dezandpups

DezandNick realize it’s been a while since we’ve posted photos. Sorry.  We have excuses, but none of them are very good.  Here a few shots of the pups playing in the ivy to tide you over…

Sassa & Uzi in the Ivy

Playing in the ivy

Resting in the ivy

Curly is the brother of Wags (see earlier post) and a brother by another mother to Ouzo & Sassafras.   Curly is now 18 weeks old and already a confident swimmer! Enjoy the photos and captions below send by Curly’s human, Alex.  Be sure to scroll down to the last one, where he’s sporting a rain coat…

Curly at 12 weeks

Curly rolling in grass at 12 weeks

“Curly at 3 months now, and he is still into falling down.  I just think he likes to roll around in the grass.  I have to thank him for watering my lawn all the time. It’s beginning to show a unique look. It has “golden poka dots” look to it everywhere.  Thanks a lot Curly you are the best!  What’s that that old saying?  “Its Best Out, Then In”, I can’t complain.  It’s really true, all that good be in the house.”

Curly, 14 weeks, taking a breather

“Curly is taking a breather after running in circles for a while.  I think he was racing his own shadow.  He is three and a half weeks old now, and his shadow is one second older.”

Curly, post "swim meet"

“A week later goes by and this is his first “swim meet”, he was nervous at first but finally started to relax and remembered how to do the “Butterfly Stroke”.  Would you believe, the “Back Stroke.”  Anyway after swimming around he is now drying off and chllin’ out.”  {Dez likes this — butterfly was her fave stroke, too!}

Curly at 17 weeks old, in the hosta

“Curly is 17 weeks of age. He is getting used to his New Home, in loves to Weebble and Wobble  and then he falls down.  Oh yeh, he also likes watering my lawn.  Oh JOY!!!  lol”

Curly in a rain coat

“… I think all the rain we’ve been having shrunk the raincoat as you can see.”

Wags is Ouzo & Sassafras’s sister from another mother.  Wags was born a couple of weeks before our boys.  Mop commercials notwithstanding, white Pulik are actually quite rare, but Grandpa Sam was a hybrid (white momma and black daddy), so his line tends to have a good number of white pups.  Wags’ s human mom, Allison, shared the 3 photos below and this:

“She is now 18 weeks old, weighs about 13.5 pounds. She loves cuddling, and being brushed.  Her favorite toys are tennis balls (playing fetch with her human brother Austin) and nylabones.  She is a very gentle girl and loves to be the center of attention.”

Wags at 14 weeks with toy

Wags sitting pretty at 14 weeks

Wags, last week, after "spa day" at groomers

More photos coming soon. In the meantime, here is a summary of where we are @ 16 weeks, with misc updates & puppy growth charts:

Updates

• Each pup is doing well in his own crate at night — they got too big to share one crate, but the new crates are back-to-back so they can (& do!) still sleep next to each other, pushed up again the common walls of their crates.
• Both pups are really good at “sit” and “down” commands.  Really, this isn’t just the proud parents bragging!
• They are still working on “come”, “look at me” and “leave it”.  Ouzo is pretty good about coming when called; Sassafras will come once he’ done sniffing/tracking/chasing whatever has caught his fancy.  Ouzo is clearly displeased when Sassa doesn’t come on command; DezandNick believe this to be a sure sign of Ouzo’s herding instinct! (Okay, that last bit is mere speculation from proud parents.  But still, it’s plausible…)
• We’re all mastering the leash. Grandpa Sam loved his leash, so it was hard for DezandNick to imagine that the puppies won’t immediately be masters at the leash and embrace the freedom from the yard which the leash would enable… Alas, it doesn’t work that way.  Sassa caught on first, but Ouzo thought we were trying to strangle him.  Over the last week or so, we had a breakthrough with Ouzo and have made substantial progress. At this weekend’s vet visit they walked in/out  by leash (rather than being carried in their crate).  DezandNick were so proud. (And relieved — they are getting too big to carry in one crate!)
• Vaccine shots, ear-cleaning, nail-clipping and baths (& hair drying) are all going very well. Whew!
• Not teething yet… but DezandNick know this will start any day now.  They love to chew as it is, so we cannot really imagine it being any worse.  But we have been forewarned.  The pups have (an embarrassing amount of) toys, bully sticks, kongs, etc so DezandNick believe we are prepared.  Wish us luck!
• Gris-Gris (The Cat) still has not made friends with the pups. Generally, she watches them from afar.  If she’s in the mood to be a tease, she’ll let them get close, but then run off.  Since she and Grandpa Sam were so close, DezandNick remain optimistic that all the critters will be cute & cuddly together one one day. Perhaps once the pups mature a little more… wait, that will take 2 years or so.  Hum, maybe when cold weather drives Gris-Gris inside in a few months….

