Sparrow had a hugely restless night (Monday) where she paced, panted, nested, asked to go out for wees and poos at almost half hourly intervals, was then delightfully sick on the carpet (just missing David's loom) before engaging in a spectacular 'breaking of the waters' all over the sofa. She was strangely not keen to enjoy the comforts of the whelping box, preferring Jack's blow-up bed instead.....
You really wouldn't have thought this was our fourth litter at at all??? (cue the laughing emoji).

Between us we persuaded her that the whelping box was 'the' place to be and so she accepted her fate, lay down and then began to push. And then push a bit more before fixing us with those puppy-dog eyes and asking us why on earth we chose to put her through all this excruciating pain!!! A lot more pushing took place and just when we began to think that the gap between waters and birthing was maybe getting on a bit, at 6.25am, out popped puppy number one: a very respectable 370g girl!
From that moment on, Sparrow became all 'text book' as every 20 ish minutes or so, out popped more puppies so that within an hour we had four: 'all' girls (even though my sleep deprived brain was telling people we had four boys!!!)

Sparrow then took a break, to which we felt she was more than entitled, at the end of which appeared a boy! Unbeknown at that stage, this was to prove our only boy! Oh my - he will either be a right little tinker or be spoilt rotten. We wonder which???
Sparrow was a little 'manic' as the first puppies were born - a result no doubt of sleep deprivation and a night of a pain. She did something neither her mum Roxy, nor Stonefly (our Irish mum) did, which was to pick the pups up in her mouth and then 'carry' them to where she wanted them to be, usually from her back end to her front end so she could clean them easily but at one point she had one in her mouth and left the whelping box entirely!!
As the morning progressed though, she became calmer and quieter. She rested when she could and was assiduous in her cleaning and bonding.
And so it was that after six and a quarter hours, she squeezed out the last pup and, having decided that they all pretty much knew what they were doing in terms of finding milk, then lay flat in her side and went into a very deep sleep.

She has given us a grand total of eleven puppies, TEN of which are girls! How incredible is that??

We don't mind admitting that tears have been shed and praise has been emotionally given. We are super, super proud of our first home-grown Delmhies mum, and have given grand-mum Roxy some well deserved extra cuddles too.
Sparrow is now (10pm) snoozing as her pups continue to feed and work out that neither her vulva at one end nor her ear at the other, provide them with milk. Sparrow has eight teats but we are very hopeful, all will get their fair share. Roxy raised 12 on seven teats with no problem at all!!

So, we have an incredible eight weeks ahead of us and are very much looking forward to getting to know all those potential new owners and their families and taking them on this journey with us.

And now to bed, for some sleep, albeit with the alarm set for some regular nightly checks!!!

Nightly checks were short and sweet last night, as it was obvious that Sparrow really had a bloomin good hold on this parenting malarkey and so today has simply been a day of ooh-ing and aah-ing at how gorgeous these puppies are and admiring Sparrow as she feeds, cleans, snuggles and snoozes. We know that in a couple of weeks or so, our work will become a little more 'involved' (ha) and so for now we are enjoying the calm whilst we can. Our main job today has been feeding Sparrow, who, not unsurprisingly, was starving - she polished off three full meals and made it quite clear that if Otter was to leave any of hers, she would happily help out!!

Our other job should have been to give her a bit of a wash after yesterday's birthday adventures, but rather annoyingly we had an electric outage last night which left one of our circuits out of action, the circuit that our water pump ran on no less, leaving us with plenty of water but no way of pumping it round the house... great timing, not!!! Fortunately, our local electrician responded to a message sent to him around 8pm last night and by 6pm tonight all was sorted. The culprit was a dodgy plug socket which had caused a shortage! I don't really understand electricity which the contents of this entire paragraph will have proved beyond all reasonable doubt, but suffice it to say we didn't have water in our taps for almost 24 hours and now we do.

Moving on.... we seem to have a very calm, chilled litter. Noises are few and far between, even the mad scrabble for mum's teats are not too hard on the eardrums. Day old pups really can be quite loud but this lot chunter away at quite a low level and there are times when we have peered into the whelping box just to check they are all still there! Sparrow appears to have already developed a good routine of feeding them, cleaning them, snoozing with them; and then getting up to feed herself, having a quick wander round the garden, enjoying a brief chat with the other dogs and then, repeat! She is also very tolerant of the other dogs having a look at what is going on. Roxy is resisting offering advice and popping in to show her how to keep the place clean, and instead is patiently waiting to be on hand if needed - just like all good grandparents should do!! Otter is missing her BF. Dragon affords the pups a quick glance in case there is any spare food around (not a chance) and Firefly is very happy they are behind a wall of wood and not likely to bother him.

It's all basically very peaceful, words we might not be writing again so best to get them in print now whilst we can.

Another day of calm, lots of suckling (good), contented murmurings (sweet) and constant twitching! Puppies should never be still, they should always be twitching and jerking and stretching. This state is called 'activated sleep' and is essential so that nerves and muscles are exercised and developed. We have already noticed increased strength in their back legs as they kick and climb to get the to the teats. They are also moving faster and unlike yesterday, we are getting far less 'searching' for teats and getting caught round mum's back. They really do know where to go now to find that milk!

Sparrow continues to eat like a horse (weird expression as horses often have to have restricted diets so they don't get too fat!!). It is probably not actually possible for Sparrow to get over fat at this stage (or so she would tell us): she certainly eats and drinks well and, we are delighted to say, is looking really good considering she gave birth to just under 4kg of pups 48 hours ago. Her coat is shiny - and clean, as we persuaded her to come for a wash this afternoon - and her eyes are bright. And she is very enthusiastic when we have visitors which, unsurprisingly, we are having a fair few of just now.

We haven't ever put collars on our litters this early but with so many girls, and just our one 'brave' boy, we thought we would try and see how it worked. We have also numbered them (the collars, not the pups) as sometimes the colours are hard to tell apart (especially in photos). Our boy is black and has no number as black pen on a black collar isn't a success waiting to happen. Number 6 is red collar and we are not sure how we feel about that as traditionally red has given to the girls we choose to keep - and as yet we have zero idea of which girl we will be choosing - but now of course we will keep looking at red and wonder!!!!

Anyway, they sort of look cute, and Sparrow has been completely unfazed by the 'dressing' of her babies so, so far, all is good.

Meanwhile, the pups themselves continue to eat, sleep and chunter whilst Sparrow continues to eat, sleep and then ask to eat again. She is no doubt a very attentive mum but she is also happy to hop out of the whelping box and see what else is going on in the house. Roxy, her mum, didn't really venture out of her box till day three/ four when she had her litters. As with humans, there are many different versions of parenting!!

There has definitely been an increase in volume today. There are times when one of the pups starts a bit of a wander (mobility gets more each day), loses where they are (the whelping box is a big space where you are only a few days old) and then starts to panic. It's sad and sweet at the same time. There has also been a bit more competition for teats which always leads to increased squeaks and cries. Sparrow is of course very tuned in to all these noises and if she is not in with the pups (e.g. in the kitchen feeding), she will always go to investigate.
And then when she is in the box with them all, and feeding is over, and all we can hear are a few contented chunterings, well... it's utterly delicious, on every level!!

The pups themselves are starting to change, in just a few subtle ways. Eyes (that won't start to open for at least another week) are looking a bit more 'closed' than sealed; their fur is, in places, starting to stand away from the body a little; and the whisker hairs are looking more obvious on some. The follicles from which the whiskers grow are huge and actually look a little like spots on their faces (sorry guys). They are packed with blood vessels and nerves and, in keeping with cats, are very sensitive.
As for their weights, well, Sparrow is definitely not as milky as her mother was and so weight gains have been a little slower than we have seen before - today saw a bit of a surge for some of the pups though with Red collar increasing in weight by 15% in a 24 hour period (10% is a sort of average). 'Mr Black' is a little behind his sisters and so we have been attempting to top him and a couple of the smaller girls up - not easy, mum's milk is far more preferred! A better strategy is to place the smaller pups on the teats nearer Sparrow's back legs as these are usually the milkiest - and so this is also what we have been doing as much as we can.

