| Max x Pala whelped 3/25/2008 |
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| HSDAA Jr & NAKC Int'l CH Elfin Just In Time |
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| AKC CH Elfin's Last Word From Feliz RA CGC TDI |
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| Newborn silk pups - 4 girls, 1 boy |
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We have names now! Since we were born on our friends Jimmy and Patty's wedding Anniversary, the first and last born were named Jimmy and Patty. The three monkeys in the middle are named after Cuban towns. Jimmy (whose new owner is going to call him Seb, hence the double name) is the only boy.
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| Pala's pups at 4 days - week 1 |
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| Pala Pups, Week 2 |
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| We're almost 2 weeks old now and are growing and moving around more. We've already had our nails trimmed, which mommy Pala really appreciates! Our eyes are starting to open and soon we will be interacting with our world. We've had some interesting experiences already as Doc has done some superpuppy exercises with us to help us grow up to be smart, stable dogs.
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It's week three and we are toddling around like real dogs now. One of us woofed and made Doc jump! Our tails have learned how to wag and we respond when we hear, "puppies, puppies!" Soon we'll be moving into the kitchen and out of this Playpen! We've already moved out of the whelping box and now we have a piddle pad potty area and we USE it!
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| Pala Pups, week 3 |
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It's week four in the Elfin nursery!
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This is the last week you are going to see us in the whelping room playpen. We're FREE! We've moved into the kitchen into a big expen with a crate, a bed, lots of toys, a litter pan and a potty pad station. We are learning to wait until we get on the paper before we potty. Soon there will be puppy litter in the pan and the pads will be removed one by one as we learn to go to the potty end before relieving ourselves. We got to go OUTSIDE for the first time...grass tickles our bellies but it was fun...and HOT...we all found the shade under the porch steps pretty quickly. All the big dogs here have been nice to us...daddy Max looks at us as if we're space monsters, though...we made him run...haha.
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| Cidra - Girl - Black/silver |
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| Perico - girl - Black |
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| Patty - girl - black parti belton |
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| Seb(Jimmy) - boy Blk/silver parti belton |
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| Esperanza - girl - black Irish pied |
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| Puppy Pen |
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| Seb(Jimmy) and Esperanza |
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| Patty in the sunshine |
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| Sleeping pup bookends (Seb & Patty) |
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It's week 6 and we are growing into very handsome little dogs. We get to go outside several times daily to play in the grass and sunshine. We are learning Silk Dog games like "runlikehell" and "keep away". We know how to potty in the grass and to run with the "big" dogs. Mama Pala is teaching us that the milk bar is CLOSED. We eat Purina ProPlan Small Breed puppy kibble and ProPlan Chicken/Rice canned food and we have started to eat egg yolks with each meal. We are getting very good at using both piddle pad and litter box for pottying when we are not outside. Each morning Doc turns on our 'lizard light', which gives us pretend sunshine to help us make our own Vit D to help grow strong teeth and bones.
We got our first bath yesterday...whew, being a puppy ain't ALL fun! But, we were really good sports about it once we figured out that we weren't going to get sucked down the drain or blown away by the dryer. We got our feet clipped and nails trimmed...again! We are being very good puppies.
We get visitors...all sorts and shapes of people come to help socialize us. Today we got a new chew toy...her name is Boo and she's a cute little girl who's very gentle with us and doesn't squeak when we teethe on her...she's smart, too, cause she holds a toy for us to chew to save her fingers.
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| Esperanza & Cidra 'runlikehell' |
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| Seb, still for the moment! |
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| Pala fending off the 'wolf' pack |
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| Seb (Jimmy) 5/10/08 |
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| Cidra - 5/10/08 |
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| Esperanza - 5/10/08 |
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| Perico -05/10/08 |
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| Patty - 5/10/08 |
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| Esperanza -05/10/08 |
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| Perico - 5/10/08 |
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| Patty - 5/10/08 |
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It's week seven in the 'pre-school' (we're big puppies now, no more nursery!)
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This has been a busy week for us...people coming, going, coming, staying...Welcome to Hotel Elfin! Doc's Mom came from Florida for a visit...she thinks we are the cutest puppies she has EVER seen! There was something called a 'Graduation' on Fri...Doc's daughter has become a Master...no, not a dog master, a Master of Social Work...a really BIG deal from the celebrations going on! We have had some great weather for playing outside and we graduated to the back yard where there are new things to learn and investigate. We can do STEPS! Both ways...the deck out back has 6" steps, easy for us to navigate and we're very good at them! We can run in the big yard, play chase under the deck and make sure those silly cats watch where they walk!
