Carolina and her puppies are playing outside!

Contributed by Carolina and her puppies' foster Mom Once Carolina was ready to wean her puppies, she's seen and heard them in the house, but she's not had any desire to be with them, I guess figuring she's done her job, now they're someone else's responsibility. She acts just like a big puppy herself. Here they are out in the yard romping together. They are all enjoying their new lives in freedom.

Video of Carolina's pups playing in the kitchen!

Contributed by Carolina and her puppies' foster Mom

 These kids have changed so much in the last week - they're looking more like little dogs than the babies they were just an instant ago This is a video of the crew playing in the kitchen.
 

Video of Carolina's pups at 5 weeks!

Contributed by Carolina and her pups' foster Mom

 

 Here they are playing today. They no longer want to walk, they scamper! LOL We're feeding them a gruel mix twice a day now, and they've all got fat little tummies, but Beaufort is still the "tugboat" of the group. Today's weights were - Hatteras 38.3oz, Beaufort 46.6, Bodie 45.1, Banks 42.7, Mayberry 43, and Appalachia 41.7.

Today they learned a new word. OOWWWW!  I had 3 of them attacking my bare ankles while I was in the pen changing out the pads on the floor, and they were trying to use me as a teething toy! We've moved them to the big side of the ex pen, and mom has the smaller area for a retreat. They are capable of getting over the 1x10" board we've got as a divider if they really want to - Mayberry was the first to scale the wall to be in with momma. Hatteras is our shy girl - she likes to retreat to the corner of the bed when things get too crazy. She's a corner type of girl - she also goes to a corner to poop :-) Banks is also a bed lover, except he likes to go chew on the blanket edges or play with a toy by himself, all stretched out like a little stud muffin. He also likes to give a little bark if he thinks he's missing out on something, and then he comes running to be a part of the action. Appalachia and Beaufort are middle of the road kids - they might be joining in the wrestling matches, or they may be trying to find a spot to nap. Mayberry and Bodie are the adventurers and the first to greet you and check things out. It's funny they've buddied up like this because if I had to pair them up on looks, this is how I'd pair them up on looking alike! 


 Momma continues to be a 5 year old puppy herself. We have toys we can only put in the pen when she's outside, or she gets too crazy with them and forgets about being in with her puppies, jumping in and out of her area right onto them and bowling them over. She's got a couple toys she tries shredding (pulling their parts off, really), and then there's the little plastic squeaky ones she carries around squeaking constantly, and the puppies actually run away as if they think there's something wrong and they're scared. We've got a little red rubber goldfish that the puppies love to chew on (they rarely make it squeak yet), but it's the one that causes the most problems - Carolina tosses it FEET up into the air and charges after it, knocking puppies over as she goes. We thought for a minute maybe she was just teaching her kids to play, but we couldn't stand the roughness so make sure it's out of the pen before she's back in again.


 Auntie Gayla made them camo fleece bone toys, and the puppies love them - they're light enough but big enough that they enjoy wrestling with them one-on-one :-) It's fun watching them try to shake the stuffing out of a toy at this age!  Oh, and Barney's really had a kick watching them pee - something someone is doing literally every five minutes when they're awake - because even at this age, they're developing the terrier scratch/kick instinct after pottying! 

Easter pictures of Carolina's puppies at 3 weeks old!

Contributed by Carolina and her puppies' foster mom

 Here's Carolina's puppies at 3 weeks. We decided to go with the Easter theme. Of course,by the time I'd gathered up the baskets and stuff, we found the camera battery was low, so I had to send Barney to Wal-Mart late in the evening to get batteries since there wasn't a spare in the house when we got ready to take pics :-( The last two pics I found my basket wasn't long enough for six puppies. It's hard for us to get pics of Carolina feeding - she comes flying out of the puppy area as we open the den door, excitedly wanting to greet us at the ex pen gate and get attention. She's always been that way. I only know they're nursing well because they're all still gaining weight at a nice rate.

Appalachia

Mayberry

Bodie

Banks

Bear

Hatteras

It's a basket full of puppies!

Hatteras weighed 28.9 oz, Beaufort 31.6, Bodie 30.4, Banks 29.2, Mayberry 26.1, and Appalachia 30.5 at tonight's weigh-in . Beaufort should be hitting that TWO POUND mark tomorrow, and possibly Bodie and Appalachia will, too. Mayberry is the smallest, but she's the most inquisitive. For her pics, she wanted to wander around in the basket and check out the plastic grass instead of holding still.
 She's also the most mobile .Appalachia is the fretter - she was whining and worried where everyone else had gone by the time we were done with her in a few short minutes. Banks is the model and not at all camera shy. They are all starting to develop their own personalities. They are peeing more at will instead of mom having to stimulate them - the pads are starting to be saturated and really need changing a few times a day instead of lasting multiple days. Mom's still taking care of the pooping department.

