Last puppy leaving...

Tres left today to go to his new home. All of the puppies have awesome homes. I will miss them, but I know they will have great families that love them as much as I did while they were here.Here's one of the last photos of Tres at my house.



So, at 9 weeks old Trixie is all by herself. I'm not sure if she is sad, or relieved that her brothers aren't around. Now she gets us all to herself. Denise gave the puppies this little bed. Trixie has decided it's hers!

Happy 8th Week Birthday Puppies

The puppies start leaving for their new homes this week. Here is probably their final photo together...



I'll miss all of them. What a great bunch of puppies.

Timber the flying aussie

Timber loves the puppies. He is very gentle with them. So when he wants to see them, he flys into their pen for a visit and when he's done he flys out. Anyone have any wings we could add to these photos?

Puppies at 7 weeks!

Not only was it Father's Day and the puppies 7-week birthday, today was a beautiful, sunny June day. So the puppies got to play outside most of the day while we were working in the yard. Ed took a video tape of the puppies running all around the pen.



But of course after playtime, the best thing puppies do is sleep. And I have to be honest, the easiest way to photograph puppies at this age is when they are sleeping!


I also temperament tested each puppy so I'd have a general idea of their reactions. I wasn't all that surprised by one outcome tests versus my observations of them the past few weeks. Who knows how accurate temperament tests are - especially with shibas. But it's fun to do and see how they react. So here's the rundown of the puppies:

Trixie
Trixie is independent but will make a loyal pet once she learns to work with her humans.


Dos - now Kenji
He accepts humans easily and will make a good pet. He will adapt to new situations well.


Tres - Jared calls him "Lost Boy" because he doesn't have a home yet
Lost Boy is extremely independent. Although he likes people, he would rather be off exploring on his own than being held.


Tank - Now Kona
He accepts humans easily and will make a good pet. He will adapt to new situations well.


And here's some puppy playtime:



And Trixie helping me take photos:

6 weeks

Can you believe they are 6 weeks old? They are finally acting like puppies. It's hard to take your eyes off of them because you might miss one of the many cute things that they do.

Everything they do is adorable. Well, almost everything. When they see us, they start screaming to be picked up. And of course, when they see their mommy, who only wants in their pen so she can eat their food and really doesn't want any of their sharp little chompers near her, they start screaming again.

They are officially weaned and are eating food and drinking water like pros.

Uno - now named Trixie.
Jared wanted to name the girl Trixie. So I'm tossing the formal name of "Kishi's Tricky Trixie" around. What do you think? Guess that means I'll have to teach her a few tricks to live up to her name.







Dos
Over the weeks littlest Dos has really evolved. Initially he didn't like being held at all, and never licked or kissed you. He has always been the quietest but not necessarily the calmest. Beginning last week he started jumping up to be the "chosen" one, and he seems to enjoy being held. At times Dos still hangs back and lets the others play rough and tumble, but lately I've seen him diving in for some good play times.




Tres
Tres is a charmer. He's cute. He does adorable puppy antics like running and hopping around. He is not shy at all and he and Kona are vying to be the top dog in the litter.





Tank - Now Kona
Kona is the bravest one in the litter. He loves to investigate and will try anything new - even the agility teeter totter in our yard. I turned my back for a minute and before I knew it he was part way across. I grabbed the end of the teeter before it slammed down because I didn't want it to scare him. And he waltzed on down it like he had done it a million times. Considering that I just got Timber to go over it by himself, I thought that was a pretty amazing thing for such a young puppy.

And speaking of Timber...

Timber was feeling a little neglected on this blog. So I thought I'd give you a quick update. He's doing great learning agility. I fixed up, painted and bought some new equipment so now we can do a little more practice at home. He learns so quick.



Last weekend we went to the PAWS Walk and performed some of Timber's tricks. He did "Put your toys away" and "Get the mail from the mailbox" perfectly. We set up a little Rally Obedience course and he even did part of it off-leash. And then, still being the puppy brain that he can be sometimes, he saw a squirrel in a tree nearby and ran off to chase it. Here's two photos of him that I took today.