Puppies on TV

Don't forget to tune in or set your DVR's this weekend for 

"Maranda, Where you Live" 

This weekend's show features our family and our Rosie's Paws Puppies.

"Where You Live" airs Saturday at 6:30 p.m. on WOOD TV 8 and 

7:30 a.m. and p.m. on WOTV 4.

If you live out of the west Michigan area, I will post a link as soon as it becomes available.  

A Different Week

 I have been asked frequently, "could a working person whelp and raise a litter of pups".  I could not really answer that question, as I am at home with my kids and, although I saturate my schedule with volunteer efforts, I do not have a set schedule or a paying job.

All that changed for three days this week.  Here is yesterday's schedule:
6AM - I Woke, let Rosie in to nurse puppies and put kibble in to soak.
  Cleaned up night time puppy area and readied daytime area.
  Took puppies outside, and fed gruel.
  Fed big dogs.
  Took a shower.
7AM - Woke kids,  Andy fed them.
  Helped them get dressed, brush hair and ready for school.
  Brought puppies inside.
8AM - Took kids to school
  Went to work.
Noon - Andy checked in with the pups , cleaned, let Rosie in to nurse, (forgot to feed them gruel).  
3:30 - MIL arrived at house with kids
  let Rosie in to nurse
5PM - Andy arrives home
  feeds gruel
  takes puppies outside
  cleans up day area and readies night area.
6 pm - feeds kids and big dogs
8:30 - puts kids to bed
10:00 -  puts dogs to bed
Late - I arrive home.

So, could a working person whelp a litter?  Sure it is possible, it's all a matter of schedule!

The fun stuff....

"The pool is fun!" It is almost unanimous!  

Mr. Red, what is the matter?  "Get me outta heeere....."

"Maybe a nap in the pool....," says Mr. Blue.

"It is all about splashing!" says the bonus pup.  

Tuesday Photos

The bonus Puppy tries a little soccer.  

Mr. Red is so considerate, cleaning up after himself.  

Mr. Blue likes Caroline's new glasses.

Neighbor Tammy heard the puppies yelping from her yard and had to take a peek.  

After many visits, we finally got Ross and Tammy to pose with the "K's".

Quick take the picture these pups are such squirmy bugs!

Hot, Hot, Hot

Mother Nature has brought us July weather in May here in Michigan.  None were as unprepared for the heat as the puppies.  They have been lethargic and whiny all day.

Late this afternoon, my neighbor, Amy dragged over a kiddy pool and we gave the pups their first experience with water.  If I didn't know better, I would not believe that these are water dogs.  They really did not take to the pool and wanted out immediately.  My girls, however, loved the pool and with some coaxing from Anna, Miss Green decided that swimming wasn't so bad after all.  

Anna is playing "Dog Trainer" and trying to get Miss Green to swim.  

"now, splash, splash, good dog"  

Mr. Orange just wanted to run and play, he is always ready for fun.  

Mr. Orange wanted to play with Big J and although the old dog growled and barked, he was ready for playtime, too.  

Wet puppy wrestling!  

Saturday in Photos

Rosie's stylin' tank top does the trick, she can play with the babies and they cannot get to her boobies.  She looks happy, doesn't she?

Playing with baby toys is fun!!

Playing chase is fun!!

Then we must crash!!

Mr. Blue thinks climbing on momma is a good place for a rest.  

Patient mother, they are like piranhas with those sharp little puppy teeth.  Hence the need for the tank.  

"Tennis Ball, can you say Tennis Ball?"

Today's visitors, the Lehmann girls.  Lisa, a fabulously talented jewelry designer, www.StudioJewel.com, was kind enough to drop off a gift I had ordered.   She and her girls were rewarded with puppy snuggles.  Are they darling or what?  

We are closing in on two weeks remaining in our whelping adventure.  Can't believe how fast the time is going.   I think often of the steps that these tiny paws will walk in the future and I am awed.  We are enjoying every minute with these amazing little pups. 

I've been trying....

...to blog, but seriously, these pups are so stinkin' cute that I cannot take my eyes off of them long enough to type.

I have so many funny stories to tell you, like right now.  Rosie is laying in the middle of the floor, wearing a black wife beater tee shirt (a good look) and all 7 pups are jumping all over her and playing.  I want so badly to take some photos, but I'm uploading the 250 photos I have taken in the past couple of days!

