Please Stand By.....................

We thought we had a substitute blogger for the weekend, but alas, we have not heard from them yet. But we were lazy, so there aren't many pictures, and my thoughts are not in order. And no, the guest is not Rio (like I'd let THAT lab blog here-she can't even count dinnerware) or Merlot (yes, I'm giving her lessons, but she's not ready for prime time yet). So while we wait for our guest, here are some of the latest pictures. Above you see me sitting on my perch and dispensing wisdom to the puppies

This one obviously didn't appreciate what I was telling them and fell asleep.

This picture is from last night. The puppies like to sleep with their heads against the sides of the X-pen, and for some reason this one fell asleep with its teeth bared. The staff was watching TV, and looked over and saw this-I think it startled them a bit. And yes, those teeth are as sharp as they look.

Here I am answering Rebecca's question while the rest of the class debates whether her point is valid or not.

I honestly don't remember what was going on here, but hey, they look cute, don't they?

Here's a short video of puppies wrestling. Its all we've got. I told you that I was not that prepared!

"Funner"

Today the puppies were introduced to new toys. Faithful readers of Helping Paws puppy blogs will recognize them. As there is not a lot of room in the X-pen, tonight the puppies got to play with some of their new on the floor. Some played with toys, some played with each other and one or two showed their hunting lines (take that Rio!) by tracking down some vicious (and HUGE) dust bunnies. Sorry, no pictures of the dust bunnies though.

Which reminds me: as part of the whole whelping process, I have been shedding TONS of fur. Some think it is because I am under stress, and some have speculated that I'm building a nest. But now the truth can be told. Some of that fur has found its way under couches and chairs and morphed into dust bunnies. It was part of my plan all along to place these dust bunnies around the Team Cheers complex in order to test my puppies hunting ability. I imagine that Rio is starting to do the same thing, but I suspect that I can create way bigger dust bunnies than she can. I guess she will have to rely on her Golden brothers and sisters to create really large dust bunnies.

Anyway-on to more puppy pictures-I shouldn't be giving away any more canine secrets.

Here you see the puppy bed and some of their toys.

Kelly contemplates the puppy walkway. She later was the first to get on (3 of her 4 legs anyway) but she didn't remain on it long enough for Team Cheers to get a picture.

Puppies playing with their favorite toys-Each other!

Puppies in the tunnel. A few managed to crawl through the tunnel into the kennel and back out.

Another view of the walkway-it probably has an official Helping Paws name, but I don't know what it is.

I think that puppy on the right is about to do something naughty.

I think most of you remember that Kelly has a song (See post entitled "The Name Game"

Well, now she has a dance too. It can be viewed below

Behind the scenes at Cheers puppy blog

One of the things that happens here every night it the weighing of the puppies. For a while they fit in a laundry basket, but lately that has not been an option. The change to solid food has lead to a rapid increase in size. So now instead of the laundry basket, they get put in my kennel. Sorry, these were about the only pictures that were taken tonight.

Prior to tonight's weighing, the pups were handed out of the pen to the puppy carrier, who walked them over to the kennel. But tonight Team Cheers tried something different. The puppy catcher simply placed the puppies outside the X-pen. Then the puppies were called, and being good Helping Paws dogs, they all trooped over the the kennel and walked right in :) Well, about half the pups actually responded to being called, and wandered over in the general direction of the crate.

And if you think its all fun and games and cute puppies here, think again. Below is video taken at 5:30 AM this morning. Turn up the volume if you are really brave. Thankfully staff was already up and prepared for this:

Back in the Saddle

As reported earlier on Rio's blog, I was "out sick" from early Sunday morning until late yesterday afternoon. Thanks to excellent advice from Helping Paws, and wonderful care at several vet clinics, I am feeling much better. Apparently I just missed seeing Scooter and Merlot or Rio in Inver Grove. While a case of mastitis is not fun, there is an upside. I have convinced Team Cheers that the meds have made my tummy upset and as a result I get to go on the hamburger (or maybe chicken) and rice diet for a few days. YUM YUM!

And the puppies survived just fine without me. They have been on solid food (if you call that goo "solid") for a week and on Sunday they started eating the same food that I was on, except theirs was mushed up and mixed with special puppy food. And this switch to dog food had nothing to do with me going away-it was all part of the plan. On Sunday staff ran out of baby cereal, and this morning they ran out of the powdered special puppy food, so starting later today, the puppies will eating nothing but real dog food, though it will still be mushed and mashed for them. They love it.

The puppies were so happy to see me return that they threw me a party (of sorts) that is best not discussed here :)

Note to Rio-The bar stools have been sent out for repair (Thanks for recommending the extended warranty!) and they should be in full working order by Friday.

A brief update

Not much to report today. In fact, I'm only blogging in an attempt to keep up with Faith, who posted puppy pictures of herself today, and Rio, who who was very chatty yesterday. It was quiet here-the staff was gone for most of the day Thanks again to today's volunteers-they are the first volunteers that had "change disposable pads in X-pen" on their list. And the staff took the camera with them, so there aren't many pictures today. I have directed staff to remedy that tomorrow and do portraits. And they are also expecting a visit from Team Faith-I hope they don't scare them.

Compare and contrast the above picture with pictures of the puppies nursing during their first week. They is barely enough room on all the bar stools for this crowd.

The puppies are to the point where they can make big messes, so staff has to change out all the bedding in the X pen every night. They used to put the puppies in a laundry basket when they needed to move them, but they no longer fit, so now they are placed in my kennel. Above you see one of the boys on my blanket.

This is one of the big red girls (Vera or Rebecca) napping, or maybe wrestling

Rebecca and Vera at the end of yet another satisfying meal of puppy mush.

PS to Merlot-If Rio won't show you how to blog, I will. We Goldens need to stick together!

"Her name is Rio and she.........."

............blogs. Maybe she dances on the sand too-I don't know, but she definitely blogs. You can read her here. http://www.riospuppybloggy.blogspot.com/ Make sure you read the first post.

A couple of years ago I lived with Rio. I was one of the five Goldens. And yes, SIX of us shared TWO staff! Can you imagine! Let's just say that we kept Scooter and Melvin VERY busy.

PS-Rio-I think Merlot LIKES being a mother.

A day in the life of a puppy

Hi.
Even with the all the great support I get from Team Cheers (they were up at 5:30 AM this morning to feed puppies and change bedding) and Helping Paws (they brought puppy pads and dog food today), being a single mom of 10 is not easy, so tonight's post is intentionally lazy. So here's day in the life of a puppy:

Play

Play some more and don't stand still for a picture

Wrestle

Run around, well, actually, its more like waddle around.

In the interest of efficiency, combine eating and sleeping

More sleeping-this is the part where they grow too

Sleep some more

They still sleep a lot-that "growing" thing has been especially evident since they started on solid food. They've all gained more than a pound since Friday

I really have no explanation for this picture.

Sleep some more.

Speaking of which, I need some sleep too, so good night all-here's some video that we hope brings a smile to your face