Holy Cow!  The M*A*S*H unit is on the MOVE!!!  They have gotten to be sooo much fun!!!  Lots of climbing, hopping, jumping and running, and then power naps in my lap with a belly rub!  It is nearly impossible to keep track of them at the same time OR keep them from getting each other in trouble!!!  Lots and lots of friends and family have been out to play with and spoil them all ROTTEN !!  Is that possible???  They get new toys to play with every day to keep them learning and preserve the toys!!!  They all sleep together in one big family pile and never NEVER go pottey in their bedroom so I’m hoping they will have a good start on housetraining!!!   They are using their litter box really faithfully which helps keep their whelping box and playpen clean and hopefully teaches them that they need to go potty in only one place which is the idea!!!

They go snorkeling with a vengeance and make a HUGE mess at every meal!  They are completely weaned now of course.  I think Samba had mixed feelings about that!  She really loves her puppies but just not HANGING off of her!!  All pups are eating very well, 3 times a day for now, but down to 2 times a day by the time they are “INCOMING” at your house.

For their 7 week old Birthday, the M*A*S*H unit got to go to the VET!  They got their first puppy shot (OUCH!), wormed AGAIN (yuck!), and microchipped for permanent identification (BIG OUCH!!)  Considering the size of the microchip needle, it is pretty impressive how well our little troopers take it!!!   It helps that we rather quickly give them the good tasting wormer!!!   Don’t ask me how I KNOW that it is good tasting!!   The vets have a long check list with all body parts noted so that absolutely EVERY thing is checked and noted.  After a rather intensive poking and prodding of eyes, ears, mouths, lungs, hearts, teeth and, for the boys, testicles, there is certainly NOTHING that has been missed.  Of course, a copy of the check list comes along with all their other health records.

I’ve anticipated all week that by now I would be able to note the usual differences in personalities between the M*A*S*H troops, but oddly they are all very very similar!   I usually have a couple adventure pups and a couple lap lovers but this time they are all just really a little bit of both and a whole lot of sweet, fun and easy going in the middle. Gotta tell ya, this is a first for me!   I guess they must all be going to favor their parents, Rocky and Samba, both of whom are sweet, gentle and easy to be around galoots.

What fun the M*A*S*H unit has patrolling their compound! They spend the whole day wrestling, running, rolling and power napping. This week I gave them their first toys to play with so all their biting and chewing efforts are going towards those poor innocent toys (think collateral damage here!) but at least ears, toes and tails are getting a break.

They are getting teeth – little sharp pointy teeth – that have REALLY increased Samba’s hesitancy towards spending a whole lot of time with the little monsters, I mean darlings!!! As if all those toenails daggers weren’t enough!!! Samba never lays down with them any more to feed them, so the pups feed off of her by hanging by their teeth and trying to hold on with their claws. OUCH!!! It is no wonder Samba has to be made to feed them and wears a very long suffering look on her pretty face.

Thankfully, I have come to her rescue by feeding the pups myself 3-4 times a day. They have gotten very good at lapping milk out of their puppy ring so I know that they are ready to start eating puppy mush soon. I’m not sure I am ready for puppy mush, however !! I soak puppy chow overnite, then add milk replacer to turn it into a milky mush that the puppies love but it is REALLY messy!!! Thank goodness Samba will be happy to clean them up for me!!

What’s new? Well we broke camp and moved into bigger and more challenging surroundings so the M*A*S*H unit can continue to grow both physically and mentally. The big puppy play pen has a whole new addition with shredded paper and saw dust pellets (absorbs wet and smell!) on one end so that they will begin to learn to go potty in one place and sleep and play in another. The beginnings of house training already!!!

As usual they had their weekly toe nail trim and also got wormed again with that yummy yellow stuff! All are growing well, doing everything they should be, and are just sweet little darlings. Give them a week with all the new stimulations, and I will be able to start noticing slight personality differences.

Enjoy the M*A*S*H unit - UNCLASSIFIED!!