Visiting Time

Cali is spending much less time with the puppies during the day but regularly comes to visit and check on the puppies, who always come over to make sure there is absolutely no way they can get to the milk bar.

The Great Waldo strikes

There are actually 9 puppies here, although the Great Waldo has magically made it look as if one has disappeared. Can you spot the hidden puppy?

FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY

This evening, for one performance only, "THE GREAT WALDO" will attempt the imposable. WALDO and his assistant will endeavor to photograph nine, yes, nine Golden Retriever puppies in a straight line. Should their quest be successful, the images will be seen here first!

Could they get any cuter?

Sleeping babies

This doesn't look very comfortable but they seem to like it. Bless!

Playtime with Mum

Cali is a good egg. She likes to single out a different puppy each time she has a "play". At the moment Mum always wins. Just wait!

Girls Vs Boys

The boys made the line up then we thought, Ahhhhhh, better sit down to "do" the girls. If you count the girls you might see a little boy has crept in unnoticed!

Henry

The puppies knocked over a small bowl of food and helped Stewart clean it up. They are all so brave. The puppies are well used to the vacuum cleaner but this was a first for Henry!

STOP PRESS

APPOINTMENT CONFIRMED FOR THE "CHIPPER". ANA WILL CALL WITH US ON SATURDAY 10TH JULY IN THE PM. GOODBYE COLOURED BUMS.

At the end of a day!

The perfect end to a perfect day! A romp on a warm evening just before dinner.

Table manners

The puppies are so much more proficient at eating now and generally manage not to get themselves too messy now when they eat.

Play Time

The puppies are really beginning to interact with each other and it is a joy to watch them explore their limited world and just do what puppies do.

Socialisation

Why me?

Help is on it's way!

Don't Panic

Tooooooooooooooooooo Hot

It's like Nevada outside so we put the puppies in the cool of the house. The fireplace was a favourite because the tiles were cooler than the carpet. However..................

Spot the Difference

Four weeks old today.

What odour?

Why on earth would you want to sleep on a comfy soft bed, near your brothers and sisters, when you have Charles' sandal to nap on?

A day in the garden

The puppies spent the day today on the patio and have quite taken to our granddaughter's Wendy house. They have eaten 3 meals of puppy biscuit mixed with water to make a porridge. They clearly think that it tastes and smells absolutely super. We, on the other hand, think it looks and smells quite unpleasant. There is no accounting for taste.

We had family over for a barbecue and the children were thrilled to be able to interact with the puppies. They had lots of cuddles and attention and are now up for a little game and keen to chew, shoes, toes, arms, legs, trousers, hair........ well anything really.

They have also honed their skills as escape artists and we have had to barricade the sides of the Wendy house to prevent them getting behind it. They really love to squeeze into any little space.

Napping!

08.30 on Saturday 26Th June 2010. 27 days old and all is well. Puppies have just had breakfast on real puppy food and have found time between play to have a nap. Incredible to think, Cali only just fits into this bed! Lots of people coming today to say hello and give cuddles. They may even have time to leave me alone and play with the puppies!

Holidays

Jennifer and myself are on holiday in a beautiful little village in the Chiltern Hills called Poo-ton. We are in sight of the Poo hills. Going through the middle of the garden here, are small meandering streams, in fact, not just contained within the garden, the streams stretch out as far as the kitchen, dining room, lounge and study. When the mist clears you can see the Poo’s very clearly. When our holiday is over, I shall miss these brown hills and yellow streams.

