These 1st 2 weeks have flown by so fast! We have gone from quiet, helpless sleepers to whimpering and groaning poop machines lol. We have graduated from our nightly weighing sessions to now weekly. Juliet tries to keep up with the bonding, grooming, milking and potty stimulation, but as the days go by she is increasingly overwhelmed with all 5 puppies. Now that they are all crawling, (2 even walking) her responsibilities have kicked into gear, but I help her get mommy breaks, and we go Pet Smart walking. Quick trips to get her out of the house for a glance of normalcy. However, I wanted to do an update on milestones as we just hit 2 weeks old yesterday.

Justin "Timber"lake (Blue Collar) remained the heaviest puppy the first week and tied second place the 2nd week. Birth: 20.14 oz; Current: 60.80 oz. His birth date is 11:40 pm on 1/9.

Timber was named due to the fact he was the 1st to bark and do his 1st husky howl at only 2 days old (1/11) and then was the second puppy to growl 2 days later (1/13). Now while he was the last to learn to crawl, he doesn't seem to ever stop crawling even when all the others are napping. He is happiest when he is milking or getting a belly rub. He is the most active and vocal so far, and he was the second puppy to open his eyes at 12 days old (1/23)! He was the 1st puppy that was born with a Piebald face like his rare Piebald father <3

Chris (Red Collar)- birth date 9:35 pm on 1/9- earned his name for being the smallest of the litter, however my mother nicknamed him "Gruntkowski" after Gronkowski the football player due to his massive comeback. The first 4 days he had my special attention, he was gaining 2+ oz a day in weight, but the other pups were pushing him off the nipple and I had to intervene but the comeback he made after- now the 3rd heaviest puppy and sticks up for himself at mealtime! Birth:17.39 oz; Current 56.45 oz. While we haven't heard him bark or howl yet, we have heard him growl at 4 days old which was the turning point (1/14). He was the 1st puppy to open his eyes at 11 days old (1/22) and his ears are the first to begin to open (1/23). He was also the second puppy to learn to both crawl (1/17), walk (1/22) and give kisses (1/17). He is his mother's twin and shows that he has inherited her high intelligence with his escape artist techniques already!! He absolutely adores cuddling by his moms face and being held by me, and sometimes napping with his brothers. While he was the first puppy to start interacting, today was also a first time for him trying to play with his brothers (1/25).

JC (Gray Collar) is also Juliet's twin, he was the second born (10:25 pm on 1/9) and second heaviest puppy at birth (20.21 oz.) and was the second puppy to learn to bark. Currently he comes in as the 4th heaviest puppy (56.25 oz.) and is a huge love bug. As soon as he wakes up, he crawls right over to us to get belly rubs, back scratches and waits patiently to be held. In fact, he was the 1st puppy to crawl at 5 days old (1/15)! He was also the 3rd puppy to take his first steps (1/22) but he realized he's faster at crawling right now so he decided to keep crawling until his balance improves for take-off. JC was the 2nd puppy to bark (1/12), and 3rd puppy to give kisses (1/17) and open his eyes (1/23). JC has a very laid back temperament so far and loves to nap all curled up with his brothers.

Joey (Green Collar) earned his name because he is the calmest, sweetest, and most docile of all the puppies. Sky nicknamed him buttons because of the tiny red markings that go up his belly like a snowman lol. He was the second puppy born that inherited his rare piebald face from his Piebald father, and was born the day after JC, Chris & Timber -but shares his birthday with Lance (12:45 am on 1/10), he was the 2nd lightest puppy (19.15 oz.) and like Chris I had concerns that his weight wasn't catching up with the other puppies and I had to intervene by making sure he had extra milking sessions along with Chris. Currently he is now the lightest puppy, but not the smallest and is weighing (53.40 oz.) Joey is the quietest of the puppies. We have heard him groan and whimper like Chris, but we are still waiting to hear him bark, growl and howl. While Joey was the 3rd puppy to crawl (1/19) and give kisses (1/17), he was the 1st puppy to take his first steps and walk (1/21), as well as also being the first and only puppy to poop on his own (1/19)! Joey was the 4th puppy to open his eyes (1/23) but he was right on schedule. He loves to cuddle with his brothers, his mom and the puppy blankets, but there is a really special bond between Chris and Joey. In fact, they were the first 2 puppies to play with each other (1/24), and kiss each other before JC crawled over to join the fun!

