Puppies: 7 Weeks & More

 I was supes busy all day Friday and Saturday so didn't get puppy pictures last week. Foxy went to her new home in Chehalis on Saturday, and Peggy went to Kalama today. 

Gizmo is going to Kansas next week. He's a good looking pup! 

 Tucker is still available, but will be sold as a pet. He might have the instincts to herd(it's too early to judge that) but he is a very, very fearful pup and won't be able to handle stock or handler pressure. 

 Sue is going to the stud owner. He had first pick, and grabbed her first off. I would have kept her otherwise. 

Jake is also going to the stud owner-I pretty much knew 100% that he would take him. Jake has always been the star of the litter. If he was a female, I'd have kept him in a heartbeat.

Instead, I have chosen to keep Liz. She is everything I want in a pup-confident, friendly, outgoing, gentle, and bold-just without that extra flare that gives Sue her specialness. 

I've noticed a few of the pups(mainly Tucker and Gizmo) starting to show some food aggression at mealtimes, so decided to go out and work with them on it a little bit today, so that it won't be so bad for their new owners. Though this morning was the first time I saw Liz show any guarding, she was the worst, and actually got me a little bit over it-I ended up bleeding. (Okay, the bleeding was from me clumsily running my finger into her razor sharp tooth at a separate time, not from her grabbing me. 😉) I'm not real worried about it as this is completely normal puppy behavior, and they just need to be told that that's not the way we roll. She reminded me of when I first got Jinger and she nailed me just a few hours after I got her home. 

Mac will be going to Arkansas next week. 

I borrowed Dad's pickup and picked up an old sow on Friday, to turn into dog food. It was quartered, so I just had to process it the rest of the way. I was quite daunted at first, and wondered if I'd bitten off more than I could chew, but it really only took me 5-6 hours to get it all cut up. It sat in wheelbarrows over Sunday, and I got it packaged this morning and put into the freezer. I have roughly 280 pounds of meat-what I paid for it sure beats the price of dog food, and this is much healthier! This sow had roughly 4-5 inches of fat all over her, so there was a lot of waste, but even at that it was very worth it!

Eric & Debbie's kids were over all day Saturday, and played with the dogs and puppies all day while I butchered the pig. 

Kolby especially loves all the dogs! 

But the other kids love them almost as much! I was very glad to see how Liz loves them all. I didn't really see what she was doing that made them like her so much, but throughout the day, they were fighting over who got to hold her, and saying "where's my puppy? or "this one's my favorite," and hauling her around, cuddling her, etc. and she just lapped it all up. 

They had to bring her up to the house on lunch break, so I got out my camera to snap a picture. Originally only Mason was there, but as soon as Aubrey saw me bringing the camera, she dropped what she was doing and raced over to get in the picture. Debbie, what have you been teaching her, anyway? 😆

Well, we might as well throw Jinger in there too! 

 Of course, Liz had to come to work with me and help me do paperwork. Then we went to the feed store, and I was extremely impressed with her attitude and confidence on our first trip out. I'm really looking forward to this new puppy raising adventure!