The world has suddenly become much larger for the puppies this week. Their eyes and ears started to open at the beginning of the week, so they are now experiencing a huge amount of new stimuli. Because they are able to see and hear, the puppies have started to play with each other and with Aoide in their wobbly baby fashion. The puppies are very eager to discover new things, which made us decide to give them a small area outside of the whelping box. Although Aoide is still cleaning up after them, the puppies are already trying to relieve themselves on the puppy pads. 

The Dutch Kennel Club approved the pedigree names this week. The puppies are now officially known as:

Ian - Suaralayn Orange Boy
Fiona - Suaralayn Chaos Junkie
Frank - Suaralayn Karma Houdini
Debbie - Suaralayn Pollyanna Principle

If you click on the names, you will be directed to the puppies' personal webpages. Here you will find the explanation behind their pedigree names (among other things).

Below you will find a selection of the pictures of this week. The entire album can be found on Flickr.  

I'm also adding some movies this week! The first one shows the puppies playing and in the second you can see and hear Ian howling.

Although sleeping and eating are still the main activities, the puppies are starting to move around more and discover their environment. They are climbing on top of Aoide, they are trying to taste and grab new things besides mom's teat, they are very curious to 'see' who come to visit them in the whelping box, they are developing their voices and they are trying to sit, stand and walk. Of course everything under Aoide's loving supervision. 

The puppies also had their first manicure and pedicure this week and Aoide decided to come along on our long walks again, which made Mirtillo very happy!

Today the puppies all got a stuffed toy, which will move with them to their new homes when they are old enough. I took some individual pictures of each puppy with its own stuffed toy.

Below you will find a selection of this week's pictures. You can find the complete album at Flickr.

The puppies are already one week old today! Aoide is a wonderful caring mother, who spends all day and night in the whelping box. We have a camera above the whelping box, so we can keep an eye on Aoide and the puppies during the night, but it hasn't been necessary to intervene. The puppies grow like weeds and had already doubled their birth weights on day five. Yesterday we decided to give the puppies a litter name, so we don't have to call them 'puppy 1' etc. anymore. During their time with us they will be known as Ian, Fiona, Frank and Debbie. These names come from the TV series 'Shameless' and the pedigree names will refer to these characters as well. 

The puppies had their first visitors today. We believe it's good for mom and babies to not be disturbed too much during the first three weeks, but we made an exception for our close family. 

Below you will find a selection of this week's pictures. You can find the complete album on Flickr.

Aoide just entered the final week of her pregnancy and she is doing great. She is super relaxed and she enjoys the daily walks at her pace and all the attention she receives. We took Aoide to the new vet last Monday, day 55, for a proper introduction and to make an X-ray of her belly.

Unfortunately the X-ray isn't very clear, but we can conclude that Aoide is expecting three puppies for sure and she might be hiding a little surprise. The whelping box had already been set up, but since yesterday it is completely finished and ready to use. The heating is on and Aoide loves it! Mirtillo does as well!

The puppies are exactly the opposite to Aoide at the moment.. They don't like to sleep and are super active! I made a short movie of all the movement in Aoide's belly today. We are thoroughly enjoying the fact that we can see and feel the puppies move!

Only a few more days now...