Birth Jan 27

Birth week

All ELEVEN puppies are healthy and doing great! Newborns are so tiny and delicate. At this stage all they do is eat and sleep and are never completely still. They tend to twitch, jerk and stretch even while sleeping. They also have instinctive reflexes to crawl, seek warmth and nurse.

Day 2 - 01/29/06

The umbilical cords have shriveled up and are now falling off.  

Pups are pushing with their back legs and are scooting across the floor of the whelping box on their tummies. Some can move quite quickly and they all get around pretty well.

Day 3 - 01/30/06

Dew claws were removed today.

Day 4 - 01/31/06

We will begin the "Super Dog" program wherein we will aid in boosting a puppy's neurological system during it's development by performing 5 stimulation exercises per day from now through day 16.

Day 5 - 02/01/06

The puppies colors are already coming in. You can start to see the faint marks which will become their "ticking" on their noses and paws.

1 week

At this age the pups still don't have their eyes open yet, but we expect that to happen this week!  They are getting much stonger and are almost able to lift their bodies up off the floor when they crawl.  They still sleep alot.

Day 8 - 02/04/06

First Nail trim - the puppies toenails are now hooked on the ends and really sharp.

Some of the stronger pups are starting to try and stand up on all four legs to walk now. They are really getting their tummies off the ground.  Another thing we have noticed this week is that a lot of the pups are now producing a barking sound along with their whining and cooing.

Day 9 - 02/05/06

Puppies are now taking their first steps with their bellies off the ground!!  They don't get very far before they stumble and fall over, but they are trying really hard.

Day 10 - 02/06/06

The area where the dew claws were is completely healed now. 

Day 11 - 02/07/06

Our little boy "Buck" opened his eyes today!  He is the first for this to happen and the others are not far behind.

Day 13 - 02/09/06

Banjo, Blizzy, Beau, Bellaggio, and Bugsie opened their eyes today!

2 weeks

At this age the puppies are still sleeping a lot and nursing on momma. With this many pups in the litter, we are adding scheduled bottle feedings to their daily routine to supplement what momma can provide.  We are still weighing all the pups every morning to ensure proper weight gain and are giving special feedings to those lagging behind.

When the pups are awake, they are very active and are walking around the whelping box pretty good now. It won't be long before they will be climbing out so we will have to put the sliding door in soon.

Day 14 - 02/10/06

Barkley, Brooke, Bixby, Brisco and Blaze opened their eyes today!

Day 15 - 02/11/06

Now that the puppies can see, they are now starting to notice humans. When you go into the nursery and sit next to the whelping box, the puppies come over to see you!

Day 16 - 02/12/06

Second nail trim - gotta keep the nails short so they don't scratch momma when nursing.

The puppies will be starting to cut teeth within the next couple days. If you look inside their mouths, you can see the teeth beneath the gums.

Day 17 - 02/13/06

The puppies were crawling out of the whelping box today so we added the half door to make the doorway taller so the pups would stay inside.  They seem to be anxious to get out and scout around the nursery.

Day 18 - 02/14/06

The puppies are now starting to cut teeth. Usually the canines are the first to break the gums.

Day 19 - 02/15/06

Today is the first day that we noticed puppies wagging tails and doing some playing with each other. One pup was doing the play bowing and growling at his sibling. They are really starting to notice each other now and will be showing more interaction from this point forward.

3 Weeks

The pups are now sleeping less and are starting to really interact with each other. They paw at each other and growl. They are also barking a lot more frequently and even howl. Once one pup starts to howl, the others join in!

Day 22 - 02/18/06

First worming

First introduction to "2nd Step" cereal - The puppies readily lapped up the milk like cereal. We are using a 1:3 ratio of cereal mix to water so the mixture has the consistency of milk.

Nail Trim

Day 23 - 02/19/06

We can now really start to see the dark freckles on the skin underlying the pups' white coats which will someday produce the dark hairs that we call "ticking" on an adult. Therefore we have added predictions for each pup in their stats below as to how heavily they will be ticked as an adult.

