The Polo x Gracie Puppies: Nine Weeks Old and Leaving the Nest

Snuggle puppy and blankie slumber parties in the ninth week.

It's been a wonderful time raising these puppies from birth to nine weeks.  Our final week with these little ones has been a busy and rewarding time.  

Our routine of frequent trips outside to potty is paying off. They are going out in the rain, snow, sun or dark. First thing when I come down in the am, after waking from naps, after eating each meal and before bedtime for a final potty trip. I'm so proud of them!!!!

These potty trips are in addition to regular recess playtimes outside for longer periods of time (weather permitting). 

Blizzard fast asleep on the car ride home from the vet

Bath time for everyone!

The puppies had their structural evaluations and chiropractic exams and also a trip to the vet for a full check up.



And amidst all the preparations to ready them for their send-offs we were sure to spend some quality time with them before they left.  

A great vet check up for the Polo x Gracie puppies.

Playing in the outdoor yard.

It was without a doubt an emotional week for as much as these pups are ready to move on to the next stage I have grown quite attached to them and will miss their characters and presence in our home.  However, the families that are welcoming the Polo and Gracie pups are terrific and I'm excited for these puppies to be joining them.

Here are the wonderful pups 

and their equally wonderful families;

From top left to bottom right: 
Frosty: Northrock's Lucky Moustache called Moustache
Mittens: Northrock's Lucky Mylah called Mylah
Blizzard: Northrock's Life of the Party called Louie
Chilly: Northrock's Lion In Winter called Hugo (the elder)
Winter: Northrock's Live for Today called Sachem
Crystal: Northrock's Luminous Luna called Stella
Aspen: Northrock's Laughter Is Sunshine called Hugo (the younger)
Cider: Northrock's Let There Be Light called Odin
Cocoa: Northrock's Lorelei and she remains Cocoa

I wish you all the best as you embark on this next chapter and look forward to receiving the updates and photos of life with your new canine companion.  Thank you and welcome to the Northrock Family.

The Polo x Gracie Puppies: Eight Weeks Old

You can really see the difference in the development of the puppies this week.  They do everything with gusto; run, bark, bite and play.  It's been a busy and rewarding week with these little ones.

















We continued having visitors over which is always a delight and an entertainment for the puppies. 

The puppies were temperament tested this week and we're really please with the consistency we are seeing throughout the litter.  Gracie has decided that for the most part she is done with nursing her puppies but sometimes she surprises me and wants in with her puppies to nurse them.  We let our dams decide when and how often they want to nurse and let them wean their pups as they wish.  She is such a good mother and it's been wonderful watching her nurture and care for her puppies.

Keeping puppies this age entertained is not an easy task so we continue to offer them new items to explore such as the crinkly, noisy tarp and the bottle pool.

We always take off the paper labels, unscrew the caps and remove the rings that are left on the bottles before giving them to the puppies. It's a loud, noisy and crunching good time for the pups.  At this age the bottles don't last long as the puppies can crush them fairly easily so the bottles then go off to the recycling box when the pups are through with them.

The puppies' eighth week wrapped up with an Adventure Field Trip to the county.  We packed up the car with puppies travelling by twos in crates except for one puppy who travelled solo riding shotgun in a carrier and drove for over an hour to Erik and Susan Luyendyk's farm. They were very good for the long drive and once they got out of the car they had a grand time rip snorting around the property, stretching their legs and exploring all the new sights and smells.

If you would like to follow the progress of this litter please like our Facebook Page where more frequent updates, photos and videos will be posted.

The Polo x Gracie Puppies: Seven Weeks Old

We had a great week! 

The puppies got outside a lot to play. We went outside several times a day to play for outside recess.  They are also learning that sometimes it's just a quick trip out to potty and then back indoors. 

Here is a video of the puppies enjoying playing in the snow!

Following mama Gracie

Crystal enjoying eating the snow!

A late night potty break and then back inside before shutting off the lights and saying goodnight until morning. I'm so proud of these pups who are doing a really good job making the right choices and using the potty box inside and learning to eliminate outside on snow and grass.

