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German Shepherd breeders of Czech (Slovakian) German Shepherds

Sandra Weiland

330 Clark Rd.
Bath, North Carolina, 27808

Please email us at:

vomweiland@hotmail.com

 

HOME: 252-964-2514

CELL: 636-295-0864

Diary of a German Shepherd puppy

An excellent book on training German shepherd puppies and adult dogs is Purely Positive Training, by Sheila BoothShe includes chapters on selecting a puppy, training a puppy, and training for basic commands.  It had its fifth printing around 2006 and is available from Amazon.  I highly recommend her book.  It was written by a German shepherd trainer of German shepherd dogs to compete in both AKC events and Schutzhund events, but, it is intended for the average owner of a German shepherd who wants to train his dog to reach his potential.

She very much uses operant conditioning with her German shepherd puppies, otherwise known as "clicker training", an exceptional technique to achive great success with young dogs. 

The Diary of a German Shepherd Puppy below, although whimsical, is also indicative of the daily care that we give to our puppies.


Before Birth: I remember how crowded it was with all of us squished together inside mommy.  I also remember how good it felt when "Grandma" stroked Mommy's tummy and her sides and hugged her and gave her tummy rubs.  I heard Grandma tell someone that research shows that we puppies can appreciate being petted even when inside our mommies.  Supposedly puppies who experience such love and petting before birth appreciate being petted by people even more, are more gentle and eager to please, and can be more intelligent.  Whatever!  It felt good and made me happy and made my mom happy.  

Grandma goes to canine seminars at NCSU.  She likes to learn the latest research on canine reproduction and puppy care.

She has learned something about worms.  YUKKY worms!!! 

Here in the south, we must assume that every adult dog has been exposed to roundworms. 

They have the capacity to encyst themselves in the muscles of adult dogs and in that state are immune to wormers.

However, with the stress of pregnancy and whelping, these very opportunistic parasites become active again and migrate to the intestines of the pregnant dog and their eggs can pass via the placenta to the puppies.  As a precaution against them, NCSU recommends giving a 3 day regimen of Fenbenzadole which can eliminate those worms which are active in the mom and might lay eggs that can pass through the placenta before birth and after birth via mother’s milk to hurt us puppies.  We get some of the fenbenzadole too, but it is safe for us and protects us too

Consequently, mom is given a 3 day regimen of Fenbenzadole two weeks before the anticipated whelping date, and for three days starting two days after the birth of the puppies.

This results in significantly less incidence of roundworms in the puppies.  Thus, most times when Grandma worms us, at 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks and 8 weeks, we do not show signs of having had worms.

Here in the south, we must assume that every adult dog has been exposed to roundworms. 

They have the capacity to encyst themselves in the muscles of adult dogs and in that state are immune to wormers.

However, with the stress of pregnancy and whelping, these very opportunistic parasites become active again and migrate to the intestines of the pregnant dog and their eggs can pass via the placenta to the puppies.  As a precaution against them, NCSU recommends giving a 3 day dose of Fenbenzadole which can eliminate those who are active in the mom and pass through the placenta before birth and after birth via mother’s milk to protect the puppies.

Consequently, mom is given a 3 day regimen of Fenbenzadole two weeks before the anticipated whelping date, and for three days starting two days after the birth of the puppies.

This results in significantly less incidence of roundworms in the puppies.

BIRTH:  Wednesday, November 13, 2013: I was the first of all the puppies to be born. I arrived at 2:10 in the afternoon. I was born quite quickly; without much fuss. I was born in the "divers" position, with my front feet leading the way.  Very soon my mom had the mess cleaned up while my "Grandma" dried me with a fuzzy towel and helped me find my way to the milk faucets. Yummy!!! I have a fantastic Mommy! She keeps us clean; she helps us pee and poop; and she has so many milk faucets. She makes sure that we all drink as much as we can. Our little bodies cannot regulate our temperature, so Grandma keeps adjusting these hot lights so that our whelping box is kept between 80 and 90 degrees.  That way, those of us who want more warmth can crawl to the heat and those who want to cool off can crawl elsewhere.  I have heard that other puppies do not have such careful care, and have to pile on top of each other just to not get too chilled.  So much nicer to be able to stretch out, wherever I want to be, and always feel so comfy,