And if you haven't yet noticed, we are now including a video each day (we have gone back and added them) - so far they are full of twitching and suckling and there is a lot of Sparrow cleaning and licking the pups too - there are times when we think she does this more because she can see us about to start videoing, and wants to make sure the pups all look their best. We have told her they look fine, all the time, but, just like the 'mum' who spits on the handkerchief to wipe off that bit of muck no one else can see, she still insists! Who are we to reign on her parade?

And finally, we hope you enjoy the final photo. Jack was editing the video for today and letting it play on her right hand screen whilst she worked on the left one, when she suddenly became aware of a presence besides her. Take a look - hope it makes you smile. She was there for ages too!!!

The whelping box is definitely getting more active as the pups learn to move around more. Sparrow has been leaving them on their own at times today and so we have had more wanderings as they work out where the best place is to stay warm in her absence. Usually this results in one huge puppy pile but today at one point we had two, with White collar suddenly deciding to defect and making a mad dash for the other, confidently but quietly announcing her arrival as she went. I can think of a few politicians than could do well to follow her example.

When we pick the pups up now, they really feel very solid. They are a smaller litter in overall weight than Roxy's were at this stage, but weight gains continue to steadily rise and Sparrow's milk production is definitely a whole heap better. There is no doubting the muscle development - some of those legs are already kicking out quite a punch. We just love watching them as they sleep and twitch and kick and stretch. There have also been more times today when some sleep whilst others feed - all good, as hopefully this means they can all find a teat when they want to.

Already these pups have been handled by a fair few people, over and above the two of us. Whilst they cannot see and hear yet, their socialisation has most definitely begun as they get used to different smells and types of touch. Our two young visitors today, aged five and six, handled them so gently, giggling away as they felt the gentle pin pricks of those developing claws. They won't be quite so gentle in a few weeks mind you (the claws, not the kids - just thought I should clarify that!!!)

Touch is so important at this stage. It is crucial that these pups learn to be touched all over so that as they grow, we (and you) as owners, not to mention our vets, can examine them all over: between toes, inside mouths and ears, back legs, back ends etc. Chief 'puppy toe tickler' is not a bad job to have!!!

It is interesting that the pups eyes will open before their ears. We expect the eyes to start opening in the next few days and within three to four days after they do, the pups will properly be able to see. By the end of their fourth week, their eyesight will be as good as an adult dog. Their ears on the other hand won't properly start to 'unseal' for another week or so (although they are starting as one of the photos show) and it isn't till the end of the fifth week that their hearing becomes acute. Logic says that it is better to be able to see as soon as possible but in terms of the 'nursing mum', NOT having her charges being able to see and hear means they won't stray far from the 'nest' and will remain totally focused on mum's smell and touch. It is such a contrast to the lambs, kids and calves we have raised all of who need to see in order to follow mum around and be far more independent.

Sparrow is starting to spend more time outside the whelping box. She hasn't as yet, shown any interest in coming for a walk but she spends time in the garden and is also now choosing to lie outside the box to chill, rather than always be in with her pups. They are no longer quite as noisy when she leaves them - they most certainly are when she comes back though!

You definitely need the volume up for the second part of the video when the camera focuses on Black collar.... it is a sound we could listen to all day we have to say!!

Sparrow decided she wanted to join us on our morning walk this this morning which was fabulous. The other dogs really enjoyed having her back in the group and she was obviously very happy to be out; seeing the goats, sheep and alpacas again; noseying around in the barn, eating rhea poo (!!!!) and enjoying a good race around. Having our own fields to walk the dogs around is great when we have a litter because at any time if 'mum' wants to join us she can, and equally, if she wants to head back before the rest of us, we simply open up the gates so she can access the garden and house again. We should add at this point that the pups aren't left on their own. There is 'always' a human with them (just in case anyone is panicking!!!).

Once home, Sparrow did seem to then spend the rest of the day feeding the puppies. I think she must have 'known' that it was 'Day Seven' - the day of the all-important 'First Weekly Weigh-In' and it seemed she was determined to make today's feeding count!!!
Well, we are happy to report that it did. After a 'slow' start on the 'gaining weight' front, all the pups are now sporting pretty respectable chunky bellies and in Red Collar's case a pretty chunky bum too. In the last four days alone, she has put on 180g and her weight today, 540g, equals the heaviest girl in Roxy's last litter. In fact all today's weights are within the same range as that 2022 litter, aside from just Purple, Lilac and Black collars and as they had lower birth weights, that is understandable. So, all in all, we are pleased, and more than just a little proud of our Sparrow-Fly-Pudding-Pie. (I know, what are we like???).

As we head into week two we are excited about all the changes we will be seeing - starting with catching the first glimpses of those gorgeous blue eyes.

Cuteness alert this evening - we know ALL the pictures and videos inspire lots of oohs and aahhs but seriously, seeing Mr Black Collar asleep on his sisters just melted our hearts today!! With sights like this, how on earth are we meant to get any work done, feed the other animals, keep the house clean, remember to eat... ?

Sparrow continues to throw herself into motherhood and we have to say that the weight gains today have been just amazing, 30/40/50 plus grammes per pup. We absolutely have no worries about how well they are doing. And we can really see the changes on a daily basis. The video shows how well those back legs muscles are developing and we are definitely starting to see slits in their eyes too. Puppy piles are no longer always full-on heaps as the pups start managing to keep warm on their own a bit more, and whenever we look inside the box, we usually see at last one pup having a wander. Those corners really do need exploring you know. We also had our first 'yip' today, that delightful prequel to those adorable puppy barks. The noise repertoire is generally growing in fact. We think there must be some amazing dreaming going on judging by the 'chatter' that we hear as the pups snooze and twitch.

Cannot believe we are at the start of week two - it all goes by way too fast!

Today's delights include shiny new collars, with slip knots, not velcro, which will hopefully stop Mr Black attaching himself his sisters (!!) and which 'may' not fade quite as much. White girl is now Grey as her collar was grey anyway, Turquoise is Light Green, Brown is Orange and Lilac, Royal Blue. The rest are the same as the colours matched. We have had to write this all down, in several places, so we don't forget or worse, think we have lost a pup as we can longer find Lilac collar!!! (The joys of getting old and forgetful are many and varied).

Teat competition grows each day but we no longer feel the need to individually weigh each evening as big bellies and bums clearly show everyone is getting enough - although we will confess to still popping the three littlies (Black, Lilac, (NO, sorry Royal Blue - see what we mean about memory) and Purple) on the milky teats at times still, just to make sure they do keep up.

Cuteness alert on the video front which focuses almost exclusively on bums and waggy tails - how cute to see a week old pup wag its tail!!
And spot the growing whiskers on the close up pictures!!!

Upside Down has been a bit of a theme today - whether feeding or sleeping.. of course, as you all know, the Gordon does the Upside Down with spectacular style. Half the time it's a wonder they are able to 'upside' themselves with all their legs back in the right place, and the other half of the time one seriously considers sending them back from whence they came with the words 'broken, faulty, please exchange'! But my, they are cute!!

We are definitely seeing eyes starting to open just a fraction and those back leg muscles become more and more powerful with each passing day. When we pick them up, we have to really take care that they don't kick and launch themselves out of our hands!!
Teat competition continues to be fast and furious, and volume levels are either at top notch 'mum, I can smell you, just WHERE are you?' or deliciously low as they sleep, twitch, grow and dream.

And aren't those tan markings positively glowing: such a gorgeous rich colour!!

Today we had our first official 'Puppy Visitors' as in potential new owners and what a chilled, puppy-cuddling afternoon we had (check out that last photo - awwwww).
First things first: we must mention how proud we are of ALL our dogs. First up Sparrow, who has, since day one, been so relaxed about visitors and about her pups being handled. And none more so than today. We all especially liked the fact that when pups were being snuggled in people's arms, she still was very keen to perform her 'puppy toileting' duties and give them all a good lick and clean in the 'right' places. (Think washing machines may be on tonight!!).
And there we were, five adults, five dogs and eleven puppies, all in the same room: chilling, chuntering and chattering - it was all soo relaxed (even though Otter remained a bit of a scaredy cat and hid behind Jack's loom). We couldn't have asked for more!

