Joan of Arc

http://s394.photobucket.com/albums/pp23/le...at%206%20weeks/

Well my babies havent seen mum's milk bar for two days and was hoping that her milk was starting to dry up. Just went into the puppy room and here is Nanna standing in the box allow the pups to suckle Fruitless exercise - sh'e be like the pub with no beer but amazing how strong their maternal instinct is.

Only bringing mine in at night now. But the raucous they made at 3 this morning was revolting. First time ever I have had to get up to pups in the middle of the night. Gave them biscuits and warm milk and they settled. But 6 oclock and we're starving again If they keep that up it'll be outside all night every night and if they're cold they can buy a blanket

After I posted that I left home to go back to work for Parent / Teacher interviews. Stopped at supermarket on way to get some extras adn when I came out it was raining. First time in weeks and I had left pups outside, debated with myself and then decided I had better race home and check them. Just as well I did dont think they knew what rain was. Poor babies were all huddled up on teh trampoline bed getting drenched when they could have gone into that nice warm kennel So I nearly drowned in the pouring rain bringing them all back inside. Then they all had to be towelled off before I could go back to school

You'd be surprised where chips can end up. Been there when everyone of my pups were chipped, and two years later they found the chip for one boy down his left leg.

We live outside now and only come in late at night. They usually sleep all night but last night they woke up at 5 in the morning and behaved as though their stomachs thought thier throats had been cut. I go tup and gave them some milk and went back to bed. Tweny five minutes later they started again so I fed them. They still ate thier breaky at 8:30. Here are some piccies of the yard we put up for them and thier new log cabin chalet. http://s394.photobucket.com/albums/pp23/le...%20puppy%20pen/

She's a lab, she loves to smell and follow things. You have to make yourself far more interesting than that smell. So how - I repeat she's a lab, use the most basic drive a lab has - food and rewards. Keep those best bits of treats, that she's not normally allowed to have, in the back pocket or pouch etc and only bring them out for the recall. Call, bridge word, reward (treat) and a big fuss- lots of "good girl"s ( with pats, and the big dance or nice positive voice)

We live outside during the day now and come in at night http://s394.photobucket.com/albums/pp23/leebru/Puppies%20big%20day%20out/

Although ours are not necessarily with mum all day, they spend lots of time with their Nana and Uncle and they interact with them. Next week when mum's milk has dried up she will no doubt be happy to be with them again. She still has some milk but is not that interested in feeding them so we do and when they stop chasing her she will play with them

Mine are booked in for Tuesday night at 5:00pm They can now get up the back step and meet me at the back door, so that's another hurdle in fencing to overcome. They are eating better now and Tina only visits them when I allow her - we have a baby gate up so she cant get to the puppies unless we open it. But she rarely attempts it now. Last night was the first night she didnt have overnight access to them and they slept all night. OH allowed her about 5 minutes with them first thing this morning and then about an hour later we fed them. I will let her visit them late this evening and again in the middle of the morning tomorrow and then she will only be visiting them once a day. Six weeks on Tuesday and so would like them totally weaned by then or at the end of the week.

Trisven you are correct - its freezing here lately. But al safe and that's what counts. Babies continue to grow beautifully Kanatai they are gorgeous babies and I newfies are a breed I have a real soft spot for. A friend of ours has two newfy girls and they are just adorable.

FIRE ;) :p Came home last night, bought puppies in from outside and everything fine. OH comes home from work at 10 and I went to bed - woke up at 1 and said "what's burning?" After a quick dash around the house our yellow boy was standing at back door panic barking. Opened door adn the dog kennel was on fire No one hurt and dogs and puppies all fine but they will have to live inside today while I am at work. Looks like the heating pad burnt through the vet bed and it has smoldered and caught light.

Thank you all so much.

Well we had another day outside while I was at work. Similar routine to yesterday with Tina spending the morning with pups and then afternoon in the big yard with other dogs. Pups were hungry when we got home after work and that means they eat a good meal. Once they have eaten I let mum back in for a while. They are now passed out sleeping soundly in their box inside. Solved a great mystery :D - why this litter are such small eaters compared to my previous litters -simple once you know :D . This time we were using a different mince to what we usually use. Yesterday after thinking abuot everything else I used good old fashioned hamburger mince from the butchers and you should have seen them tuck in . Today they ate everything. :rolleyes: five weeks today. Have homes for all the babies and could have found homes for the litter about 3 times over. Havent taken deposits etc yet as I am still not certain who will be staying or going and not making my decision just yet.

