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MANNERHEIM'S
'MEN' OF PEACE
Am/Can Ch. Mannerheim's Don Giovanni
x Can
Ch. Montwood's Classical Jazz, NA, NAJ
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Week
3
All pictures open
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Chow
time's over but dark blue collar goes back for seconds. |
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June 26
Day 15
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The boys are showing increased
mobility with improved bilateral movement. They can take several
steps before falling down. They had great fun mountain climbing
today onto Jazz' pillow-filled doggy bed, demonstrating increased
strength in the rear quarters. Light and dark blue collars took
the lead and the others followed until all 7 were contentedly
perched on the pillow eagerly sniffing
mum's scent. Light blue collar has eagerly ventured out of the
pen a few times, slip-sliding onto the linoleum flooring with
enthusiasm. They are showing increased ability to visually track
each other and notice mum's presence. They are exercising their
lungs more, sometimes crying to be fed, and occasionally utter
a distinct bark. |
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Yellow collar
sleeps peacefully with "four in the air" while red
boy nods of with Mr. Bear. |
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June 27
Day 16
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This morning light blue collar
playfully wrapped his mouth completely around dark blue's muzzle.
General development: Dark blue, orange/yellow, and red boy appear
to be developing at an equal rate. They are similar in size
and bone. Light blue and green were also similar in size and
bone initially; light blue appears to be slightly larger than
green at this point. Light blue proved to be the first escape
artist, willing to explore the territory outside the pen. Green
sometimes sleeps on his back with all four feet in the air.
Red and white collars started at exactly the same weight but
red is a little larger than white at this point. Red boy often
snuggles up to sleep with a fur bear, typically near the outside
of the pen, away from the bumper padding. |
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Even mum can use
a good bear hug now and again. |
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June 28
Day 17
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The boys are noticeably more social
with each other today. They started barking more frequently
yesterday and today there was more barking and even a bit of
growling by three or four. They seem more aware of each other
and occasionally will play bite each other on the neck or muzzle.
But the play usually lasts only a few minutes as they quickly
exhaust themselves, nurse, and fall asleep. In the "War
of the Nipple" both red and white
collar, the two smallest in birth weight, have managed to fend
off their bigger brothers today. Each night a few lucky souls
meet up with Mr. Dremel as mum watches, simply stunned that
they don't even run away or demand cheese rewards for the trouble!
When I examine their mouths I can now see little white teeth
ready to break through the gums. Mum will just love that! Full
and proper dentition we hope, just like mum and dad! |
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Tra la... sing
along now... "I've looked at love... uh... er...
lunch... from both sides now!!" |
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June 29
Day 18
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The day before yesterday I noticed
that red collar walked to the edge of the pen to poop so yesterday
I put some newspapers down there and both yesterday, and again
today, red collar deliberately walked over to the papers and
pooped. Does this mean he's now paper-trained? One down, six
to go! :-) Actually, this is quite an accomplishment because
the newspaper is very slippery and much harder to walk on compared
to their sleeping blanket and even on that they still fall down
while walking. By far the funniest moments are when they're
standing (barely) and they bark or growl and then fall down
from the effort! This evening red collar again walked over to
the papers to poop. And we noticed that red boy's teeth have
now broken through the gums. |
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Tra la... Everybody
gather round... Nap time! <again!!> |
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June 30
Day 19
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The boys must have heard me bragging on red
collar for his advanced paper-potty skills because this morning
white collar, and this afternoon, yellow and light blue collar
also pottied on the papers. At this
rate they're going to have the first leg on their CD before
they even leave home! <G> They spent a short time outside
sunning themselves and sniffing the grass. And green collar
launched an attach on yellow collar, biting him on the neck
and then his leg. The few random barks they utter are becoming
stronger but they still have a tendency to fall down when
they bark or growl. They are standing more confidently on
all fours today and their visual tracking is improving, albeit
moderately at this point. During the first week of nursing
they had such difficulty finding and maintaining a hold on
the nipple - they would lose their grip, then frantically
search, and in the process, give themselves a 'milk mustache'!!
Well, they don't do that any more. The bigger boys are pretty
strategic. They go for the 'pick nipple' and hold their position
until they are satiated. The smaller
boys know that if they go to the end of the train they'll
find good seating in the dining car! And sometimes one or
another will do an 'end run'. This works especially well when
mum is busy cleaning and pottying the kids because as she
stretches to reach them they have free and easy access on
the other side. More than one of the boys has been holding
on for dear life while mum brazenly turns them on their head
to potty them and it's the funniest thing to see them literally
doing a head stand while they nurse. But the big news today
is that the bigger boys' teeth have now pushed through
the gums. The rest will probably pop through tomorrow. New
pictures on July 2nd!
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Light blue collar
manages to remain upright (barely) while he potties on the papers. |
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Yellow collar
and mum, snoozing nose to nose. |
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Sound asleep!
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July 1 Day 20
Canada Day, eh!
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What a surprise this morning.
The boys were all sound asleep when I first looked in on them
but as soon as they woke up dark blue collar marched.... well,
ok, so it was more like he stumbled over to the papers
and then he peed! Now there have been little itty bitty wet
spots on the bedding for the last couple of days but this is
the first time anybody has peed on the papers. And it's the
first time I've seen anybody pee. It's hard enough to stand
up! And THEN... he pooped!!! Also on the papers.... then red
boy comes trudging on over and HE poops on the papers too!!
And then light blue collar comes over and he poops on the papers
too! So, now we've got 4 paper-trained little boys!!! What's
so hard about that!!! They have been much more sociable with
each other today. They still can't stay awake very long between
meals but they did play for a little longer and they're beginning
to show some awareness of their surroundings. To date we've
pretty much left the pen open during the day so Jazz can come
and go as she pleases and, although on a couple of occasions
they've tried to negotiate the linoleum, they rarely venture
beyond the newspapers. But these days of leaving the pen open
are numbered. They have three distinct sounds that they make,
a kind of woeful cry when they're hungry, and they can bark
and growl. Sometimes I think they surprise themselves when they
bark as their whole body twitches and they sometimes fall over.
But they are able to move around the pen much more easily. Their
baby eyes are still a deep blue at this point if you look at
them closely. I was able to get some action pics of them today...
well, at least they were doing something other than eating and
sleeping! Be sure to check out the new 5
generation pedigree I posted. |
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Oh, my gaawd.
They're hungry again! And they've got TEETH! Time Out please!
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July 2 Day
21
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Three weeks!! The boys are noticeably
more social today and showed the first signs that they are hearing
noises. They growl at each other, bite each others necks and
ears and seem more aware of their surroundings. Most of the
time they try to potty on the papers (the fun has officially
begun!) but sometimes they miss or get their feet on the papers
but miss the target! It's really hard to poop or pee when they
lose their footing on the papers. But they are starting to act
like little puppies!! |
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Inspection time!
Potty check. Yup, everyone's clean now. |
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