Canine Carolers Litter, born 12/20/2019

The Canine Carolers!

Litter info

Oliver X Sparrow Puppies
Santa came to our house a little early this year and left a beautiful litter of Oliver/Sparrow puppies under our Christmas tree! The Canine Carolers were born on December 0th, 2019; two handsome boys and six beautiful girls.

Puppy names for this litter are from Christmas Carols!
Angel "Angels we have heard on high... "
Bella "I heard the bells on Christmas Day..."
Carole "Caroling, caroling, thru the snow... "
Drummer "I played my drum for him ra rum pum pum pum..."
Faith "Oh come all ye faithful... "
Holly "Deck the halls with boughs of holly... "
Merry "We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year... "
Rudy "Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer... "

Seven Week Old Puppies

Boxer Puppies?

We better check the DNA for these puppies; I think they are Boxers! Cardboard boxes entertained them for hours. Such a simple thing! The boxes were eventually chewed to pieces but they're inexpensive and easily replaceable toys for puppies.

Outdoor Explorations!

Puppies are getting braver to explore the outdoors. That's great for puppies but not so good for us, trying to catch 8 puppies all going in different directions. But the Sparrow is a big help; she doesn't let them stray too far.

Rainy Day Deck Adventure (aka... Why is water falling on my head!)

Puppies went outside to explore the deck in a steady rainfall. After they figured out that the water falling on them wasn't going to kill them, they had fun meandering between chair legs and climbing in leaves. The really smart puppies found refuge from the rain in the tunnels!

Puppy Love!

These puppies love people and there's lots of love to go around. The puppies have met 140 people, give or take a few.

7 Week Puppy Portraits

Six Week Old Puppies

The End of the Feeding Frenzy!

Puppies are weighing in at 10 to 12 pounds. They've transitioned from eating puppy mush to crunchy kibble moistened with a little water. And, they now have individual puppy bowls to end the frenzy at feeding time.

Puppies check out their new feeding station.

There was bound to be one food bowl jumper in the crowd!

Oh No! ... The Crate!

The puppies were NOT happy with their first introduction to a crate. There was a lot of howling and crying; you would have thought someone was killing the puppies! The Sparrow came running and jumped the fence to save her puppies from the dreaded crate. But after a while, they all settled down and took a nap.

Puppies are now being crated for about 30 minutes several times a day while their play area is being cleaned. Crate doors are left open between cleaning times and puppies often wonder in by themselves to take a nap. The good news is... these puppies will not be traumatized when they go to their new homes and are crated for potty training!

The Adventure Box!

The puppy play area has changed again. Now they have an Adventure Box. They're having a great time discovering all the different textures and materials on the box. Adventure Box items are changed almost every day so the puppies always have something new to discover.

The Great Outdoor Adventure!

Puppies experienced their first outdoor adventure. It was a little scary at first and they gathered around doggy daddy Randy for safety. But a little Al Fresco dining quickly taught the puppies that the great outdoors has good things for dogs!

Puppies had a great time discovering new smells, chewing leaves, running, and playing. They were all tired out after 45 minutes of outdoor play. Ahhhh... a tired puppy is a good puppy!

The Pitball Adventure!

A wading pool filled with plastic balls gets the puppies into high action! They didn't like it at first but are discovering that pitballs are great fun for puppies. A few brave puppies climbed into the pitball pool by themselves. Others needed "encouragement" (aka we plop the puppies on the slide and down they go into the pool of balls!)

Puppies Go Shopping!

Puppies took a road trip to their shopping Adventure at Bass Pro Shop. Surprisingly, they were calm and content on the ride; no screaming and crying. Puppies were good little travelers! When we arrived at Bass Pro, puppies were loaded into two shopping carts and into the store they went to experience an elevator ride and.....

Puppies are ready for their road trip!

LOTS and LOTS of petting! Puppies are people magnets.

Six Week Puppy Portraits

Five Week Old Puppies

Puppy Play!

Five week old puppies are between 8 and 9 pounds and are fully engaged in rough and rambunctious play. They are eating four times a day now. After each meal and potty time, their play area is expanded to give them new things to explore. This week was all about tunnels... puppies love tunnels!

The Sparrow gets a little nervous when her babies disappear into the tunnels.

Piranha Puppies!

Sweet little puppies have turned into piranhas right on schedule. They're testing their sharp puppy teeth on anything, everything, and everyone! They bite each others tails and ears so we're hearing lots of puppy yelps and cries. But that's how puppies learn. When one puppy bites too hard, the other puppy stops playing and walks away. So they learn that biting ends the fun. But they don't bite mama... they've already had that lesson!

Canine Caroler Encounters!

