Clover is now 4 1/2 woolly months old! She is very good apart from sometimes when she goes upstairs!
She just automatically assumes she is allowed upstairs and chews pens, books, clothes hangers if you leave your door open. When we find her upstairs, we give her a firm telling off and lift her downstairs in a woolly manor. Clover also chewed a bit off the sofa in the sitting room and wripped a bit of wallpaper off (the wallpaper was horrid anyway!) Truffle has lost lots of woolly fluff after having the pups and now looks like a bald street dog! Also, she was losing her woolly winter coat at the beginning of summer but i think soon she shall get her woolly winter coat back again. At the moment, truffle and clover are being woolly and good and fluffy! Better leave them fluffily to it!

4 generations go walkies

The books advise that you shouldn't take retriever puppies on long walks until the age of six months - or it may lead to hip displacia in later life. So Clover missed out on some of the longer walks over the summer - although we tried a bag to carry her some of the way. However this didn't really work as she continues to add a kilo weight a week!

SO Clover felt very grown up when she went on a walk with Truffle, her mother, Jasmine her Granny and Maui her Great Granny.

Clover!

You may think they're all gone but... we kept one of course! We called her Clover and she is now nearly 4 months old! She is very good (usually) and she has managed to unplug the downstairs phone twice now! Her sisters have been to visit a bit and they have all been really happy and wriggly when they saw us!
Even though the pups have gone, they've left their mark...they managed to chew the wall and they made a big hole! they've taken a few little chunks out of the plaster!
Yes...they were annoying at times but now we all really miss those sweet little bundles of fluff! Guess they weren't so bad after all! WE MISS YOU PUPPIES! :'(

And then there were none..

Well the last of the puppies to be sold went today. Rolo has become Orla and gone off to her new home. Email reports back:

Orla who has settled in really well in the Big City. She is getting used to lots of new sights and sounds and is taking them all in her little stride.
On her first couple of nights, she was a wee bit unsure of herself and her new surroundings, but she was given lots of reassurance and we all all three got plenty of sleep. Last night she was out for the count and we had to wake her up this morning!

New homes!

Two pups have gone to their new families. We miss them alot(but not their poops!) and i'm sure that they will be jolly happy exploring their homes! The other 5, meanwhile, are still a handful! Today we decided to let them run around our sitting room with Truffle as C was cleaning out their sleeping quarters! 2 poops later C had to clean out the sitting room, too!
Yesterday we had to worm them. What a 'fun' job! 7ml of liquid that smelt like tipp-ex had to go down their woolly throats! They HATED it! Most of it was coughed or spluttered up, after trying so hard to get their firmly closed mouths open!
Anyhow, at the moment they're asleep. But not for long...

Last one left

Who would you share your last Rolo with?

Just one left!

Granny Visits

Well after seven weeks (although the pups haven't had their final jabs yet) we have a visit from Granny Jasmine. Truffle is very pleased to see her - as she hasn't seen another dog since her confinement. And this is the first dog, except their mother that the pups have ever seen!

Jasmine is very gentle and tolerant of the puppies looking for a drink. Sadly I don't think think that Great Grandma Maui will be as understanding, particularly as she has a lampshade on :-(

Pedigree Chums

A little bit of ancestry of the puppys: going back 5 generations supplied by Severus' owner:
All the red entries are Show Champions
And that doesnt include Truffles Dad, Glen, whose picture was on the packet for Pedigree Chum petfood.
If this picture of the pedigree chart isnt that high quality you can get a better resolution copy simply by buying a puppy!

Puppys for sale

Of the seven girls we now have good homes for five.

So the remaining two have just gone up on the kennel club puppy register.

As if we need to advertise .. the puppies sell themselves:

They may be cute but...

They need to be cleaned up every hour at least! You can guarantee that as soon as you put fresh paper down after mopping and scrubbing the floor, that they will do their business straight on the clean paper! I guess it'll never be tidy in there!
Also, when mopping, they decide to try to either chew the mop, try to get into the bucket or permanently attach itself to your trouser leg! Also, they go mad dog at about 4:30pm!
However they really are gorgeous!

Still they keep growing

Well the fith weekly weigh in and the weights contine to increase:
Probably something to do with the four meals a day (from 8am to midnight)

not to mention the continuing snacks between meals
Truffle has dsicovered that the only way to avoid getting scratched during feeding is to stand up so the pups paws and claws have to stay on the ground. However it must still be painful when she walks off: Some puppies can stay attached to her for a few yards, getting dragged along while they suck as much as they can.

