Wishing you and your family the best holiday season!

FROM...
Shredder Betty


Catch'n Edge


Avalanche


K2


Mogul


Momma Tama


Sister Trixie


Don Juan


and last but definitely not least, Timber, the play buddy!

The Ski Patrol are 7 weeks old.

Times flies whether you want it to or not. When we began this journey 7 weeks ago, the puppies were helpless little creatures that resembled gerbils more than puppies. Today is a bittersweet birthday because it means that the puppies will start to fly the coop pretty soon.

What will I do without my daily dose of puppy prozac? No one will ever be able to lift my spirits like the crazy antics of Shredder Betty and her "This is MY BED" obsession. It's even to the point that she'll pick it up and move a bed that's 5 times her size. We all felt sorry for the lone girl in the litter until we saw who really ruled the roost. Or what about Edge and his fat face and floppy-eared greetings in the morning. He often hangs back to let the others get the spotlight, but when it's his turn, he really likes getting pets. Or Avalanche and his kisses in which he uses not just his tongue but his entire upper body to slap one on you. And K2 with his steady but determined demeanor. What a cuddler. He's always at the bottom of the puppy pile, but doesn't seem to mind it. And last but not least, Mogul, the smallest of the bunch but the one that is always in the center of everyone's "bizness" and my biggest peepad shredder. He may be small but this puppy has one BIG personality.

Here are some candid photos of the Ski Patrol taken today.

Shredder Betty:




Boy #1 - Edge


Boy #2 - Avalanche


Boy #3 - K2




Boy #4 - Mogul

Sweet Dreams

Decorating for the Holidays

Ski Patrol at 6 weeks

Brrr... it was cold today outside taking photos. The puppies were only out there for a couple minutes, but I was out there 5 times as long. My fingers are still stiff as I try to type!

I know someone will ask me about the logs in the photo. We recently had to have a HUGE tree removed. It was dropping limbs that were the size of small trees. We called an arborist that deemed the tree dangerous and a liability because people liked to park their cars under the falling limbs (silly humans). The arborist removed the tree, but left the wood for us for firewood, and for puppy corral stations for me to use as photos. Actually that was just an afterthought when I realized that this week the puppies were not about to sit still for photos. Those days are over.

So, here are the most recent photos of the puppies.

Betty, Girl:


Catch'n Edge, Boy 1:


Avalanche, Boy 2:


K2, Boy 3:


Mogul, Boy 4:

Yummy Quail Eggs!

My friend Lindsay brought me a dozen COTURNIX quail eggs for my dogs. My older dogs eat them raw. To them they are like candy is to kids. They LOVE them. Knowing that the puppies would make a huge mess of raw eggs, I hardboiled one for each puppy. This is not the best video of them, but here is the Ski Patrol's first experience eating quail eggs.

Video of noise and movement socialization

The puppies are 5 weeks old so I'm starting to work through my 5-8 week old puppy socialization list. Noises and other animals are on that list. How many breeders socialize their puppies with chickens? Well I can count at least one. I don't think Buffy the chicken was thrilled with the little predators, but the puppies pretty much ignored the big bird in their space. The lawn mower was a little by accident. Hubby decided to mow the lawn while I was outside with the puppies. When you have a sunny day in the Pacific Northwest, you have to take advantage of it! By the way, the lawnmower was a long way away from the puppies. It just sounds loud on the video.