In other news, these pups really do seem to be developing fast - today's video shows some serious strong walking as those chunky bellies are raised off the ground by both front 'and' back legs. As soon as those eyes open and we give them access to the inside pen, puppy zoomies will most definitely be on the cards! And talking of eyes, we have seen some 'flickering' today as eyelids get ever closer to opening. We cannot wait for our first glimpse of the beautiful milky blue eyes.

Today we caught our first glimpse of those gorgeous milky blue eyes (not that we got a decent photo - sorry)!! Vision will be very blurred but as the eyes open more and the pups start to make sense of their new world, we should start to see quite a change in how they behave. In a few days it will be time to enlarge the inside run and open up the whelping box so they can start to explore.

What is really really amazing is how when we look back on the blogs for Roxy's first and second litters, we have been finding that all these changes have been happening on EXACTLY the same days - so day twelve, today, is the same day eyes started to open for all three litters! Question is, is this the same for ALL Gordon litters, just this line, or just ours?? Be really interesting to know.
It is all very comforting we have to say, and especially with this litter where those early weights were a little low due to Sparrow's milk not being quite so free-flowing as we'd hoped!!

Talking of weights, we had a mid week 'weigh-in' today. Red is a stonking 790g and Purple has now tipped over into the 500s. The pups are all increasing at similar-ish rates so we are not unduly worried about any of them. Well done Sparrow!

And today's video is called: 'Quick, mum's here.. need to get there before anyone else' - and don't cry too much for Pink Collar - she got there in the end....

Today we have had two modes with the pups: 'On' - frantic yipping, squeaking, charging around and falling over their own feet in a race to get to mum and then... 'Off' - gentle slumbering, twitching, yawning and stretching as all that yummy milk slowly courses round their bodies. Both modes are beautifully illustrated in the video, which we have to confess, we have watched several times!!!

They are an active lot this litter. We are so excited about setting up their inside run soon. We are also praying for good weather for when they are old enough to go outside so we can enjoy seeing them get rid of their energy messing around in all that straw....

Sparrow continues to be a great mum who seems to have developed a fabulous routine of cleaning up and feeding her pups at all the right moments but then giving herself a fair bit of time out too. Today she was happy to come with the rest of the dogs for a 40-minute walk around our local moor, although as we all got soaked, we did then feel a bit bad for the pups when their mid afternoon feed was from a mum with a very wet undercarriage!!

Have done a little better today at getting the odd shot of these slowly opening eyes..... what must it be like for the pups to start being able to see???

Lots of walking today, of the wobbly kind, but definitely walking. Lots of noise too as teat competition hots up AND we had the two week weigh in and we are delighted to report that weights across the board are commensurate with Roxy's litter at this stage and in three cases, we have our heaviest girls across all three of our Gordon litters: Red, Brown and Yellow. Black is fast catching his sisters in the middle and dear Purple and Royal Blue are both hovering around the respectable 600g mark!!
It's hard to believe that this time next week we will be preparing for their first solid feed!!

Eyes get ever wider, though vision is still a bit on the 'dodgy' side, as the video shows.. not for long though.

Sparrow has been tired today - the pups are obviously taking a lot from her and she remains assiduous in her clearing up but it's a demanding job all round and it will be nice when we can start to take a bit of the pressure off her when we start to wean.

We have decided that we need the sound of two week old pups 'yipping' as a ring tone for our phones. It makes us smile every single time we hear it and we are hearing it a lot now. Today the pups have been 'wandering' a fair bit and at least one of them always seems to announce their wanderings with loud squeaks and yips - possibly it's code for 'we're hungry, come and feed us', although we have to say that on more than one occasion today, Sparrow has stuck her head over the whelping box, had a look and then walked away with the words 'nah... don't think so, you can wait'!!
If you look at the video of the full on race to the teats, you have to admire her for ever getting in the box at all nowadays: gone are the days of slow, gentle suckling and falling asleep on the teat. It's a full on battle out there now, and every 'pup' for itself!!
But then, it doesn't last for long and then sleep once again claims them. Sleep is of course the pups main occupation: around 18-20 hours a day in fact, which explains why so many photos are of them asleep. Plus, when they are awake now, they are rather fast and zoomy. Eyesight is getting there but they do regularly bump into each other still and when Sparrow appears, they are still very much being led by the fact they can smell her rather than see her.

And as for those sits!!!!! Oh my!!!

We will get the inside run set up in the next day or so and then chaos will become the order of the day.
And can you believe they will be on solid food in a week????

It seems overnight, we have inherited a whelping box of little dogs who do proper sits and walks and yips and barks - who still cannot quite see properly and who still walk into the corners and wonder how they got there (!!) - but are basically little versions of mum and grandmum and who cannot wait to get bigger and stronger.
Two week old puppy sits are mega cute and in this position, the barking is the loudest as the pups discover the joy of being able to throw their heads back to produce the loudest sound possible!! Every single time they do this, we laugh. It just doesn't seem possible for an animal that just 16 days ago was blind, deaf and only able to shuffle on its belly, is now capable of zoomies round the whelping box with a volume control that is permanently on 'loud'. And as for those faces.... indignant and cross expressions are the specialty at the moment!!!

Dear Sparrow has peered over a few times today as they have been creating and shaken her head with the words 'Really???' Well, that's what we imagine anyway.. If she could talk we are sure we would be hearing phrases like 'As soon as you quieten down I might come and feed you' or 'And if you think that racket is going to make me rush over, you've got another thing coming...'

Back in the real world, we have also noticed ears opening. The pups will now be starting to hear (which begs the question, do they realise how loud they are???) but it will be another two and a half/ three weeks before their hearing is as good as an adult.

At one point today Jack had her hand on the vet bedding whilst the other held the camera. Next thing she knew, Orange had walked over, snuggled her head in the palm and fallen asleep. Heart-melting moment and then some.... needless to say she didn't move her hand for a very long time!!

The video today is called 'Playtime' except there were a few pups who didn't get the memo at first and carried on sleeping.. prepare to have your heart strings pulled at the start!!
The interaction is just amazing - you can really see the pups intentionally mouthing and pawing and trying to climb over each other. Although we do still get times when individual pups find the corners of the box utterly fascinating!!!
Eyesight is getting stronger and today when we handled them, we could really see the pups starting to 'look' at us, as opposed to wondering why on earth they were three foot in the air and away from their litter mates. It's still hard to see really defined pupils but give it a few more days and then their eyes will really start to look a lot more focused.

Today we took the door off the whelping box and let them have a bit of a wander in the small run where Sparrow usually has her meals... we have to say, the confidence was most impressive and around three were over the threshold at lightning speed. What was also encouraging was how Otter and Dragon came over to see what the fuss was about and we had some gentle nose touching through the mesh paneling. Sparrow was pretty unfazed by all this extra activity and then bless her, lay down so they could all feed, giving us the chance to whip out the bedding in the box and replace with clean, without having to deal with 11 squiggly-bums!! Well done Sparrow.

Some of the pups were just a little bit braver than others when today we officially declared the inside run well and truly open. And they were then the lucky ones as once they were over the threshold, they found mum 'and' the milk bar waiting for them. It was interesting to see how the walking in the run was really low slung and nervous as opposed to the more confident, upright walking we have been seeing in the whelping box. It won't take long for that to change we are sure!!.
And spare a thought for Otter, so desperate to come in and join in the fun.... we are sure it won't be long before she is in there - she certainly became a huge friend to the pups in Roxy's second litter and spent hours playing with them inside and out. We cannot wait to see her in action again!!

So take a good look at the first picture as we expect none of us will see the run looking this clean and today ever again. Over the next few days/ weeks we will start to fill it with all sorts of goodies for them to explore and play with - the most high value being scrunched up paper which, we discovered with our first litter, is a firm favourite. And firm favourite number two: the cardboard box!!!
No expense spared here on getting the 'best' toys for these puppies!!!