We had our first exam today and we did great! Pre-school is fun. Marsha came over and we did the Puppy Aptitude Test. It was fun...we got to do a bunch of little exercises to see what kind of personality tendencies we have. You can look at a copy of the Puppy Aptitude Test here. As usual, we are pretty typical Silk Dogs...happy, socially attracted, tolerant and forgiving (Marsha pinched our little toe to see how sensitive to touch we were but we ALL forgave her...kisses!), stable and have an aptitude for obedience (except for Cidra...MissIndependent...what, you want ME to bring you back that paper ball? Why'd you toss it away if you wanted it??)
We lucked out as there was no time for baths...and, since it rained this morning, there was cool wet clay soil under the deck so even if we had had a bath, we could have fixed it...haha. One other thing, our expen got updated today...after Doc spotted Esperanza going OVER THE TOP of the 18" front, she replaced it with a 24" pen..phooey, foiled again. We expect to get lots of new pictures this week...soaped (ick) and regular...see you next week!
The Pala Pupsters.
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| Fun in the Sun! |
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| Esperanza talks to Penny |
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| Patty on the fly... |
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| Cidra...puppy in the grass... |
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It's week eight already and we are almost ready to graduate from pre-school! We've been very busy taking final exams this week. We had our first road trip, to Lexington, VA on Thurs (5/22/08) for soaped evaluations...interesting experience...NOT! We got wet, lathered, stacked and photographed in the NUDE...what's next! The very next day (no rest for the weary) we had another trip to Doc's office where we got BAER tested (should be called BAD testing cause they stuck little needles in our heads and made us listen to boring clicks (where is Vivaldi when you need him!) The good news is that we passed all our tests! So what do we get for rewards? Shots!!!!!! But we were brave little puppies and got our vaccination with barely a squeak. Doc only gives distemper/parvo for the first shot so our little immune systems are not overloaded. We didn't even get sore but were very happy to get home and have dinner...then, even MORE pictures taken. Doc's a photoshooting nut!
The weather over the holiday weekend was great so we got to spend lots of time outside, running and wrestling and chasing our Dad (he's not a very hands on parent...he runs away from us!) and the cats (when they'll run.) You have to be careful about licking a cat's butt...sometimes they object! We had more visitors and got to play with fun kids...we ALL like kids!
Before we leave for new homes next week, we have one more change...new names! Jimmy already had his new name for a long time, Seb, so he's all set. Cidra is staying here and her name won't change. Esperanza is now Lolly (lots of possiblities for fun nicknames there!) Perico is Ginger and Patty family is still working on it.
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| Packhunting predator pups on the prowl |
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| Fleece is a great CHEW toy! |
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| We have visitors almost every night! |
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| Leaves are yummy, too! |
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| Lolly loves to pose... |
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| Ginger - What are YOU looking at?? |
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| Patty...not thinking about mischief, nope not me! |
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It's graduation week! Week 9...
Last week was graduation week. The Players got microchipped on Thurs (with just an acknowledging yip) had had lots of outdoor playtime. In the mornings there was a joyful noise as I was greeted with the we really want to go out and pee pee in the grass song. Their puppy manuals were completed, blankies done and toys, leashes, etc, assembled for their going home goodie bags.
One door closes and another opens...Pala's Players have begun a new adventure. Seb went home to Towson, MD, to join two other Elfin dogs, Zotch & Dio. Zotch and Dio came on Sat to pick up their new little brother. Seb is such a happy little guy, he is sure to capture their hearts. Ginger left on Sunday for Sterling, VA to be loved by two great kids, Nick & Julia who are being very good about caring for their new pup. Ginger got the kindergarten award for best litter pan aim! Lolly left Sunday, too...to join her big Elfin dog brother, Pippin (and the Keeshonds, Norwegian Forest cat and GEB dog in training, a gentle Lab.) Lolly's a lover and is staking out her place in the house which is right in Richmond and I get to be her vet and watch her grow!!
Patty has become Molly...Elfin Royal Flush...a definite top hand! Molly kindly volunteered to spend one more week with us so Cidra wouldn't be all alone all at once. Molly's going to be staying in Richmond, too, and has shown a talent for agility...she loves the little puppy teeter and would walk back and forth on it while the other puppies watched. She has such a sweet face, too. Cid is staying with us and is doing her best to ingratiate herself with the 'big kids'...she and Molly spend a lot of time on their backs as they go from dog to dog trying to be cute enough to be accepted...they wiggle up to a dog, kiss the dog's nose then flip over on their backs in submissive puppy pose. Ever optimists...here are Pala's Players!
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| It's "Where's the party" Seb! |
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| It's "wanna be a star" Cidra |
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| It's "performance star in training" Lolly! |
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| It's "I'm ready for my close-up" Ginger! |
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| It's "very good golly" Ms. Molly! |
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This concludes this broadcast of Pala's Players...the gambler's litter. Check back later for the next episode, starring Max and Ginny.
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