February 6, 2018 – We said our good-byes over the weekend to seven great puppies and seven wonderful families. I always say the people we meet are a very special part of doing this business. Jolly, Jingle, Kringle, Rudolph, Carol, Holly and Noel are now all living in homes where they are loved and cared for and their families will finish the work of raising them into great dogs. We’re thankful for all the families that adopted from us! Because of Winnie and Basil and their seven puppies, we were able to give $2,100.00 dollars out of the funds raised from this litter to help children in Uganda live! That money goes a super long way in feeding, educating and housing children that are desperate for help. Thank you puppy families for your suport of us and Amazima Ministries by adopting from us!
And we missed getting a picture of sweet Valerie and her family. They chose “Carol,” and have named their new family member, “Paulena.”
And they all lived happily ever after.
January 29, 2018 – The puppies are seven weeks old now and we’re in our final week of preparation for going home: crate training, vet appointments and of course, a photo shoot! This litter has been amazing! Not just saying that, as we DO love every single litter, but there has been something special about the sweet, quiet atmosphere in our home during the past seven weeks. They have been so calm, so easy, and just wonderful. We trust they’ll bring the same joy to their forever families at home. Here they are at seven weeks old!
The Girls
The Boys
January 22, 2018 – This week we’ve focused on more and more emotional conditioning. We’re building confidence by introducing them to lots of loud noises they may enounter outside (we have a recording of loud car horns, trains, power tools and loud crashes.) The more we play it, the more they seem to say, “Whatever,” with little reaction. Our adult dogs are a little annoyed though! Ha. They look at us like, “What in the world…?!?” The pups continue to have lots of baths and are getting totally used to the blow dryer. (We’ll put a video of that on Instagram.) They are learning to run to us when they hear, “Puppy come!” They know it always means a reward of some type: a bite of cheese, a belly rub or a pet on the head with “Good job!,” or it’s their meal time. When they are fed, we give them as much as they can eat in about 10 minutes and then take the dish away when we’re sure they’re done and had enough. We want them to be eager eaters. This is a good habit to keep going at home. We don’t want lazy eaters that can become picky or malnourished or underweight. They are so comfortable in both a travel crate and a wire crate at this point and typically they sleep with a buddy or two (or more!) in one of the two crates provided in their kennel. The next step is to help them become comfortable in a crate by themselves, and in a room outside of their kennel area. We’ll be working on this more before they go home to their forever families. We love these pups and the time is going so fast! Here they are at six weeks old:
The Boys
The Girls
January 15, 2018 – Winnie’s puppies are doing so well, now five weeks old. The time is flying by! Their fur is filling in now too, and each of them in various stages, is getting their wavy fleece coat.
This week we worked to make them more and more comfortable with: baths, crate training, blow dryers and lots of other loud noises to desensitize, playtime in the kitchen, socialization, and lots of interaction with people! They started on kibble and are starting to wean from mama. They’re teeth came in and Winnie isn’t real happy about nursing them anymore. 🙁 They’re now enjoying solids, using the litter box regularly, and becoming more confident every day. Today we brought out the big play tube and they had to have courage to go through it. Surprisingly, little Noel had no fear. She marched right through to come to me calling her from the other end. We’re having fun. And yes, we’re a little proud. When you look at the pictures we took today, you’ll see why.
The Boys
The Girls
January 8, 2018 – So happy to have met so many of our Winnie-Basil families over the weekend. More visitors are coming Wednesday. We love the excitement! This week, the pups became more active, had their first wormings, enjoyed baths, and had lots of interaction with many different people. Yesterday, Mama Winnie and the pups were moved into a larger room and pen near our kitchen. We always move the pups at this age to give them more room for romping and also to make room for the litter box. We set up the litter box yesterday and within a very short time, they were using it! YAY!! I came downstairs this morning when I woke, and found mama and pups content and the pen mostly clean as everyone seems to be understanding our program of learning a special place to do potty. Ahhhh. Our job just got easier. Now, we are focusing on desensitizing – we are introducing them to loud noises like blenders, blowdryers and different rooms and textures. Sudden movements like baby blankets falling down on them can seem like nothing to us, but to a new puppy this startles them and than we quickly comfort them and do it again and again until they see it’s not a big deal. These activities are critical at this age to expose them to lots of new, scary (not really) experiences before fear sets in. They have what experts call a “startle response” in this brief phase, but no fear.