The floor of our whelping box is expensive indoor / outdoor carpet, with ridges, to help us to be able to easily crawl to our mommy.  I have heard Grandma say that puppies who live on slippery surfaces such as a vinyl floor, or a swimming pool have to flail around like swimmers to crawl to their mommy, and their four legs do not develop their muscles and tendons properly.   The condition is called "swimmers syndrome".  Grandma has lots of these carpets, measuring 54 inches by 54 inches which is the size of the bottom of our whelping box.  She regularly takes out the carpets, hangs them on her chain link fence, and sprays them with a pressure washer to get them absolutely clean, then lets them air dry there.

Very soon there were more brothers and sisters born. My last sister was born at 10:30 at night. There were 8 of us in all. Most of them were born in the easiest position for Mommy to deliver, the "Divers" position.  A few of us were born in the breech position, with our bottoms coming out first.  Then there were some that were born in the "Vertex" position, with the head coming out first, and no little feet to lead the way.  Those births take the longest time and are the hardest for Mommy and usually Grandma has to help with those births.  We have to take turns on the milk faucets. Some of us sleep while Mom lets some of us have our fill; then, when the first group falls asleep, she waits while everyone in the second group have a meal. Grandma watches us all the time to make sure that we have full tummies and are all eating well. Grandma also weighs us (when mommy goes potty) and makes sure that we are all getting heavier. Grandma also mixes up some yummy puppy milk and puts it in a syringe and drips just drop by drop on Mommy's faucets while we suckle.  That way we get extra nutrition and we are encouraged to suck more, and that causes Mommy to produce more.

Friday, November 16:  Grandma took our puppy paw print and put it on the third day column in our baby books.  My footprint measured 7/8 inches from toe to toe.  Not bad for three days old.  We are able to crawl to Mommy quite easily and we are starting to lift our tummies a tiny bit off the floor.

Wednesday, November 20:  ONE WEEK OLD  Grandma put our one week puppy paw print in our baby books. 

Sunday, November 24: I think I can! I know I can. I am just starting to open my eyes and to see a little bit; and, I am strong enough to lift my tummy off the carpet while I walk! The temperature in our area is still quite warm. Soon Grandma will lower the temperature, cause our body will soon be able to regulate our temperature and we will be more comfy when it is not so warm.  Grandma is still weighing us twice a day.  We can suck on her fingers to tell her we are still hungry and she mixes up some milk for us, and feeds us using a real soft nipple that feels like Mommy's faucets.

Monday, November 25: This morning, when Mom was feeding all of us, she heard Grandma come down the stairs to give breakfast to the big dogs. She jumped out of the whelping box; but, I was still stuck onto her milk faucet. I went for a ride, stuck onto her milk delivery nipple. Then, I slipped off, onto the floor of the other side of our kennel, plop, onto the tile floor. Grandma quickly picked me up and put me back in the nest with the other puppies. She weighed us, and I weigh over two and a half pounds. Grandma calls me Goliath!!! I am so tough!!!

Tuesday November 26: This morning, at 2 am, when Grandma checked on us for the last time, Mom was so hungry!!! She was feeding us again, and three of us went for a short ride, hanging from Mommy's milk faucets. Grandma always makes sure we get back in the nest; and she makes sure that Mommy always has food and water available.  We love Grandma! I think I am starting to "see" just a little bit better. And there are funny "noises". I can hear when mommy is feeding other sisters and brothers and they are making crying sounds as they scramble towards her. I hear them, and I join the group wanting to be fed. I am so big, that I can push anyone I want to and steal their milk faucet. But, Grandma makes extra milk and has bottles ready to give more food to others who do not get enough and are still hungry when Mom has decided she has given enough.

