Daybreak Puppies 2011: Morning Blend pups are 6 weeks old!

I can hardly believe how quickly another week has gone by and how much these pups have learned in the process. We have been blessed with the most fantastic weather and have spent the majority of the days outside exploring. The crew has learned how to manage the 3 steps from the deck into the backyard with less and less tumbles every day. They have been climbing over garden edging and destroying the dying plants there. All that is left from my summer gardens are sticks and dried blossoms and the pups have had a great time chewing the remnants to bits, wrestling through the drying leaves and making beds out of my low laying evergreens. Several of the pups have gotten stuck under the wood pile and needed some human intervention to get them out. As a result of their exploration, we have had to puppy-proof every inch of the back yard. They have made it their mission to find anything we didn’t think of! From slipping through the slats of the fence to belly crawling under it, to slithering behind the AC unit! We have been on our toes but loving every minute of watching their pudgy little bodies bound through the grass. They move like a hobby horse at this age! We have seen such funny personality traits emerge or be even more established. I love watching Dakota and Tioga interact with them. They are both great teachers. Dakota is looking for a playmate to have a game of chase or tug-o-war. Tioga, you can see, is trying to ready them for the world. She leads them out into the yard and they follow her like a row of ducks. One day, India sat at the top of the deck stairs and whined – too afraid to come down the steps to follow along. I helped her down and carried her out to the yard to be with the rest of the group. She whined a bit more. Then, and I am so glad I got to witness this, Tioga just decided India needed to learn to be braver. It was as clear as if Tioga was telling her with words! Tioga circled around India and when India went to snuggle against her Tioga pounced at her. As India backed away she went behind her and pounced again. She ran hard and fast away from and then toward India stopping inches from her, brushing past her so that she would fall over. Again and again Tioga rushed at her in a relentless “attack” until India finally cried out and lunged back at Tioga. As quickly as that, Tioga stopped – lesson learned. I have seen Tioga play pretty roughly with the other pups, pouncing, wrestling, mouthing etc. But nothing as intense as this onslaught. It was such an amazing thing to see – primal almost in its cruelty against poor India, but effective. Though India continues to be the “softest” dog in the pack, she is much less tentative, she does the stairs without hesitation now and she has even been seen chasing after Dakota to get a toy. There are certain pups that surprise us, certain ones that make us laugh, certain ones that seem to need an extra nudge, and still others that need a TIME OUT! Every single one of them has grabbed a fervent hold of our hearts and when we watch them now it is with joy and the tiniest twinge of heartache. I am trying not to think too far ahead – only to be excited for the wonderful families that are waiting to begin their journey with these sweet babies. Amazing lives and adventures await them and in the next 2 weeks we will do all that we can to prepare them for it. They continue to learn, grow, amaze us, infuriate us, tug at our heart strings and tickle our funny bones! Here they are, the 6 week old Morning Blend Brew Crew:

VIENNA

female, id: purple, weight at birth: 15.4 ozs, weight at week five: 8 lbs 9.8 ozs