Gracie with her puppies the day following their birth.
Gracie and Noble had seven Havanese puppies on February 11th, 2023.
Gracie is absolutely wonderful with the puppies. She is calm and relaxed with the puppies. She understands that she has to stay with the puppies and care for them constantly instead of being with the family in the main areas of the house. We spend a lot of time with her in the whelping room to keep her company during this time when the puppies have to remain in the heated whelping room. Gracie is sharing a whelping room with Joy and really enjoys having her company. Although they have separate spaces in the whelping room, they are able to see each other in the shared space.
Gracie & Noble’s puppies are one week old. Gracie watches over the puppies and observes us as we handle them, but is completely trusting of us as we assist with the care of the puppies. She is very confident and relaxed while we handle the puppies. She enjoys watching them when we handle them. She trusts us completely but tends to observe during the weighing process when we weigh each puppy daily and remove them from the whelping box for a few seconds. She sleeps with them, nestles them, and cleans them with much devotion. She seems to enjoy it when we help clean the puppies and arrange them to nurse.
We have chosen a ‘Valentine’ theme for the puppies.
The girls: Sugar, Sprinkles, Candy, and Sweetheart
The boys: Arrow, Quiver, and Valentine
The puppies began the early neurological stimulation “Super Dog” program developed by Dr. Carmen Battaglia.
The puppies are two weeks old. Their favorite activities … nursing and sleeping!
Gracie is absolutely wonderful with the puppies. She watches over them, sleeps with them, and cleans them with such devotion. Gracie is great with any puppy and one of our most avid participants playing with puppies from any of our dams. She is a fabulous mother and very attentive to the puppies. She enjoys staying with the puppies in the whelping box or sitting right outside the whelping box while watching them.
The puppies are just beginning to open their eyes and attempt to walk. They continue to participate in the “Super Dog” program, the early neurological stimulation for newborn puppies developed by Dr. Carmen Battaglia. They are exposed to a variety of music throughout the day.
Arrow
Sugar
Sprinkles
Candy
Quiver
Valentine
Sweetheart
The puppies are three weeks old.
The puppies have all opened their eyes and getting more secure on their feet as they attempt to walk. Their ‘toddling’ is entertaining to watch as they work on learning to balance on all four legs. They are beginning to play with small toys, and also beginning to tug and nibble their siblings tail and feet, although the duration is very brief. Many of them enjoy being ‘belly up’ while getting belly rubs, and some of them are learning to give puppy kisses. They are exposed to a variety of music throughout the day.
The puppies have all completed the “Super Dog” program, the early neurological stimulation for newborn puppies developed by Dr. Carmen Battaglia. We also implement activities from ‘Puppy Culture’ and a ‘Puppy Preschool’ program developed by a local dog trainer.
The puppies will join us in the family room later this week.
The girls: Sugar, Sprinkles, Candy, and Sweetheart
The boys: Arrow, Quiver, and Valentine
Gracie and Noble’s puppies are four weeks old.
Gracie continues being a fabulous mother to the puppies. She watches over them closely, cleans them and feeds them with much attention. Gracie has been very relaxed about the entire process.
The puppies have all opened their eyes, walk like puppies, wag their tails, give puppy kisses, and play with their siblings and toys. They are progressing with potty training with the ‘Ugo Dog’, ‘Piddle Place’ imitation grass mats, and ‘piddle pads’. Although our pups hear many sounds with our family and adult dogs, the puppies listen to classical music, several ‘puppy sounds’ tracks, children’s music, and a variety of other music throughout the day.
There are many toys in the whelping box for the puppies to explore, soft semi enclosed mats, and crinkle tunnels that fit inside the whelping box. The puppies are introduced to new toys, objects, and mild obstacles each day, and they are also given individual time daily. They have joined us in the family room where they will continue Puppy Culture activities and be exposed to a lot of activity, sounds, and get to interact with the adult dogs while in their puppy pen.
Arrow
Sugar
Sprinkles
Candy
Quiver
Valentine
Sweetheart
Gracie and Noble’s puppies are five weeks old.
The puppies had their first taste of thickened goats milk, and they seemed to enjoy it. Gracie is always happy to participate in ‘clean up’ since she also enjoys the goats milk. She is beginning to wean them since the puppies have teeth, but she is still nursing them several times during the day and while they are in the whelping box at night.
The puppies spend the day in the family room where they experience many sights, sounds, and family activity. Our adult dogs are always enthusiastic about interacting with the puppies. Noble enjoys individual time with each puppy and often rolls over into a ‘belly up’ position in an attempt to play gently with the puppies. Mia enjoys sniffing them and trying to clean them. Pearl, the baby of the group is enthusiastic to interact with them while we ensure that she is gentle since she is still young.
Gracie and Noble’s puppies are six weeks old.
They spend the day in the family room with us. Gracie is always happy to share her puppies with everyone including our adult dogs. All the adult dogs visit the pups often and enjoy interacting with them. Gracie enjoys showing off the puppies and also being showered with attention.
The puppies are quickly learning that Gracie does not wish to nurse them full time and thus are having to eat ‘big doggie’ food. They are all becoming very skilled at eating since Gracie is starting to lengthen the time between nursing and encouraging the puppies to begin the weaning process. Gracie is always happy to be part of the ‘clean up’ crew with any remaining puppy food.
Gracie continues to be a wonderful mother to the puppies. She spends a lot of time with them. The puppies have begun playing in their playroom where they can enjoy agility equipment, tunnels, ramps, toggle board, and a large variety of toys.
As we prepared to take puppy photos, our 10 week old Pyrenean mastiff puppy joined in on the fun. Welcome home Žofie! We have high hopes for her to mature into a wonderful livestock guardian for our Valais Blacknose sheep.
Arrow
Sugar
Sugar and our Pyrenean Mastiff puppy meet and sniff each other. Sugar is intrigued by her.
Sprinkles
Candy
Quiver
Valentine
Sweetheart
Gracie and Noble’s puppies are seven weeks old.
They continue to spend the day with us in the family room. The puppies are exposed to many sounds throughout the day such as the occasional but loud bark of our Rhodesian Ridgeback and Doberman, a variety of music though ‘Alexa’, the television, and busy household sounds. The puppies enjoy playing with a variety of toys in their various play areas.
The pups have quickly become experts at eating goats milk mixed with puppy food. They still attempt to nurse at any opportunity and many times Gracie allows them to do so very briefly. They are all progressing nicely with potty training. The puppies enjoy interacting and playing with the adult dogs. They favor Mia since she is very tolerant of their ‘puppy’ antics.
The puppies are a true joy for us!
Arrow
Sugar
Sprinkles
Candy
Quiver
Valentine
Sweetheart
Gracie and Noble’s puppies are eight weeks old.
We have enjoyed this litter immensely. Gracie fills our lives with laughter through her antics, athletic nature, ability to problem solve, and intelligence. She has been a wonderful mother to all of her puppies.
We are blessed with our sweet boy Noble. He fills our lives us each day with joy with his sweetness, unmatched ability to fetch ‘balls’, mild manner with all of our dogs, kind nature and fondness with all puppies, and wisdom. One puppy family long ago described him as a “wise old man”. He seems to know what each person, dog, or puppy needs and delivers with such finesse.
Mia has been a wonderful puppy play mate. She is a very good-natured girl that has been an excellent role model for the puppies. Zola (our Rhodesian Ridgeback) and Kalysta (our Doberman) have enjoyed providing the puppies stimulation through nudging, big dog ‘barking’ and big dog ‘antics’. Our livestock guardian puppy Žofie is all wags and wiggles and enjoys interacting with the puppies. The puppies are always eager to see her.