TWO WEEKS OLD: Wednesday, November 27: Grandma says this is my two week birthday and took pictures of all of us! She put our two week old puppy paw prints in our baby books,  We got our first liquid puppy wormer; it tasted like butterscotch.  Grandma says it is pyrantel pamoate.  Grandma gave it to us using a syringe. She wrote down what we were wormed with and how much it was in our puppy baby books.  She weighed us first to make sure that the amount that we got was perfect for each puppy.  Mom feeds us every two to three hours. Today, I crawled to get onto the edge of the whelping box, and stuck my nose out of the kennel wires, so that it touched a crack in the blankets surrounding our cage. I am not sure if I wanted to see outside, or just get a smell of the cooler air outside our kennel. But, I sure slept well in that position.

Thursday, November 28: Grandma turned one of the heat lamps off and adjusted the heat in our area so that we can still crawl to where it is nearly 90 degrees, or crawl to where the temperature is at 80 degrees. Everyone's eyes are open now and we can see each other. We can sit up, and scratch ourselves behind our ears. It is so much fun being a puppy! 

Friday, November 29: I love to climb. I climb up on the edge of the whelping box, I climb on top of my brothers and sisters. I think I am the king of all the puppies!!! Most of us weigh over 3 pounds already.

Saturday, November 30: We are moving around easily now. I don't wobble one little bit!!! I like to crawl on top of another puppy to sleep. They make such great pillows. We are all starting to try to climb out of the whelping box. I heard Grandma say that soon they will take the whelping box out of our kennel area.

Sunday, December 1: We are very strong puppies! We climb up on the ledge of the whelping box, then do the "marine commando body lift" We hook our front feet to the top of the dividing board and lift ourselves up and over into Mommy's side of our kennel. Grandma kept putting us back and we kept climbing over. Then, Grandma took the whole whelping box out. Without that ledge to stand on, we can't climb over to the other side. Grandma spoiled ALL our fun

Monday, December 2: I guess it is not so bad to be stuck in the puppy side. We wrestle with each other; we sleep using another puppy for a pillow. We can run pretty fast now.   I weighed three pounds 5 ounces today!  I am so big!

Tuesday, December 3:  My brother, Aqua, is a bit of a bully.  He likes to push the other puppies around and pick on them.  He doesn't try to push me though.

THREE WEEKS OLD:  Wednesday, Dec 4:  Today was such a busy day.  Grandma put our 3 week old puppy paw prints in our baby books; she weighed me; I weighed 3 pounds 11 ounces!  Today was picture day.  I sat pretty for my pictures.  I wanted to look good for the people who picked me for their baby!  Grandma says my toenails are getting too long and she will have to trim them.  She says that Mommy won't let us nurse as long if we dig our sharp nails into her milk nipples and scratch them all up.  She wraps us up in a blanket and Grandpa holds us and loves on us, while Grandma blunts our toes with a Dremel.  It makes noise but does not hurt.

Thursday, Dec 5:  Grandma weighs us every day to make sure that we are growing well.  Grandma says she can feel our teeth starting to grow.

Friday, December 6:  We are so strong.  We are able to climb over the 14 inch high divider wire shelf that separates us from our Mommy.  When we want to get to her, we can just do the Commando body lift and get right over.  Grandma put in a taller divider.  She spoils all our fun.  We are starting to drink milk from a puppy dish, because Grandma wants to make sure that we get all the milk that we want.  Mommy can't quite make enough milk for 8 growing puppies.

Monday December 9:  When Grandma puts out the milk in the puppy dish, we all run to it as fast as we can.  Grandma will soon start adding just a little puppy food, softened with milk, to the puppy dish.  She says that it is Purina Pro Plan "Focus" Chicken and Rice Puppy food, specially made for Large Breed puppies.   She now offers us milk 4 times a day, first thing in the morning, at lunch and dinner time, and late at night.

Tuesday December 10:  Grandma weighed me,  I weigh 4 pounds 7 ounces.  I am so big that I can push any puppy I want from any nipple I want.  When Grandma puts out the dish of milk and Purina Puppy food, I push the other pups out of my way.  Today, Grandma fixed up our potty training area.  It is a big kennel 5 feet by 10 feet, with a 3 feet by 5 feet bathroom area, with a plywood wall and a one foot wide doorway into it.  It smells like the perfect place to go pee and poo.  Most of my brothers and sisters want to have a place to go pee and poo rather than just doing it on our carpeted area.  Our teeth are getting bigger.  Mommy prefers to stand while we nurse now.  We have lots of different toys; Grandma says it stimulates us mentally.  I especially like the play times when  we get to play in the big play area with a Puppy Fort and so many toys that we have a hard time choosing what we want.  Of course it is more fun to steal someone else's toy.  Grandma puts out different toys all the time, just so we won't get bored with the same old toys.

