2015 was too busy to find the time to update the website. The stories and pictures will be posted in the following months.
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We've had a wonderful week with a lot of progress! A week ago the puppies only had a view on the garden, this week they made their first steps outdoor. Last week the puppies only had one half of the living room, this week they explored the entire house. Last week the puppies ate some milk and meat from a plate, this week they all got their own feeding bowl! The puppies are having a lot of fun playing with each other and Aoide, but there are more types of dogs in the world.. That's why we invited some other dogs to the house this week to visit the puppies. The puppies were a bit nervous, but with the support of Aoide they had a lovely time. Besides other dogs the puppies also met children for the first time. They were especially interested in baby Maud. I believe the pictures and videos below show what a tough bunch of dogs these puppies are growing into. There are even more pictures in the album on Flickr. Not only a fun week for the puppies.. Also the future puppy owners had a wonderful week. After three weeks of rest for mom Aoide and her babies, they were welcome to visit their future puppies for the first time. Who's going where hasn't been decided yet, but it was a great opportunity for the new owners to experience the puppies' developing characters.
The puppies have started to turn into true dogs this week. They can walk around, they have discovered the toys and they 'ate' some meat and milk from a plate for the first time. We expanded the area around the whelping box. The puppies now have half of the living room to roam around and they have a lovely view on the garden. The first steps towards becoming 'pets' have also been made: since yesterday the puppies are wearing collars during the day and we also introduced them to the crate. Also.. not unimportant to mention: Debbie is the first who has one ear up! ;) Below you can find a selection of the pictures of this week. The entire album can be found on Flickr. 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. Sunday January 11th, four puppies were born in the middle of the night, two boys and two girls. Both Aoide and the babies are doing great. Mirtillo is very interested, but stays at a respectful distance from the whelping box. As a litter theme we choose the American TV series 'Shameless'. The pedigree names of the puppies will all refer to a character from this TV series. Below you will find the first pictures of the puppies. Please stay tuned for regular updates! The last puppy was born at 3:23 am, not even ten minutes after her brother. We weren't able to take pics of her right away, because as soon as she was out, she found a nipple under her brothers and sister. Here you see her as third from the left (fltr: puppy 2, puppy 1, puppy 4, puppy 3). Her birth weight was 185 gram. 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...
Aoide is 49 days pregnant today. We can hear the puppies' hearts and feel them move around! And we received this picture of a beautiful drawing of Aoide and her puppies. The drawing is made by Renske. Thank you very much!
The website hasn't been updated for a while, due to a lack of spare time.. but.. we've got some amazing news to share: Aoide is pregnant! Monday, October 27th, was the first day of Aoide's heat. The following monday we started with the progesterone tests to find the time of ovulation and with that the best time for the mating. Monday November 10th was that day: the progesterone reached >5 ng/ml and we made arrangements to go visit Dr. Blendinger in Germany for the insemination.
After the ultrasound Aoide's belly started to grow. On the picture below you can see she looks already rather 'full' at the moment! She's at 45 days today and we expect her to deliver the puppies around January 11th. We'll schedule to do an X-ray in the week before, so we know how many we can expect!
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