We Love to Chew!

After we feed the puppies dinner, we let them run around the garage and play. They love to chews on things....

The recycling...

Leaves...

Rick's crocks...

Another one has the OTHER crock...

A tennis ball...

The rake...

the garage door...

But most of all, EACH-OTHER!!

5 Weeks Old

 The puppies turned 5 weeks old today. They are so full of life and so much fun to play with. I am really starting to get attached to them. I know when they all go home Im going to be so sad. Fortunately, my brother is getting one so I wont have to travel far to see her. Here are different pictures I took throughout the week of them. 

4 Weeks Old

The puppies are 4 weeks old now. They are all eating puppy chow great and only nursing around once a day. They are starting to play and interact a lot more. They love being around humans now! Their personalities are really starting to show. Here is a video of them 2 days ago when we realized we had no use for the whelping box anymore. 

Here is one little guy playing with some tennis balls we gave them. 

This little man is going to be kennel trained by the time he goes home! haha Just kidding but they do go and sleep in the kennel a lot on their own. 

3 Weeks Old

 Today the puppies had their first vet appointment. They all checked out great. We were given the go ahead to introduce them to puppy chow for dinner. The vet said they would probably just play in it, and gradually start to eat it. Well, he was wrong! They ALL immediately started devouring it. Here are some  pictures of them eating. 

Here is a short video showing how dirty they got when they ate...

And after dinner, they all crashed!

T

We are Walking!

We let the puppies sleep on Baileys big bed for about 30 minutes today after she finished nursing them. They loved it! We had to wake them all up to move them back to their box.

All 13 puppies have their eyes open and are starting to learn to walk. It amazes me how they can be so much better from one night to the next morning. Soon, they will be running! Below is a short video showing some of them walking last night.

2 Weeks Old

Today the puppies are 2 weeks old! Wow, they have grown so fast. They started to open their little eyes today and are trying to walk. I think within the next 2 days all of their eyes will be completely open. Here they are, all 13, in the laundry basket while we cleaned out their box. Soon, they wont all fit anymore. Im thinking a second laundry basket will be needed for our 3 week vet appointment.

The puppies aren't nursing as frequently as before and Bailey is able to take longer breaks away from them now. One of the easiest ways for us to make sure everyone is eating is to separate them by color. In this picture all 6 black pups are eating and 2 of the yellow pups are sleeping on top.

Snow Day

Bailey taking a break from her puppies to play outside in the snow with Patton! 

This little guy is so sweet, he is the darkest yellow little boy! 

Here is the lightest yellow little girl snuggling with Bailey. 

8 Days Old

Growing so fast!

One Week Old

We are one week old today, and growing so fast. Today, we got to meet our brother Patton. He didn't know what to think at first then he just started licking them all! He did so good with them! After he sniffed them all, he just laid down outside of their box like a protector!

 My brother in Birmingham is getting this sweet girl so she got a little extra attention this afternoon :-)

Bailey Nursing Her Pups

This is Bailey nursing her 13 puppies when they were 4 days old. 

Staying Warm

The puppies and Bailey are staying warm under 3 heat lamps! Brr.... what a cold day! All 13 are still doing great today. They are all nursing good and Bailey is eating about 4 times a day now!

Oops

Uh oh, in the midst of all the madness of birthing 13 puppies, we miscounted! Today, as we were registering our litter online with AKC, I thought we better double check the sex/color count ONE last time. So we did, and we had a little surprise. One of the "female yellows" is really a male! So the accurate count is: 1 chocolate male, 3 yellow females, 3 yellow males, 2 black females, and 4 black males :-)

Last night marked the 3rd night of the pups lives. From what we have read, if all puppies survive after 3 nights, then usually you are in the clear. So, it was great news to wake up this morning and see ALL 13 of them scooting around and nursing. Just after being alive for 4 days, they are already so much bigger.

Exhausted!

Bailey being such a sweet mommy!

She is snuggled up with the littlest black male.

Exhausted after dinner! So worn out, just belly up, tongue out....

Bailey and Banks

BANKS AND BAILEY FIRST MEET

Bailey is a 2 1/2 year old AKC registered chocolate lab female. The father, Banks, turns 6 on Valentines Day. He is a yellow lab, AKC registered. She had her first litter of puppies Sunday January 30, 2011. She had 13 healthy pups. The first born was a chocolate males, 2 yellow males, 4 yellow females, 4 black males, and 2 black females. They are all eating a lot, sleeping a lot, and growing fast. They are so adorable!

For those of you hunters, you're in luck. Bailey loves the water and loves to hunt. She will whistle sit, hand cast, and blind retrieve. She was also force fetched trained at Wildwood Kennels. Besides hunting, she is very gentle, easy going, and very obedient. She loves nothing more than a good ear rub. Pictured to the right is Bailey duck hunting with Banks brother, Knox.

Banks is also a great hunter. He was trained at Wildwood Kennels. http://www.wildwoodkennels.com/ He completed the Started Retriever Program which includes basic obedience, single marks on land and water, force fetching, and steadiness. He also completed the Finished Retriever Program where he mastered multiple marks, hand signals, handling, and blind retrieves. 


The puppies will be ready to take home at 7 weeks - Sunday, March 20.