Here are a few photos of the Puppies adventuring outside the whelping house for the first time. Only 5 of the 7 were brave enough to take on this new adventure. Now all are participating in the outings. This wired pen section is a great way to keep the puppies clean, teach them to do their business outside their sleeping quarters and to teach them the feeling of different surfaces. This type of pen keeps the pups healthy and helps prevents diseases before they are old enough to be vaccinated. All the stool & urine pass right through the wire bottom for hygienic purposes and also makes for easy clean up. 
The Puppies are in their 5th week now and are eating normal food now along with the supplementation from the mother. This week Cobalt will be removed during the day & returned in the evening for 5 days. After that the puppies should be completely weaned from their mother. Their are some new photos on the "Puppies" page taken right after eating. They love to get totally into their food leaving a big clean up job for Cobalt. Cobalt is a good Mother teaching the Pups to go outside to urinate & defecate. As well as teaching them to eat solids by letting them share her food. During the daily play times with the Pups, I am getting to see their individual personalities and now staring to name them. It is difficult with the males as they pretty well all look alike with the only difference is the amount of white on their rear paws.
The weather here is a little more pleasant with some cooler temperatures. However, we still experience periods of high humidity.
Most of the fly problems are gone & the adult dogs are enjoying the peace & tranquillity. Amazingly they were not really affected by the heat & humidity. Of coarse the kennel is close to the lake and surrounded by the forest which offers plenty of shade.
Until next week.......