And then there were three...

So they've started off on their new lives. The girls came to meet the pups yesterday, we ran them through a couple of sets of temperament tests, and then two little boys went off to their new homes, with one little girl heading off this morning.

So LittleMan became Sonic and went home with Karen,
ShoulderSpotBoy became Billy and went home with Gillian,
and ChunkyMonkey became Secret and went home with Kriszty.

Here's wishing them all the best for long successful joyous fun-filled lives together.

(photos hopefully forthcoming when people send me some ;))

And that leaves IntermediateGirl, BigBoy and Midget (know known as Sybil) waiting for their futures to arrive!

Bath day

Kriszty asked for pup IDs on the previous photos... here you are:
Umm, let's see...
1) CM beating someone up- maybe LM?
2) + 3) IG posing and killing a poobag
4) LM demonstrating his pooncey-tailed strut (gets it from his dad)
5) Midget + Muddy (with LM + someone else behind them)
6) SSB eating the clamshell
7) + 8) Puppy-fest under the IKEA tunnel- that's Midget in the foreground of the first photo, SSB chewing the strut, and CM chewing a bone in the second photo- shortly before LM arrived and confiscated it.

No pics today, but they did have their first bath, so they were stunningly white + fluffy for about 15 minutes. CM has a different coat from the others- it's more like DiscoDiva/Maverick's puppy coat- still long, but wavier + less fluffy than the others. She was the best behaved in the bath, but was accidentally drenched with the cold rinse water (instead of the warm) + had major shivers requiring cossetting inside + a warm egg/catfood toddy.

IG is more commonly known as "Feryl Beryl"- she's a bit of a bitch, as it were. She's the bitiest of the lot- not half as sweet as she looks.

LM went berko in the bath- did NOT like the water at all, but typically ignored the warm food reward to look for an escape from the laundry den.

BigBoy was a handful to get bathed, given that he + SSB had been digging in the ex-flowerbed up until their turn for water-torture. He didn't mind the warm blower-heater treatment though, and very sweetly (+ loudly) asked to go out of the den to pee, then trotted back to bed.

SSB was his usual gorgeous self- loved his towel-dry cuddle with my mum, but wanted to get out ASAP for urgent trouser-savaging.

Midget is just the sweetest- she's still the smallest (2kg compared to most of the others' 3.5-4kg+) + gets booted away from the food bowl, but otherwise is no different to her siblings in energy levels or endurance. She's actually pretty independent + spends much time away from the house, exploring (although she can move very fast back home for meals). We have to keep a lookout for eagles- she's not much different to bunnies!

Lucky Dip

I’m stumped with the puppy-picking palaver. Sorry guys, I think when you get down here I will just put the little beggars in a sack, randomly pull them out one at a time, and that’s what you’ll be stuck with.

I’m playing around with all sorts of “tests”, and the little sods do something different every time.

Eg yesterday- the morning roll-call resulted in CM + LM being the first to arrive + the most spunky.

Finding the way out of the pen (through a small gap in the opposite direction)- line honours won by IG and BB, with Midget on their heels (CM was too busy trying to bash SS in one corner, LM was away with the fairies in the IKEA tunnel). SS boy got merit points later for persistence, when he nearly chewed through the weld mesh before figuring it out.

Going for a walk up the hill with the big dogs- SS boy all the way! Most of them were happy to gallivant through the bush, but CM and LM didn’t want to leave the yard. Tired?

Later in the day- the noise-sensitivity tests. I dropped a wooden plank on the baby dogwalk, and a metal bowl on the concrete, at random intervals during their afternoon play sessions. The winners: CM, SS and Midget, none of whom were much bothered. All of them startled, stopped to look at the source of the noise, and then either jumped on it or continued with whatever they were trashing/harassing- even when they were right next to the noise. IG didn’t much like it, and after startling, went off to play somewhere else. LM was the most spooked by each noise. Can’t remember what BB did, so it can’t have been very dramatic either way. To be honest, I’m not sure that I’m not just testing the tiredness of each pup- because they do seem to alternate between winning/losing on tests depending on how tired they are. It will be hard to get any real idea based on one set of tests…

One other thing I will say- these pups can yell.

Photos will be uploaded later, when I have recharged the camera so I can offload pics.

Update: just repeated the tin bowl on concrete, and again, CM + SS boy were happy to investigate, but IG wasn’t so keen. She really moves so nicely, though, and she is pretty…

And they’ve all been having bones on the lawn, alongside Muddy and Bill. My “wish-I-had-a-camera” moment of today- IG harassing Bill, FINALLY got snotted (in a mild Uncle-Bilby way), and started that indignant puppy squealing that brought everyone rushing out to check she hadn’t been mortally wounded- and there she was, bouncing along behind Bill, tail waving gaily, still squealing like a stuck pig. Sigh…

Family History

Sal's mum, Woady Yallock Floss (as she appeared on the ABC Championship Sheepdog Trials):











The little frootloop in action:















Last year's daughters (SalxBill):
























Pinky, the singing slug-









































Ziggy, the enormous heifer pup, now a little carbon copy of Sally, in a Bill suit:

































































Yes, this is Ziggy chasing her own splashes in the middle of the dam... She'll do it for hours, and this behaviour is pure, 100% Sally. Pinky gets her brains from Bill ;)

Random Shots- guess who!

Shoulder Spot Boy

Midget Girl