December 2nd New Morning Routine

So my new morning routine consists of waking up at 5am, feed Freya, give Freya her medicine, Pet the boys and have a morning howllo, pet Samantha, feed Samantha's puppies, keep Samantha from eating the puppies' food, reassure and pet the boys, give all the dogs a treat and a bone, check Freya's pups, clean any messes, check Samantha's pups, clean any messes, play with the puppies for a couple of minutes when they whine for 'grandma', make sure the boys are fed and watered, have coffee and breakfast, yawn, take a shower, get ready for work. All this takes about two hours.

Unfortunately the sun is just rising as I head off to work and has set and getting dark by the time I get home, so most of my training runs with the boys have been on the weekends. Samantha is at the point where any time I pick up a harness, she whines and dances excitedly, then watches sadly as I take the boys. She still has not entirely weaned her pups, and I do so want her to join us, but at this time, she is not ready. Another week and I might get her out with the bike for a few very short runs and gradually increase to get her back in to shape before joining the boys. We will have to see how the situation is with the pups and if she has decreased or ceased milk production.

Samantha's puppies are growing and becoming more and more steady on their feet. They devour a baking tin of food three times a day, play for a few minutes, then go to sleep. Most of them have the idea to get off the fluffy bed and on to the papers to do their business, but we still end up laundering the bed quite often. They are in a 'play' enclosure that is set on top of a tarp and what is not covered by the bed is covered by papers. Papers get changed out daily.

Freya's enclosure is similar, but her puppies still have their eyes closed and not yet walking on all fours or eating solid food. Freya is a good mom though, and still spends the majority of her time with her pups feeding and cleaning them. The pups are glad to be out of the whelping box and have room to stretch out to sleep. Happy puppies sleep more and are much quieter! I've only had to intervene when Freya accidentally sits or lays on one. She's good about it though and doesn't put her weight on them. She'll wait patiently for me to remove the puppy, or she will move depending on her mood. She got the last of her medicine this morning, and I'm glad to see her recovered. I would have been heartbroken if anything had happened to her. It will be some time before she leads my team again, but I'm glad that she will do so in the not too distant future.