My friends just had their first litter at Three Sheep Swissies and the puppies are a month old. This is prime socialization time, so I offered my children up as socialization candidates. You didn’t have to twist my arm much either.

It’s kind of funny thinking back to my state of mind over a year ago when it comes to Swissy Puppies. There was so much longing to have this experience back then, and part of me wonders if i had just waited a year.. I could have had it from the beginning. But then I wouldn’t have had Zen and she is turning into such a special dog.. I feel very fortunate my breeder chose me as her person. Even though we had to fly cross the country to get her…

If there was one puppy calling out to me in this litter, it was this little green boy. I can’t wait to find out who his person will be.

Maiwenn was really into this little girl pup. She kept wanting to hold her over and over again and when we left that evening, she was lamenting about how much she wanted another puppy. I see how swissy people end up with multiple dogs; They really are like potato chips! Fortunately for my husband, we don’t have the room, the time, nor does he have the inclination for another puppy.

Gavin thought they were cute too. But he was more interested in his friend’s toys..

If I were to advise any newbie puppy owners based off my experience, I would say that it really DOES matter who their puppy’s parents are. Especially in terms of temperament. I’ve been told that Zen’s father (even though he himself can be quite rowdy) throws off sweet-tempered pups. And my breeder has told me time and again that Zen’s gentle personality comes from her mother, who is a very gentle dog. But lineage is only half the story when it comes to temperament.. the other half is socialization.

These pups are coming from some amazing owners. True, they have never bred dogs before.. but both of their swissies have been incredibly well-socialized and active with their training. Already, these little ones are getting exposed to people, animals and strange sights and sounds.

This was the first born of the litter, and he’s the fattest of the bunch. He slept the whole time I was there.

Here’s little girl pup, getting weighed. Time for a new scale, me thinks!

They were waking up here.. and getting ready to swamp us. In a few weeks, these beauties will be temperament tested and the final decisions will be made as to who gets which pup.

Mom dog wasn’t too thrilled about stepping in there and feeding them again. I can’t say i really blame her..

This little guy supposedly has the most easy going personality of the bunch. Maybe he’ll go to a family like mine. A family who has never had a dog before, but tons of desire to give the best home possible. I wish him luck. I wish them all luck. Maybe they spend their whole lives happy and healthy, with people who love them and treat them like family members. Maybe some of them will do great things in the dog world and maybe they’ll know failure too. Either way, I feel privileged i got to visit them in the beginning and help them get used to the world they will eventually live in.

Zen’s best buddy is staying with us for a long weekend. He’s a Shepard/Pyrenees/Viszla mix. He’s a little older than Zen by 6 months and they LOVE to play. They have been at it all day.

They got bones yesterday…

In the sun..

I never got a good picture of it, but starting the third day.. Zen kept trying to mount Blake. It was starting to really weird him out, so Zen had to go into time out a couple of times.

But then there was more running play.

Also on the third day, Blake started obsessing about the chickens.

He was hanging out under the coop for extended periods of time and just watching them.

The pups have finally exhausted themselves. It’s been a good experience and the only mishap is that both got into some cheese today. Tomorrow Blake goes home and will probably sleep for a week.