The girls and I have had a couple of chances to see Paws dogs at work this week.  The kids and I saw two Paws assistance dogs with their people out for lunch in EGR and Paws Hearing Dog, Brinks came by our garage sale with his person, Jim.  It was a nice reminder of the mission and as I scooped my umpteenth bag of puppy poop later that afternoon, I was smiling.

At 5 1/2 weeks, each pup is weighing over 7 pounds, the wrestling has increased and they have started to tell each other what they think squawking and barking at each other, rather than just randomly.  They are constantly nipping at feet and pant legs and the girls have quickly learned that skirts are not the best attire for puppy play time.

We had a few kids visit on Thursday and for a while there were 7 kids and 7 puppies.  The kids just couldn't get enough of the pups and the pups were pretty happy, too.  Cute kids, Cute Puppies and a beautiful day, what could be better?

Caroline...

...and twin brother Collin

Alexa.....

...and twin brother Gibson. 

"Bonus Puppy" is what we affectionately call the last little girl born.  After delivering 7 puppies, we thought that Rosie was finished, we cleaned up, Aimee was on her way out the door, when she spotted a contraction.  The last puppy was born about 20 minutes later and she has been "BP", "Little Bonus Puppy" or just "Bonus", ever since.  Small and mighty, she was the smallest at birth and still is weighs in a full pound lighter than the largest pup.   She wore whatever scrap of ribbon was left and has changed colors a few times since.   Currently, she has pink and green polka dots, and WOW,  do polka-dots ever fit her personality!  She bounds after the girls attacking their feet, she chases tails, she races around so fast that all four paws are in the air!  She is darling, spunky and the current favorite pup.

I have to get my camera's in order, photos downloaded, video edited and, I promise, more pics very soon.

A Puppy Poem

The "K" Puppies

                            Pudgy Miss Purple

               Miss bonUs puppy

                            Pokey Miss Pink

                      pooPy Mr. Orange

                            I Like Mr. Blue

                        mEllow Mr. Red

                           Silly Miss Green

                                        by Caroline Milnes

Gotta' Love the Sunny Weekend

I started this post over the weekend, so I will just call this the weekend update!

I absolutely cannot believe how much there pups change each day.

Miss Purple 23 days ago

Miss Purple today

Purple is such a pistol.  She is the instigator, the clown and the life of the party.   When she decides that it is playtime, watch out.  She will badger each and every sleeping puppy until they are all awake.   She makes us laugh daily.  

Aimee came by with another ex-pen and some new toys.  We made a big pen outside in the front yard.  She stayed and played for a bit, the puppies love their Great Grandma and so do we!  Rosie is really beginning to play with her babies.   She is a little rough with them but they do not seem to mind at all. 

The slide is still the most fun especially now that they have begun playing "King of the Mountain".  I think Purple is winning!   

Rosie is really starting to play with the puppies.  She is a little rough with them, but they do not seem to mind at all.   

 

Katie, Dee and Ashley came by to visit.  The girls may have had more fun catching toads in the yard with my girls than snuggling puppies, but that was just fine with Dee and I, more snuggles for us.  

 

The Schramm family joined us on this bright sunny Sunday for some snuggles.  I could see puppy raising in their future, I'm absolutely sure these darling girls would be into it.  

We had many additional friends from the neighborhood stop by for snuggles and somehow avoid the house rule of photos with the pups for the blog.  We also had 2 other impromptu drive-bys, one inquiring about purchasing a pup and the other brought their golden, Luna, to check out the babies  :-/

It is great to have this opportunity to tell the PAWS story, these golden nuggets sure to attract a lot of attention.  

A quick catch up

The adventure continues.

Mr. Orange decided that the fire place makes a nice place to sleep and he required a bath to get rid of the soot and dust, doesn't he look pathetic, poor baby :(

Aimee brought over the little tikes slide for us to borrow, the pups LOVE it!!   If any of you garage sale shoppers see one of these, buy it, I or PAWS will pay you back (up to $10).  this is the best puppy toy!  

We have started feeding gruel, a combination of ground up kibble and water and the pups can't get enough.  

We have had quite a few visitors in the past two days.......

Annie with daughters Jenn, Julia and Judith May are experienced puppy breeders.  They have even bred lab puppies for PAWS.

I am sure Amy has heard nothing but "PLLLEEEEZZEE, I want a puppy" ever since Sarah and Leah left from snuggling the babies.  

Anna and Greta's school friends Ella and Francie dropped by after the park today.  Francie wasn't sure what to think, but she was very brave and even petted Miss Purple.  

