The past week has just flown by as far as the pups' development is concerned. They continue to have lots of wonderful visitors and their coordination is improving. They are very toy-aware and are tugging and carrying their prizes around (alas missed photo ops - I'm working here!). They aren't as easy to out run to the ex pen gate now and they definitely latch on to my feet / shoes / pant legs much more quickly. The next 3 weeks are gonna be interesting!
They got to try their first solid raw meal (lamb necks) in addition to the goat milk / egg / yogurt / meat concoctions they have been enjoying. Note to self - only feed tripe OUTSIDE. They are also still nursing but Boca is grateful that we are also providing additional nourishment for them as they are hungry critters.
The BEST news as far as I am concerned is that they are starting to consciously use the potty box, more so in the house pen than outside. But they are definitely developing good habits that can be built upon. Whew.
They are also getting lots of other sensory experiences. In addition to their daily outdoor constitutional and evening TV-watching (you can try to interpret their reviews of the Good Wife and the World Series in earlier posts or on FB), they may be on sound overload. We are playing the Puppy Sounds CD for them when Dave is away (he needs to warn me next time - I almost thought there were geese in the house the last time!). Also, they were outside to hear this week's garbage pickup (always a noisy affair) and our backyard neighbors are building a new house on their lot so the pups experience a lot of construction noise when they are in the back yard pen.
Their startle recovery is impressive - things crash around them (sometimes intentionally, sometimes I admit unintentionally) and while there may be some squealing or startle responses, they generally recover quickly. They are also learning to deal with frustration. We continue the 'hurdle-racing' type recalls either in the pool pen (swimming pool in an ex pen in the living room for dinner time and TV-watching) or outside. Some protest quite a bit but they always rally to respond to the pup-pup-pup-PUPpy recall. It is SO much fun!
We are looking forward to this weekend - the pups will have a full slate of visitors including Jody, Buck's owner! It is Halloween which is quite the event in our neighborhood, plus we are also going to introduce the adventure box and a couple new big things for them to climb on (thank you so much to our generous friends with such cool puppy gear!).
Below are a few pictures from the past few days (Days 33-36 but perhaps out of order):
