Week 7 - 7/24/2016

Week 7 – Mad Max. This title comes to mind as I watch these huge puppies racing through my kitchen chasing after each other with their teeth out! The high temps and evening storms are forcing us to spend more meal and play times indoors. The pups are no dummies, they do their business in the yard and then race to the sliding door wanting to come into the A/C. Once inside they perk up and run around like mad dogs! Play fights are more serious and these little guys have speed as they zoom around the kitchen. Play time can last over an hour now so with ten puppies playing like crazy, it wears you out!

A favorite game the puppies like to play is 'keep away'. One pup runs by with a toy in their mouth to go find a quiet place to chew on it in peace, but then there are at least three other pups that take interest as they go by and start chasing after to try to steal the toy! No pup is safe from this as they all just really, really want what the other dog is playing with all the time. And thus more play fighting ensues as you see a new victor running out of the mess with the toy in the mouth, only to start the game all over again!

Our master escape artist is Ketsy. She quietly tries to figure out how to get by the barricade in our kitchen to sneak into the living room to play and explore. I was wondering why Kyra was having a blast in the living room one afternoon, only to find out it's because she's playing with Ketsy! She even managed to find a way past our new pond fence, finding the area where the fence meets the patio column and giving her an extra two inches to sneak through. Buffy is also one to try to escape, she just does it with more noise so she gets caught! Honey, Ziki and Mango are our triplets and boy they just try to beat each other at who can be the sweetest pup ever! All are great cuddlers and lickers too. Whoever gets one of these girls better watch out or they might get a toothache! BB's favorite game is chasing the towel. Once she sees us shaking one out she immediately runs over to join in on the fun and jump on it and try to play tug with it! This usually attracts Buffy and Honey as well to join in on the game. Sweetie is a good mix of adventurous pup but also is a sweet girl who will crawl into your lap for some love!

Nacho seems to be our water pup. He was always the best swimmer when we had them in the pond and he looooves to play in the water dish! He will definately need a raised water dish at home, because once he see's us place down a dish in the backyard, he immediately runs over to dig all the water out. He's even stood in the water dishes in the dog kennel (they are raised up about 6 inches), standing in one to dig the water out the other.

We just thought we had some thirsty pups and now know who the culprit is! Rancher did this cute howl thing in his sleep the other night. It started low and worked it's way up to a cute little howl. He slept through the entire event. :) He is a sweet boy and usually stays out of trouble, except when we catch him digging! Vinnie is our handsome, huge boy. I think his handsome mug just weasels his way into everyones hearts!

The pups had some play time socialization in the hall and bathroom, to get used to areas that echo more. They also had some sirens and hair dryer as some more noises to get them used to. At this point most of our time is spent playing with them and having last minute visitors come over to play with the pups. It's always hard in this upcoming week, knowing it's the last week most of the pups will be with us, while also feeling like there is a light at the end of the tunnel that we'll be back to normal soon. Although it will be sad, we are excited to bring ten new families into our Desert Sol family soon!

The Chicken Nugget litter (as always in order of appearance):