FOUR WEEKS OLD:  Wednesday, Dec 11:  Grandma put our 4 week old puppy paw prints in our baby books.  Grandma gave us another dose of that yummy puppy wormer.  YUM!  Grandma is mixing more puppy food in with our extra milk that we get because Mommy isn't making enough for us all.  The extra milk is made by PetAg and is quite yummy.  It tastes and smells just like Mommy's milk.  We are starting to have more play times outside our sleeping kennel.  When we wake up, Grandma has our big puppy dishes ready with our Purina Pro Plan Chicken and Rice Puppy food mixed with the warm milk.  There are two dishes with food and milk and one dish with clean water.  Grandma gives us two dishes because we are getting big now, and she wants there to be lots of room for everyone at the dishes.  After we eat, we try to go poo on the many papers there for us to poo on.  Grandma makes sure that every bit of mess is picked up right away so that another puppy doesn't step in it.  I am glad that she does that.  I hate poopy puppy paws! 

Grandma cleans our kennel while we eat. When it is warm outside we get to eat outside in the 30 foot by 12 foot puppy play area, that is fenced in so we are extra protected, but we can still see what the big dogs do in the larger fenced in area.  We are learning to bark at strangers who drive up to our house.  She takes up every bit of the dirty paper and takes out our 5 foot by 30 inch sleeping carpet.  Then, she takes a mop and cleans the ceramic tile floor with Top Performance 256, a nice smelling disinfectant that can kill every germ around, even parvovirus.  She gets it from www.petedge.com.  She lets the floor dry while she watches us play.  When it is dry, she puts down clean newspaper and a fresh clean carpet.  It is so nice to sleep in a place that smells so clean.  Grandma cleans our area every morning.  While we sleep, she washes the carpets with the pressure washer and lets them air dry on the fence.  She has lots and lots of carpets.

Thursday, December 12:  I love our play times.  We have a play time about every three hours or so.  We eat, and then pee and poop and then play.  Grandma has tons of toys for us to play with.  We take turns stealing favorite toys from each other.  A favorite toy is a stuffing free lion, that has about a dozen squeakers in it.  We love to bite it and make sounds with it.  We play tug of war with it with other puppies.  Sometimes there are three puppies all pulling on the same toy.  We like our balls.  The balls are small enough that we can pick them up and run around proudly prancing and showing off what we have to the other puppies.  A big favorite is the log with the fake fox fur tail attached to it.  We take turns dragging it around and stealing it from other puppies.  I like a webby ball, called a Holee Molee, too.  There are lots of things to chew on:  rope rings with chew balls to chew on, ropes with rubbery bones, chew teething rings, tons of toys.  We need things to chew on because our teeth are getting bigger every day.

Saturday, Dec 14:  Grandma has been adding more Pro Plan Puppy Chicken & Rice and softening it with milk.  Most of us weigh over 5 pounds now.  She let us have a play date and we are playing with balls more.  I was playing ball, and had to go pee, and didn't want the other puppies to steal my ball, so I took the ball with me to the paper and went pee.  It felt good for me when Grandma picked me up and gave me a tummy rub.  I love tummy rubs.  We all love to run to Grandma to get tummy rubs and get petted while we sit in her lap.

Sunday, December 15:  Then we had a long play date.  Grandma put out newspaper for us in the big room where we were playing.  She took a video of us playing with lots of toys; we had balls, bone on a rope, ring with chewies, and other teething toys as well with a skinny fox that had a million squeakies that made tons of fun noises.  We all fought over the skinny fox.  She tried to make sure that people could see the color of our collars.  Then, she took more pictures of us during one of our after dinner time play times.  We love our play times.  Grandma lets us play, and she watches us while we play and takes notes while we play and writes what we did in our baby books.  After about an hour or so we get real tired and start to sleep.  A favorite place to sleep is right near where Grandma is sitting; we sleep near her feet, on top of her feet.  There is often a pile of puppies all around her.  White collar puppy likes to sleep on the cool tile floor.  I think he is a snob.  I like to sleep with my head on top of another puppy.  They make such great pillows.