Lance was the last puppy to be born at 4:20 am on 1/10 and shares his birthday with his twin Joey. He is the 3rd puppy to inherit the rare Piebald face from his Piebald father. He has a very unique yin-yang shaped marking across his shoulders that my dad now nicknamed him Puzzle. He also has a red Mickey Mouse face shaped marking on his belly. At birth he was the 2nd heaviest puppy (20.52 oz.) and is currently the heaviest puppy of the pack (61.95 oz.) 

Lance is the 2nd quietest puppy of the pack and very docile he learned to growl at 5 days old (1/15) and bark at 4 days old (1/14) in his sleep! Lance was the last puppy to crawl (1/21); give kisses (1/20); and open his eyes (1/24) but he is right on schedule with the rest of the puppies because he was born the following day with Joey. Lance loves nothing more than snuggling around his mom and brothers. He also loves to be held the minute he sees a human, his tail starts wagging as he crawls over to greet us.

After the first 2 weeks, our nights were pretty sleepless as we began Pee-Pad training. It was worth it though because at 4.5 weeks, all puppies were Pee-Pad Trained except 2 and all are Cedar Box trained for pooping. So to explain further, let me back up a little. As soon as all the puppies opened their eyes we brought out the Pee-Pads and extended the whelping box to have a Potty section. After spraying a Urine scent on the pads, they all followed the scent to urinate and poop. Once they all consistently used the pads, we introduced a Cedar Box as a litter box filled with wood pellets and we put the dirty pads in there on top until they learned to use that instead of the pads to make potty training at their new homes easier. Chris (Red Collar) was the very first puppy to immediately understand and is consistently using the Cedar Box only to use the potty. Joey (Green Collar) and JC (Gray Collar) were next to understand and currently use the Cedar Box only. Timberlake and Lance understand that the Pee-Pads are the potty place, but at are not consistent as of yet. However, both do use the Cedar Box to poop every time.

At 2.5 Weeks and 4.5 Weeks all the puppies were de-wormed using RFD Oral and are waiting for their last de-wormer at their first Vet Visit in 2 weeks.

At 3.5 weeks we began weaning. We introduced Puppy 2nd Step Powder Formula, gradually introducing wet Puppy Food to puppy mush (Formula, wet food and Dry Puppy Food). Currently the puppies are down to 2 scoops of formula at each meal, 1/4th can of wet puppy food and the majority is Purina One Plus dry Puppy Food.

At 4.5 weeks we introduced a puppy crate (plastic) because of the amount of success in potty training. At first all of them wanted to nap and sleep in the crate together and barely all fit. There were absolutely no potty accidents!! Now they seem to naturally take turns in the crate because they are growing so fast only 2 puppies will fit comfortably. So, on week 5 we took down the extended whelping box and put up the puppy playpen with a kennel and started kennel training. They all go in the kennel when they want to be safe from sibling attacks, and at nap/bedtimes. Timberlake absolutely loves the kennel, especially when the blanket covers it. Chris, JC, and Joey also enjoy the kennel and crate, but often play until they drop, not making it into the kennel. Lance prefers to sleep on his blanket outside of the kennel. However the importance of the kennel isn't just for house training, it is a space that the puppies go to to feel safe, calm down, and snooze. Each and every puppy so far has not had any potty accident in the crate, nor the kennel and have successfully learned to keep it clean.

At week 5, we have also introduced the T.V., vacuum, the outside world, and school-age children for socialization. 

Juliet and Nikita together are working with the puppies on bite inhibition, as their teeth continue to come in.