If you have the sound on when you watch the videos, you may want to adjust your volume control - don't say we didn't warn you.
How is it possible for pups that we can still hold in the palms of our hands, to make quite so much noise? Sparrow tried hard to ignore them but in the end succumbed to our pleading: 'just go in and feed them for ten minutes, then we can all enjoy the peace and quiet'!!
Otter tried to help but as much as they love her (she is now the official babysitter), she doesn't have a milk bar and currently, that is what counts!!

It is quite remarkable that today (and we were closely watching) Sparrow had absolutely zero issues with Otter going in the pen and laying down with the pups. And even more remarkable was that they didn't really attempt to suckle. Otter was very keen to clean them and the pups were very happy to let her. There must be a huge amount of instinct going on here but in addition, this total acceptance of another adult dog in the pen is we believe, down to the very close bond that Sparrow and Otter have. After all, Sparrow did very similar when Otter was still with her litter mates (although not till they were a bit older). We do feel that it is really good for the pups to be experiencing other dogs from such a young age we must say. Even Firefly has shown an interest - this is the same Firefly who ran way when he encountered Roxy's first litter out on the decking at six weeks old (we don't remind him too often...)

This week has also seen the start of the worming regime - three squirts of Panacur over three days. We are enjoying how easy it is knowing that next time (at five weeks), teeth will be involved and quite possibly some howling!!

So, legs are getting stronger. muscles are growing, ears and eyes are becoming more tuned and all in all, we have eleven very active puppies who get more and more robust as the days go by!!! And we are loving every second.

Otter gets ever more keen to get involved with the pups but is also very good at being told to leave (by us) so Sparrow can settle down and feed. Today we saw a 'sitting up' feed for the first time. Why do they do this? It can be more comfortable and certainly when the teeth come through, sitting up and standing up to nurse, can be a lot less painful. We also read once that it can make the pups begin to learn independence and become more confident as for them it is more difficult to get the milk so they have to work harder!

There is no doubt that Sparrow is pretty tired now and we are looking forward to weaning so she can ease back a bit. As with our previous litters, we will leave it entirely up to her as to how much she wants to carry on feeding - we won't let her become out of condition (and she is certainly looking great just now) but equally we won't deny her the opportunity to see her pups - she can come and go, as she does now, as much as she wants. It will be interesting to see what she does. Roxy, her mum, was very keen to carry on being involved in raising her litters for some considerable time yet!!

As for the pups, 'playtimes' are becoming a bit of a feature now - times when they are all awake, not calling for mum, and simply having a wander along with a bit of chewing and rough and tumble. We still see them walking into things and we get a fair few roly-polys still - all part of their ever increasing charm and cuteness.

We have never had a litter take to their solid food with quite so much enthusiasm as this lot Usually the trays go down, the pups sniff, nibble, wander off, come back, eat a bit more, wander off, come back, get in an awful mess and then crash out in a heap somewhere to wait for mum to come and clean them all up. This lot, well, some of them stuck their heads in and then simply didn't come back up for air!! At all!!
Some were hilarious as they tried to lick the food off themselves, backing further and further away in their efforts to eat all the bits stuck to them. As the second part of the video shows though, they very quickly worked out it was best just to keep on eating and worry about the cleaning up bit afterwards! Purple made us laugh the most as she went from delicate nibbles on the edge of the bowl to a full blown 'all legs standing' position from which she proceeded to eat with huge gusto.
We ended up taking the bowls away - you can have too much of a good thing!!

Sparrow was naturally very happy to come and help clean up afterwards and as for the pups - they crashed in a heap and fell into a food coma, the end of which they woke up to mum offering them a pudding!! Needless to say we had some very squishy bog bellies by the end of the evening!!

We ended the day with the three-week weigh-in. We now have a very respectable 11,5kg of puppy (the combined birth weight was just under 4kg). They are all now around 3 times their birth weights with six of the girls now weighing well over a kilo each.
Touch wood, all seems to be going to plan!!

Well, in the time-honoured tradition of an event that starts well, consequently going completely downhill... feeding times today have been met with something akin to total disinterest!! Unless you are wearing a Purple, Pink or Black collar that is and in which case, yum yum!!! It's all been rather hilarious. Our timings have actually been hopeless and each time we have tried to feed, the pups have been too tired, too wired or too full. Even with Sparrow safely away from the house and so unlikely to cause a distraction, our success rate was pretty bloomin poor.
We remember this phase from previous litters - those few days when you cannot believe that one day you will be tripping over them whilst trying to get their feed bowls down on the floor and then wondering if you should have given them more as the whole lot disappears in a few brief nano-seconds!!

And another thing: how is it possible that we have written Week Four above - that means that in six short days we will be half way through our time with these pups!! Noooooo!!!

When you watch today's video - 'Playtime', please excise the state of Jack's trousers - in no particular order they are covered in the following: puppy food, wormer, mud and slobber! All in a good cause, obviously!!

And just like that we have teeth: hard little tips that as yet aren't that sharp but give it a few days... the next lot of worming is going to be fun!!

According to 'typical puppy development' guides (in our case the Book of the Bitch by J.M. Evans), this week the puppies should start to stand, poo and wee without bitch stimulating them (yep, we can definitely vouch for this one) as well as eat from a dish (most definitely yes) and by the end of the week they should be starting to play. We are seeing interactive play every day now, nothing rough at all yet - we wonder if we will see any obvious difference in the play because we have so many girls. In Roxy's last litter the 'male' pup play fighting was pretty full on at times!

Today's video should race a smile. It's a race for mum, compete with screams and tantrums and two pups (Blue and Orange) who completely got themselves in a stew trying to get to her. The camera shake is Jack trying not to laugh - and then taking pity on Orange and giving her a helping hand. You really do need your sound on for this one!!

Today's prize for the loudest screaming goes to Grey Collar, for the longest stay at the feed bowl to Purple (my goodness that girl knows how to eat) and for the most dextrous climbing on Jack's trousers to Red!
We certainly are starting to see the characters beginning to come through now.... my goodness, they are all just scrumptious!!

Today's feeding has either been all hands to the deck (or mouths to the trays) or an almost full walk out!! There really are only so many times you can pick up a wandering pup and plop him or her back to the feed tray!! The video shows what we are up against!!
Oh my, how we don't keel over with laughter at these guys is anyone's guess!!

In other news, teeth get bigger and sharper, the playtimes get longer and more boisterous and the noises get louder (with Grey still at the top of the board on that one).

They have enjoyed Otter's company today. Sparrow really is just going in to feed now, do a bit of clearing up and then escaping (although she is keen to be around when the pups themselves have their solid feed times.... funny that).
She is still very invested in them though and does likes to be around when Otter is there. She is also very tired and we are missing her bounciness at the moment. We look forward to it returning!!

The puppies get a lot of visitors and today we had Albus' family (the pups' dad) over for the afternoon. Last time they were here, the pups were still blind and deaf and not that mobile or vocal. Today they (the humans) saw a huge difference and several very happy hours were spent cuddling, encouraging them to feed, watching them play and climb and stride forth, and then slowly seeing them all crash out as the excitement of all those different sights and smells got the better of them.

Afternoons such as this are fabulous for the pups' socialisation and we couldn't be happier with all the different visitors we get.
This evening has been very quiet as the (very shaky, sorry about that) video shows - the adult dogs are tired too when we have visitors.

Having noticed in the first few weeks how a lot of the development of the pups mirrored that of Roxy's first two litters, we are now fascinated to note some of the differences between this litter and past ones. For the Day 25 blog entry for Roxy's second litter (i.e. today), we wrote how Roxy was disappointed not to have to do much licking out of the pups' bowls after feeding as there wasn't much left. With this lot, Sparrow always gets a good five minutes of finishing off so she is more than happy. And yet Day 26 (tomorrow) notes how Roxy's pups weren't taking a lot of interest in the boxes and scrunched up paper, whilst this litter have been thoroughly enjoying them for days AND today, we saw one (think it was Pink) proudly carry a paper ball in her mouth - mega sweet!!