Grandma is starting to take 3 videos a week of us.  She uploads them to YouTube and then sends the links to our future parents via email.  That helps them decide which of us they want the best.

Monday, December 16:  We have such sharp teeth now that we get our meals of Purina Pro Plan Large Breed Puppy Food without the milk.  More and more often, before Grandma puts the kibble into the bowl for us, the drops the stainless steel bowl onto the hard tile floor.  It makes a large bang,  At first, we were a little startled by the big noise, but now we know that the noise means that we are getting something yummy.  We like that big noise.  We are nearly 5 weeks old and have lots of teeth and Grandma says it is good for us to chew sometimes.  Our breakfast and bedtime meals always have warm milk in them.  Grandma weighs us after breakfast then after we play, she puts each sleepy puppy back to bed in the sleeping kennel. 

Tuesday, December 17:  Grandma bought some cute reindeer antlers and Christmas collars and dressed us up for our Christmas puppy photos.  She knows that some of our future families will want a picture of our first puppy Christmas, at 5 weeks of age.  She will take a second set of puppy Christmas photos on Christmas Day.  We have a new toy; we have discovered that the cardboard box that Grandma keeps our toys in is a fantastic chew toy!!!

FIVE WEEKS OLD:  Wednesday, Dec 18:  Grandma put our puppy paw prints again into our baby books.  We are getting too active to be weighed on the puppy scales.  Now, Grandma puts a couple of tiny bits of steak onto the big veterinary scale on the floor, and we love to run onto the scale and eat the treat while she weighs us.  We are getting so strong.  The board that keeps us in our sleeping kennel is nearly 18 inches high.  When Grandma has our food and water dishes ready, she opens the big door.  Some of us can do the "Commando pull up".  We stretch as high as we can to get our toenails onto the top of the shelf,  then we lift ourselves up and manage to scramble over the barrier.  The puppies who are real good at this can do it in less than 15 seconds, while Grandma is gently lifting the other puppies over the barrier and letting them get to the food.  Of course, I can do it.  I am Goliath.  Other puppies who can do it are Yellow collar, Blue collar, Aqua collar, Lime green collar, White collar, Pink collar.  We do it so fast that Grandma can't get us out fast enough, and we get to the food first.

We just finished our second meal and it is 11:30 E.S.T.  Grandma just put us back in our sleeping kennel.  We had such fun at playtime after we ate.  I was playing with the lion and Orange collar dared to attack me.  Of course she won because I was too surprised and quick as a wink, she had me on my back and was wrestling with me. 

When we hear Grandma say, "Tummy rub!", we all run as fast as we can to her so that she can rub our tummies.  It feels wonderful to have my tummy rubbed!  I wish Grandma was an octopus and had eight arms; then she could give tummy rubs to eight puppies at a time, and we would not have to wait our turn  I wish I could stay awake longer and play more; but, I just get too pooped and need a nap.  Grandma says that puppies need naps to grow.  Lime collar girl was so rude.  I was just sleeping nicely, and she came running over, doing the "puppy hop", boing, boing, boing, and she jumped on my head and woke me up.  Of course, I had to wrestle with her for a while.  I love to wrestle.

Friday, Dec. 20:  We are all eating solid food now.  We like to drink lots of clean water too.  Our play times are getting longer and longer. Grandma lets us go outside to the outdoor fenced in puppy area when the weather is nice.  We all fight over the skinny stuffing free lion and fox.  They are a big favorite.  Yellow is so sneaky.  When she has a toy, she hides in a corner with the toy in the corner so we can't see it to steal it from her.  She stays there with her toy till she falls asleep, or till she decides to attack one of us.