New Buffet Service

Truffles mother's owner kindly comes over with a new supper dish for the pups.

Very good new arrangement - with only one dish to wash after.
One small problem: Six sections & seven puppies, but they dont seem to mind.

Escape

In a week we have gone from the stage of the pups just being able to get their paws onto the top of the whelping box (above right) to them being able to get over at will into the kitchen. While they are very good about being house trained not to foul their box, of course the kitchen is not their box so it is perfectly OK to pee and poo in the kitchen. Got to get the stair gate out of the loft!


Postscript: a week later:

Prague Widower

C has gone off on a choir tour to Prague for 4 days

N left holding the baby - well seven

First task is to get them each a bowl as the plates are getting a bit messy. They tend to walk through theam or lie down

So off the Snip and buy their entire stock of cat bowls.

Make sure we take the label off before the pups see.

A great success

Not all of the pups quite get the hang of keeping all the food in the right place:

Starting on Solids

The other big change this weekend is to start the pups on solid food

Well when we say solids its chicken biscuits mixed into a pulp

Some of the pups lap it up - others walk across the plate - some just fall asleep

Puppies Move

Out of the front sitting room....

into the utility room

Whelping box goes across the door into the kitchen and it's high enough to keep the puppies in while letting Truff step over when she feeds

Loads of newspaper spread across the floor to soak up the puddles.

Visitors

We are getting half a dozen visitors each day through the weekend to see the puppies. Some choosing a puppy, others just coming to stroke!

Some piano students coming to the house are taking an extra half an hour to leave. One even said "forget about the lesson, lets just see the puppies!"

Puppies are just about over the lower edge of the whelping box

Week 2 Weigh In

Week 1 Week 2
ROCKY 770 1164
ROLO 746 1072
IZZY 650 990
FLECK 658 992
MOLLIE 708 1074
POGLE 692 1022
WOMBLE 714 1088

Flopsy has hound a home (cunningly acting all helpless and petite) and has been given a new name Izzy by the family

Helpless

10 days old and pups are still with eyes closed and not responding to sound. Alec can watch Keraang on the TV without any problem (except for truffles disdain)

Paws and noses have turned black

The Weigh In

A week old today and so we have a weigh in

Week 1
ROCKY 770g
ROLO 746g
FLOPSY 650g
FLECK 658g
MOLLIE 708g
POGLE 692g
WOMBLE 714g

Whelping Box

We had an old box that had been used for Sable and Domino's Puppies (Black Labradors) but for some reason it was too small for Truffle.

After two nights of living on a rug it was clear that something was needed.

The puppies left on their own will just squirm off in the direction they are pointing so they can end up anywhere

A few minutes research on the web throws up some cardboard whelping boxes at £50 but also some designs for DIY.

A piece of piping for the "pig bar" so puppies don't get squashed in the corners. Some old shelves made the sides and a plastic sheet provides the floor. Truffle is very happy with this!

Naming them

The vet who delivered the pups said that she had never seen a litter of this size all the girls.
What are we going to call the puppies ?
For their Kennel names a classical answer was offered and Google quickly gave the details
The Seven Sisters - the seven stars
Pleiades
Halcyon - `queen who wards off evil '
Asterope - `lightning', `twinkling', `sun-face',
Celæno - `swarthy'
Electra `amber', `shining', `bright'
Maia - `grandmother', `mother'
Merope - `eloquent',
Taygeta - `long-necked'

How do we know which one is which? Amelia's collection of garish nail varnish provided the answer- painting the tips of their tails

As for their actual names we were not short of suggestions. Naming of the puppies has been a constant topic of conversation in the house for the last two years.
ROCKY - with Light blue
ROLO- with Dark Blue (the two largest who Rock and Roll around)
FLOPSY - with Glitter Red (the smallest)
FLECK - with Light Pink
MOLLIE - with Dark Pink
POGLE - with Silver
WOMBLE Plain

New Arrivals

1AM call from the vet: "Congratulations - 7 healthy girls"

2AM drive up to the vets to pick up mother and pups

This is more expensive than having human babies

8AM call from credit card company - "we had a suspicious transaction at 2am this morning. Did you make a transaction at this time"

Its amazing right from the conception the Truffle just knows what to do.
No mother visiting to provide advice

The waiting is over

Well after a few weeks confinement (no walkies) and feeling a bit tired the puppies started to arrive at 4pm on Friday

No further changes at 7pm when the local Vets surgery closed for the weekend so at 8pm we went off to the 24 Hour vet in Farnham.

A jab to induce had no further luck so we left Truffle to go for a C-section and went to get a chinese takeaway