the milk pan ...

Tune in tomorrow for more adventures in milk pans and play in the whelping box!

Tiny Pup, Big Pan: April 22, Afternoon

It's all a bit overwhelming, says this girl.

Faced with the Milk Pan. What to do?

The Pups had their first meal toward weaning on Saturday, April 22.

They are getting barley baby cereal mixed with egg yolks, liquid human baby vitamins, fish oil and goat's milk. You will see from the following photos that the pups made quite a mess of themselves, getting more milk on themselves and each other than they probably drank. After the feeding, the box was a sopping wet, sticky mess--as were the pups!--so both box and pups got thorough cleanings. For the next few days, pups will be offered 2 meals a day of this mixture while they learn how to lap milk/food from a dish. This is the first step toward weaning them from Kit's mother milk. The pups complained bitterly the whole time, seeming to feel that this was an inferior way to eat and that Kit should be returned to them immediately!!!!!

A Sleepy Stretch for Ash (the Boy): April 21, Night

Thanks so much to Patti from Ontario for giving Mr. Black Boy a proper nickname!

Giant pups nursing: April 21, Night

Don't the pups look like they have doubled in size overnight? Compare these 2 photos with the nursing picture from the prior morning.

Nursing yet again: April 20, Morning

"Aren't I Cute?," asks the Boy.
"Yes, you are," answers Kit
(who is not prejudiced in the least ...)
April 20, Morning

5 Nursers in a Row: April 19, Evening

Lots has been happening since my last post.

Yesterday, the pups had their first milk and barley cereal mixture in a pan, taking their first steps toward being weaned. They will have 2 meals of milk and barley baby cereal for the next few days. As you can see from the photos, it is not easy to make the transition from nursing to laping milk from a dish and the pups get completely messy as they try. They probably suck more milk off each other and the floor than they do from the dish.

Pups are growing like mad. Their vision is much better and they can now hear. In some of the photos where pups are looking toward the camera, I have whistled softly to get their attention. They are more and more playful each day, with each other and with me. I weighed each pup today. Here are their weights, from smallest to largest:

Red/Apple 3 lbs
Green/Absinthe 3 lbs, 3 oz
Yellow/Amber 3 lbs, 10oz
Boy 3 lbs, 12 oz
Purple/Aubergine/Power Paunch/Pudge Paw 4 lbs, 2 oz

As you can see, Purple is still the most accomplished eater. The Boy, however, was the first pup to understand lapping milk from the dish and at 3 lbs, 12 oz, he may just give Purple a run for the best eater crown in the next few days!

This begins a series of moments featuring Yellow girl & Boy snuggling: April 18, Evening

Yellow girl & Boy snuggle, close-up

Purple & Red Girls Nose-to-Nose

Can you believe these two girls were the same weight at birth? While they will probably even up in size after weaning, right now Red is 1 lb smaller than Purple. Red's nickname is Apple.

"Boys are for dominating," asserts Yellow girl.

Female pups love to dominate the boys. The girls just seem to get a kick out of pushing the boys around. When they are older and having fun play-fighting with each other, the boy is bound to be a favorite playmate for the girls.

Yellow girl's nickname is Amber, after golden-colored amber. The Boy's color was black and we haven't been able to think of a name for a black thing that starts with A. Any suggestions?

What a beautiful Boy!

Kit says, "Stop photographing my pups!"

Puppies are made of rubber: look how flexible Green girl is!!

"Quality time" for Kit & Green girl

All the girl pups have nicknames that start with A and are something that is the color of the dot on their heads. We call Green girl Absinthe, a light green liqueur.

Biggest pup: April 18, Evening

Purple girl is a big pup. She weighs 3 lbs, 4 ounces. Would you be surprised to hear that she is the best and most assertive nurser? Probably not ... Would you be surprised to hear that her nickname is Power Paunch? Probably not ... Would you be surprised to hear that the name we call her is Aubergine, French for Eggplant (because she is plump like an eggplant and her color is purple like an eggplant)?

Big Yawn: April 18, Evening