Today's video is short and sweet and shows a very determined Red showing off her climbing skills. The strength in the leg muscles is quite remarkable now and I think every visitor we get now enjoys the delight of puppies managing to climb up onto laps and over legs.
And for anyone wondering why the door to the whelping area was in place.. it's to stop the pups legging it back inside halfway through their meals, leaving a trail of mushy puppy biscuits in their wake before then heading back out for more!! It's the equivalent of 'no you cannot leave the table till everyone has finished their food!!!'

Today we had the delights of seeing the puppies sleeping outside their whelping box where they caught some of the sunshine that streams through the door - when we get sunshine that is! Without the glare of the camera flash, the photos show the pups in a much more natural light, where you can really see the depth of the tan and the glossiness of the black. This is such a handsome breed!

Another delight was seeing the pups really starting to focus on our faces more. There have been times today when we have caught pups really looking up at us. At almost four weeks, their eyesight is now virtually as good as an adult dog. That's quite something! And really, having a pup that is still (just about) pick-up-able with just one hand, able to look an adult human straight in the eye.. is just amazing!! And mega, mega sweet!

Characters continue to develop: Pink is showing herself to be very confident, Blue beautifully determined and today Orange has been competing with Grey for the loudest 'yip' award!

The pups are definitely starting to sleep less and playtimes are getting longer. When they crash out though, they really crash out, as you can see in the photo of them asleep between the legs of one of today's visitors - and yes, all 11 were there!!
Playtimes (the focus of today's video) are all about chewing, mouthing, pulling and tugging. What is fascinating is seeing how at times, the pups play in twos, threes and more and how at other times, they choose to explore all by themselves. Both must be crucial learning experiences for them.
Do check out Red collar at the end of the video - she was sooo 'having a moment' there - utterly adorable!!

We still don't have any empty bowls at the end of mealtimes but today we did have a few nano seconds where all 11 pups were eating at once - and we caught it on camera so it must be true!!

And today Sparrow did her first proper strand up feed - and guess what, day twenty-seven for Roxy's second litter, she did her first stand up feed then too. As we have explored before, although it makes us wince when we see it, this can be more comfortable for the bitch - it's harder for the pups' claws to dig in and they cannot knead her - and it reportedly starts to encourage a bit of independence in the pups as they have to work a lot harder to get their milk this way. It is also easier for mum to walk away! Sparrow's feeds are getting fewer each day which is good. Her body condition is amazing considering she is feeding 11 pups but we are now more than happy to take on the feeding role and would be pleased to see her start to dry up. We expect, like her mum, she won't for a while yet but fewer feeds each day are a step in the right direction.

Finally, we are starting to see slight changes in head shape with some of the girls beginning to look a little finer and less chunky in the face. It will be interesting to see how this trend goes....

Today we seem to have turned a bit of a corner on the solid feed front and had to do a lot less 'encouraging' of wandering pups back to the feed bowls. Sparrow is feeding less often which will be making a difference, and also as all her feeds for the last day and a bit have been stand up feeds, they have been a lot shorter in time as well. We also added some puppy mousse to the soaked biscuits which went down very well.

Last night we gave the pups full access to the whole run, rather than shutting in the whelping box as usual. Now they are bigger, more mobile and can see really well, we felt safe to do so. We were intrigued to see whether it would make a difference to where they sleep and, in keeping with 'all' the litters we have had to date, the whelping box is now no longer their main sleeping area. Most times today, and indeed this evening, the pups have curled up by their toy area to snooze. We have always wondered why they choose to do this and have never really come up with a reason. The whelping box is still big enough for them all to sleep and warm.... it's a mystery. Any thoughts welcome...

The week four weigh-in took place this evening. Purple is no longer the smallest, which actually we aren't surprised by as out of all the pups, Purple has definitely been the one to tuck in to every single meal since we started feeding solids. In one week she has put on over a whopping half kilo which in her case equates to a 70% weight increase. Brown holds the top weight position for another week whilst Black, our one boy amongst all these girls, has climbed up past another one of his sisters and is now weightier than Purple, Royal Blue and Green.
Collectively the whole litter now weighs four times their birth weight and by next week we expect most to weigh over 2 kilos each.
(Note the cute sleepy pup in the weighing bowl in the first picture...)

And finally, we have the outside run now built and tomorrow, depending on the weather, will see it filled with straw. We are so excited about getting them outside....

No words are needed - look at the fun these pups had today!!!
And look how tired they are at the end and, (ironically after yesterday's blog comments), how the whelping box becomes the 'crash-out' place to be.

After the optimism at the start of the week about our solid feeding, today we have to say that when it comes to humans versus dogs, the score is Jack and David and mushy kibble: 1, Sparrow and warm, creamy milk: 967!!!
Hey ho... we aren't worried, none of the pups are falling behind as far as their weight goes and weeing and poo-ing is all good... but really Sparrow, you really can stop being quite such a good mum now. We perhaps should tell you that when you were this age (back in sunny July 2020), you and your fellow litter-mates had started to clear your bowls by now.... just saying!!!!
At the end of the day though, mum's milk is just the best and still taking milk is perfect to ensure the best possible growth and health. In all our litters to date, mum still fed on and off up to 7/8 weeks. We remember Otter still taking off Stonefly when she was the only pup left - talk about the cat (pup) that got the cream!
Purple still wins the prize for the pup with the best appetite with Pink not far behind but all of them partake and slowly but surely, by the time they go to the new homes in just over three weeks (eeek.. how did that happen), weaning will be complete!!

Oh, and spare a thought for Sparrow, told to wait and NOT come in the outside run as the pups ate - check out that face on the video.

I am afraid we have some very sad news. After receiving some wonderful puppy cuddles with visitors yesterday lunchtime , come teatime (and when we had more visitors), we noticed that Black Collar was somewhat struggling to wee. It became obvious fairly quickly that something really wasn't right at all and so we popped him in a cat basket and drove up to the vets, by which time he was also straining to poo as well. A night on antibiotics and pain relief made very little difference and so this morning scans and X-rays were taken which found liquid in his abdomen, a full bladder with sediment, an enlarged kidney and an 'odd' looking intestine. The suggestion is that this was all caused by a condition that was very specific to this pup and likely to be due to something amiss anatomically.
At around 10am this morning Black Collar was put to sleep.
We are devastated and as with many of you who have lost dogs over the years, wonder if we could have done more, should have noticed more, could have prevented this. The answer to all is of course 'no' and we absolutely know that the right decision was made in the end. Our vet was stunning and very gently led us to the right conclusion - the one that was 100% right for Black Collar!!
Isn't it incredible how in just four short weeks, an animal can have inspired so much love!!

His sisters have all had heaps of cuddles today, as has Sparrow. Does she realise she is missing a pup??? Possibly not.... The rest of the litter have all been as mad as usual and delighting us with their clean pen (LOTS of wees and poos outside today), loud vocals (did someone say this litter was quiet??) and ever more boisterous play!!

So no video this evening, but a collection of very happy girl pups with the top photo being reserved for an eight-day old Black Collar stealing the best spot - fast asleep on top of all his sisters.

Today's weather has been rubbish: hailstones, high winds and cold, very cold. Unsurprisingly, the puppies were not that keen to go out in their outside run, even more unsurprisingly, we have spent the day picking up way more poo inside than we would have liked!! Tomorrow's weather is set to be better (it had better be) so toilet training will resume we can assure you!!

But... today we have also had our first 'bowls almost cleared' meal as Purple is so beautifully demonstrating in the first photo - she didn't eat it all herself we hasten to add - although knowing her appetite she may well have tried!!

And in another first, Red has fulfilled her predicted destiny and been the first to work out how to climb out of the run (see the penultimate photo for the demo). We found her happily wandering around on the carpet, quiet unfazed by her squealing sisters behind her and incredulous adult dogs in the hallway! No more leaving the top half of the gates unclipped methinks!!

Play continues to be vigorous and noisy with a fair few loud 'yips' as bite inhibition rules begin to be learnt. We must admit there have been a few human 'yips' too. The teeth are one thing, it's the power in those jaws that is getting really strong now. Worming round two starts on Tuesday. Oh boy!!!