Matthew, Anne, Isabelle, and Helena stopped by.  Do you think brother Peter is going to be sad he didn't come?   

Payton, Michelle and Gwen were contemplating stuffing Miss Pink into Michelle's cute pink purse.  I did a pup count before they left the driveway! :-)  I am sure Michelle and Greg will also be hearing the "PPLLLEEEEZZZZEEE!"

Now, the pups were pooped but after a quick nap they are back to wrestling.  They are sooo cute!!  

What a Day!

Happy Wednesday everyone.

Yesterday we had the cutest visitors. Lily came over and brought her mom and her grandma.  What fun to see them interact with the pups.  It was a really nice, calm visit.  Thanks for coming!

Today, has been quite a busy day here in puppy world, getting everyone ready for Rosie and the pup's TV debut.  House cleaning, hair, makeup, clothing for all 8 girls (4 two-footed ones and five 4-pawed ones.)  Rosie went over and saw Tammy for a bath and a trim.  She came back looking and feeling refreshed.  As all of us busy moms know, a day at the spa is vital once in a while.  Lucky boys, no work for them to look great.

Just a sidebar note, not really the smartest idea to start the puppies on "gruel" the day before a photo shoot. Really, you think that it would have occurred to me that with gruel, comes poop.

I mean real poop.  

We welcomed Jamie and John from the Maranda's Where You Live* show  into our home to talk about PAWS, puppy raising, whelping, etc...  The pups preformed perfectly, Rosie was a wonderful hostess and Jackson even gave them a Chessie Smile.  Caroline talked on camera (I'm soooo proud of her), so I hope that they will use some of her in the piece.  

I am thrilled to be able to use these adorable golden nuggets to garner more awareness for PAWS and the wonderful work they do.  It was fun for us and I think for Jamie and John, too.  The segment will air on May 28 and 29, I will keep you posted!

Jamie and Puppies.  

We are really looking for Mother Nature so send some warm, dry weather this way so the pups can go outside and play,  if you have any influence, we would appreciate it.  

*Where You Live is a weekly half-hour program hosted by Maranda. Each week's show features a combination of information, inspiration and insights for West Michigan parents.  It airs Fridays @ 7pm on WXSP, Saturdays @ 7:30 am and pm on WOTV 4 and Saturdays @ 6:30 pm on WOOD TV8.  

PuppyCam

On this very dreary day here in Michigan, I thought I would share some video of the pups wrestling, squawking and eventually even escaping. Enjoy.

The Pied Piper

Puppies are everywhere.  Today they decided to hop out of the box and try to follow mom around the house.  I've been poised here with the video camera trying to catch it again to no avail.  Just like the Pied Piper, but with Momma Golden Retriever with little Golden nuggets scampering after her.  By far, the cutest thing ever.   


Other cute things that have been going on around here;


The pups have begun to really wrestle with each other.  I caught Mr. Red chasing Miss Green's tail today.  He caught it and bit down, she let him know that wasn't cool.  We also had an all out rumble going on with 5 puppies squawking and "growling" at each other.  They think they are so tough trying to be top dog.


The box no longer contains them, I think each has been over the "great wall" at least once today.  I now am spending my time counting and making sure none have escaped to another part of the house.


They have begun to harass Old Uncle Jackson.  Jackson has been such a good sport up to this point with the invasion of golden puppies.   Now, he is not so sure what he thinks of them.  They are beginning to chase him.  He pushes them back with his nose and they just go back in.  Common' pups, don't you know he is a crotchety old dog that outweighs you by what, 75 pounds?  And, how do you know that his growl is all show?  I'm being cautious, just the same.

Poor Jackson, in time out. Look at that face!!!  

Rosie is a Retriever through and through.  If you come to our door, she will greet you with a gift.  Hopefully it is just a shoe and not a pair of underwear.  She now has started to bring her babies gifts and it is so sweet!  Yesterday I found a sock in the box.  She often brings stuffed toys, but what I love most is the tennis ball.  As if to say, "OK kids, this is a tennis ball, you LOVE tennis balls.  They are the bomb, slimier the better.  So just get used to the smell, and you will want to practice dropping into your person's lap."

yes, her head is in the litter box.

We had lots of fun with visitors this weekend.    

Bennett and his mom Amy.

Melinda with Jack and Ruby

And the Gorsline Girls, Belle, Libby and Gracie.  

And Julie and Mallory, you must come back because we didn't get a photo!