From Russia With Love

June 3 DAY 23

Happy Happy to the first litter for Alchmy poodles in 2006

HAPPY B-DAY to:

BELLE' GUY JOEY JACK ICO DANCER AND NICKEL!

HERE ARE SOME PICTURES FROM YOUR FIRST DAY OF LIFE:

TINTIN WAS IN LABOR FOR 24 HOURS

A VERY TIRED TINTIN... PUPPIES JUST HOURS OLD

SHE WAS A VERY GOOD MAMA

11 DAYS LATER:

THE PUPPIES GREW FAST!

Proud ma

NICKEL AND HER SIBLINGS ARE NOW 5 YEARS OLD....

THIS IS WHAT THEY'VE ACCOMPLISHED IN THIS TIME:

Therapy Dog International X4

NADAC Agility Titles: O-HP-O, S-WV-O, S-TN-O, TG-N,S-NAC, EJC, OCC (Diana... I know she has more but I couldn't think of them :)

AKC Agility Titles: NAJ, OFP, OJP

AKC Rally Titles: RAE, RA, RN

CKC Rally Titles: RA

Herding Titles: JHD, HCT, HIT

Dock Diving Titles: NDD

UKC Championship

UKC Grand Championship (with Best In Show)

AKC Championship (National Invitational)

CKC Championship

IABC Championship (with Best In Show)

CGC x5

VC (Poodle Versatility Certificate)

HEALTH TESTING:

They all have a clean bill of health.

the one exception was Joey who had OCD when he was 6 months old.

**** Wendy Pointed out that this could be confused with another OCD... ha ha ha.. no he wasn't compulsive :) OCD: Osteochondritis Dessecans (CLICK TO LINK TO A LINK FOR THIS DISEASE)

Belle': Hips: GOOD

Guy: Hips: GOOD

Ico: Elbows & Hips: GOOD; SA, CERF, Patellas, Thyroid: Normal; NE, DM, Vwd: Clear; JRD: Carrier

Joey: TBD

Jack: Hips: GOOD

Nickel: see testing on her page

Dancer: Elbows and Hips: GOOD

and

BEYOND ALL THAT, THEY ARE BELOVED MEMBERS OF INCREDIBLE FAMILIES.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALCHMY MAGIC PUPPIES!!!

June 2 DAY 22

It's A Free For ALL!!!!

Head Line NEWS!!!!....

Puppies Go On a Free For All... FOOD FIGHT!!!!!

While feeding Nickel in the Whelping Box two puppies decided to Partake. They were VERY interested in what Mama was eating and went for the gusto. It didn't take long for all the puppers to become distracted from the Milk Bar and go find out what was happening at the Raw Bar. Mom didn't seem to mind much (she probably didn't realize that she competing against a School of Puppy Piranhas). Obviously I'm easily fooled as well and soon found myself bring more plates of food. Alas, the puppies didn't show any social graces as they dived into the food.

MOM didn't have a chance!!!

Just yesterday I realized that I'd never keep up with Nickel's caloric intake (of 4 pounds of raw food a day) and ordered delivery of Darwin's Raw Dog Food . It's quite a bit more expensive than the food I feed my girls. Opposed to my home ground 'Cuisinart,' mixed and measured Glop, it's a complete meal: a complete mix of fruit/veg/meat/mineral/vitamin.

Well, in light of then new gastronomic delights of the puppers, I'm excited to say that Darwin's "degree of grind" makes it the perfect Puppy meal. In the past I've had to mix and process my own (a very lengthy and messy ordeal!). With 9 puppies, the Darwin will be well worth the extra cost.

OY... this is only the beginning!

June 1 Day 21 WEEK THREE

THE BEGINNING OF TRANSFORMATION!!!!!

Puppies are developing in leaps and bounds. The puppies are starting to interact with each other. They are growling, barking, wagging, pawing and mouthing each other. They are miniature poodles....without the hair :)

They are moving around with much more balance and coordination. Sometimes even making little dashes across the whelping box...ending in a big Poodle Puppy Jam of course.

Nickel surprised me today. I was wondering why she was letting the puppies bark and bark and bark... Obviously they were HUNGRY!!!!! I was just starting to think that she'd 'called it quits,' when she entered the box and started to nurse. Well... three hours later: Bark Bark Bark Ignore Ignore Ignore...Nurse. Three hours later: Bark Bark Bark Ignore Ignore Ignore...Nurse. THEN I GOT IT (see I'm clearly not as smart as my girls!!! :) She was waiting until the puppies stopped DEMANDING TO BE FED... and settled into a nice 'quiet pile of puppies' before she entered the box to feed them. Man-O-Man is she making our jobs easier in the future!

Poodle Puppy Conspiracy Theory: Mom is not always on our side.

And WHO won this battle?! :)

May 31 Day 20

TEETH ARE ERUPTING

Believe it or not the puppies are already getting some of their teeth. They are beginning to chew on each other, their own feet and legs, toys and even Human Fingers! yikes!! Actually you can feel tiny nubs of the teeth under their gums.

They also started to wag their tails for the very first time. These are Very enthusiastic puppies.... and don't hold back on expressing themselves.

May 30 Day 19

Puppers New House Addition:

Learning to use the big boy/girl potty

I barely had the extension on the whelping box and the puppies were putting it to good use.

Once Puppies start to perambulate they begin to look for a place outside their sleeping quarters to potty. Instinctually they know not to 'piss where they eat.'

Mom likes the idea of them taking care of their own bathroom habits!

Another proud moment for mom

May 29 DAY 18

Corsa Bella's swim therapy day...

Eureka, Nickel and pups stayed home today so I could take Corsa to her swim therapy. Normally I would have left TinTin with Nickel and taken Eureka, but TinTin needed a break. She's been cooped up in the house with Nickel and I thought she deserved a chance to swim.

Turns out that Mica got to swim too. I kept a flotation vest on him to help encourage stronger use of his hind legs. He had a blast both in the water and out.... Little did I know the price I'd pay having to de tangle his hair! Oh well.

As usual, TinTin tried to stay in the water. She likes to float like a barge and wait for me to throw. Nickel's favorite part of swimming is jumping into the water... for TinTin it's the swimming. I think she figured out that the other dogs wont go in the water and there's less chance that the ball will be taken from her if she doesn't get out. Of course that theory only holds water (get it?) when Nickel doesn't Jump into the pool and try to drown her during the struggle over the ball. Luckily TinTin doesn't sink easily! She swam until she couldn't swim any longer.....