Mu guys are 5 weeks tomorrow. They went outside for the entire day today because I had to go back to work. So like Shelby they get breakfast and then they have to wait until I can get here to feed them again. Today I was lucky and left here at 8:15 and was back by 1. I had left mum with them in the large puppy pen and she was able to get away from them if she chose too. When I arrived home at 1 she was in teh big kennel with them. I fed them and then went back to work but left mum out with the big dogs until I got home at 4:15. I fed them again and bought them back inside for the night. They are not terribly big eaters for labradors, as a matter of fact I am a little concerned at the tiny amount they are eating. They seem starving when you put the bowl down adn they tuck in with gusto. But they only eat a small amount and walk away. They have soacked biscuit, mince and milk. For breakfast over the last 3 days we have tried porridge with thier biscuits and milk. And today I bough home a BBQ chook and chopped the breast up for them. I've never had a litter of Labs that are such small eaters before. Its certainly a novelty - albeit it a worrying one. But they are healthy and happy and running around savagely attacking each other's tails, ears, well anything

It is a year tomorrow since we lost our beautiful Cassie in such tragic and devastating circumstances. It still hurts everyday but the pain is held close now as we have begun to move on. We are celebrating new life with a litter on the ground which includes a beautiful yellow girl who looks disturbingly like her Aunty Cassie as a pup. And today another beautiful girl crossed the rainbow bridge at the spritely age of 14. Lily will be desperately missed by her family and they have posted this poem by Rudyard Kipling in her memory and so I thought we might share it in memory of those she has gone to join. I have done mostly what men do, And pushed it out of my mind; But I can't forget, if I wanted to, Four-Feet trotting behind. ...Day after day, the whole day through Wherever my road inclined Four-Feet said, 'I am coming with you!' And trotted along behind. Now I must go by some other round Which I shall never find Some where that does not carry the sound Of Four-Feet trotting behind. -R Kipling RIP Lily

Thanx for the update.. great they are going so well!! Did u get any photos? ;) Great news Yer my boy isnt liking the tail pulling I spose they need to know what bottons not to push lol Dakota had a great time outside playing with them.. she has been a great mum.. They do try and feed but there just isnt anything there but they keep trying Well yes :D but not of them sorry. :D We are building a retaining wall, we have worked nonstop all over the school holidays because we had to lift about 300 pavers, move about 50 koppers logs and dig trenches, lay the bottom two rows of the wall and now the OH is doing the associated plumbing. Eventually it will be a great area for puppy raising but not yet finished. Our yellow boy is great with babies, he allows them to pull on tails and bite ears and when he gets sick of it, he just rolls over - turns the other cheek so to speak And of course Maddie (Nanna) just has to get in with the grandkids when ever she can to make sure Tina is doing a good job

Today we had some sun, not a lot of warmth in it but sunny for a little while. We took a crate outside and covered with bedding to make a cave, then put the puppy pen around the front of it. Put it all on the pavers because they were dry and certainly warmer than our constantly wet grass. They played for a while, then had a sleep in the crate, after abuot an hour I woke them up, fed them and they played for a while and snuck back into thier cave and slept for about an hour. I also put thier big teddy bears in there with them and they snuggle up to them for extra warmth. We are on 3 feeds a day with visits from mum mid afternoon and once at night. Then she still has access to them all night.

A little burst of sunshine this afternoon so we dash out with our babies in the puppy pen, they spent about 20 minutes outside, they had a nice drink of milk and some lunch and then believe it or not the sun went and it got very cold very quick - so back inside. We'll try agian tomorrow.

Well still so cold and windy today that we didnt get outside. We are having two meals a day of meat and biscuit with Wambaroo but we arent keen on the biscuits. Have soaked them longer and mashed them with the potato masher, then mixed into the meat and poured milk over that. Tonight we ate halve of our dinner, but still managed to extract most of the meat. One little boy still not keen on solids but he'll come good. Hesa I love your Diva - but I love them all.

The link to some more photos - would be interested in your opinions http://s394.photobucket.com/albums/pp23/le...week%20puppies/

No going outside here today - freezing all day and only 12 degrees, now we have a storm and they are predicting 30+ mls of rain overnight and the temp must have gone down at least to 7 degrees. On top of that the wind is now howling up the valley. As for names, we have played with a couple but I havent sent papers away yet.

Feeding time at the zoo here today - their first feed from a plate or bowl This one dot baby (its liquid paper) is a little slower than her siblings to get to the bowl but comes when called so I hand feed her a little first.

Warm moist towel them - a drop of smelly stuff might help but wouldnt over do it. Of course its cold and wet here so we wouldnt bath anyway.

Couldnt resist posting this