Today, we did photos. They are getting cuter everyday!
The Boys
The Girls
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January 2, 2018 – Happy New Year! With the holidays, the pups got LOTS of holding and socialization! On New Year’s Eve, we had a big house party with lots of family and friends here. The pups went from lap to lap throughout the night (all washed hands, shoes left outside for pup’s safety from Parvo, of course!) and each pup was held by many. So important, as the critical socialization period has begun. Over the upcoming days and weeks, we work to introduce the puppies to as many different people as we can. Each new person (one with a hat, one young, one with a beard, etc.), represents a unique experience to a young puppy. Each interaction with someone new and different increases their comfort level with people. A well-socialized dog is an excellent, confident dog that can go up to anyone and not feel anxious, threatened or fearful!
We are also continuing to work on other conditioning that desensitizes them to various touches and sounds. We want our pups comfortable with noise, children, baths, and different activities in the house.
The pups are growing fast and all eating well! Noel continues to be just a little smaller than the others. She also happened to be the chosen pick with several of the ladies at our house party. Some threatened to sneak her off in their purse. 🙂 Others asked if they can come back and hold pups next week. Yes, of course!
Today was another day of activities: they had a bath, visitors arrived to see them, and then their photo shoot. Here they are at three weeks old.
The Boys
The Girls
December 26, 2017 – We’ve had a busy week with working with each puppy on their bio-sensor steps and making sure mama is getting fed lots to keep her milk supply going. All are doing very well. The pups have more than doubled their weights and they began opening their eyes over the Christmas weekend! They are trying hard to see us, it seems, as they look hard into our eyes. They love being held at this point as they’ve become quite accustomed to snuggling in a lap. Here they are at two weeks old!
The Boys
The Girls
December 18, 2018 – We’re always happy when we make it to the one week mark and all pups are doing well! We breathe a sigh of relief because we made it through the first critical days and all pups are thriving, gaining weight, and mama has not accidentally crushed any of her babies (this happens sometimes.) So I get to go back to sleeping in my bed, trusting mama Winnie has everything under control on her own. 🙂 The pups are all weighing in between one and two pounds at this point. Noel has been the smallest from the beginning, now just over one pound and slightly smaller than her sisters. They are becoming more comfortable with being held, as we work with them and make sure each puppy gets some holding time every day. Winnie is now comfortable letting us take her pups out her sight for a few minutes for a picture. So we did that today! Here is our Christmas litter at one week old.
The Girls
The Boys
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December 14, 2017 – The puppies are thriving! Eating well, active, and gaining weight. We started the Bio-sensor program with each pup today, holding them and doing the steps to begin neurological stimulation. All good for the pups! We take lots and lots of pictures, but they all seem to look the same at this point. So we’ll just post a couple. We’ve themed this litter, “The Christmas Litter.” We welcome to our world: Carol (girl), Noel (girl), Holly (girl), Jolly (boy), Kringle (boy), Jingle (boy), and Rudolf (boy).
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December 11, 2017 – We had a late night helping Winnie and the pups through this miracle of life! Seven pups arrived: four boys and three girls in colors ranging from cream, apricot, caramel and red. Mama did great and it was pretty much uneventful with no problems at all. Winnie and her pups are nursing and resting now. The pups all latched on nicely and everybody looks strong and healthy. They came out active, squeaking and squirming and they let mama know when she’s needed. Winnie is super attentive to them and we’re excited to start this journey of helping to raise these pups into being great dogs! For now, we need some sleep. 🙂
The first hours of life:
