Mika goes home....sigh....

So my special dark chocolate beauty went home to her family this weekend. I'm anxious to find out if there was any crying at night. I also can't wait to hear about how she and Mojo are handling the new arrangements. I was really happy to see her go with Mark and Marise....there couldn't be better Havanese parents. The top photo is Mika and Nacho together...you can see that Mika is a darker chocolate....such a beauty, I'm excited to see what she looks like as she grows.

Wrestling at it's best

The puppies are so much fun to watch. They wrestle and growl and pounce on each other. Ta and I have started eating dinner outside so we can just sit and watch the hijinks. They are getting really fast too. Most of them hold their poop and go outside. However, this weekend we've had so much rain and wind, I think we've officially experienced a set-back to the potty training. None of the puppies want to go onto the grass when it's wet!!!...Help, where's the sun!

Rumba and the babies

One of the funniest things during this whole experience is that as amazing as Roxy has been as a natural mother, Rumba really wants nothing to do with the puppies. They are crazy for him, they'll chase after him, they will do the army crawl right up to his face, but he'll growl and snap and be leader of the pack. Roxy will play with them, shows them affection rounds them up and they walk all over her.....nature is such a microcosm for how we humans act....lol.

Help - We hate this weaning business

As you can see in the last picture, Roxy is wearing a baby onesie....it's not because we are trying a new fashion statement, it's because we had to take her to the doctor again for her calcium which means....yep, it's time to wean the puppies.....as a result, they are gnawing on everything they can get their mouths on....feet, chew bones, carpet!....Their teeth are coming in fast and sharp...Toes are apparently really yummy...OUCH!!

Anyone for a Nacho?

So ever since I got news that Roxy was pregnant my sister in Califormia Stephanie has said no, no, no to taking one of the puppies. She wasn't ready....she didn't have a fence....blah blah blah...but she couldn't resist the pull of the puppies and the pleas of her children....she's fallen and chosen Chewie!! They are renaming him Nacho....(you can never have just one...ha ha ha!)

This is a picture of my nephew Taylor with Nacho, he and his sister Ellie are so excited and I'm excited for them to have Nacho, he'll be truly loved and taken care of by his new family. YEAH!!! Congratulations Crook family.

Meeka's photo shoot

Meeka's parents came over last night to shoot some photos....I thought these were great. I'm trying to think of more scale photos....the puppies are about the length of a toothpaste tube. The second picture is Meeka being a show dog....ha ha ha...

The first picture is Meeka with her mom...she's going to look a lot like Roxy, but I think may be a darker chocolate. She's a beauty that's for sure!

Coke Zero Anyone?

I decided I was going to try and take some pictures of the puppies to something of scale so people could see the size of the puppies....well the only thing I had lying around was a coke zero can...shame...anyway, Zoe thinks the colors of the can are a great compliment to her coloring...wouldn't you agree?

The three close ups are Galaxy, Chewbacca and Yoda....Aren't they sweet?...I have to admit, I have a serious soft spot for Chewie....shhh, don't tell Ta!

Playing Puppies

Well it's official - we have deliberate playing....now that the puppies are more mobile and they can see, they are starting to play with each other and we are getting to see more of their personalities.

They are so stinking cute!! Not only do they play with each other, they are now climbing all over Roxy's head as she feeds them. As a result she has taken to standing up while she feeds them.

They are also finding their voices. It's fun to hear their little growls as they launch themselves at each other. They attack any body part they can get in their mouths...ears, legs, even tails. The first picture shows Galaxy making a snack out of Zoe's tail....so funny.

Queen Amidala has a new name - MEEKA

It's official....our first puppy placement. Marise, Mark and Mojo decided they are going to take Queen Amidala and they are naming her Meeka....so sweet. I asked Marise to puppy sit for us this week. It had been their plan to let Mojo pick his companion, but what I was told is that Mark came over, picked up Meeka, she started licking him and the rest is history.

I'm so excited for Meeka, she couldn't ask for a better home and in the end, that is what makes my heart happy. Mark and Marise already have a havanese, Mojo. I like to think that we were already related because Marise decided to go with the havanese breed after she met Rumba and Roxy. A decision which by the way she is still to this day happy about.

Congratulations!!

Another Week - Some of my favorites

Hi All -

Another week has flown by...Puppies are eating and sleeping and growing....Princess Leia....which by the way just may turn to Princess Zoe if my mom can commit....tops the scales at 26.6 ounces which is the heaviest of all the puppies....she's gained the most weight 19.1 ounces since birth. She knows what she wants and climbs over all the other puppies to get it...Milk!! It's funny to see their little personalities come out, she wasn't the first to open her eyes or the first to walk, but she's always first to her mama for food.

Hans Solo is next at 26.4 ounces, 18.1 ounces since birth, Chebacca is 26.3 ounces and 18.1 since birth, Meeka (Queen Amidala) weighs in at #4 - 26 ounces , she's gained 19 ounces since birth. Darth Vader who was one of the biggest at birth is now #5, he weighs 25.2 ounces and has only gained 16.5 ounces since birth. Yoda is still the smallest male, 21.3 ounces and 14.9 since birth and little Galaxy is 20.3 ounces, she's only gained 12.9 ounces since birth.

There's nothing like Havanese Eyes!!

It's been a big week, the puppies are growing like crazy and 3 of them have opened their eyes....Darth Vader, Hans Solo and Yoda....Princess Leia has opened one eye....I choose to think that she's winking. You can also see that Princess has become one big squishy puppy!

On Monday night, we had to rush Roxy to the emergency room. She wasn't feeding the puppies and she started shaking, tremors were coursing through her body....Ta woke me up, I put my hand on her body and knew that something wasn't right......I jumped out of bed, it was about 1:00 am, threw some clothes on and we were out of the door.

I took her to Cottonwood animal hospital, Doctor Neal checked her out and and determined that she was low on calicium...checked her blood and sure enough, she had no calcium....he said that if we had waited any longer, she may have gone into seizures and her heart would have stopped.

So scary, I was crying, but they sent me home while the put an IV in her and kept her for the night....the scariest thing was that Doctor Neal told me I had to think about weaning the puppies. Yikes!! bottle feeding 7 puppies every 2 hours seemed impossible to me.

Lucky for us, the Roxy responded well to the cottage cheese and Tums treatment....did any of you know that Tums is just calcium?....we now mash it up, put some water in it and give it to her in a syringe....she's being really good about it.

As soon as all the puppies open their eyes, I'll post all the pictures!....Until then, just know that this is Roxy's last litter because her mom can't handle any more emergency room trips!

One Week Old!!

Can you believe that we are a week old already???....Our eyes should open in the next week, we can't wait to see our mom Roxy and those crazy people who keep picking us up and interupting our puppy dreams.

Our friend Mojo's mom gave us this great basket and cookie....hope our humans save it for us. We are all so warm when we pile on top of each other....don't we look cozy?

Our mom is doing such a great job of taking care of us, anytime we want to eat, she's there for us which means we are all growing and growing and growing....our tummies are full and round. Our coats are also getting wavy.... our male human named Ta says we are very good looking!!

Can't wait to see all of you!

Lest anyone forget who it started with....

Roxy and my sweet boy Rumba are the ones responsible for these great puppies. I am so proud of Roxy. She is such a good little mother. She takes the care of her puppies really seriously. She will barely take a potty break....she keeps an eagle eye on Rumba making sure he doesn't get too close to the puppies...She'll let me pick up a puppy, but then promptly asks for it back.

And Rumba...as you can see he loves to cuddle up next to his Dad. He was the doggie that started my love affair with the Havanese and to this day brings me great joy!.....enjoy the pics of their babies below.

My Girl, My Girl, Talkin' bout my Girls!

Ok, let's introduce you all to the puppies at a closer view:

From the top:

Princess Leia - she was the last #7, born at 4:45 am, weighing in at 7.5 oz, she's a Black Parti, such great markings!

Queen Amidala - she was #6, born at 3:42 am, weighing in at 7 oz, she is Chocolate with white markings and little white toe tips - will look just like her mama - stunning

Galaxy - she was #5, born at 3:06 am, weighing in at 7.4 oz, she is Black with white markings, a sweetie to say the least...being the first girl, it was finally clear to me that the first four were boys....need I say more?

Let's hear it for the boys!!

Let's hear it for the boys!! From the top we have:

Hans Solo - was fourth, born at 2:37 am and weighed in at 8.3 oz - Black with white markings

Yoda - was third, born at 2:11 am and weighed in at 6.4 oz - Black with white markings

Chewbacca - was second, born at 1:55 am and weighed in at 8.2 oz - Chocolate with white markings

Darth Vader - was first, born at 1:21 am and weighed in at a whooping 8.7 oz - Pure Black - he's a beauty!....He opened the way for Roxy to deliver the others easily.

What did the vet know?....and then there were 7!!

So after the first 6, I really thought we were done. So much in fact that I put Roxy in the sink to wash her off, get her comfortable....she ran back to her nest and starting digging and burrowing...Ta told me it was because the bath had made her cold, so I took her to the bathroom to blow dry her. She seemed super anxious and I thought that was just because she wanted to get back to the puppies.

Finally when I put her down she ran for the nest and circled a few times and Princess Leia was born! A beautiful white female with the cutest black markings...officially her color is called Parti Black, or she may be considered Extreme Piebald which just means that she's mostly white with a few black markings. Isn't she a beauty? The middle picture is one of the girls...Queen Amidala, Galaxy and Princess Leia.

All the puppies are wonderful, they all seem healthy...we'll watch their weight gain over the next few days. As soon as Roxy will let me...I'll get individual pictures of the puppies and post......for now, we are just making sure that mom and babies are warm, fed and getting rest.