It’s been quite a week here in the Puppy Palace. The Sweetie litter have transformed from guinea pigs into tiny dogs. When their eyes open their faces change shape and they start to interact more with their environment. As you can see from the video, they have already started to play!

Real food

Once their eyes are open, I start to gradually introduce them to puppy food, alongside Busy feeding them. It’s a messy process! They tuck in straight away, but it takes a few days to really get the hang of it – this morning they scoffed it double quick.

Up on their feet

The puppies are much bigger than a week ago and even sturdier. They are up on their feet, walking more purposefully and without quite as many tumbles. Running is not quite on the agenda yet though…

I have moved them into a bigger run again, so that they have a clear space for eating and toileting. There is also a crate in the run. This is partly so that Busy can climb in and out once the gate is shut – she needs to be able to get in to feed them, but also to get out and escape! It is also so that they puppies learn that crates are fun places to go and sleep. Busy loves to go in there for a quick nap. Go to Cages and Crates for more information.

Eye colour

There has been much speculation about the eye colours of these puppies. In particular, will any of them have ‘Heterochromia iridum‘? Sunny produced three puppies with this condition and Busy’s son Lenny also has it. It is pretty common in Border Collies and although not desirable for the show ring, it is a popular characteristic, as people love its distinctiveness. However, it appears at this stage that we are unlikely to have any blue eyes. The blue and white girl’s eyes are lighter, but I feel they will be green or amber eventually.

Coat colour

Which brings me to an update on the coat colours of this litter. I was told to expect tricolours and I believed that is what I had. Although the tan points are not visible at birth, you are supposed to be able to identify them by lighter hair under their tails. Three of the Sweetie litter have lighter hair here, so I merrily informed everyone that is what they were. Not so! It appears I was misinformed; the experts have said that since no other markings are appearing, these are now more likely to be black and whites and red and whites. That’s fine with me.

Meet the families

Luckily, it was fine with all their owners as well. We all had a VERY busy weekend, getting to know everyone. As I’ve said, almost half of these homes have been waiting ages for their puppies and they were not disappointed. Phew!

So now we know who is having which puppy. We have names for them all, after a bit of juggling – both proposed pedigree names and their pet names. I will therefore shortly be registering them with the Kennel Club.

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