 They are becoming more vocal in their play and will give that purr of a puppy growl if they're disgusted that you've given them skritches or picked them up. Last night, I think it was Beaufort that was sleeping soundly when I was in weighing, and I startled him when I picked him up, and he gave me a big scream like he'd really been got! Next time I'll remember to give them some skritches and wake them up a little gentler if I think they're asleep instead of startling another. I usually enter the room and call puppy, puppy, puppies, and they all start scrambling now to be alert and see what's happening.

Here are pictures of Carolina and her puppies at one week old!

Contributed by CP's Carolina and her puppies' foster mom

Carolina

Hatteras

Banks

Mayberry

Bodie

Beaufort

Appalachia

Carolina looks much more relaxed now that she has been groomed and her pups are all gaining weight.

Thank you to Blanket Auntie Sheryl for ALL of our lovely blankets that we posed on!

CP's Carolina's puppies have names!

Contributed by Carolina's foster mom

A Continuation of the Tar Heels Group

With the adults of this group being named for things in the Tar Heel State of North Carolina, I felt it only fitting that Carolina’s little Tar Heels be given names reflecting that state also. Kind of giving them a family history.

If I visited North Carolina, the first thing on my list of things to see would have to be Hatteras Lighthouse. I think lighthouses are such a symbol of so many positive things – safety, strength, and hope immediately pop into my head. I love them and find them almost magical. So Carolina’s first little girl – the first puppy I’ve ever whelped – is now named Hatteras. It was a magical moment when she came into this world. I see her future full of hope and bright sunny days.

A village full of nautical fun, close to another lighthouse, Cape Lookout, and filled with the folklore of pirates like Blackbeard, is Beaufort. What little boy wouldn’t dream of the adventures of being a pirate? So little boy puppy #2 is now Beaufort.

Another lighthouse along the Outer Banks of North Carolina is Bodie Island Light. I’m sure I could spend weeks in that area and never get tired of walking the shoreline, collecting shells and enjoying beautiful sunrises. Little girl puppy#3 is Bodie.

With all of this talk of lighthouses and pirates and nautical fun , and North Carolina flanked by the Outer Banks along most of its shoreline, one of these puppies should be named Banks! The Banks must be strong and protect the coastal area, so little boy puppy #4 has been given that name.

But there’s more to North Carolina to explore. On its western side are mountain ranges and valleys that comprise the Appalachian Mountains. The beautiful mountain ranges reaching for the sky need the valleys to really be something spectacular. In art, the beauty in a painting or photo is what the eye sees in the extremes - peaks and valleys of colors – or lack thereof, in the lights and darks. So much beauty is seen in the mountains throughout the four seasons. Little girl puppy #6 is named Appalachia for that beauty.

And what of little girl puppy #5? Well, she’s been given a whimsical name because of her fast arrival. Her birth into her family will always be remembered, as she was born a SHORT and comical eight minutes after her brother Banks. Barney had just helped me chart and take the photo of him, and he decided to start a load of the dirty laundry that had accrued with the first 4 puppies’ births. So off he went to the basement with the basket while I was toweling off this newest little boy. Carolina was restless, as if she was going to whelp again, but I thought it would just be the delivery of the afterbirth of the last puppy. To my surprise I watch her give a quick grunt, and out pops another puppy!

My mind was racing as I wasn’t finished cleaning up the boy, but I quickly hopped out of the ex pen and put him in the warmer drawer with his siblings wrapped in his washcloth while I grabbed another washcloth and went to helping Carolina with her latest birth. I gave a call to Barney a couple of times, but he couldn’t hear me over the washing machine noise with the basement door closed. So when he emerged, I shouted “record 2:58 before I forget it, and hand me a mineral oil pad for this one”. He looked at me like the sleep deprivation had finally pushed me over the edge. He calmly told me he’d recorded the puppy, and it was 2:50, not 2:58, and I’d already cleaned it’s little bum, weighed it, and taken it’s picture. I said no Barney, this is another one, and he still didn’t believe she’d given birth to another puppy, so I made him COUNT the ones in the warmer!

That’s when he finally jumped back into action. It was kind of an Andy Griffith and Barney Fife moment, and we all know they lived in Mayberry, North Carolina. As in a lot of television, things are made up, and so is Mayberry. But because of the simple comedy of her quick birth, little girl puppy #5 is named Mayberry. I can imagine her antics in the future and the smiles she will bring, as will all these sweet little babies. I’m already in love with all of them and their sweet mother who worked so hard to bring them into this world this morning - it's an honor to have been entrusted with this miracle.

Thank you to Col. Potter for giving them the chance to be born in Freedom and know love.