The puppies have had their first experience of playing in the lounge, which has been so lovely. They are amusing as they explore the room. They already do the Labrador “bum tuck” it is so funny.
Photo of our pup – Tilly!
Here are a couple of videos – sorry some are poor quality!
I have updated the puppy gallery
With the lovely weather we have been having, it has enabled us to spend time with the puppies exploring the garden. So initially they have the pen which is small enough for them to adapt to this new idea of a big wide world. Then having got used to the size of the pen we could see they were quite keen to see a little more of the garden. Here is a video of their time in the garden today. Pups in the pen outside, cutie pups in the pen, pups exploring the big wide world, pups outside in the garden
Melvin has enjoyed seeing his Nieces and Nephews today, I cannot wait to see him when he can play with them properly! Here is a video of Uncle Melvin so sweet of him. I love this little video clip. Melvin is such an amazing dog.
My first group photo – not totally great – I will try this again tomorrow!!
I have uploaded the photo gallery.
A couple of other video clips from today:
Miss Pink playing bitey face (this is how all pups play – not just Miss Pink!)
Weaning the puppies is something I thoroughly enjoy doing and it usually starts off with me giving them the Royal Canin Starter Mousse, which is very creamy in texture, then I move on to the starter kibble – which I give to them soaked, I put the soaked kibble in a blender and make it into a nice porridgy consistency. Once on the “porridge” for a short period of time, I then stop blending the kibble. I then start to reduce the softness of the kibble so they are able to have kibble without it being soaked.
All was going well until yesterday when one of the puppies decided they didn’t like the soaked kibble, at all – so in my wisdom I decided to go back to giving him the mousse. However….. this didn’t really go to plan either. So today I was armed with kibble in all different textures and consistencies, turns out the puppy was more than ready for his soaked kibble but preferred it to be simply soaked and not put through the blender!
Lovely to have a positive breakthrough with the weaning programme! Just shows that every litter is different and the need to be flexible and think out of the box is always necessary.
The puppies are being super, Im thoroughly enjoying watching them playing. The toilet training is also going well with them seemingly understanding the need to do their wee’s outside as soon we put them out there.
Mr Purple whispers to his Mum “Mummy….am I your favourite?” 
Hello there!!!
Photos have been added to the gallery
The puppies are four weeks old today and doing fabulously.
They are growing and developing very quickly. Today we have had to clip their claws again! The toilet training is coming on really well – I must stress this is more about our commitment to getting them outside regularly as at this point of their training it is about opportunity. Creating good habits from the early stages can only contribute to them understanding where the wees and poos go!
Mr Blue
Miss Yellow
Miss Pink
Miss Lilac (Miss Pink)
Mr Purple
Mr Red
Photos have been added to the gallery.
Here are some videos
The puppies are doing really well with their weaning. They are now on three meals a day. I am combining their tinned Royal Canin with soaked kibble (also Royal Canin). This is then put into the blender and made into a nice porridge. They are managing a thicker consistency than the tinned (which is very smooth!). I do hope to be giving the puppies four meals a day from today onwards.
Melvin likes to pop in and check his puppies as much as possible.
We are now achieving a proper routine with the puppies and the toilet training. It is more about us getting into the swing of getting them out regularly and now that the weather is on our side it is helping hugely. We are getting quite a few of the puppies having a poo outside and a vast majority of weed are also outside. Still very very early days – but good habits will be being formed from such an early age so we can only hope we are on to good things!
Uncle Melvin inspecting the babies!
two scheming puppies – what are they up to ?!!
I have updated the puppy gallery and also added a gallery of the photos from the Marchstone Reunion. You will see this gallery also includes some videos from the day.
Here are some videos of the littluns:- (7)
Puppies just after their breakfast
Puppy play mainly featuring a slightly excitable Miss Pink (black girl)
I have also written an article on my thoughts on vaccinations.
Yesterday we had the Marchstone Labrador Reunion, it was a lot of fun inspire of the weather forecast predicting horrendous conditions – with wind up to 60mph.
I had cancelled the reunion based on the forecast but some people still expressed interest of going – so we went along and was rather pleasantly surprised to see six dogs waiting for us (yes, I was late – nothing new there).
So we had present from the class of 2013 – Maggie, Scrumpy, Milo and Maverick.
From the class of 2015 – we had Luna and Harvey with Honorary Labrador Cola.
In addition to our dogs Charlie, Molly, Archie, Stanley and Melvin.
(Stanley and Melvin being half brothers to the class of 2013 and Uncles to Class of 2015.)