Growth Chart

July 2 Vet visit: Ouzo weighed in at 10  lb

July 23 Vet visit: Ouzo weighed in at 13  lb (30% increase in size in 3 weeks)

July 30Vet visit: Ouzo weighed in at 16 lbs (yes, that’s 3 lb in one week; almost 20% increase in one week! What a grow-spurt! )

August 13 Vet visit: Ouzo weighed in at 18.2 lbs

August 26 Vet visit: Ouzo weighed in at 20.4 lbs

July 2 Vet visit: Sassafrass was 9 lb

July 23 Vet visit: Sassafrass was 12 lbs (30% increase in size in 3 weeks)

July 30Vet visit: Sassafrass was 14 lbs (2 lb in one week; 15% increase in size in 1 week!)

August 13 Vet visit: Sassafrass was 16.5 lbs

August 26 Vet visit: Sassafrass was 19 lbs

DezandNick are still amazed at this rate of growth.  The pups are 1/2 way to full-grown at 16 weeks old! (Yes, that makes them “half-baked” at this point….)  They should weigh around 30-40 lbs when they are adults with fully corded coats.  Grandpa Sam, who was at the large end of the standard, weighed about 40 lbs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOtzvi4tiig&feature=player_profilepage

The pups have outgrown their first collars. Sigh.

Their new collars — purchased while Dez was visiting Auntie Penelope in Paris — are tres chic.   However, the pups are so fluffy, that it’s hard to get a good photo.  You’ll just have to take our word that Ouzo and Sassafras are the height of canine fashion this season!

The pups met live lobsters.  They were curious and fearless about approaching the sea creatures, which had rubber bands around their claws.  Uncle Bill would have been proud.   However, when one of the lobsters flipped his tail, the pups jumped and ran away.  Sassa recovered from his surprise quickly and came back for more exploration.  (Sniffing, licking, trying to chew on antennae — at which point we took the lobsters away. Didn’t want to torture the lobsters before their imminent demise.)  After the tail flip scare, Ouzo remained a safe distance away and just watched Sassa.

Sassafras & Lobster

Ouzo & Lobster

Sassa continues to investigate as Ouzo watches

Ah, tired pups…. with crazy long tongues!

What could be cuter than monsters at play…

leaves make great puppy toys...

At our Vet visit on July 23, Ouzo weighed in at 13 lbs (up from 10  lb on July 2 ) and Sassafrass at 12 lbs (up from 9 lb on July 2).  That almost a 30% increase in size in 3 weeks!  Sassa’s taller than Uzi now, too.   Puppies — they grow so fast…

The pups got a round of immunizations, which they handled without any drama.  Nail clipping — no problem (DezandNick have been practicing that at home).  So far, so good.

And then, the vet pulled the hair from inside their floppy ears. (If you don’t have a floppy eared dog, dear reader, think of overgrown old man ear hair to the nth degree.)  Well, that’s where the fun ended.  Serious drama — squealing, biting, you name it.  DezandNick knew it was going to hurt the pups and opted to call in a professional (solid strategy there!);  hopefully, from this point forward, it will be simple maintenance to keep their ears healthy.  Dare to dream.