Friday, May 4, 2012

Week 5: Getting Ready to Move Puppies Out to Kennel

Hi Everyone!

Wow, has this past week been crazy!  Not only are my allergies awful (can you say weird weather swings?), but the fuel pump went out on my car on my way home from school on Tuesday, our AC unit isn't working in this heat, and very wild little puppies are making a mess of my condo!  ;)

The puppies are so busy and active right now - within the past week, they discovered that they can squirt through the baby gate separating our kitchen from our living room area, and consequently, they run around as they please!  It is really quite funny to see them squeezing through the gate - the more food they eat, the more they struggle to get their big bellies through.  I tried attaching cardboard to the gate to block the puppies from going through, as I'm always afraid they will get themselves stuck while I'm not around, but they managed to shred their way to freedom in one day flat.  While I started trying to brainstorm other ways I could block the gate, I finally gave up, since puppies really only have one more day indoors before we move them out to the kennels.  And while I'll miss having little ones around to snuggle with all the time, I'll appreciate not mopping my floors 3-4 times a day!

With the puppies moving out to the property, we look forward to having all of you out to visit on the weekends when your schedules permit.  Not only will you guys have the opportunity to love on your potential future puppies, but you'll be helping us out with socializing everyone.  The puppies are already used to being around other dogs and cats, but their experience with people has largely been limited to me and Dave to-date (although one family came to visit at the condo last weekend).

In addition to the pictures I posted on Picassa from the past week, I wanted to provide you all with individual pictures so you can track the progress of the puppies you might be interested in.  At this point, Dave and I are most interested in considering Purple girl & Turquoise girl for ourselves due to their looks, noses (with where their noses lead them, there's no doubting they are beagles), and additionally, their adventurous personalities.  However, we won't decide for certain until we've evaluated the puppies at 6½ weeks of age.

Blue Boy
Out of all of the puppies, I think Blue boy is the most laid back.  Sure, he'll play and wrestle and bounce around, but he is also perfectly happy to be held, will flop down anywhere belly up, or patiently allows his brothers and sisters to gnaw on his ears, tail, or paws without complaint.  Blue boy has a wonderful, gentle personality and is bound to be a true lapdog.

Green Boy

Green boy is my cry-baby of the group.  He loves to explore, but if he gets in over his head or gets frustrated about something, he'll cry for me to help him out.  Green boy is the puppy who gets stuck most frequently trying to go through the gate - he just doesn't ever miss a meal and his belly is the proof!  Green boy squirms a little bit when I first pick him up, but once I give him kisses and scratches, he usually relaxes and falls asleep against my chest.

Pink Girl
Pink girl is my wild woman!  If she isn't crashed out sleeping, then she is running around looking for action (making her very hard to photograph sometimes)!  A social butterfly, she wants in on every wrestling match she sees and loves hanging out with the grown-up dogs.  It makes me laugh to think my initial impression of her was that she was so quiet and sweet!  Not that she isn't sweet - after all, she loves to give kisses and to be picked up and snuggled - it's just that she's not particularly reserved!

Purple Girl
Purple girl is MY little girl.  She comes dashing through the gate from the kitchen whenever I come home and loves to follow me around the condo.  She is definitely an explorer and was the first puppy to discover the gate could be traversed.  Her nose is constantly seeking new smells and I've already caught her trying to steal my underwear from the bathroom floor when I was in the shower!

Red Boy
Red boy is so spunky!  He is just full of personality and when he runs, it looks almost like he's skipping and bouncing.  I often confuse him with Pink girl because not only are they about the same size, but they act a lot alike.  Red boy, too, loves getting into the middle of the action and is often the last puppy to go to sleep because he is so busy running around.  Don't be fooled by what a big boy he appears to be - Red boy is actually the smallest of the males.

Turquoise Girl
Turquoise girl is tiny but tough.  She just always looks like she is so self-confident, with the jaunty way she trots around.  Turquoise girl is also an explorer - she was the first to venture into Dave's and my bedroom and is the most skilled at effortlessly squirting herself through the baby gate at will.  I'm hopeful that she'll have a great nose, as she can always track down and find a way to get to mama Rogue's food bowl, no matter where I move it to!

1 comment:

TerriDess said...

Beautiful pics! I don't know who you got them to stay still AND look at the camera. Awesome job!