We can also start to see in their little faces resemblances of one or the other parent. Therefore we have added predictions for each pup in their stats below as to which parent their facial features most resemble at this point in time.

Day 25 - 02/21/06

We are supplementing with puppy cereal twice per day. Momma is still nursing 3 x per day.

4 Weeks

Day 28 - 02/24/06

The puppies were moved out of the whelping box and into their play pens. They will spend part of the day in the kitchen getting used to the hustle and bustle and sounds of the house. The other part of the day, they will be bedded down in the warm cozy master bathroom in order to have some quiet time.

Day 29 - 02/25/06

Second worming

The puppies are now getting a 1:2 ratio of cereal mix to water so it is much thicker now than the consistency of milk. The puppies were also introduced to soft canned dog food. They mowed that down like there was no tomorrow! Very soon we will be adding ground dry Science Diet puppy food to the cereal mixture to help thicken and slightly alter the taste. With the way these puppies eat, it shouldn't be hard to get them weaned over the next two weeks.

Day 30 - 02/26/06

Today we introduced toys into the puppy play pen. The pups are getting to the age where they will notice toys and actually play with them now. Before, the pups were only really interested in playing with each other, but now they have a red tennis ball and two gell chewies. They will pick them up and spin around with them in their mouths. They are a total HOOT!  We are taking lots of videos which will be included with their photos on the Puppy Photo Album CD-ROM that will go home with each puppy.

Day 31 - 02/27/06

This evening we introduced a pheasant wing to the litter to see if there was any interest in it yet. Most of the pups were busy playing with the ball, their chewies, or each other, but there were a few pups, namely Brisco, Barkely and Beau that definitely had interest in it, with the most determined pup being little Brisco! We were pleasantly surprised at their vigor towards the wing. Brisco had his nose in the air sniffing and chasing the wing as it was waved just above his head.

Day 32 - 02/28/06

We are really starting to notice that our socialization practices are working for the puppies. When they were first moved to the kitchen and were surrounded by our other Llewellins and by all the household noises, the puppies would twirl around and sit at attention in the direction from which the noise came in order to determine if they should be scared or not. Now, they have really become desensitized and those same noises don't phase them one bit anymore.

Day 33 - 03/01/06

Now that the puppies' 5th week is fast approaching, we will be asking our deposit holders to start thinking hard about which puppy they would like to select during next week's selection process. We would like to have all pre-reserved puppies selected by March 10th, after which time the remaining available puppies' status will be updated to "AVAILABLE".

In order to help make a final decision, this coming weekend we will be doing preliminary puppy aptitude tests in order to evaluate personalities and will be posting those to our website soon after. The puppies will receive a score from 1 through 6 based on their reaction to 10 different tests. Those scores will be compiled and averaged to reach a final score.  The personality type matching that score will be posted for each pup.

**NOTE:  These are only PRELIMINARY puppy aptitude tests because they will be performed before the actual recommended age of 7 weeks, but should help provide some insight to the personality type at this time.

Day 34 - 03/02/06

FORGET THE CEREAL! These little darlings are eating canned Science Diet Puppy food like it's going out of style!! Today we started mixing the canned food with crushed dry Science Diet puppy kibble in order to start the next transition from moist to dry food. The Science Diet puppy kibble is pretty hard and crunchy so it has first been run through a food processor to break it down a little to help them eat it without hurting their mouths. 

5 weeks

It's FINALLY HERE!  This is the week that our deposit holders will now be selecting their puppies. As soon as a puppy has been selected their reservation status will be updated to "RESERVED". So keep checking back to see which pups are still available!

Day 35 - 03/03/06

Preliminary Puppy Aptitude testing will be performed today. Results will be posted sometime this weekend.

Day 36 - 03/04/06

Third Worming

First Parvo vaccinations

The results are in! Preliminary aptitude evaluations have been performed and the "Personality" results are posted below for each pup.  NONE of the pups cowered or had an aversion to loud noises and all were interested in the pheasant wing to some degree, although some much more than others at this point. These senses will continue to emerge as the pups age so we are pleased to report that all pups showed interest.

