Puppies in every corner

As many of you probably guessed with the absence of my blog yesterday, yes I was assisting in the birth of Leia's pups. We now have pups in every corner!!!

But before I get ahead of myself let me fill you in on this past week a bit.

Meiko's Spice kids and Isla's Beach Babes are all doing incredible. I say this all time but the growth rate of these pups is astounding! They went from teeny tiny 7.8oz - 14oz. little squeakers to 35 oz. giant fat piggies! Filling the air with plenty of squeaks and squeals all the time and skootching around their box like they are on a serious mission. It's the milk bar mission for sure! Little Cayenne is being well taken care of by her littermates on the Beach team and her big brothers have her back like there's no tomorrow.

Little Thyme, Ginger and Cinnamon are my littles over on the Spice team but they are also gaining and thriving like mad. Blue, Bay and Miss Coral are my biggies and are full blown beauties beyond belief.

I have 2 new helpers around here, Parker and Gavin who are locals that will be helping here and there as things get busy around here. Parker started out my ENS work this week and did amazing. Isla was watchful but let him work on her babies. Each one did great showing me already little differences on how they reacted to the handling. From ENS we continue on with our 10 step handling exercises incorporating many new experiences for all the babes.

They have already been outside to meet the other dogs and to say hello to the beautiful world. My 2 daughters that were here for a day visiting had them outside for a few mins. snuggling and giving them plenty of love.

They all have had their nails trimmed and were exposed to the dremel this week. We expose them to the dremel early before their sight and hearing develop so it's less scary for them once these senses surface. Early exposures are key in their in their development. The vacuum runs in their nursery multiple times a day already vibrating their space so by the time they are running romping rascals I can actually vacuum up their tails without them even being phased. Many other exercises will take place in the weeks ahead, car rides, stroller outings, ice toe baths (resilience training), water exposure, surface training, music and much more... and yes kitten exposure for long term dog/cat love (this is a past litter) because why just have puppies when you can have kittens as well!

The families that I have on board are all buzzing with excitement and can't wait to get their patties on these little squishy squashers in less than 3 wks. now. The time flies by now so quickly. More visits will take place and the excitement from there shoots through the roof. There has been a record number amount of shifts and movement within my little lists this go round and has taken me all week to sort through all these changes. It will continue through today but my hope is I will get these lists finalized today so everyone knows that their forever fur friend is indeed on the horizon.

So as the energy of new growing and thriving life fill the nooks and crannies of our nursery space, new energy started to brew Sat. night with Leia obviously shifting into gear. I stayed with her all night as she mildly labored into the morning. It took her awhile to ramp up into the late morning but finally without any problems she blessed us with a huge breathtaking male pup weighing in at an astounding 18.8oz. Tonka is only 66 lbs. and with Leia only 60 lbs. I was not even half expecting this size of pup. Welcome to the world my beautiful boy whom I named Cricket.

Leia was never a very huge pregnant mama but the last week she got quite a bit bigger so I was geared up for what I thought would be at least 6 or 7 pups. She had 7 pups last litter but wasn't quite as big this time but I thought she still might have maybe 6.

She continued to labor but kept me on the edge of my seat with creeping in doubt at the length that took place in between pups. But the doubt vanished as little Miss 'Dragonfly' showed up again at a whopping 18.4oz.

Leia was a rock star and she was doing exactly what she was made to do even though there were tired eyes. The rest of the dogs were very respectful of her space and kept their distance from her when she went outside for very brief breaks. Things were taking their own sweet time but as long as distress was not present I let her labor without intervention. 'Bumblebee' showed up and completely stopped me in my tracks as I stared at the scale at a crazy 21.4oz. Never have I had a pup this big.

She handled his arrival like a champ and instantly curled around her trio and I knew right away that she was done. 3 giant perfectly perfect little BUG babies for Leia. There is no rhyme or reason for such a small litter. Same dad for all 3 mamas and very different count for all of them. I am grateful things went smoothly, we had no losses, mama and babies are doing great and intervention was avoided. We round out these litters at 21 gorgeous babes to bless many families with and change their lives forever. I am so looking forward to the weeks ahead with so many of you. To share in the incredible joys of what these squeakers bring.

The grand yearly reunion WILL HAPPEN. As many of you question this event with all these pups here on the Homestead. I would not miss this event as it's a highlight of mine and for so many of the year. I no longer have any of my daughters here to help on a daily basis but I will have help that day to pull this off. SO MANY families have reported that they are showing up. I can't wait to see you all and to see your beautiful Cream Puffs and how they have grown this past year.

For now, back to the babies! Take care of everyone!