Nor'Star Icelandics

I can't believe my kids are 8 weeks old already!  Where did the time go?  Soon they will be heading to their new homes.  I, along with Sassi and Kennel Mom, will be sad & glad to see them go.  I will start a 6000 miles round trip to deliver some of the puppies, as well as attending a gathering of Icelandic Sheepdogs in Sequim, WA and teaching a judging class in Davis, CA before returning to Kansas.  Bootes is going to Conn. and Lyra to Alaska.  No, I'm not driving to Alaska! They are flying to Seattle to pick Lyra up.  Bootes will meet his new owner, from Conn., in Fishers, IN.

Yesterday was a busy day for the puppies.  They all received their puppy shots and micro-chips.  They didn't fuss much which surprised the vet!  After they got home they slept most of the morning.  By night fall they were up and at 'um again.  They have been on several walks and are doing very well with the leash.  They have discovered sitting gets them treats and jumping gets them ignored.  Tomorrow morning we head for Kansas State University medical school to have the CERF exams (eye checks).  They are still growing and becoming very playful with each and anyone who will stop and play with them.

 

Just got back from our CERF exams.  We are all normal/normal!  Yea!!

 

Where does the time go?  Seems like just yesterday they were born.  They all continue to gain weight and seem to get smarter by the day.  I have to remove the temperary big girls dog door when they are loose in the backyard!  Pavo figured out how to use it and taught the rest of his littermates!  So I put in the blocker plate to keep them out.  That stopped them for about 15 minutes till they figured out how to push the sliding screen door open!  Now that is locked as well and the big girls are prisoners in their own home.  Lyra found her forever home this week in Ill.  She will be going there on June 23.  The three boys are still waiting for someone to finally decide they can't live without one of these wonderful puppies.  The picture is a group shot at 6 weeks of age.  Sassi is keeping an eye on things from behind the screen door.

We have been enjoying the dog food provided my KD we decided to help them advertise.  After all that hard work, under the hot light, mom took us out side to play soccer.  We are not as good as mom yet but we did have a good time

Well we've made it to five weeks old.  There is sure a lot to learn!  This week KD introduced us to canned peas (the no salt added type!), boy are they good!  We have also started walking on a leash.  So far we go at our own speed, KD will wait as long as it takes while we explore everything.  We had a great time today run and chasing and sleeping and all those things puppys do!  Glad you stopped by to see how we are growing.  Please come back again to see what we are up to.  Remember there are individual photo albums for each of us.

Our KD is a veteran.  He retired from the US Coast Guard in 1994.  We decided to have our pictures taken as a tribute and in memory of all those who helped to keep our country free.

We turned 4 weeks old and life is more fun each day!  We can come and go as we please.  We have grass, shade, water and each other.  Collars are no big deal.  Took us a day to get used to them.  KD doesn't leave them on us all the time.  Just when we are out of the pen with him and Sassi.  Won't be long and we will get our first walking trip on a leash!  Wow, getting to walk in the wide wide world.  We only walk till we are half tired, other wise KD has to carry us home.  Sassi and Nikki usually go along as well.  We have good teachers.  Tonight we got to help with the dinner dishes.  Learning is so much fun!

The kids got their first chance to use the new ramp today.  It will allow them free access between the inside pen and their outside one.  There is a door to close the ramp off at night and when no one is home to watch over them, which isn't very often!  The tube is a 12" piece of plastic sewer pipe!  There are offset 2" holes, 12" apart down both sides for ventalation.  The indoor/outdoor carpet is bolted in place to make replacing it easier.  Didn't take them long to learn how to come up the ramp.  Took a little longer to learn to go down it!  By this evening they were running both way like they were agility dogs!

It is hard to believe we have been here for 3 weeks already!  We all have our teeth, sort of, and learning to eat solid food.  KD as been working at potty training us already.  First thing he does when he comes to our pen is carry us outside, set us in the grass and ignore us till we do our business!  Boy is he patient!  He won't play with us till after we're done.  We love being outside in the early morning and in the late afternoon when the shade covers our favorite area.  During the heat of the day we stay inside on our air-conditioned bed!  Are we spoiled or what?  Even Mom and Grandmom have their own favorite A/C vent to lay on.  Our walking is getting steadier each day.  Soon we will be running all over the place.  KD will have to change pen arrangements pretty soon.  We have about figured out how to get out of this one.  New pictures in our albums.  We have outgrown our secong pen so now we are in size 3!  KD founds us a cute bed/tent on sale this afternoon as well,  For dinner we got our first taste of peas!  Boy were they good!!

Our eyes have been open for a couple days now and we are starting to focus on things.  We follow mom when she gets in the pen with us.  We will toddle over to kennel mom and dad when they stick their hear in the door and call us.  Kennel dad has been feeding us sort of solid food twice a day.  A couple of us are getting the hang of eating out of a dish.  The rest have figured out we will get spoon fed if we just sit there.  So who are the dumb ones??  There are new pictures of us in our albums be sure an stop by for a look see at how we are growing.

We turned 2 weeks old this morning.  Our eyes are open in time to wish kennel dad a happy birthday.  He is a bit older them us! 59 years and 50 weeks to be exact!  Our two week old pictures our in our photo albums.  We have started to walk: one step, two steps, wiggle wiggle flop!

As you can see they have not missed many meals.  Sassi is still hanging in there with the feeding.  They are growing farter than she can produce milk!  All the boys are over 2 pounds and the girl is getting close.  So kennel dad and mom are helping out by feeding them a couple times a day as well.  They love the warm goat's milk.  Their eyes should start to open early next week, once that happens we will start them on solid food, sort of!  A mixture of powered puppy chow and baby rice cereal.  Add water, place in a shallow dish and let them swim!  Sassi will love cleaning them up!

Each of the puppies has their own photo album. Just click on the one you want to view.