The puppies get solid food!

The puppies are 3 1/2 weeks old!  On Wednesday, when they were exactly 3 weeks old, Lucas and I weighed them in.  They all weighed 3.5 lbs, except Orange Girl, who weighed 3 lbs.  They are hungry little puppies, and want to constantly nurse.  As you can see below, Holly needs relief!

But she has been doing a great job.  Look at how healthy and beautiful these puppies are:

The puppies have been interacting quite a bit more with Harley.  Now
that they are mobile, he is quite interested in their antics.  Here, Harley takes care of the puppies:

Friday evening, Heather came over with Lucas and Thomas.  Andrew and Tanya were here too.  I made the puppies their first solid food:  1/3 browned, drained and rinsed hamburger; 1/3 small curd cottage cheese; 1/3 baby rice cereal.  Check out these videos, and see if you think they like solid food!

Check out how much these puppies enjoy their meal!

I didn't realize it would be so easy to introduce them to solid food.  Since Friday, I have been feeding them twice a day -- they are quite hungry!  And after two days, they manage to keep their paws out of the food, and just put their faces in.  In about a week, I will start substituting water-soaked puppy chow and a "premium" puppy food, of about the same consistency.  Here are a couple more video clips of their first chow-down:

Heather did a great job taking pictures of puppies gobbling away:

Look at how content all of the puppies are now that their tummies are very full:

Thomas was very busy giving Blue Girl love and affection:

On Saturday, bolstered by their solid food meals, Red Boy and Green Boy decide to play:

Although they are getting solid food, twice a day, whenever Holly gets near a puppy, that puppy tries to latch on and nurse.  She has just about had it, and is now reprimanding the puppies when they overdo it. I think she is weaning them.  She still cleans them up, which is surprising to me, now that they are eating solid food.  But she is doing it less and less of the time.

This morning, the puppies ganged up on Harley.  Andrew caught this video clip:

Well, as you can see, the puppies are healthy, vigorous, beautiful, playful, and mischievous.  They are starting to run, they play with one another frequently, they love humans, like cuddling, and are just about perfect!

I have decided I am going to start housebreaking the puppies.  I see their elimination trends, and am going to use it to my benefit.  Wouldn't it be awesome if I just about had them house trained by the time they go to their new homes?

That's all for now.  The puppies have really grown up this week!