Saturday Dec. 21:  Some people came to see us; they are not my family, but they were really nice to me.  Grandma says that a family in Florida will drive up to get me.  We played and played.  Grandma took more pictures of us with our cute reindeer ears on.  Lime girl is so annoying.  She climbs onto the stairs and acts as if she is the boss of us all.  She barks and growls at us; today, she took a flying leap off the stair and attacked Purple.  She won't wait her turn; if someone has a toy she wants, she barks at us, then just takes it.  Today, she was playing with grey fox, and Blue wanted to play with it too.  Lime girl walked off with her fox and dragged Blue with her till he let go.  What a meanie!

Sunday Dec. 22 Grandma and Grandpa used a Dremel 4000 to do our nails.  Most of us fussed and squirmed; but, Grandma says that the more we do it, the less it will bother us.  Grandma wraps us in a blanket and passes us to Grandpa.  Then he holds us and rocks us after our nails are done for a while.  Some of the puppies:  Yellow, Red, Lime, and me, we all liked to lie in Grandpa's arms being rocked like babies.  We all fell asleep in his arms, and Grandma gently put us in our sleeping place.  I like when Grandpa rocks us.

Monday, Dec. 23:  We don't need expensive toys to have fun!  We love plastic milk jugs, plastic soda bottles, cardboard boxes small enough for us to climb on, but big enough for us to crawl into, even an empty 5 gallon bucket that we can play with the handle, crawl into, and roll around and enjoy the terrific sounds it makes as we play with them.  Sleeping at Grandma's feet is such fun.  Usually, green, lime, red, pink, purple, blue are the ones who hog the space closest to Grandma, on her feet, under her legs, and just as close as they can get.  She lets us sleep there for a while, while she pets us, then she gently carries us, one at a time, to our sleeping place.  We are getting quite big.  Most of us weigh over 9 pounds.

Tuesday, Dec. 24:  Tomorrow we will be six weeks old.  We have "big teeth" now, and have no problem gobbling up all the Purina Pro Plan Large Breed Chicken and Rice Puppy food.  This is our usual breakfast routine:  Grandma puts out two puppy bowls with two cups of food in each bowl.  (If she puts too much food in each dish, we just spill too much all over the floor.) We like to fight over our food and we all run to mostly eat out of the first bowl, then we run to squeeze to get a spot at the second bowl. Then we usually make poops, while Grandma runs around picking up each poop so we don't step in it.  Then she puts another 2 cups of food half into each dish, so that any hungry puppy will have a last chance to eat.  We get all the water we want.  We drink water all the time.   That gives us about half a cup of food each for breakfast.  This is repeated at lunch time, and late afternoon, dinner and night time snack.  We are averaging 2 to 2 1/2 cups of food a day.  Then we play.  We wrestle with each other, and play with toys.  We have a new favorite toy.  Grandma bought some puppy sized dumb bells.  They are quite fun to chew on and to carry around.  (After we go to sleep, she lets the big dogs clean up all the food that we have spilled all over the floor, and she mops up the play area while we sleep.)

SIX WEEKS OLD:  Wednesday, Dec 25:  More puppy paw prints were put in the baby books,  Today was our first Christmas.  Did Santa bring us toys and goodies?  No, not even a Christmas tree.  We got more wormer!   Grandma says that puppies need to be wormed often, or they can get roundworms, which are very common in puppies.  I do NOT want to get worms.  We will get our first vaccination tomorrow.   We are starting to play longer and longer before we get sleepy and are carried back to our bedroom.  White collar, Pink collar and Orange collar stayed up and played a long long time after all of the rest of us good puppies went to sleep in a pile of puppies.  I used Purple collar for my pillow.  

Orange collar girl invented a fun game.  It is called Puppy in the box.  Grandma made us a Puppy Fort out of two of the boxes that she gets our food, from Chewy.com.  They charge no sales tax, or delivery charge, and bring our food in boxes right to the house.  She added two doors to the puppy fort.  One puppy hides inside a cardboard fort, while one, two or even three other puppies try to attack and get at him in the box.  We all take turns being the puppy in the box.  Such fun!  

