Some observations and ramblings

Thought I'd start talking about what I'm noticing with the puppies. I was really expecting to see a "puppy pile" all the time but they seem to go off in all directions. At first it was mostly Peeta and Prim that were "loners" I kind of though maybe it had something to do with the way they were born so far apart from the others (time wise:-), not location). But now, sometimes they are all scattered around the box. And they all seem to like to huddle under the pig rail. I am getting better about not panicing when I can only count 3 or 4. There's usually at least 1 behind Gidget under a rail.

I put towels as a liner for the box today. I thought the mattress pad was a bit slick and figured that having a bit of texture would help them get a grip on the flooring. I ordered a couple of fleece pads online yesterday. My dog's breeder put me on to them. Can't wait for them to come in. I think they will love them.

I think Gidget's discharge is letting up a bit. I changed the box this morning while she was eating and I usually change it again at lunch but it wasn't bad, only a couple of spots. She was fussing to be fed again around 3pm so I scrambled and egg, mixed in some boiled chicken, cottage cheese and plain yogurt. She wolfed it down. (She had left about half of her lunch so I was glad to see her eat well. Not sure what that was about.) At any rate, there were still just 2 spots on the towels when I fed her then so I didn't change it again. Will feed her again this evening and change then.

And, I've been reading up on how to start potty training. Seems that around 4 weeks or so, you can start teaching them where to go. There are several methods. One that I am leaning towards starts with using the piddle pads but then moving to a litter box. There is even a special litter for dogs. Who knew?  Not me.

We're trying to come up with a design for "housing" for the next stage once they start to get out of the whelping box. We'll need to have a sleeping area, a feeding area, a play area and a potty area. Sure am glad they are little. No idea at all what we'd do with 5 large puppies in the house:-).

I'm thinking I'd like to move them into the breakfast area. We'd need to move the breakfast table. No idea where to put it. All my living room and dining room furniture is stacked up around the edges of those rooms because I was doing some training with my dog in there over the summer and have dozens of training tools, e.g. a set of stairs, a travel plank, a ladder, several balance pods.... all over that space.

Oh, back to the puppy play area though. I'm going to put a crate in there with the door removed, some of the balance pods for them to play on, someone suggested a cat tunnel but don't know that I've ever seen one. I've washed some of my dog's toys that he doesn't play with anymore (like a kid, when he saw me take them out, wouldn't you know he just had to have them?). And I get to buy new toys too!! Fun.