The socialization continues! We are so lucky to have so many friends help us socialize these babies. Last Sunday, we went over to Lindsay & Austin’s neighbors house for a super yummy crawfish boil. Then we busted into the champagne and the whole party came back over to Lindsay & Austin’s to play with puppies. What is better than a party with puppies and champagne?! It was a great way to round out the weekend.
Monday the puppies received a care package from Lore in New Jersey. Lore is getting one of the girls and I know just hates being so far away. I feel like I flood people with photos to the point of annoyance, but Lore NEVER complains. I can’t wait for her to finally meet Charlotte and Itsy Bitsy in person. We also had a live meeting with Lindsay and my mutual friend, Ann. Ann recently lost her older V, which is always so devastating. The puppies loved on her and fell straight to sleep in her lap. I hope the visit helped her sad heart just a little bit. I am so grateful she was willing to come visit.
Puppies also learned about cutting their teeth on raw, meaty bones. This is such great exercise as they chew. They end up using their whole bodies to pull the meat off, and it’s a bit of a problem solving exercise — two of my favorite things; stimulating both brains and bodies! I also put down more bones than puppies so that if someone comes along and takes the one they were working on, they have plenty of others to chose from. We also worked on exchanges this week, where I take their bone out of their mouth, quickly shove some cheese in there, and then give the bone right back. It’s a big part of the Puppy Culture protocol to help prevent resource guarding. We did it several times throughout the week and they never even growled at me. I’ll keep doing the protocol, but so far, these puppies seem to take everything in stride.
Puppies are also really loving crate sleeping together. The Baby Halos almost never chose the crate over the donut or elevated bed I had in their pen, but The Spiderlings really dig it. As they get older, we will work on sleeping in crates solo, but I love that they are already volunteering to sleep in them now.
Thursday, Marc came over with Nana Halo, and she was as happy as ever to see her grand babies. Cheeky was equally happy to see her Dad and is finally starting to leave the puppies to get her own attention.
And yesterday was EXTRA exciting as I closed on my new house! It needs some renovations, so we won’t move in until after the puppies go home. But the backyard is AMAZING. I can’t wait to show it to Cheeky and Halo. Halo just loves sun bathing and squirrel hunting that my biggest priority in my search was the backyard. Luckily, the new house is in a neighborhood I love and close to Cherry Creek which has always been my home base since I moved from Colorado Springs to Denver in 2006. Living with Austin & Lindsay has been amazing and so fun, but it feels amazing to have a new house secured. Really feels like everything is moving onward and upward 🙂
Today, as the puppies turn 5 weeks old, my friend Clare came up with her 3 kids. Thee puppies loved meeting everyone and Clare was so smitten. Often people ask if they can bring their kids to come play with puppies — Clare wanted to come for herself (she grew up with Vizslas) and I asked her too bring her kids!
It was a jam packed week and I’m so grateful to my tribe for helping me with the puppies and supporting me as I move on to this next phase of my personal life. Can’t wait to see what else is to come for me and the girls this year 🙂