Thurs. Dec 26:  We all got our nails trimmed with the Dremel.  I hate to admit it, but blue collar fussed the least.  (I still fuss).  

We have had people visit us, and play with us, and it has been such fun.  We are really starting to play with the balls.  Our favorite toys are the balls and the skinny no stuffing animals with lots and lots of squeakers in them.  Grandma buys extra squeakers and puts them inside the toys to make them extra fun.  She gets them from Amazon.com.  

Tuesday, Dec. 31: It is no fun playing puppy in the box with Orange collar because she won't let any one else win.  Some of us have our ears starting to stand up.  Orange, blue and pink have the ears that stand up the most.  Grandma says it will be 3-4 months before our ears stand up all the time and never go down.  (We have to get over teething before they stay up, usually, she says.)  The bigger the ears will be, the longer it takes for them to stand up all the time.  

Wednesday, January 1:  We are seven weeks old today and our puppy paw prints went in our baby books again.  We are each eating over 2 cups of Purina Puppy Large Breed chicken and rice a day.  We are only in our sleeping area when we sleep, then when we wake up, we make a fuss, and Grandma lets us all get to the play area.  The two puppies who climb the big wall the fastest to get to the food and water are lime collar and Yellow collar girl. Yellow collar girl likes to show off and go over that wall, just to get to the other side and snoop around.  She should be called Dora the Explorer.  We weigh between 11 and 14 pounds.

Thursday, January 2:  Grandma did our front nails today, with no help from Grandpa.  She wrapped us in a large towel, so they would feel secure; then, she sat in a chair, with the puppy in between her knees, and did one nail at a time, with loving and cuddling in between each nail.  Most of the girls were co-operative.  Yellow girl made a big fuss!

Friday, Jan 3:  We drink gallons and gallons of water every day!  Grandma washes our water dishes after EVERY use, just dumping out any leftover water, and scrubbing the bowl.  Clean dishes are important to avoid Giardia lambia, which causes diarrhoea in puppies.  The food dishes are scrubbed often too.  Good thing she has lots of the puppy dishes.

Saturday, January 4:  We had two sets of visitors and both of the black and tan female puppies, Pink and Yellow, have deposits on them and will go to their forever homes next Friday and Saturday.  We all had such fun playing with the new people.  We are not at all shy around people.  We have learned that people are lots of fun to be around.  Two other puppies and I just cornered Yellow collar in a corner, and we were going to have fun pushing her around.  But, she just stood her ground, then made a mad attack on one of us, and broke through to get to another place to play.

Sunday, January 5:  We got 7 nylabones to play with; there are three white ones, two beige beefy smelling ones and two blue ones that have teething nubs on them.  We like them all.  Such fun to run around with them, or just lie in a corner chewing on it.  Grandma wrapped each of us in a large towel and did our nails again with a Dremel, while Grandpa fed us tiny bits of steak as reward in between the toes being done.  Lime was so mean today.  Red collar wanted to go pee where the potty area was.  Lime kept jumping on her and would not let her go pee.  Red really wanted to pee there.  So, she pretended to run away; then, suddenly she whirled around, did a few puppy hops and jumped right onto Lime, and started a big fight.  Lime decided to let her go pee wherever she wanted to pee.  I think she thought Red could be picked on, because Red usually likes to play nicely with other puppies and usually doesn't start fights.

Monday, January 6:  We got our first bath and are starting to sleep in our own little crates, or in a crate with another puppy.  Grandma says that we should practise sleeping by ourselves or with just one other puppy.  We will stay cleaner and will not be scared to be alone when we go to our families soon.  Grandma said that we were all very good puppies when we were bathed.  No one cried; no one even fussed.  Grandma bought a new shampoo:  Gold Medal Pets Formula 30 (Puppy Shampoo)  http://www.wag.com/dog/p/cardinal-gold-medal-formula-30-cardoplex-mild-gentle-puppy-shampoo-188038    It dries faster and is supposed to keep us smelling really nice for two weeks.  First she got the water just right for us (our body temperature is now 101 degrees).  Then, using a gentle spray, she wet us all down.  We liked that part.  Then she rubbed the shampoo all over; we like to be petted and rubbed by her, so we thought that felt good too.  Then, using a gentle spray, we got rinsed thoroughly, till no more soap came out when we were rinsed.  Then she wrapped us in a large towel, and took our picture.  Such fun!!!