Kindness

I wasn’t going to publish the following story but I've had second thoughts! Last Sunday Jennifer left home at 09.30, just after I got back from Church. She was going to help Charles move his stuff from his house in Bath to his new home in Bristol. So, I was left in charge of Cali and her nine puppies. I was told that the shopping was being delivered between 12 and 2pm. So, at 11am I thought I’d better make a start on giving the little ones a bath. So, with many towels over our bed and the hairdryer (which they love) at the ready and the bath run, I started with number one. At the start I could see this was not a job to be rushed. First puppy washed and dried and placed in the whelping box with clean vet bed and the heat light on. So far all was going to plan! I really was enjoying myself, no distractions and the smell of puppies in the air. Just as I took puppy number four from the bath BANG BANG BANG on the front door. Puppy number four was wrapped in a huge bath sheet and I trundled down the stairs to see who had come to visit. To my horror standing on the doorstep was a young chap with our shopping. I knew I had not rushed but how could it be 12pm? I thought he’d made a mistake and come early. It was 12.10pm and I had been in paradise talking to myself and to the puppies I had lost all track of time. I asked if he could come back as I was very busy. He looked at the “bundle” I was holding and just as he was about to ask what the problem was, a beautiful golden head popped out of the bath sheet. This chap just melted and asked how old they were. Three weeks today, I said proudly. I said I was alone and had five more puppies to clean. Like a shot he said “no problem, I’ll put this inside and leave the frozen stuff in the van, I’ll give you a hand, I’m running early and have time”. I said, what qualifies you to help with these puppies? He said “I work for a charity in the week that trains dogs for disabled people and only do this at the weekend. True to his word and my utter amazement he placed all the shopping from the boxes on the table and asked, “ok, where’s the action taking place” I was paralyzed with his kindness and told him, upstairs. I didn’t want to lose the “slot” for the delivery and he looked such a nice guy, I said shut the door and follow me. We went up the stairs and into the bathroom; I told him I was just about to dry this little fellow off in the bedroom. OK he said, you wash I’ll dry! He took number four from me and went to the bedroom and without any hesitation started to towel dry the puppy and then found the hairdryer and started to blow dry the puppy. I went into the garden and picked up number five and carried on as before but with help! Half an hour later the job was finished and all 9 puppies were clean and perfect. We both finished putting the shopping away and I thanked him for all the help. He was a true professional and knew exactly what he was doing. He was so gentle and calm and I couldn’t thank him enough. Cali was chuffed to bits, a new face and someone to fuss over her. Cali has never been up stairs as she has always been told that it’s not her territory and I don’t like the dogs coming down as they are steep and they might hurt themselves, but she was happy to wait at the bottom and wait for each puppy to be carried up and down and placed into the whelping box ready for a good feed. I gave the chap some honey (we keep bees) and he went off saying he’d try and get this round next Sunday! I can’t tell you his name or the company he works for, as his boss might not think the same way he did. As he left he did say, “thank you for letting me help, I so enjoyed it”. Sometimes we walk in shadows but them some kind soul lights it all up. The very last thing he said as he went to his van was “Every Little Helps”

Me, panic buy?

OK, I admit, I did panic buy. When you see all this on display you tend to think ahead!

PANIC OVER

I do not, repeat, do not, panic buy. Is that clear? A clean home makes a healthy family and healthy puppies! Milton is not a cleaning agent but with some elbow grease it makes the surfaces safe for the puppies.

Three Boy's

I'm old enough to remember Five Boy's Chocolate. Now, here's a new one, Three Boy's Retrievers!

PANIC

Oh no, we are on the last gallon of Milton. I exaggerate, we are down to our last 500ml. Jennifer went to collect Charles from Bath. He has just completed his final year of studies and is home to see the puppies for the first time. Cali went loopy when he came in and wanted all the fuss. How can you give Cali ALL the fuss when you see a line like this, even if one monkey did a wee wee. So, Jennifer was collecting Charles and I had a PCC meeting with our new Vicar, Fr. Paul Willis. It was good and it was right, welcome Fr. Paul. He's a good guy, he keeps dogs!

A day in the garden

The puppies enjoyed a day in the garden today and had their evening meal there. They are now having 2 solid meals every day but are still getting the idea of lapping and tend to get in a real mess. They get their feet in the food and yesterday evening one of the puppies actually fell asleep in the food. Well, it is exhausting being a puppy! Anyway, they always need a good clean up after their food.

Marker Man

I like doing this but Cali has other ideas. She cleans the puppies and takes the marker off!

Weighing In

The daily weigh in. I think we need a bigger pot!

Weetobix

This mess has to happen. The puppies love the food and I am sure they love the mess. The cereal dries hard, so we have to clean nine noses, nine faces and thirty six legs and paws.

Buddies

Sweet Dreams

This little Red one will sleep anywhere. We thought we were puppy proof!

Bottoms up!

Not the best view in the world but I had to grab the camera.