The day has been full of sunshine today, both inside and out! Three out of the four meals have been eaten in the straw pen, we have had lots of toileting outside and the amount of paper used inside has been a fraction of the usual.
And my word, what fun has been had - as the videos and photos show.
As we write this, there is not a sound from the pen (aside from the odd puppy slumbering noise) - we have ten very tired pups.

Sparrow is starting to feed less often and the pups don't go quite as manic when she appears in their pen - although most are still happy to have their milky puddings (or starters, depending on whether she or the humans get there first). Otter continues to be the very best big sister and the trust between her and Sparrow is such that when it comes to finishing of the leftovers, sharing is the order of the day. Whilst not technically a great photo, the one of Otter and Purple eating from the same bowl whilst a nursing Sparrow finishes a second one, is one of our favourites of the day!!
As an aside, we are mega proud of all our five adult dogs who, if given the three puppy bowls to clean out as a group, also always share and don't argue. Does puppy communal feeding encourage such positive eating habits we wonder, or might it make them gobble their food as adults and, worse, get possessive? Food (ahem!!) for thought!!

The inside area kept soooo clean yesterday and the pups were so good at toileting outside, that today we decided that the rain should not put us off at all. And so up went the gazebo cover and out came the pups!! The video shows their enthusiasm but do please turn the sound off. There appears to be some terrible voice over calling 'puppies come' in a ridiculously squeaky voice - not recommended listening at all! (LOL!!!)

So, it's all good: appetites get bigger, racing around gets more manic, sleeping gets cuter and poo-ing and wee-ing happens outside a lot - think at one point you can hear the words 'good wee-wees' on the video... seriously though, starting praise this early can only be a good thing!!

The pups are engaging with us humans more and more too - they tend now to race to see us whenever we go in the room and of course if we sit with them, we are climbing frames, chew and tug toys and, best of all, snuggly blankets!!! We can think of worse ways of spending our time!!!

The pups have been reacting to a huge variety of different noises today: we have had some very low flying aircraft going over; at one point there was a loud crash from the kitchen, followed by the sound of arguing cats and excited dogs (we caught the pup reaction to this one on video) and then this evening, we had the one that really made them stop and think..... a very loud male blackbird, singing his heart out at around 7pm whilst the pups ate (or rather didn't eat) their supper. The blackbird really caught them out and quite worried some of them. He really was loud!!
We of course carry on as normal and so hopefully communicate the fact that there is nothing to worry about. Already they are fine with tractors and cars rumbling past (we are not a busy road but agricultural vehicles are common), hoovering, lots of different voices (including excited children), the radio, adult dogs barking, weaving (looms can be quite noisy you know). They also of course react to the noises they make themselves. If one starts to whine, others will often join in, and we get stereo yippy barks at times too. It should be noted here that Sparrow is quite a 'talkative' dog and does the classic Gordon 'roo-ing' whenever she can. We kind of like that!!!!

We are also very proud to announce that the number of poos inside today didn't even get to double figures. It was another lovely day so we raised the gazebo cover to let some sunshine in and all meals were eaten outside with the pups cleverly poo-ing and wee-ing in the straw either before, or after, or both!!! We did have to put some small logs on the paper inside mind you to stop the paper blowing around when the door was open - not ideal chew toys but we took them away when the door was shut!!

And finally we can now announce that we have a collective 22kg of puppies. Weight gains have all been around the usual very respectable 50% mark in the last week with, once again, lots of swapping around of positions. The heaviest pup position has now been taken by Yellow, Red, Brown and is currently being held by Pink whilst Blue and Purple vie for the lightest (it was Blue this week).
All are doing really well - we are very proud of every single one.

The weather tried today, but didn't quite get it right and as such we have had hail, heavy rain and strong winds, as well as sunshine and dry!! Well, it's good the puppies are getting used to the weird weather we are having we guess, because we imagine this is now quite possibly the norm!!
We have still opened up so they can eat and toilet outside as well as play, and bless them, they really are in a great routine now. 'Puppies come' is a regular war cry a good nine or ten times a day!!
And guess how many poos we had overnight????
FOUR!!!
Four from ten pups over a period of eight hours (10.30pm till 6.30pm). Wow!!
We do a 'last wee-wees' shout just before bedtime and feel this is really helping.

Away from talk of poos and wees (!!), we have noticed a huge increase in 'toy intercation' today. The holey balls are a huge hit as are the long rope toys that we introduced today - we have ten of these and all the pups will be able to take one home with them when they leave us - something to play with that will 'remind' them of their siblings and mum!! Chewing, mouthing, nudging, carrying, pawing have all been occuring loads. Sometimes it is hard to know where to look!! No telly needed here!!

Last night was Sparrow's first night away from the pups - we have always let her choose if she wants to stay with them or go back to being with the other dogs in the dog room. Last night she chose the later but today she made up for her absence by feeding them all a bit more than she has been (no complaints from the pups on that front). It can be quite wince-inducing to watch!!! We are now in that delicate stage of easing off her food so her milk production will slow, but needing to make sure she still has enough for when she does still choose to feed!! It's a balance but we think we are winning!!

And we are happy to report that despite worming being greeted with strong derision and disgust, friend Lynda and Jack, both still have eight fingers and two thumbs each!!! Just!!!!

Last night Dragonfly came inside after a brief wander round the garden covered in white. We did a double take - several in fact - and realised it was snow!! This was soooo not forecast and even as we watched huge flakes comfortably glide to the ground, the forecast was still telling us we were getting just a bit of light rain.
Last wees was fun, Otter wanted to go for a race round the garden, Firefly and Dragon simply wanted to stand and watch whilst Roxy and Sparrow feigned indifference, but I expect had we said we were all going for a walk, they'd have the first in the queue.
And then there were the puppies: three shot outside as soon as we opened the door and called out 'Puppies come' and two more stood on the threshold and then bravely came to see what all the fuss was about. And five didn't move an inch, not at all.....😂 .
This morning we awoke to a good inch or so and a collapsed gazebo!!! Not quite in the plan!!!!

By mid-morning, most of the snow had gone, to be replaced by rain, wind, the odd bit of sunshine and bitter cold temperatures. Outside feeding was abandoned for inside feeding, the fire was lit and the pups had the thrill of a brand new cardboard box to chew to make up for the fact they wouldn't be doing too much manic racing round the straw today!!!

it's been much more of a sleepy day today... talking of which... Zzzzzzzzz.

We have had two speeds today with the pups, sleepy or manic.. the video shows one of them and we will leave you to guess which!! Ha!!!
Excuse the shakes by the way, no, we weren't drunk, the pups were moving so fast, the focus kept getting confused. 😂 Being filmed at night possibly didn't help. And having now made it very clear what speed the pups were demonstrating here, we should also add that this was 9.30pm at night when, having trashed their indoor pen, we decided that 10 minutes manic running around outside might help to wear them out (and give us chance to tidy up inside!!). It worked.....

Hopefully by the time this blog is being read, all owners will have seen the emails/ messages confirming their choice of pups. It is very exciting for us to match collars to owners, but even more exciting to be able to start to use their names. A couple of owners have already decided and we look forward to hearing the others in due course. It is quite amazing how quickly they learn them, even when they are still part of a large litter.

Sparrow is still a bit undecided whether she wants to be in with the pups at night or not. Having had her first night away from them a few nights ago, since then she has been alternating!! It's very sweet what a devoted mum she is - just like her own mum was!!

Today has been a much nicer day on the weather front and so a lot more time has been spent outside - we have used about two and a half sheets of paper only for indoor toileting and the washing machine is complaining about being under-used as vet beds and towels all remain so clean.
Wish the same could be said for Sparrow - the first photo was her after our morning walk, for most of which she had her head in a hole - or rather several holes, all of her own making. In her own words: 'someone has got to dig up those pesky moles'. Quite why she thought the conclusion to all her digging was to go and sit in a bush, who knows!! (Possibly Sparrow but we are not sure we could have coped with the answer...).