Tuesday, January 7: EIGHT WEEKS OLD  Grandma put our paw prints in our baby books again, and she and Grandpa (Dr. Weiland) did our tattoos today.  We got a tattoo on our right ear.  We got to eat yummy treats before and after the tattoo was put on us.  We fussed about as much as a puppy fusses when his nail is clipped too close to the quick.  After the tattoo we got to eat yummy steak tidbits.   We forgot all about the tattoo experience.  Grandma says that our tattoo will alert whoever finds us if we get lost that we are special puppies, and the person who finds us can check with AKC if our owners register us with the AKC lost pet recovery program.  I hope that my owner tells AKC what my tattoo number is.  My number is G plus the last 4 numbers of my AKC registration number.  Grandma says that often when a dog gets lost and is brought to a shelter, if the dog is just microchipped, it is very possible that the folks at the shelter may not have the right scanner to read that chip because there are so many manufacturers of different types of microchips.  If the dog is not identified as belonging to an owner, the shelter only has to keep them the minimum time before they are ...... sent to heaven.  If there is a tattoo, the shelter is required by law to try to find the owner.  Best if there is a tattoo AND a microchip.  If they see the tattoo, they will try harder to see if they can get a microchip scanner to work.  I hope my owners register my tattoo and microchip me, and pay the 15 dollar lifetime fee for AKC's Pet Recovery Program.  Much cheaper than 15 dollars a year that Home Again charges for the service.

Wednesday, January 8:  We were weighed again today, and wormed.  Grandma says that when we get to be 10 weeks old we can be given WormX plus (It has two medicines in it to be more effective:  pyrantel pamoate and praziquantel)  Grandma put little bits of steak in a little bowl on the scale so that we would stand quietly while we gobbled down the steak pieces and she would get an accurate weight.  We really really like those steak pieces.  They are just 1/8 inch by 1/4 inch by 1/2 inch; so they do not fill up our tummies.  But they are the yummiest things that we have ever tasted.  We also like when she gives us tiny pieces of Pro -Treat Freeze Dried Liver that she gets from Petsmart or Amazon.   I get picked up by my owner tomorrow.  I can hardly wait to meet my boy, Christopher.  I am going to ask Red collar girl, who does not have an owner yet, to write what happens when Grandma starts training the last two puppies:  Red and Green girls; Grandma says that with just two puppies, it will be easy to take turns training them.

Thursday, January 9:  Purple collar boy went just before my people came for me.  I LOVE Christopher.  Grandma showed him how to hold me, and he is so nice to me.  I can hardly wait to get to Florida, where we have our home. 

Friday, January 10:  We heard from Black collar's daddy that he did very well.  He follows his boy everywhere.  He goes to sleep without a fuss at bedtime; he doesn't mess in his crate; he goes potty first thing in the morning.  Pink collar girl is leaving at dinner time.  She will live with some Chinese Pugs.  We will have to hear how she does.  Tomorrow, Lime and Orange fly to their homes and Yellow and White get dropped off along the drive to the airport.  Yellow is going to come back and see Grandma while her owners take a vacation.  Sunday, Aqua is picked up; then there will be just me and Green girl.  We will have ALL the toys to ourselves.  We will not have to share a crate; we will each have our own place to sleep.

Saturday, January 11:  Only Red Collar and Green collar are left.  Grandma is starting to seriously train us, now that there are only two of us.  We come, and we sit in a pretty front sit, and we are starting to retrieve a ball that is thrown.  Red collar girl is going to write the end of our diary.

Monday, January 12:  We had fun going outside.  It didn't rain so Grandma played outside with us.

Tuesday, January 13:  Grandma says "walk" when we are on the leash and tries to get us to sit when she stops walking.  She says that she is saving the word "Heel" for when our leash manners are better and our sitting at her left side is more straight.   The biggest puppy of our litter was 19 pounds at 9 weeks of age.