I will be uploading a photo gallery soon. – it was lovely to see the dogs in action.
For the puppies it has been a busy time with visitors giving them plenty of cuddles.
We have made a start on the toilet training, the good news is that the pups are becoming more settled in the garden so they will hopefully get the hang of what they need to do quite quickly.
We have also made good progress with the weaning whereby they are now on three meals a day.
We have made the puppy “pot” bigger so they now have double the space to stretch their legs in. We have also introduced more toys for them to play.
Since having so many visitors on yesterday they decided they would save their little party trick for us (sorry guys!) but they suddenly started to skip around the pen in a really sweet way – they have gone up a gear (again!). The developmental phases do seem to come in leaps and bounds. You blink and all of a sudden they have passed another stage!
I have updated the puppy gallery!
The puppies are definitely becoming more active as each day goes by. They are playing more frequently and the sleeping pattern is changing.
I have given them some toys to play with or snuggle up to. It has been wonderful to watch them playing with the toys. They are also very tactile with each other, nibbling each others noses and tails. They do have their deciduous teeth (first set of baby teeth) now, so it can become a little painful for the recipient! They will soon start to learn how to read the other puppies signals. This all takes time to learn as it is all about body language and clearly they won’t be looking for the signals just yet.
The puppy weaning is going well and most of them are tucking into the liquid food immediately. A couple are taking a little while getting used to the idea. It can sometimes be hard for them to learn how to lap as they are so used to sucking. Mainly because Maggie’s milk has been so good.
I have been giving Maggie a lot of supplements during this time of feeding the puppies as I am trying to avoid. Maggie has nutriplus gel, calcium supplements and some cheese along with her usual dog food. I have just started to give her coconut powder…… first time I have given this supplement and I think there is a “teenie” chance I have over done it as Maggie’s coat has gone incredibly shiny! (I have only given it three times so will reduce the quantity!).
Photos have been added to the gallery.
Plotting to escape! (I have my eye on Miss Pink and will be betting she is the first to pop out of the puppy pot!)
The puppies have had a few minutes in the garden, they always cry as it is so very strange for them.
I felt so mean – as I then wormed them before I bought them in, but I put them straight on to Maggie so it wasn’t all bad!
Click here for their video of the puppies first time in the garden.
The Puppy gallery has also been updated.
The puppies turned three weeks old yesterday and it marked the day for them to start having puppy food!
The puppies enjoyed their first taste of food and took to it like a duck does to water – but like a labrador to food!
Here are some photos of them tucking into a little bit of puppy food.
Miss Pink
Mr Red
Miss Yellow
Mr Purple (needed a tiny bit of encouragement!)
Mr Blue
Miss Pink
Some videos from yesterday:
Mr Blue loves him Mum (featuring a role poly puppy).
Today is worming day – so another busy day at Marchstone!
Im having a few technological issues with my pc – namely memory (too many photos!) so I was unable to download my photos yesterday which is why I was unable to do a puppy diary update. I need to delete photos (agh – never a good job!) this has taken me over an hour to sort out so far! eek!
Our days begins with cleaning out the pen. This requires putting them into a box of some sort (the Marchstone Labradors Crate or the blue tub). I then remove all the newspaper, clean the base, replace the newspaper and put in clean bedding. All puppies are put back into the pen.
At this point Maggie will normally feed them. Once they have finished their breakfast I will weigh them. Checking they have put on a reasonable amount of weight from the previous day. I make a note of any puppy that may need keeping an eye on.
I then check all the collars. They grow so rapidly that the collars need checking twice a day.
I give them all a cuddle, giving them a look over generally and then they are put back into the pen.
At this stage they sleep a lot, so much of the day is spent sleeping or having time at the milk bar. When they have periods of activity it is so lovely to sit and observe them.
In the afternoons I like to have a sit in the “pot” this however is under strict supervision from Maggie! She likes it to be known that she is in charge of them and not me! I think the reason for this is down to yesterday when I clipped their claws, but still had Miss Yellow to do, so again, I am trying to do it when she is asleep. So many little claws to clip it can be a lengthy process! I think because a couple of them have squealed (not because it hurt) Maggie seems to believe that I am out to hurt them, hence my strict supervised visits!
When Im in the pot with them, the puppies like to lick your toes or nibble them! They will try and nuzzle into you which is just adorable. I can’t get enough of their cute little mannerisms. BLISS
Here are a few of todays videos… warning there is an overload of cute!
Photos have been added to the gallery.