Names have been flooding in - so far we have Ember, Ffion, Indie and Nyx - a fabulously smart set of names we have to say. We now have a list above the inside pen to remind us who is who so we can use the names as much as possible. For us, as well as for all our amazing new owners, seeing these precious bundles off to their new homes is now all starting to feel very real. (Let's just hope we don't cry too much....).

The video is a summary of the puppy day: eat, play, sleep and repeat. It's not a bad life!!!

A fresh bale of straw and two sets of vistors = very tired but very happy puppies (and adult dogs too). We hope the video and the photos go some way to showing what fun was had. We love the way the puppies' confidence grew as they began to explore and hope the video demonstrates this.

Play fighting today has been a bit more full on with some genuine squeals as several pups learn just how hard NOT to bite. Twice Sparrow came to intervene to tell them all to 'play nicely or else have to go on the naughty step!!

Sparrow really eased off her feeding today so, not surprisingly, when we fed them their kibble we had four sets of very clean bowls. Some of the pups do wander off and come back - not a habit to encourage (but at this age we forgive them) - but we try not to leave the bowls down for more than 20 minutes so that they don't get used to 'grazing'!
Despite the weather today (extreme April showers with heavy rain and hail), all meals have been eaten outside as usual and under the gazebo cover, all has actually been quite cosy. As the video shows, they are brilliant at coming out, having a quick wee and then getting stuck in to their grub. Afterwards they have a good old romp in the straw (a poo or two) and then it's back inside for a kip. Dogs so thrive on secure routines and these clever pups have got their routine well and truly sorted!!!

We are no longer soaking their kibble for quite so long so that they have to do a bit more 'chomping' to be able to swallow the biscuits. Based on the pups' 'chomping' of our fingers, having to chew their food a bit more won't be a problem for them.

The pups are cute every day - obviously - but today, at six weeks old, the cuteness factor has been off the scale. There is that lovely stage when the pups have eaten, toileted, had a manic play and then they start to get a bit sleepy. Most of today's photos are from that stage - we had friends round who added to the cuteness factor by cuddling pups in their laps as they slowly started to snooze.
The video is then from the next feed and playtime where normal manic-ness was resumed!
They really are such bundles of fun at the moment. Cannot believe that this time in two weeks, some will be in their new homes already!!!

Weight gains over the last week have been good, all very consistent and all very even.
There has been less squealing the last couple of days too as the 'bitey-threshold' is perhaps being effectively learnt! (Although not when it comes to human ankles and toes, as friends found out this morning!! 😂 )

And finally, we wrote the text below for the week six blog entry for Roxy's Second litter and it feels very appropriate to repeat it here, word for word.
ALL our puppy owners to date are amazing - and we have no doubt whatsoever, that those of you taking one of Sparrow's pups, will be too..

'If you are anything like us (and I expect you all are), you hate getting cross with your dog(s) and feel guilty when you do. There is no doubt that at times our canine pals may, just may (!!) need speaking to in a stern voice but setters are sensitive souls and don't respond well when their humans get too cross with them.
These pups, six weeks old today, have known nothing but kindness in their short lives so far: the voices they hear are all, on the whole, soft, caring and the equivalent of being wrapped in a huge, snuggly blanket and whispered sweet nothings too.
And long may it continue. Kindness leads to happiness in our book (much the same for humans really).
And of course this is all down to us, as puppy owners, to set the right tone from day one, to be consistent, to set the boundaries and not confuse. Now, as you all now know - our dogs are pretty exuberant and bouncy and as a gang of five [seven], perhaps lead each other astray at times (uh-hem) but my goodness they are happy. We don't have too many 'house rules' but the few we do have are introduced kindly: waiting for the command before they start to eat; going outside (or into their dog room) as soon as they have finished eating and only coming back in when everyone has finished; being allowed to approach livestock but not chase; going out for last wees at night and then going to their beds in the dog room, not back into the house..).
And when we open the gate to our fields and allow them all through, my goodness, it's like letting kids into a sweet shop - the whoops, the wagging tails, the racing through the grass, the turning round and racing back towards us - just because they can.... it's pure magic. Seeing them happy, makes us happy!
We (Jack) had a bit of a 'moment' today at the thought of the lives these pups have ahead of them - with nothing but kindness, laughter and love from their amazing owners-to-be.
Precious little bundles!!'

'The puppies are spending less and less time asleep and although the 'books' tell us that they sleep between 18 and 20 hours a day, at the moment it feels as though they are awake and playing a lot.'
The words above are from the blog we wrote for Roxy's second litter, day 43, ie, today - and are exactly what we wanted to say today too. Playtimes have been longer, more active and individual pairs and trios have been interacting without too many squeals. We have had the door open a lot and they have really been making the most of all their space.
Three of the four meals saw the food vanish within nano seconds, and that's as well as Sparrow topping them up.
They have so much energy, they are so busy and so responsive to what is going on around them.
We are hoping to take them into one of our mini paddocks this weekend (we have friends over) so they can enjoy a good run in the grass and meet our goats (through the fence). All weather dependent of course (keep your fingers crossed)!!

There is so much learning going on in the video. It is centred around the straw bale in the outside run. Many of the pups are able to get on top and then it's fascinating to watch the interaction as others join them or jump up at them. Learning to play nicely, to be ignored and to ignore, to be independent, to be submissive and/or dominant... all these can be seen. We are not seeing any pup 'not' developing these important playing skills - no one pup dominates all the time, no one pup is always being submissive. It is all really encouraging!!

In other news, all the puppies are now sporting shiny new collars (still the same colours we hasten to add, although pale green is now a darker green). The others were getting too small! So for maybe a day or so, two if we are lucky, the colours should show up beautifully on the photos and video (fur notwithstanding) until these collars, like the old ones, start to get mouthed, tugged and chewed and basically filthy!!! 😂

It's been a horrid day on the weather front so more time has been spent inside than usual - hence the 'sleepy' indoor pics. They have still eaten out mind you and had a few gallops round the straw....
Oh and appetites are just enormous - they are now eating twice the amount they were this time last week - getting less milk from Sparrow will be a afctor as well as the fact they are more active and basically all growing like weeds!! 😂

PS - hope you enjoy the picture of the clean and tidy puppy pen first thing this morning. It obviously stayed that like for hours!!

It's quite interesting to really stand back and watch the whole litter at times - which is what the first half of today's video is about - and see if there are any patterns and consistencies to behaviour. As we said yesterday, none of the pups seem too confident or not confident enough in their overall behaviour - but there are times when one maybe much quieter or more boisterous.
There are times at the moment when the play really is pretty full on but it is very rare that we hear really loud squeals suggesting someone has gone too far!
Sparrow's feeding has really dropped off now but she still loves to come and check them all, give them a snuzzle and a lick over the gate, It's interesting now as well that not all the pups rush over, or if they do, some then drop back and wander off quite quickly. Love how in the video, Otter joins in as well.

We have a few new toys in the pen now - well, they are not new at all - we have a pair of old slippers from a friend - they were chewing them as she stood in the pen so she 'donated' them (LOL) - and a really thick and hard length of cardboard (last photo) that was part of some packaging - they really fell on that when we put it inside their pen. A fab chew toy!!
Better than chewing our ankles which is a definite favourite pastime at the moment.

Storm Kathleen hit today with a lot of wind and in the evening, a lot of rain. Thankfully, with the help of the gazebo and the fact the outside puppy pen is actually in quite a sheltered part of the garden, we still managed to get the pups eating and toileting outside as normal and keeping dry.
When it came to play though, under cover and in the warm was preferred....
And their favourite toy today, those slippers!!!!
The video gives a flavour of the manic-ness that is playtime - and also shows how trashed the inside run gets!!

BUT, these puppies are just amazing when it comes to being clean where they sleep and play - there are so few wees and virtually never any poos other than on the paper in what was their whelping box. And outside, they are so good at only pooing round the edges of the run and away from where they eat!
Fingers crossed they continue these good habits when they leave us!