Love

Kevin falls in love!

Food

This little chap had enough and thought it would have a go at cleaning it's self! It didn't work!

Food

This is what a puppy looks like when it tries a little DIY! Oh joy. So young and yet they so want to eat from a bowl. Quicker the better, the puppies are getting more baths than I am. I get "choked" when I see these incredible creatures try something new. It's a joy to witness and a joy to "de weetabix" them!

Food

This is what puppies looks like when Cali is feeding them.

Puppies eating Ready Brek

The puppies don't really seem to have got the hang of lapping. They make quite a mess.

Vertical milk bar

Now that the puppies are steadier on their feet they can suckle from cali when she is standing up, which I suppose gives better access.

Bath time

The puppies had their first bath today but after feeding encouraging them to lap their Ready Brek from a bowl they are almost as sticky as they were before they had the bath this morning.

Cali with a glass

There is a really cute video of Cali as a puppy playing with a glass. To see it, follow the link below.

Cali with a glass

Blow Dry

All nine had a bath today! I wont go into detail but one of the nine did a number two and they all got "marked". They loved the water and the hair dryer!!! We have had the most wonderful people come visit over the last few days and five puppies have super families eagerly awaiting them. Cali was very good and was very proud to show visitors her puppies and was more than happy for them to be cuddled. We are so happy that they are going to loving homes.

The puppies' maternal grandfather

Show Champion Summeramba Stilton

First outing

It really was a big day for the puppies because they had a short outing in to the garden. We only spent about 10 minutes in the garden with the puppies because by the time we all got home from work, there was not a lot of sunshine left. However, the puppies seemed to enjoy their outing. To be honest most of them just went to sleep again but little pink and blue bottom was up for a game.

A big day

Today has been quite a day for the puppies. As their teeth are now coming through we have decided that it is time to start introducing them to solid food. I bought some baby rice and we mixed it with their normal milk to give them a taster. They were all actually quite sleepy so they weren't that interested but a few of them tried a bit and seemed to get the hang of 'lapping'.

Accredited Breeder Scheme

Noise training starts

Now that the puppies can hear, we have started introducing them to different sounds. Youtube is an excellent resource in this respect because you can get a wealth of different sounds without having to do more than tap a few keys. I started the puppies off today with an introduction to fireworks, which can be a real trauma for dogs if they do not learn to be relaxed around such sounds. If you want to hear the sounds that they listened to then follow this link:

Youtube firework sounds for dogs.

R & R

Cali spent some time relaxing in the garden today away from the puppies - well for a few minutes.

Hard at work feeding

The puppies are growing fast. They are in fact between 3 and 4 times as big as they were when they were born. When we supplement them with a bottle feed they now take around 2oz in one go. We have also finished worming them for the time being, which I am sure they are glad about. There are only two times when they are quiet - when they are sleeping or when they are feeding.

They are beginning to get fluffy and you can feel their teeth are just under the surface of their gums. They now don't just have their eyes open but are able to see things - or so we believe. They are certainly showing indications that they can now hear because they react to noises. We can now start to get them used to the normal household noises that they are likely to encounter. This will include gently playing firework noises because it worked a treat with Cali. She is not at all bothered by fireworks. You can see one of the puppies reacting to noises in the video below.

More wormer

The puppies had their second dose of wormer today and had their 4th manicure. It is unbelievable how quickly their little nails grow. Cali is also being wormed today but she only needs one dose. She had a check up at the vet today and, although she still has a slight temperature, her mastitis appears to have completely gone and she is back to her normal self following whelping.

Family portrait

We thought that the 'kids' were getting old enough to have a 'family portrait'. After several attempts we managed to get everyone in line and ready for the shot. Here is the result. We hope you like it.

If you click on the video footage you will see what happened shortly afterwards.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Just about due for day two of a three day course of Wormer Panacur. These two have no idea they are on the list and they are up next! How can a boy sleep when you have a sister asleep on top of you?

Worming

Deed done and he doesn't look too impressed!

The puppies are 2 weeks old today and so had their first dose of wormer. Not nice but it has to be done. We used Panacur and will be repeating the treatment at 4, 6 and 8 weeks. The puppies didn't really seem to mind that much but they definitely knew it wasn't milk.