Hoekema Family
- Apr 29
- 4 min read

Pups well past 4 wks + VISITORS!

So much to do, so little time! Hence being 1 day late in catching everybody up here. Every single moment there is something new, something going go, new things to discover, new growth to be had and new skills to conquer.

Faces a week ago on these darlings are nothing like the faces on these pups today. Changing in front of my eyes.

No longer squished little features, no more scrunchy eyes or small wee potato bodies. These amazing pups have gained strength, size, maturity, vocal chords! And confidence in heaps and leaps.

These 'Birdie' babies have moved from nestlings to full fledglings in the blink of an eye. Not to say that they don't go back to their cozy 'nest' as they certainly do but they are absolutely testing their independence and learning to 'fly'.

Oriole loves his food, Raven loves everything, Finch loves to play, Chickadee loves to snuggle and the others simply love life to the max. Every single babe has my heart.

Keeping these pups days filled with activity, structure, and new things to learn keeps me on my toes from dawn to dusk. They consume everything I throw at them figuratively and literally.

The baby whelping box got broken down at the beginning of this week and we transitioned to the big kid nursery with potty trays and crates. No time to waste!

Potty training with deciphering locations got picked up on extremely quickly and is improving daily. Making sure not to give too much space/freedom too quickly is always key. They have one more chunk of space that they will earn here hopefully by next week.

Mama Meiko sleeps close by but is now thanking me for letting her sleep on her own at night without her constant little cling ons attaching themselves to her all night long.

She is spot on with timing with everything she does when it comes to babies. She is now telling me when she wants to go visit the babies and when she'd like her own downtime.

Meal times continue to be one of the most favorite times of the day for them. They are now up to their full 3 meals and doing exceptional with their powering back strategies. Scatter feeding and hand feeding are also used randomly at meal times to introduce these 2 other ways of feeding which will be used in their future.

The crates are now being used for every meal. This limits the need for speed, food guarding and litter food aggression. It also builds a love for their crate as a good place to be. Later this week short spells of time outside of mealtimes will also take place in their crates which will lead to naptimes soon enough. For now the puppy dog pile very much continues in their 'nests'. They disperse slowly over time outside their nests as they over heat quickly. Buy a new fancy expensive bed they said... and they sleep on the floor!

Outside time with the bigger dogs took place as much as the weather allowed. Tonka is always in heaven playing with the babies. Isla and Leia spent some time giving kisses and also saying hi and hello.

When the torrential down pours returned we played inside with balance boards and their slide. Of course Tonka thinks he still fits on this little slide, which he does not but so very much entertaining to watch. They are gaining confidence by the hour and ‘waking’ up in their personalities every new time I spend with them, enough for me to start noting the differences between the pups.

Along with all this activity, new exposures and introductions, the biggest event BY FAR was PUPPY VISITS! Families flocked in by the bushels to finally get their hands on these fur babies. 4 weeks flew by but seemed like forever in the next breath as these families waited so eagerly for this weekend to come. Young children were instructed on proper handling techniques, new couples were educated on the missing pieces of worry that they had, grief was touched on, hope was discovered and new love was very much flooding hearts every second. Smiles were combusting and my heart was full knowing so many lives are about to be improved immensely.

The rain posed a bit of a challenge on one of our visit days but we made the best of it anyway. The other 2 days the sun graced us with it’s presence and we were able to snuggle, play, chat and answer any and all questions these new fur families had. To tear away from these babies was extremely difficult but in another 2 weeks we will repeat these visits for these families to really figure out who belongs to who. Such a fun process in working through all the pups and picking out the subtle personality differences. They are so incredibly good at telling me, that it melts my heart.

Every pup will indeed end up in the home it was meant to be in.

The week ahead will continue back to back packed with as much as I can to get these babies as ready as I possibly can to fly on their own. Today will be a very low key day though after the excessive amount of input from the weekend. A reminder that a rest and recovery day is much needed and appreciated.