We apologize for the lack of puppy reporting for the last week, but with Liz gone to the Specialty show and Andy holding the ropes at home, there was no time for updates. The exciting news is that the puppy's grandmother, Lupine, won best veteran in sweepstakes at the Alberta specialty show. "Auntie Lindy" also did very well in obedience and agility.

There have been so many developments in the last week - where do we start?!  The puppies now have teeth - Teva does not seem too bothered by this development and is still very happy to feed her puppies. The puppies are turning into proper little retrievers - picking up and carrying small toys around. They are now eating two meals of solid food a day, although they also nurse a lot from Teva still. Their eating habits have become slightly tidier than they were last week. Teva continues to do well and is a great mother. Lupine has been helping with some puppy duties and likes to hop into the puppy pen to visit with her grandpuppies every now and again.

The puppies are now quite adept at walking and when they are out of the pen, they travel far and wide. We have introduced a small cardboard tunnel and a longer nylon tunnel and the puppies are all enjoying playing in these new additions to their play areas. Today the puppies figured out how to climb out of the short side of the pen, necessitating a taller panel to be installed. Oh yes, and we have finally decided on a litter theme - it's something we've been thinking about all along - "seabirds". Teva came into season just before we left for Ireland, where we spent much time watching seabirds along the cliffs of the west and northern coast - puffins, gannets, kittiwakes, shearwaters, petrels, fulmars, guillemots, etc. Teva's owners kindly took care of all of the progesterone testing and surgical insemmination while we were away. So it seems appropriate to use seabirds as a theme.

The puppies have had a very busy week with lots of new things happening. The main new development is that the puppies had their first trip outside and since then they've been eating most of their meals outside, which really helps to cut down on the mess inside the house. We carry them all out (2 by 2) to the grass, let them pee and poop and then feed them (which is usually followed by more peeing and pooping....). They get some playtime outside, which mostly consists of them trying to get under our thick shrubs where the birds hang out and us retrieving them back into the grassy play area. They have been wearing their collars for these outdoor excursions and are now pretty used to having them on.

Now that they are very good at eating without creating a mess, we are feeding them out of 2 big bowls instead of individual bowls. Their diet has expanded slightly and they now get ground turkey, chicken, beef, oatmeal, yoghurt and goatsmilk. Teva is still insisting on feeding them as well and continues to be a diligent mother, hopping into the pen on a regular basis to check on them and feed them.

One of the best developments is that they are sleeping quietly through the night! So we all get a full nights sleep again here. Amazingly they have been sleeping in until 7am, which is pretty late for puppies. We are hoping that will last!!

They have had quite a few visitors lately, both adults and children. Here are a variety of photos from this week's adventures: