Follow along as our puppies grow!

June 2025 – Sky litter

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Sky had her X-ray today and we are expecting four puppies! Her whelping box is set up and my temporary bed right next to her is ready to go. Now we wait!

Puppies born June 5, 2025!

Sky had two beautiful little girls! (Two puppies were born with wings.)

I have been staying awake with Sky for a few days now so I’m a little loopy, but the puppies are doing fabulous and Sky is an amazing mommy. Sky started feeling a little poorly a couple nights ago so I had a complete mental breakdown, but with the amazing support of fellow breeders we have her thriving again!

Puppies are growing and eating and perfect.

June 9, 2025 – 4 days old

When my little soul was getting to ready to be born, and God was sprinkling ingredients in the bowl of my innards, He must have sneezed and added a little bit more of the anxiety sparkles than originally intended. Not that God makes mistakes, but people sneeze right? We’re in his image and all that? So logically…

So, again logically, I made a veterinary appointment to make sure Sky is healthy and thriving, and to make sure that I get some sleep tonight and stop with all the worrying.

My wonderful veterinarian confirmed Sky is doing fantastic. And at the same time, the puppies got their very first car ride. Everyone did perfectly. Puppies are gaining at the correct speed and Mama Sky is healing well.

Also, my kids keep accusing me of putting a zip tie on the puppy for identification. I assure you, her collar is not a zip tie. It is a very soft, very giving material and I can change the size as often as necessary. We tried other identification methods and Sky was just too efficient at cleaning for anything else to stay very long. I will continue to assess as they grow to see if another method will work.

June 10, 2025 – 5 days old

I got three hours of sleep in my own bed last night! They were not consecutive nor uninterrupted, but I was in my own bed and it was fabulous. My old lady back thanked me.

I had a camera on the whelping box that beeped at me if anything moved or made noise.

The puppies moved and they made noise.

Sky believes that I am here to do her personal bidding and when a puppy rolls away it is clearly my job to bring it back.

I’m weak. I moved the puppies back to her and I’ll do it again.

June 11, 2025 – 6 Days old

Sky went on strike.

Yesterday afternoon Sky decided food was overrated and she would no longer partake.

Sigh.

As a result, today I went to the grocery store and bought all the things. If someone told me a food was their dog’s favorite treat – I bought it. If someone said they heard from so-and-so that a particular food hid medicine every time because their dog devoured before tasting – I bought it. If you said Great Aunt Edna cooked a steak with a secret sauce that that her dog was notorious for stealing off the counter – I bought it.

And then Sky had a charcuterie board full of gold to eat – at least my pocket book thinks so.

She refused it all. Except eggs. She apparently loves all forms of egg. Egg she shall have and egg she had.

But only hand fed and in bite sized portions.

Like a queen.

Other than that small hiccup, all dogs are doing well. Puppies are roly poly and every dog out of the whelping area has staring issues.

June 17, 2025 – Day 12

Life is running smoothly at the moment. Puppies have doubled their birthweight and Sky is eating well. Sky is happily spending time outside the whelping box getting her own pets and attention after puppies have been fed.

My daughter has decided on the naming theme for our puppies, so now we have the Bluey litter: Bluey and Bingo. Bluey is obviously the one with the blue collar. I’ll base the AKC names on the theme and we’ll use Bluey and Bingo for the time they are with us so we can tell who’s who.

Eyes open soon!!

June 18, 2025 – Day 13

Sky is an amazing mama. She cleans and feeds so I can sit back and do all the fun stuff. When I pick up puppies, she will make sure they are clean and then happily go sleep somewhere comfortable.

The puppies’ little eyes are just starting to peek open and they are masters at crawling. How a potato with tiny legs can crawl, I will never know, but these little nuggets get around well.

They are a little like tiny turtles though, and need help flipping back over sometimes.

We are working through ENS (Early Neurological Stimulation). These exercises involve controlled stressors and can improve a puppy’s cardiovascular performance, heartbeats, adrenal glands, tolerance to stress, and disease resistance. It involves very simple exercises where I get to cuddle puppies.

So far Bluey is the most calm. She will happily flip in any direction – backwards, upside down, right side up. She will sleep through it all. She has been consistently the biggest and I don’t see that changing.

Bingo will happily flip any direction, except on her back when it wasn’t initially her choice. Her body, her choice, I suppose. Lol. She also tends to whine if she gets overstimulated. With that being said, she much prefers being held to sitting alone. Simply put, she has opinions and wants them heard.

June 22, 2025 – 17 days

Puppy eyes have opened and they can see the world. They honestly don’t feel too strongly about it one way or the other. They do, however, feel strongly about quality naps in comfy places. And Sky’s milk. Those are non negotiable.

We are continuing with ENS and each day they get to smell something new. They are very interested in the new smells. They have smelled mint and citrus and cloves.

Now that their tiny legs are starting to carry them to new places we are starting with new textures to walk on and experience. They still aren’t quite steady, but those little legs work pretty well.

June 25, 2025 – 20 days

Both puppies have now fully entered the world of sensation. They can see and they can hear. Bluey is a little apprehensive about this sound concept. It feels weird and she was very comfortable where she was, thank you very much.

My Havenese mix has a tendency to bark at her shadow that stalks her daily and Bluey does not appreciate that. She whines back and just can’t get comfortable. My oldest child (who is technically an adult now, but we’re gonna ignore that for a bit) takes her upstairs to her safe space and Bluey relaxes again.

I started giving the puppies a little formula. They will taste it and roll it around in their mouths a little, but it just doesn’t compare to mommy’s milk. Mama Sky, however, thinks formula is fantastic and will lap up the entire bowl.

I noticed the puppies were moving off the little bed and peeing on the little pee pads, so I put out the disposable pee pads thinking I could save a little on laundry duties. Sky thought this was not the best plan for the environment and promptly destroyed all the disposable pee pads in favor of the hospital grade fabric pads. My child is now on laundry duty since my old lady parts don’t appreciate stairs.

Bluey has figured out walking. She gets up on all fours and wiggles forward. Bingo is still working on those back legs so I put down a fabric that should help her grip the floor a little better.

I also introduced them to a brush since they will need to become very familiar with one. The one I’m using with them is not what I use on the adults, but it’s very soft and shows them the motions.

I have put a plethora of videos on TikTok of the puppies. Do I know what I’m doing there? Absolutely not. My kids are getting a workout rolling their eyes at my attempts. BUT if you would like to see puppy videos, you can head over there. They are all out to music because it would be rather quiet otherwise.

June 29, 2025 – 25 days

Life has been a little chaotic lately. I have sick kiddos both here in the USA and over in Ghana with my husband. I’m juggling and hoping I don’t drop any bowling pins.

The puppies and Mama Sky are doing well. Sky feeds efficiently and the puppies eat happily.

The puppies are still a bit apprehensive of any other food, though they did happily eat a tiny bit of puppy food from my fingers.

They are starting to play and it’s adorable. Bingo played with a little ball on her own and they like a little giraffe baby toy.

I’ll include a picture my kids sent me from the safari in Ghana they visited a couple days ago.

July 3, 2025 – 4 weeks!

Each day is a new adventure. One new smell and one new enrichment item each day. I’d like to tell you what they were, but I eeny-meeny-moe in my box of dog items each day. It’s basically a new dog toy or item that makes noise. I tried little climbing steps and they just wanted to eat them, so we’ll try that again later.

Today I enlarged their whelping box area so they can run around if they like, but I haven’t opened it up yet. For two tiny pups, we’ve still got plenty of room.

They were given deworming medication today. Immediately afterwards they latched on to Mama Sky to get the icky taste out of their mouths. They are strongly team Nursing. Goats milk is for goats and Mama can eat the pastey stuff while they nurse.

I have taken each puppy outside once or twice when I let the other dogs out. The puppies just fall asleep in my arms each time. The goal at this point is just to get them used to the different sounds and smells before their fear period kicks in.

Bingo gives the best puppy kisses and Bluey has learned how to play bow and run across the whelping box. Teeth haven’t come in yet which I feel might be the turning point in nursing and play fights.

July 6, 2025 – 31 days

On July 4th my neighborhood lights up. Our neighbors light firecrackers both legal and a bit larger than can be bought in state. 😳 I usually put on some white noise machines for my dogs, but they rarely care apart from losing some sleep when a big bang wakes them up.

I was curious how the puppies would handle the noise. I put some awesome 80s music on next to their sleeping quarters and waited to see what would happen.

They slept. They got annoyed and sighed when a loud noise woke them up and then found a new sleeping position and went back to sleep. It was amazing.

Today I put a piano mat for them to explore and it was a mere curiosity. Playing with each other took higher priority.

I still offer food to them everyday and they mostly turn their noses up at it. I’ll catch them eventually.

Personalities are starting to form. Bluey can sometimes get a little whiney and just wants to be held. As soon as I pick her up she will settle and start to fall asleep. Bingo has found her bark and likes to have conversations with me. They are short and sweet, but I think she likes to know I’m listening. They are both starting to play with Mama Sky too. Sky will just want to clean them and they will start biting her feet. They still have no teeth so Sky is very tolerant at the moment.

July 11, 2025 – 5 weeks

I feel like I lost a post. Oh well.

Puppies are acting like puppies now. They play and run and jump. Even Mama Sky will join in the play.

My husband and kids have returned from Ghana so the puppies are being exposed many more noises and activities. They hear the TV and kids yelling at each other from upstairs to downstairs because apparently walking is too much effort for a teenager. These puppies can sleep through anything.

The puppies went on a couple car rides and a couple stroller rides through the house. They have heard English and Dagaare, male and female, old and young voices. By being exposed to a variety of sounds the hope is that they will take all new experiences calmly.

Bingo is the risk taker. She will run up to new situations and see what is happening without fear. She may bark at it, but then she’ll just trot on to the next fun activity. She is a talker when something needs to be discussed.

Bluey is a calm watcher. She’ll see what happens to Bingo before walking up. She rarely talks, but she is a stellar wrestler and the best snuggler. She is the first when it comes to food though.

Overall, no one’s toes are safe in the whelping box.

July 15, 2025 – 5.5 weeks

Puppies are finding new experiences every day. They have ridden in the puppy stroller all over the house and into the backyard. My daughter gave them an exclusive tour of every room including detailed descriptions of the contents of our pantry. Bingo’s favorite part was going nose to nose with our 70 pound dog. Bluey mostly tracked where Mama Sky moved and whined for food.

When we walk into their box, both puppies run up to our feet and start nibbling on toes. They love interacting with people and are curious of the dogs they haven’t yet been allowed to interact with. I have had to increase the height of the exit to their box as they have figured out how to escape.

July 21, 2025 – 6 weeks

We are deep into socialization – exposing the puppies to all kinds of situations.

At home we have introduced loud toys, fuzzy toys, moving toys and short platforms.

We have made outings to various stores where puppies got to hear and meet various people and see fish in huge tanks. They have gotten used to the movement of the stroller and the movement of the car. In fact, they much prefer the movement to having to sit still.

They got baths last night and had to endure the blow dryer. They were not fans, but as grooming will be a common occurrence throughout their lives, we need to get used to everything early. They are good with paws being touched, nails being clipped and good with the loud noise of the blow dryer. They are still unsure of the water and the air being blown directly on them.

Potty time has become a little gated area in the backyard. Every time they wake from a nap, we go outside for a potty break. They instinctively pop a squat and then run around a play for a little bit. This routine is keeping their box nice and clean.

July 26, 2025 – 7 weeks

Puppies had their first veterinary visit and everything went amazingly. They happily sat in their stroller and watched all the goings ons. They didn’t cry a single time – even when getting their first vaccinations and their microchips. Bingo even kissed the vet on the nose. Both puppies are healthy and passed all the vet tests. I was told my puppies were the cutest of the day – we will ignore that I may have baited the vet to tell me that. 😂

Every day we go out and have new experiences. I may have embarrassed my daughter when I saw an assisted living van parked outside the bookstore. I walked up to them and asked if they would like to pet my puppies. I figured if I was at an assisted living facility, I would like to pet a puppy or two, and of course it’s good for the puppies to meet the older generation. Puppies were pet, and everyone was happy.

Puppies are so comfortable inside the stroller now that they just play instead of paying attention to their surroundings. It closely parallels how my children are so bored in the car that they stare at their phones the whole time. Look at the trees, I say. Same trees as last time, they say. It’s a different season though, I say. Whatever, they say. Sigh.

I digress.

Bluey has found her voice. The first time she really barked, she scared my daughter who was not expecting it. Lungs are healthy. Bluey takes a few seconds longer than Bingo to become comfortable in new situations. She sits back and analyzes before jumping in. But she does jump in. And with gusto. She is fast. She also wins most puppy battles.

Bingo doesn’t bother with thinking before acting. She wants to play and to be held and to explore. She does not want to be alone. If she hears us talking in the next room, she’ll tell us that we are leaving her out and she does not appreciate that.

August 2, 2025 – 8 weeks

I’m not gonna lie, I don’t know what all we did this week; I just know it was a lot. Every day puppies went to at least one location, if not two. We’ve been to coffee shops, book stores, hobby stores and home improvement stores. I’ve done errands I’ve been meaning to do for ages just because I was finally at the store instead of hiding at home in the air conditioning. I’ve been more social these past weeks than in a long time and now I need a nap.

Puppies went to the eye doctor on Friday and got perfect scores.

We worked a little with leashes and, well, they’ll like them eventually.

I have let the puppies play with my adult dogs. They wag their tails so hard, their feet slip. I love watching cotton balls bounce around my floors.

August 4, 2025 – 8 weeks

We have been deliberating on which puppy to keep – or if we should keep a puppy- for a while. The decision was not easy. I consulted with those who have more experience than I do and then I ruminated for a while.

And a little while longer.

Both puppies have wonderful qualities but neither have the same wonderful qualities. So what outweighs what? What is the most important? Sometimes I just have to go on MY preference no matter what outside voices say. I have to decide what I want in my kennel.

Easier said than done.

I’m working on my backbone.

Anyway, the results are as follows.

Bluey (AKC Daisy Lynn’s For Real Life) is going to live with R and her family. Bluey has a long dense coat that is a little wavy. Her little face is completely adorable with one brown ear and one white ear. While she started out timid, she has developed a beautiful courage in new situations. She is a thinker. She sits and thinks before approaching a new problem and then usually gets it right on the first try. While she may be shy around new people, she LOVES all dogs. She will play with the big dogs all day. Her social skills are top notch. She will love her family so big and I know her new family will love her in return.

Bingo (AKC Daisy Lynn’s This is Trifficult) will be staying with us. Bingo has all the facial expressions of her Mama that I love. She also has Sky’s build and overall look. Bingo’s personality, however, is a little less like Sky. Bingo is definitely an act now and think later puppy. She wants to meet you and her and him and those people around the corner. And she also wants to meet all the dogs. She just might not always know what to do once she gets what she wanted. Bingo kisses all faces in a range of hers. She kisses with her entire face and doesn’t stop until the next distraction. In one word, Bingo might be best described as Crazy.

August 8, 2025 – 9 weeks

We had some Girl Scout friends over last week for a small puppy party. We brought toys down to the basement, welcomed our friends in and let the puppies loose.

They didn’t leave the kennel. Ha!

Ok, they left it after a little coaxing. They were in a new environment with new people and new smells, so they were a little apprehensive.

Bluey was the first to start playing. She explored every corner and met every person. She chased the toys and played her piano. She reveled in belly pets and kissed all available skin. She surprised me with how much she warmed up to the new situation.

Bingo also surprised me with how hesitant she was. I also admit to not setting the stage well for her. I had just taken her to the car repair shop not realizing how little time I had before friends came to play. Oops. All she really wanted to do was sleep. With a little gentle coaxing, she did finally start to follow behind Bluey and play along. She kissed and played, but was a little subdued. I’ll do better next time.

Puppies have had access to kennels for a while now, but I have never closed the doors on them. This week I gave them something to chew on and closed the doors on them. I’m not convinced they knew the doors were shut because they didn’t bat an eye. They were focused on how one puppy’s chewy was sticking through the bars so the other puppy had the opportunity to steal the chewy.

I will also note that the tiny tyrants are now much faster than I am. I can’t let them run in an open area or they will be gone with the wind.

August 13, 2025 – A day away from 10 weeks

Tomorrow Bluey goes to her new home. She has matured by leaps and bounds over the past couple weeks. She went from being meek to being the ringleader. She loves everyone – even those stinky teenage boys. She wants in on the action, but at the same time she is content to lay down and just observe calmly. She is a very confident little girl.

Bingo is spicy. She is not shy about giving constructive criticism when you have slighted her. She talks back. New situations, she feels, are normal but annoying. She wants me or my daughter to hold her and keep her safe while she judges everyone. She does not want to walk when her people have perfectly good legs and can easily carry her. Unless she’s at home – then she will run and play and kiss noses. New dogs? Those are always her new besties coming to play with her and how dare you tell her no.

It is bittersweet to have our journey reaching this milestone. I have thoroughly enjoyed every moment- minus the ones where I worried too much about Sky. I will miss little Bluey. Bingo will have to adjust to a world without her bestie.

Off to puppy kindergarten.

August 14, 2025 – 10 weeks

Bluey has gone to her new home where she will have all the attention of an amazing family.

Bingo hasn’t yet realized that her playmate is absent as she has been playing with Maya and Sky all day. Tonight may be a different story.

Thank you for joining us on our little puppy journey. 🥰