Day 24 and Ruby says that her cute toddler puppies all have teeth now! I confirmed and clipped their front nails again. Their little toe buds are pretty squishy so taking a file to them is tough, but I’ve been successful at dulling the little claws to make it easier on Ruby’s tender skin. Her milk is still plentiful, but she has taken to feeding them sitting down most of the time except at night when she is in there with them. The pen is open more and more as the little explorers start to try to experience their world, but we have dangers fenced off and they are only out with human supervision. Ruby can escape to sleep on her comfy bed and can get above them on the steps, but spends a lot of time in there, keeping things tidy and teaching them how hard of a bite is too hard, but the puppies will be testing that out on each other now, mostly. I sit with the “little sharks” several times a day and enjoy their paw play and getting sniffed and snuggled. We have no stand-offish puppies – every single one is engaging appropriately. Since I’m bringing food dishes in that room to fill up for the big dogs, I see noise startle responses, and it appears that all pups are hearing. We are also bringing them each into the livingroom a couple times a day to hold and play with them individually, and once with their mother, too. I’ve got a bigger explore area set up for them in the kitchen / dining area so mostly they toddle around, alternating running, sniffing, spinning around and leaning on or walking over things like the table legs . They are definitely on task with the growling and barking communications and playful “aggression” with their sibs. This is a necessary growth stage that helps them try out their instincts to figure out how to de-escalate and how to warn and how to get away. I’m introducing a toy a day in their whelping area, and we have started making normal household noises think cooking with pots and pans, and loading dishes, opening and closing doors, and the range vent fan and my handheld vacuum around them to stimulate their recovery from startles. This is all important to help them become balanced grown-up dogs. We want them to acknowledge something that isn’t normal, but check it out and when they need to – retreat to survey at a reasonable distance – not be so overwhelmed with fear that they cower or don’t grow confidence through the introduction. Yesterday, the pups got a stuffed “lamb chop” toy, and the day before that, a red ball with texture – big enough to push around, but too big to put in their mouths. Today’s toy is a crinkly duck that is about as big as them with low stuffing and it has been fun to watch them respond to it. Only a couple have approached it so far. I’ll work on capturing video. Marty has been allowed to be on the other side of the lucite pen, and he is so excited to see the little sausages turning into puppies. Ruby monitors him closely, and we do, too, though I believe in a couple weeks, he will be the best uncle around.