Google The Unplanned Homeschooler: Puppy update - 4 1/2 weeks and 5 pounds!

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Puppy update - 4 1/2 weeks and 5 pounds!

The puppies are growing so fast, I can't even believe it. It's so much fun to watch them develop. Since the last update, they've gone from just barely toddling around to running all over the yard and climbing anything they can reach with their strong front paws.

It's hard to get six active puppies in one photograph!

At four and a half weeks old, they weighed in at around five pounds each, give or take a few ounces. The kids got to practice a little bit of math as they stepped on and off the scale, with and without a puppy in hand, to find out how much they weighed. It's very tricky to get a puppy to stand still on a bathroom scale all by itself, you know!

I thought I would share some photos with you and tell you about how the puppies' personalities are developing. Of course, those evolve daily, too.

Here they are, from smallest to biggest...

Luna


The smallest puppy of the bunch is little Luna. She seemed to be at least a couple of days behind all the others developmentally, until earlier this week when she took a great leap forward. Now she's just as active as the others and holding her own against some of her bigger siblings. Named for the crescent moon shape in her scruff, Luna has a glow all her own.


Stella


We had Luna named from the start, so Stella just kind of seemed like a good fit for her only sister. Stella is easily the most advanced and independent puppy in the litter, always curious and looking for adventure. She's a superstar.


Halfpint


With a name like Halfpint, you might think this little guy was the runt, but he was actually named for the fact that his white scruff only goes halfway around. Halfpint knows exactly what he wants and he's not afraid to go for it, which will be a lot safer when he gets a basic understanding of gravity. He sure is a cutie, though!


Loki


What happens when you let a seven-year-old comic book enthusiast with an affection for super villains name her favorite puppy? Yes, you get Loki, named for the Norse god of mischief. In reality, Loki isn't nearly the most mischievous pup. He's actually very sweet.


Henry


Okay, we actually started out calling this gorgeous little blue-eyed boy Whitey, because he was the only one with a white face. Then, as his speckles grew in, we started calling him Ornery, because he was just an ornery pup. He was the first to growl, the first to bark, and more fearless than the others.
As he mellowed, or perhaps as the rest of his litter mates came into their own, he seemed less ornery, so his name morphed to Henri. But Henri doesn't sound much like a rough and tumble Oklahoma cattle dog, so Henry it is. 


Fatty McGee


The biggest puppy in the litter came by his name naturally. By the time they were three weeks old, he was roughly the shape of a bowling pin. He was half a pound bigger than all his siblings, with the roundest, most adorable belly. When I picked him up and said, "Hey, Fatty McGee!" the kids cracked up, and the name just stuck. He doesn't mind, though. He just wants some love.


So, that's all six of them. We've had so much fun learning about animal behavior and development as we've watched Blue raise her puppies so far. I hope you're enjoying reading about it, too.



No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.