5 weeks old

Five weeks old, and they look like 7-week old pups since they are so big.  But are true to their age in coordination.  Their backends don't always know what the front end is doing.  At least their weight gain has slowed down a bit, approximately 1 1/2 lbs this last week.  Juliette shows no signs of limiting their nursing opportunities and I have not increased their canned food very much.  Mork is now noticeably bigger than Mindy.  This morning, Mork weighed 9 lbs 3 oz and Mindy weighed 8 lbs 12 oz.   Although not always the very coordinated, the pups are fully mobile, running and bouncing around, wrestling, tugging, and playing with the adult dogs.  Juliette enjoys playing with the fuzzballs, and her interactions with the pups have notably changed.  She play bows, mouth wrestles or just generally acts silly.  Auntie Tacara is very tolerant and occasionally engages them in play, but not as much as she did with puppies when she was younger.  Great grandma Yuma is barely tolerant of the puppy antics and is teaching the meaning of respect your elders.  When I am home (and awake) the pups are mostly out of the pen - either loose inside the house or out in the yard.  They are doing fantastic about toileting.  We are trying to take them out for toileting as much as we can.  They are champs at the front porch steps, and the typical routine is to carry them out to toilet in the front yard.  When ready to go back in, I just go up on the porch, call the pups, and they charge up the steps and trot into the house.  Their pen requires minimal cleaning.  I change the newspaper/shredded paper in their litterbox daily, and swap out the lightweight blanket every 2-3 days.  They have been a breeze to care for.  In addition to "invasive petting" and grooming, we are getting the pups used wearing collars and harnesses, doing "puppy, puppy, puppy" recalls, and lots of follow me games.