Day 38 - 03/06/06

During our individual play sessions with some of the pups, these are the notable things that we witnessed:

Beau actually found a toy bone in the middle of the floor and brought it to us. I thought it was a fluke, so I tossed it away from me. To our utter delight and amazement, Beau retrieved the bone, brought it back to me and crawled up in my lap with it. Not just once but several times without fail!

Bugsie had an extreme interest in the wing. She was intent on following it and when it was placed in the middle of the floor, she ran to it, pounced on it, picked it up with her mouth and proceeded to shake it vigourously. She is showing the same instincts that her mother has.

Blaze totally enjoyed literally running with the BIG dogs today. We had a play session with our adult dogs and he was very interested in crawling all over them, jumping at their faces, licking their muzzles and keeping up with them as they moved around the house. He even tried eating some of their large dry kibble.

Banjo is such a people puppy. He was not interested in the toy bones or balls, he was most interested in interacting with us. When we sat down on the floor with him, he played, bounced, jumped, twirled and ran circles around us, but always came back to our laps and snuggled into us giving lots of kisses. Banjo should prove to be a wonderful family companion.

6 weeks

Day 43 - 03/11/06

Fourth Worming

Today was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL day here today and was a wonderful opportunity to introduce our little pups to the outdoors! Being sunny and in the mid-60s was just perfect for an outdoor play date!  We took our two playpens out in the front yard, hooked them together to make one monstrous sized play pen and the pups went absolutely WILD!  They loved it!

Day 48 - 03/16/06

All the puppies had baths today!!! You know how most dogs are after baths, so just imagine, 11 happy puppies, jumping and running in all directions.  It was hysterical to watch.

7 weeks

Day 49 - 03/17/06

TODAY'S THE DAY!  The puppies are at the age where they can now go to their new homes.

Bixby left today to go to his new home in Colorado with Jeff and Cat. (new name is Patrick)

Bellaggio left today to go to his new home in Colorado with Matt and Debbie. (new name is Roscoe)

Bugsie left today to go to her new home in Wisconsin with Al and Barbra. (new name is Abbie)

Buck left todate to go to his new home in Minnesota with Hollis and Barbara. (new name is Casey)

I have posted the 7 week photos for the remaining pups.

Second Parvo-combination vaccinations (for pups leaving today)

Day 50 - 03/18/06

Second Parvo-combination vaccinations (for pups still here)

All the puppies had baths AGAIN today. As they get older, it gets harder and harder to keep them clean, so regular baths are a MUST!

Blaze left today to go to his new home in Des Moines Iowa with Jason. This will be our first pup to stay in IOWA!! (new FDSB name is Hickory's Dashing Jack). Last thing Jason said as he walked out the door, "Let's hit the road Jack!". :0)~

Day 51 - 03/19/06

Now that the litter has been reduced to almost HALF after five of the puppies have gone to their new homes, the chaos in the play pen has calmed immensely! The remaining six pups are getting along fabulously and there is much more room around the feeding bowl now.

8 weeks

Day 59 - 03/27/06

Five more puppies went to their new homes today!

Banjo flew to New York to live with Brian, Karen, Meghan and Katie (name is staying Banjo)

Brisco and Brooke flew to Oregon to live with Richard and Kate. (new names are Bridger and Meadow)

Barkley and Beau flew to New York to live with Drew and Marcy (new names are Barkley and Booker)

Blizzy is the only one left here but is having a grand old time running with the BIG dogs!  We are working on crate and potty training! Won't her new family appreciate that?

Day 63 - 03/31/06

Our last little gal left today to go live in Nebraska with Lee (her name is staying Blizzy!)

Now everyone here at Hickory Hollow will be going through the "empty nest" syndrome for the next few weeks.  I can hardly wait until our next litter! (Currently planned for Spring 2007)