Puppies Meet Shiloh Shepherds

Puppies Meet Boxers

Puppies Meet Uncle Thunder

Thunder is a one year old Swissy from our November 2018 breeding who is visiting with us for awhile.

Canines Meet Feline

Puppies Meet Lots of People Too!

5 Week Puppy Portraits ~ Look How We've Changed!

Puppies are born with pink noses, muzzles, and feet and sometimes have lots of white on their face and neck. The noses have turned black, the muzzles and feet have turned white, and the white markings on their heads and necks will continue to recede as the puppies get older. See how much they've already changed!

Angel

Angel 5 Weeks

Bella

Bella 5 Weeks

Carole

Carole 5 Weeks

Drummer

1 Week

2 Weeks

3 Weeks

4 Weeks

Drummer 5 Weeks

Faith

Faith 5 Weeks

Holly

1 Week

2 Weeks

3 Weeks

4 Weeks

5 Weeks

Merry

Merry 5 Weeks

Rudy

Rudy 5 Weeks

Four Week Old Puppies

We're BIG dogs now... and growing fast!
All of the puppies are over 5 pounds now, gaining almost 1/2 pound per day and getting BIG!

We're BIG dogs now... with BIG dog collars!
Puppies are feeling pretty snazzy in their new BIG dog collars!
Collar colors have remained the same, but some shades are slightly different.

Angel - White

Bella - Blue

Carole - Purple

Drummer - Orange

Faith - Yellow

Holly - Green

Merry - Pink

Rudy - Red

We're BIG dogs now... we eat food!
Puppies have started eating mush (puppy kibble pureed with water) and have begun their lifelong addiction to food! As expected, their first introduction to mush was a messy affair. But they had fun cleaning each other up after their feast Then mama moved in to finish the puppy cleanup and lick the bowl clean.

They've settled down a bit since the first frenzied feeding and now form a pretty puppy pinwheel. Still, there's always one who has to climb into the food bowl!

We're BIG Dogs now... We're getting teeth!
Puppies have started teething. Fortunately, the puppy teeth aren't in enough for them to bite very hard... yet! Sadly, in the coming week the sweet little puppies are going to turn into little piranhas. Ouch!
Puppies will begin getting their first lessons in bite inhibition this week from their mama. Mama will not tolerate teeth and will let them know it in no uncertain terms. One lesson is all it takes from her. If only we could speak dog!

Sweet puppy today...

Piranha tomorrow!

We're BIG Dogs now... We've left the whelping box!
Puppies have climbed out of the whelping box so it was time to set up a sleep area, a play area, and a potty area for them. As they learn to use the potty area, their play area will expand.

We're BIG Dogs now... We're learning where to go potty!
Puppies have only had the potty area for a few days and are catching on very quickly. One brilliant little puppy was nursing with Sparrow in the whelping box, left Sparrow, climbed out of the whelping box, walked over and used the potty area, then climbed back into the whelping box and resumed nursing. Amazing! I can't mention that puppy's name or everyone would be fighting over the same puppy!

We're Big Dogs now... We're curious and like to play!
Puppies are ready to explore the world. Let the adventures begin! They get something new to play with, climb on, or crawl under every day so their habitat is constantly changing. There's always something new for a puppy to do!... and they'll have many new adventures over the next few weeks.

We're BIG Dogs now... and becoming social butterflies!
Puppies run to people who come to visit, love to climb on laps, and love to be held and cuddled.

4 Week Puppy Portraits

Third Week Puppy Photos

Hungry Babies!

All of the puppies are almost 4 pounds now. They're demanding more food than the Sparrow can supply so we're supplementing each feeding with puppy formula from a baby bottle.

It's a time consuming process but we gotta keep these babies happy! And there's another advantage to bottle feeding puppies... puppies quickly learned to LOVE people!

Visitors!
Puppies have had lots of visitors this week and many more to come!

The Sparrow doesn't mind people playing with her puppies as long as she gets her fair share of petting!

3rd Week Puppy Portraits

Second Week Puppy Photos

Yeah Sparrow!
The Sparrow is an excellent mother and her babies are thriving and growing fast. They change so much each day.
All of the puppies have more than doubled their birth weight and are now over two pounds. Their little noses are turning black, their muzzles and feet are turning white and their eyes opened at 14 days. The puppies are already walking at just two weeks old.... a week earlier than expected. Super Puppies! We're just thrilled with our little Canine Carolers... a beautiful litter of puppies.

Puppies are welcoming visitors now. By the time they leave us at about 8-1/2 weeks of age, they'll be little social butterflies, having met and been held by over 100 different people.

Watch Me Walk!

Video coming soon!

Two Week Puppy Portraits