Ouch!
4 weeks old and there's teeth!
no wonder Mum is getting reluctant to have them suckling - they're sharp as needles

been out exploring the bigger room today, all very brave, though sense of direction needs a bit of work

Owain goes to a show
Saturday 25th February saw Owain (Typica Kingfisher) competing at The Royal Welsh Showground, Builth Wells, in a competition called ‘Welsh Junior of the Year’. This is an invitation event for young dogs owned and living in Wales, that had won at least one Championship Show during the year.

64 dogs are drawn to compete in two groups, and are matched against each other in pairs, so 16 get knocked out in the first round, 8 in the second etc. until there is a group winner, who then ‘challenges’ the winner of the second group for the overall title  ‘Welsh Junior of the Year’
It was great fun, we didn’t win, but we did make it to the 4th round, or semi’s, a sort of joint 4th!
The eventual winner was a Japanese Chin - Ch. Sleepyhollow Caruso with Gwynsias JW, with a miniature daxi runner up,  I have never seen so many different breeds together in one place - most shows we go to are only for gundogs, or breed shows, so seeing an Irish Wolfhound ‘matched’ against a Corgi was most amusing,

Playing

There is a definite awakening of the playing, several are trying out the new teeth, chewing each other, and pulling at the newspaper, and fleece bed. Another new game is to climb over Mum or Dad as they are trying to wash them, and escape down the hall.

Puppy lapping practise
They are really diving on the porridge now, just the tinkle of the metal dishes gets a round of wake up calls and woofs and squeaks, I have started putting down a large white tray as well, to catch more of the spills, as they just stand in the food or walk straight through the dishes

By Sunday they are all looking round and fat, and have doubled in weight.
Their noses are darkening, and their faces are lengthening, starting to look round puppy , although they are still blind and deaf, they have no difficulty finding Mum, or each other, and they shuffle and climb over each other, to sleep in a heap, I have been sleeping(?) next to the box to keep an eye and ear open during the night, especially as we've had some of the coldest weather of the Winter so far, there is an Infra-red lamp over one end of the box, to keep them warm when not with Mum, but they seem to need it a bit less each day.

I think their hearing is improving, if they are fast asleep in a heap, I can call them and get a 'Whiff whiff' little bark in reply, then they are stretching and standing up to see/hear what's going on, They recognise Owain, their Daddy, as well as Terry and me, and get very excited.

Lapping lessons are going well, most of them get it now, but cheat a bit by having some extra from the bottle, they all get covered in the milk, and so licking the milk off each other is the best game, and Megan finishes it off

Megan's Puppies - 2 weeks

Megan's Puppies - 2 weeks old 

Here's those puppies again at two weeks old - their eyes are starting to open - and they are all doing extremely well - most have tripled their birth weight

The Name Game

We will have to think of 7 fine Welsh girls names.
There are a lot more interesting boys names coming to mind

Trawling the cast list from Under Milk Wood is usually quite fruitful, several of the pets have been named from this source already, namely 'Captain Cat',  as well as 'Dylan' and 'Caitlin'
Any suggestions?

Owain meets his Daddy

Monday 13th February, and we are waiting for their eyes to open, a couple are squinting at the world, and holding their heads up a bit higher to the light, but they are not quite there yet.

Yesterday we had the Welsh Springer Spaniel Club of South Wales Open Show, where we met Owain's dad, Menstonia King and Country of Cashmere, or Tyler as he's known at home (that's him in the middle of the photo). What a fine chap he was too, and we were able to photograph a line-up of his sons and daughters and some grandchildren too, all doing well in the showring and the field.

Megan's first litter

This is the event that prompted the start of this blog and I will endeavour to keep you up-to-date with developments.

So here we go - let me introduce you to our SEVEN new litle girls.

Born on Wednesday 1st February 2012. The first one arrived just before 5am and the last one at 10.30.

Megan was very good for a first time mother - we hardly had to intervene at all. She got very tired half way through, and there was a long gap from number 4 to number 5 - but it turns out that number 5 is probably the biggest.

Owain - the daddy - was also very well behaved - showing very concerned interest in what was going on.

Click here to go see all photos of their first day