Photos and videos from yesterday of Teagol and her seven pups. They are getting more active by the day. 

Teagol's pups had their first taste of solid food today, which is captured on the first video and the second video was taken this evening when they were having a playtime.

Got a bit behind yesterday, so blogging fell by the wayside. Teagol's pups started getting their teeth coming through a couple days ago, so now when they mouth you, you can feel them. They really are a lovely bunch, and I'm so far very pleased 

Let the dogs out last thing last night. Getting them back in I noticed Blottie had yet to come in. So I walked around to the front of our home expecting her to be lied up watching for the comings and goings of the animals that frequent our boundary hedge, but she was not there, and I walked with a bit of pace back to the house to check if Toby had come in. No Toby, that most probably meant they had somehow gone off for a night on the tiles. We found their escape route. Somewhere they could only just squeeze through, but last night with a warm storm blowing up the smells of the woodlands around us, was beckoning them with a loud inhaler. 
So we went out for an hour calling and trying to find them, but with high winds and pitch darkness, we called the search off and resumed at first light, reporting them lost to the dog warden at 9 am  in case they had been picked up, as they had been out then for 10 hours. I also went to the local village shop and local animal feed mill in case anyone came in telling of two spaniel dogs being found. Nearly 10.30 am and I then go back to an area already searched calling their names and finally they emerge from a bit of woodland within shouting distance of our home. Walking with very tired legs past a flock of sheep that just give them a casual glance. Thankfully, they have never shown any interest in sheep. I have even had reports from farmers who have found them, enjoying watching them working through a hedge of a field full of sheep unperturbed by their company. 
I was so pleased to see them and it was home to check them over, bath them and feed them. We don't live in a perfect world and my dogs can escape very occasionally, although I don't consider Toby and Blottie thought they had escaped. They had just ceased the opportunity of a loose bit of picket fencing  and followed the beckoning of the heady olfactory cocktail the storm blew up last night. They are both tired and Toby's eyes have taken a battering. You think he might know better, as he approaches nine years old in a couple months time, to be spending a night out on the tiles.

As you will of seen from the previous videos, Teagol's pups have now moved out of the whelping box and into a bigger area, which makes life more comfortable for Mum when she tends them and they are easier to access for our children and me to interact with them. It also makes it easier to get photos of them as we start to see their characters coming out. We are keeping one of the girls and at the moment I find myself very attracted to the smallest of the girls, but I want to see them up and about a bit more, before I finalise my choice from the litter.
I have started booking in visits for the litter and are just waiting on the 4th person on this litter to get back to me to arrange a date for their visit. As soon as that is done, I will contact the people in 5th and 6th place to book a date to visit. I hope that will be tomorrow.

All of Teagol's pups eyes are now open to different extents and their ears have also all opened up. The last couple days with blurry vision (as their eyes are unable to focus until around 28 days old) and hearing, they have become much more interactive with each other and us. They now react to your voice and last night whilst our daughter Florrie was playing with the biggest girl, she gave us the first tail wag of the litter whilst interacting with a human. Very cute. 
I have started to label photos of individual pups boy or girl, as it becomes easier to recognise each of them individually. 

Saw this a few days ago Functional Dog Collaborative. One to watch.

Puddin' today looking very handsome with a bit of toothpaste on his eyebrow. Dad to Teagol's pups.

We have three bitches on heat at the moment. None of them we plan to breed from at this time. This is the only time we kennel any of our dogs outside. Lottie came on heat three weeks tomorrow, so will soon be back indoors. Rosie came on a few days after her. Then we noticed a lot of interest in Sasha from the males and I thought something was up. Keeping a close eye on her and today she has started bleeding, so is on heat a good two months earlier than normal. We had decided not to breed from her and she was booked in (finally after Ciovid 19 had delayed getting her spayed ) to be spayed in a couple weeks time, but rang the vet and swapped her with Bumble to get spayed instead. Treacle is also booked in to be done in a couple weeks as well.
Sasha normally cycles every 7 months, but a couple years ago she came on at 5 months, like now  and synchronised her heat with Blottie. I think with two bitches on heat, a litter on the ground and the very warm weather, has kicked her hormones in to action. We are now keeping a close eye on Blottie, as it is likely that she may also come on heat earlier than normal as well. I would prefer she hangs on until October.

We started their worming program today, so in some of  the photos (below) it's worming paste on their lips not milk. We also introduced a few toys to the whelping box, as they start to be able to see and hear they become more interactive and playful. Live is not just about suckling and sleeping now.

Teagol's pups started opening their eyes a couple days ago and we now have two of the girls (below) with both eyes open. They won't be able to focus their eyes properly until around 28 days old, so the world at first is a bit blurry for them. Their ears are also opening now and they have started to respond to sounds around them. 

 Teagol's pups turn two weeks old tomorrow. At two weeks old we start them on their worming program of being wormed every two weeks for 3 days with Panacur paste until they leave us. Puppies can pick up the most common worm roundworms from Mum in uterus and from her milk. If not wormed regularly from an early age worms will multiply very quickly in a young puppy and can cause them serious health problems.
My two boxes of Panacur paste arrived yesterday from VetUK ​who I now use for most of my parasite control products and prescription drugs, when needed.