Well, we’ve survived the first week with our biggest litter ever! Each one is growing as they should be. Sage is doing an amazing job at mothering each one. The pups now range from the smallest (the black male) at 12.2 oz to the largest (the blue-collar merle male) at one pound.

Although yesterday I set up the puppy pen and moved them. She was getting too warm in the crate, which led her to dig up the bed so she could lay on the bottom of the crate which was cooler. The problem with that is some pups would end up on the bottom of the crate with her and the others would be sandwiched in the folded over bed! It makes it hard to sleep when babies are crying and you have to get up through the night (and day) to rescue puppies, straightened the bed and get everyone back together again; only to have it happen all over again!

I don’t usually move mom and babies into a puppy pen until they are closer to three weeks old. Puppies this age can get lost in such a big area. But something needed to change.

So we place a quilted pad over the bottom so their feet have traction and also because I don’t want little toes slipping between the grated floor of the puppy pen. Then I place a big bed on top of that. Hubby made a divider so the pups stay mostly on the bed and if Sage wants to have a cooler spot to lay or a break from the pups she can just step over the divider into her “mom zone”. This should get more air circulating and keep Sage more comfortable, but also still be cozy for the babies.

Sage is enjoying her “cool” space opposite the puppies.

Trying to get the whole group in one picture is a challenge and unfortunately means I can’t get a close up.

So here’s some close-up cuteness!

❤️