Two down and one more soon to go

The house is getting quieter by the day...

Drama left for her new home in Nova Scotia on Monday. She arrived safe & sound and brought a special gift for her new Mom. An engagement ring! Congrats to Amanda and Casey! Will Drama be the ring bearer at the wedding? Amanda reports that Drama has settled in well though Moth is having difficulty understanding why she won't tug with him. Patience, Moth. Let her grow up a little bit. ;-)

Tonight, Pumbaa leaves to go to his new home in Carp. I'm told that his family is very excited to have him home with them.

That will leave Simba (renamed Simmer), all by himself at our house. Somehow, I don't think he's going to mind no longer being the sole focus of Pumbaa's attention. ;-)

As the new owners send me pics, I will post them here to the blog. In the meantime, I wish all of our puppy owners the best and send hugs to the furkids.

Rafiki (now Stryde) and Kim C. in British Columbia.
Nala (now Drama) and Amanda J. in Nova Scotia.
Pumbaa and Brigitte, Tom & Darby in Carp, ON.
Simba (now Simmer) still at home with us.

And then there were three...

On Friday, our littlest boy, Rafiki went to his new home in British Columbia. Rafiki, now known as Stryde (Riverglen's Stepping Out) will be living with his new mom Kim C., and Rave's sister, Bounce, and all of the other Border Collies and Shelties in Kim's pack.

Stryde made it safe and sound to his new home on Friday after a long flight. The Air Canada Cargo folks took great care of him and made certain that his trip was as short as possible. Thanks AC Cargo!

Here are a few pics that Kim sent this weekend of Stryde and the new pack. His newest best bud is Remington, Kim's very tall Border Collie. Can anyone say "Mutt & Jeff"? :-)

Stryde and his aunt Bounce

Checking out the food cupboard. Looking for treats, maybe?

Stryde and the pack

Those ears are almost standing up!

Stryde and Remington

Two vet visits in 5 days...

The puppies have been having quite the week! First came bath time on Wednesday. On Thursday, it was off to the vet clinic for everyone's first set of vaccines and microchipping (as well as meds for deworming). Then, Monday was the CERF eye exams with the Ophthamologist.

All in all, everyone did very well. No protests for needles and only a little bit of protest from Rafiki for the microchip. But I think it was more a question of wanting to be put down to explore some more. All of the pups came back with clear eyes and were very good about their eye exams. Pumbaa managed to con the vet student into taking him out of his crate and into his arms while everyone else got their eyes checked. He sure can sound pitiful!

Here are some pics from Thursday's vaccine & microchip visit. The pups got to explore the clinic while we waited and got suitably mauled by the clinic staff. I had to count to make sure I still had all four pups when I left!

Waiting in the reception area:

Simba greeting patients with the help of Morgan:

Pups exploring and meeting new friends:

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Oh, the torture!

Poor little puppies... In preparation for their vet visit, all four pups received a bath on Wednesday night. I think I've scarred them for life. But at least they smell good! :-)

Here are some pics of the ordeal. Thanks to expert puppy bather Sara for coming over to give me a hand.

Unsuspecting puppies exploring the bathtub...

Hmmm... How do we get out of here?

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Lather, Rince, Repeat...

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Wet but still breathing (Rafiki, Drama, Pumbaa, Simba)

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All tuckered out...

Puppy pics? Did I hear someone ask for more puppy pics?

It's hard to believe that the pups are 6 weeks old already. It's amazing what a difference a week makes. The pups are far more active than they were even a week ago. They came to flyball practice with me on Sunday and will be hanging out at the agility field this week while I train my latest agility project for our trial debut this coming weekend.

Vet appointment for everyone's first set of vaccines and microchipping is this Thursday and CERF eye exams are booked for next week. I'mcan't believe I that it two weeks' time, the furkids will be going to their new homes. I'm going to miss having them around. Although I'm not going to miss cleaning up after them. Who knew that four puppies could make such a mess and so quickly?!


Little dog (Rafiki), BIG bike. :-)

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Rafiki

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Left: Nala (soon to be "Drama") and Pumbaa / Right: Nala and Rafiki getting into trouble

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Nala (aka "Drama")


Pumbaa and his new best friend, Darby. Looks like a match made in heaven to me. ;-)

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Simba


ATTACK!

Sharks!!!

My house has been taken over by sharks! Beware all who enter the puppy room! For there be four little sharks lying in wait with four little sets of very sharp teeth to bite HARD into the flesh of your feet. It's a good thing they're cute. ;-)

The pups are growing up in leaps and bounds. All four of them are taking well to paper training as well as crate training. They voluntarily go into their crate to sleep and manage to make it to the paper about 85% of the time.

This past Friday, the puppies had their first car ride and outing into the world. They accompanied me to the DogGone Ballistic Flyball tournament setup for a few hours. They were suitably passed around from one pair of arms to the next, made a mess in the ex-pen and then proceeded to escape the ex-pen while I cleaned it in order to go exploring the Curling Club. All in all, a successful evening.

Here are some Week 5 pics of the furkids taken yesterday.

Nala

Nala is turning out to be a wonderful girl. She's a very happy go lucky puppy, who like the "lion King" character that she is named after, loves to pin her brothers to the ground. And pin them again. She's a very accomplished wrestler! She's a generally laid back sort who can be convinced to play without too much encouragement from her siblings. She loves to cuddle and be petted but hates to be held on her back. She's showing good tug drive and loves her toys. She's also very photogenic. Amanda, Moth is going to love his new baby sister when he gets to meet her in a few weeks.

Pumbaa

Pumbaa is the most laid back of the four pups. He's quite happy to sit in your lap and be petted for hours on end. His favorite pastime, other than eating, is trying to get back at Nala for pinning him. He's demonstrating good tug drive but prefers attention. And food. Pumbaa Bear as we've come to call him is going to be a great family dog and a very nice first sport dog. Sorry Tom, you're outvoted on this one. :-)

Rafiki

Rafiki is small but mighty. This is a really neat pup. He is the most outgoing, friendly, and confident of the four pups. He's very curious about the world around him and is usually the first one to go exploring. He enjoys playing with his siblings but will choose to interact with people instead of his siblings or the other dogs in the house. He is very people-oriented. He's got great tug and toy drive. This is going to be a really nice sport dog. And yes, he's going to have prick ears. Probably in about a week...

Simba

Simba is my personal favorite of the four pups. He is a cuddler. He likes nothing better than to be held and snuggled. Although not quite as outgoing as his brother Rafiki, Simba is a very drivey puppy. He's usually leading the shark attack. Like Rafiki, he is more people-oriented and prefers people over his siblings or the other dogs in the house. Though he'll get into a good wrestling match when enticed, he tends to be the pup playing off on his own with a toy that he's carefully selected. I expect that like Rafiki, Simba will grow up to be a really nice sport dog.

Future Agility Stars...

The pups got a new toy this week. A tunnel! And they do seem to love their tunnel. Check out these pics of the budding agility stars. Now if only I could convince Simba to tug on the tug toy instead of on my socks...
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