The weather tried today... and mainly failed. 'Wet playtime' was a feature of the day. 'Wet playtime' were words that as a teacher filled me with dread, as it meant you couldn't banish your kids to the playground and go and grab a well-earned cup of tea! Luckily in our house, tea is on tap, whether the pups are inside or outside and they are such fun to watch in either place. It is a shame nonetheless that they haven't had as much outside play the last few days - and we haven't had our promised trip to our mini paddock for them either. Maybe tomorrow!!!

They are all still having huge fun though as more 'toys' get put in their pen - some from owners-to-be that will then go home with their chosen pup, covered in the scent of their litter mates to help them acclimatize to the start of their new lives!
It is funny though how the ubiquitous cardboard box is still often the 'favoured one' - today it was turned upside down (by them, not us) and became a platform to climb on, and then a new bed!!

We have had some quite 'full on' scrapping today which at times includes pulling at collars and making them loose - eek!!! The velrco ones we have used in the past were very easy to pull off at this stage and we really don't want a repeat of the occassion when the day before collection in our first litter, two pups lost their collars. We couldn't be 100% certain who was who (we thought we knew but wanted to be sure) and so had to take them to the vets to get their microchips checked!! This lot are being micro-chipped on Thursday - so they have been warned!!!!😂

Another windy day!!! The video was taken after their supper when the wind slightly put the pups off having their usual post meal zoomies!!! They gathered by the door, we were given a few anxious looks and so with a promise of 'of course we will come back out later to poo and wee later' we all went back inside. Check out those seriously sweet faces as they then all turned around and stood in the door frame looking out!!! Oh my word!!
(And sound on to hear how windy it was.)

We keep noticing really subtle changes in individual pups: more curls in those ears, longer fur on legs, darkening tans and slightly less scrunched faces. They really are very handsome lot.

We also worked out today that in their seven short weeks on this earth so far, these pups have been visited and in most cases handled by over 60 different people (adults and children). That's some great socialisation for them. And in every case, they have been met with smiles and kindness and love. A huge thank you to them all.
What a start to their lives.

Seven weeks old today - seriously, it doesn't seem possible. From 4kg to £40kg in just 49 days!!
And in just a few short days, the first ones start to leave....
Their pen is full of all sorts of blankets and toys sent by their owners-to-be to become 'comforting smellys' when they begin life in their new homes. (By the way, I hope you all remember what you sent/ left as we have pretty much lost the plot on that front.)

Today's video is a day in the life of, as in: eat, play, sleep and repeat. Today's photos show just how grown up these pups are starting to look.
And scroll to the bottom for some very cute pictures of today's visitors... it was an afternoon filled with a lot of love.

There is a short snippet in the video of a pup on her back being given a chuckle. We do this with all the pups as we feel being turned on their backs and learning to cope with being touched, is really important for their development. It hopefully will desensitise them to any fear or worry about being in such a vulnerable position and ensure they accept being handled and examined. We also tickle them between their toes and look inside ears and mouths for the same reason.
We all need to be able to examine our dogs (as do our vets), groom them; check ears, eyes etc; trim between toes, remove knots. We very much hope that the huge amount of handling all these pups have had will ensure they are very happy to be touched all over whenever it is needed.

And finally, check out the final photo for one very relaxed and very mobile pup!!!

It's fair to say that the pups enjoy their toys - which is a polite way of saying that every day they trash their pen - and in fact today they trashed the toy box that we put the toys in each night!!
But as they are more entertaining than anything we could ever watch on the telly, we totally forgive them!!
Enjoy the video!!

100% clean bill of health for all the puppies at the vets today - she (Megan from Market Vets in South Molton) also commented on how very calm they all were! Ears, teeth, hearts, tummies etc were all checked and no issues found at all - we could not be happier!
Whilst we weren't expecting anything, it was still a bit nerve wracking as some things such as the odd hear murmurs can come up.
We only had a bit of sickness on the way there, and a little bit more on the way back. We waited to feed them for a couple of hours but they were still a little discombobulated so didn't quite finish their bowls. Supper time was a different matter though: we gave them extra and all was wolfed down in nano seconds!!

In other news, David relinquished his old clogs today which were gratefully received - they have had so many toys and things to chew now, it's wonderful!!! Although I can report that fingers are still quite a tasty choice - our 'loud pitched squeals' have been a bit more frequent this week - the equivalent of the puppy shrieks you hear when one pup bites another a bit too hard. They work. Hopefully bite inhibition is being learnt whether through sibling playing or human interaction.

We have also been noticing some very impressive longer and curlier fur coming through on some of the pups. We wonder how many might end up as curly as mum. She is sporting some very muddy curls in the photo.... the aftermath of a morning spent digging for moles!!! It's hard work, but someone has to do it (she says as she ignores the whistle asking her to return to the gate). 😂

Today was the last day the pups will be together as a litter of ten!! It's exciting (for them, us and their new owners) and seriously sad (for us) at the same time! My goodness, we are going to miss them so much.
BUT what a day it has been: sunshine and fresh straw combined, have given them hours of fun - and (if you ignore the fact that half the straw was brought inside and now our front room looks like a stable), a really clean inside pen with almost all the toileting being outside!!

At first they were a little nervous of the fresh straw but they soon overcame their worries and normal service was resumed. It really is the best play material there is.
In the video you can see Sparrow given them a feed - these tend to be once a day treats now, although we have noticed over the last week that if we get visitors (and there have been a fair few), she tends to feed more as though she has to show them what a good mum she is being!! She should know this mind you - we tell her often enough.
Oh and the video has some truly terrible voiceovers, sorry about that!!!!

So, over the next three days, six pups will be making their way to their new homes all over the country. A seventh, Green Collar, is staying on for a few weeks until she is old enough to fly top her new home in Scotland. An eighth, PInk Collar is sadly looking for a new home as her first possible one fell through (although we do have someone coming to see her tomorrow).
That leaves two, both of whom.... ahem..... seem to be staying here!
Purple and Blue Collars, Kite and Redwing, both took a hold of our hearts and refused to let go. Not what we planned but having raised two pups together before (twice infact, albeit not from the same litter), we are confident that the chaos will be twice the fun and probably four times the work 😂. We knew there was a reason we downsized our smallholding stock!!

So, as they say, watch this space!!!!

Today Nyx (Brown Collar) left for her new home in Hampshire to live with the B. family. Back in July 2020, the family took home Nel, one of Sparrow's sisters, so we are beyond chuffed that Nyx will be going to live with her aunt.
And judging by how well Nyx has settled, we forsee many many happy years ahead for them both. ❤❤

Today Indie (Turquiose Collar) left for her new home in Gloucestshire to live with the B. family. Indie will be sharing her life with two young children and other extended family dogs. We envisage lots of fun and games ahead!! ❤❤

Today also saw Red and Ffion (Grey Collar) set off to Hertfordshire to live with the F. family, Red is destined for gundog training and Ffion is set to enjoy life as a smallholding dog. Both will be getting a warm welcome from Willy, a staffie/American bulldog cross. We very much look forward to hearing about how life develops for these two gorgeous girls. ❤❤

Today Ember (Orange Collar) headed off to Portland with the G. family where she will be living with the gorgeous Sonnet and learning to become a little helper at dog training classes. We look forward to seeing what a star she will become! ❤❤

Indie (Yellow Collar) - and no, not a mistake, the litter really does have two Indies - went off to South Devon today to start living with the V. family. She is set to become a much loved family dog. Just look at those smiles! ❤❤

And then there were four: Redwing (Blue Collar) and Kite (Purple Collar) who are staying here, Green Collar who is heading off to Scotland on May 7th and the beautiful Pink Collar who is still looking for her 'home-full-of-love' (after her potential one very sadly had to withdraw). ❤❤
We will update this page when we have more news....
20th April: PInk girl has a new home, now called Ocean and off to Angelsey on 28th!!! Fabulous news!

Today Ocean made the long journey to Anglesey to live with the S. family (with a stopover in Builth Wells). She is set to have a fabulous life with Otis and Olive the alsations and (if she shows willing) become a bit of a therapy dog too! Exciting times ahead ❤❤