Calling the puppies inside for lunch reinforces the value of coming when called to "pup, pup, pup"

We continued to have lots of visitors which is always so good for the puppies.  All in all it was another wonderful week with the Polo x Gracie puppies.  


If you would like to follow the progress of this litter please like our Facebook Page where more frequent updates, photos and videos will be posted.

The Polo x Gracie Puppies: Six Weeks Old

What a week it's been!  The pups are growing seemingly overnight and now collectively weigh more than  seventy pounds.  They are eating solids four times a day and still continue to nurse from Gracie who enjoys being with her puppies.   She especially loves playing with their soft puppy toys and will try to sneak them out of their pen to enjoy for herself LOL

This week the pups experienced the ball pool which they thought was a lot of fun.  It makes noise when they are in there and the balls roll all over the place.  Their teeth are coming through more and more each day and it's getting to the days where you enter the puppy pen at your own peril.  Human toes and pant legs are definitely at risk during this stage. 

They like sleeping in the crate that's in their pen.  Often more than one of the puppies can be found piled in there all cozied up for sleep.

This week the pups also had the opportunity to go outside and are enjoying the expanded space to play and run in the fresh air. 

Visitors continue to come over and we are always thankful to them for sharing their time with us. Some are the new homes that the puppies will be going to live with and others are homes that already have puppies from Northrock Barbets but are looking for a puppy fix and happy to help us socialize the little ones to new people.

If you would like to follow the progress of this litter please like our Facebook Page where more frequent updates, photos and videos will be posted.

The Polo x Gracie Puppies: Five Weeks Old

What an absolutely marvellous week it has been.  The puppies are now running and jumping and will sit and look right at your face and make the sweetest eye contact.  They will clamour into your lap when you sit down in the pen and spending time with them fills my heart with such joy.  Gracie could not be a better mother to her pups and it's heartwarming to watch her lovingly engage in play with them.

The weaning process has begun with the puppies starting to eat solids in addition to nursing.  Over the course of the next several weeks they will nurse less and eat more.  Gracie is a sweet and tolerant dam.  As their teeth continue to come in her patience may begin to wear a little thin....We shall see!

The puppies have now been introduced to our other resident dogs and Summer especially has taken a keen interest in the little ones. She is being a wonderful "nanny dog" to them and Gracie enjoys sharing her puppies with her.

Every day we add new piece of equipment to the puppy pen and rotate the ones they've already been exposed to.  One of the big introductions for the puppies this week was the addition of the Adventure Box.  It provides so much sensory enrichment for the pups as they walk through and interact with the objects hanging from the bars.  By doing so they learn that getting bumped by objects and having dangling things that make noise clang and jingle next to them is no big deal at all and nothing to be concerned about. They enjoy tugging on and running through it and I could sit and watch them play with it for hours it seems.

We continued having lots of visitors and we are thankful to them for sharing their time with us to help socialize the puppies.  It's important for the pups to meet many different people of different appearances and ages before they leave for their new homes. Once they are with their families this type of socialization should be continued. 

If you would like to follow the progress of this litter please like our Facebook Page where more frequent updates, photos and videos will be posted.

The Polo x Gracie Puppies: Four Weeks Old

This past week was a big change for the Polo and Gracie puppies.  At the beginning of the week they made the move downstairs from the nursery to our main floor and they handled the transition really well.

This video shows the puppies and Gracie in the puppy pen which is where they will stay until it's time for them to leave for their new homes.  As the week progressed we saw the disappearance of the pee pads and the introduction of potty boxes with litter substrate. We use Yesterdays News cat litter (soft non-toxic pellets made out of  recycled paper).

We've introduced more toys for the puppies to interact with which they are engaging with more and more each day.

 

And what's been lots of fun is that we have opened our home to many visitors for the puppies to meet.

This week the puppies also spent time outside of their smaller pen and they are getting to interact with the other dogs as well 💖

Here are individual photo collages of each of the puppies taken on Jan 5 when they turned four weeks old. 

If you would like to follow the progress of this litter please like our Facebook Page where more frequent updates, photos and videos will be posted.