Ming's Mother and Grandmother

We have rare occasion to show Ming's lineage. In a previous post, we showed Ming when she was a puppy along side her siblings. We also introduced you to her mother (pictured below), Maddie.

So it's with great pride that we can provide further depth to present Molly, Ming's grandmother.


We're told that in this picture, she isn't show groomed because she is a finished champion. Molly's current interests are tracking and obedience. She excels in these sporting events. Further, she was a wonderful mother of two 5 puppy litters! That's where Ming gets her voluminous litter gene.

Update - Piper, the Nautical One

As you have seen, several caregivers have graciously provided us update pictures of how their pups are doing.  In all cases, everyone is fitting in well and love their new environments.  That makes us very happy and proud that we can extend the Westie joy to others.  Piper (a.k.a in the past known as Yellow) is a seagoing dog enjoying her life on a watergoing vessel.  

Those of you who followed the blog from the beginning should recognize the sleeping on the back trait.

Adios Green (Riley)

It's been a while since we've posted but we've learned that all the placed puppies all have names. Green, a male has been named Riley and is fitting in nicely with his caregivers. He has a big backyard in which to roam. Let's take a look back at some older pictures. This set was from June.




Here is a set in early July just before he left.



As you may have noticed, some of our puppies families have sent us pictures to show us their pups in their new environments. Hopefully, we will document these pups' growth. Besides, Ming may also want to see what her kids look like as well.

Portrait of CASEY

Here is a portrait of Casey taken by Robin Burkett at Pawprints Photography.

Random pictures of Ming

Instead of posting about the puppies, we decided to have a post about Ming with some random pictures of her in all of her awe and glory...of being a mother.

Look at me! I'm sooooo cute.

*sigh* when will these things come out!?

WOW that's only seven of them....where are the other two?.....Can YOU find them?

Awww look at the family photo.

Here's JULEP

Here is Julep in her new home.

What Can You Observe in this Video?

Ah a mother and her two offspring.  We got a chance to capture day to day life here.  I spy digging, inquisitiveness and hunger.  Watch for a nice jump from Duncan.

The Blue Ball Mesmerizes and Our 100th Post!

So we told you about the blue ball that Ming plays with. Here are some quick pictures caught while playing fetch. We usually toss the ball and then she brings it back. No big deal, right?

Most dogs do that but with Ming, she fetches it, plays around with it for about ten seconds, chewing on it and slobbering all over it. We'd ask the question "Where is the ball Ming?" She then stops abruptly and then she pushes the ball to us with her nose, implying throw it again. As you can see in the photo below, she has pushed it about two feet straight on. She stares at it intently, almost mesmerized waiting for the thing to move.

When the puppies are watching this, they're perplexed and obviously learning.

It's hard to imagine that we've written 100 snippets on the puppies since the end of April. That seems like an high number but it was quite easy because we have a lot of material at our disposal to write about.

If you get a chance, go back to April and May to see what the puppies looked like in their first weeks.

Here's CASEY

Here are pictures of Casey in her new home. We hear she likes tight spaces, is asserting a personality, and likes to sleep on her back. Going outside has been easy for her.

Where Is the Ball Ming?

Where is the ball Ming? It is a question that evokes a Pavlovian response from Ming. In the past couple of years, the main object of Ming's fun time and obsession has been this blue ball. Other dogs may favor a chew toy or bone but our Ming seems to relish in this object.

The ball is nothing special. It is in fact a beginner's squash ball that had been around and useless until we discovered that the size of the ball was the perfect fit. And the durability held up to our Westie's teeth and bite.

We usually play fetch with Ming with it and she just cannot stop playing. Although she pants from literally 15 minutes of fetch, she cannot stop even when she is tired. It's sort of like humans and eating one potato chip - you cannot stop until the bag is empty.

Anyway, since the pups have made it on the scene, the fetch sessions aren't as frequent as she likes. On top of this, when the pups have full run of the house, they see this ball and play with it. The following video shows Ming trying to get the ball from Duncan in the beginning. She doesn't want to bully him or overpower him but she finally gets the ball and then loses it again under the couch. With dogged (pun intended) determination, she tries to dig for the ball.

Sleeping Talking - Not Ours

OK - so we admit that we see what is happening on YouTube from time to time and what did we find? Westie Sleep Talking! OK ignore the human voice and commentary. Given this, we will be on the look out to see if our Westies do the same thing.

Getting Outside and Learning

Pink and Duncan are in the transitional stages of housebreaking as we put them in the pen inside when things get a little hectic. They sleep in a crate at night to train them to hold it in until the morning.

In the morning, they go 'outside.' While we do take them for short walks to acclimate them to their external surroundings, we use a small pen to give them some fresh air. There they get to smell the grass and dirt and reinforce where they're going to go and do their 'business' - outside. When they get inside and run around, we anticipate that they'll make the connection that inside is where they live.

Anyway, here are some outside 'pen' pics. It was a warm day (humid too) when we took this and when Pink and Duncan came in, they seemed to be relieved to be in an air conditioned environment. Duncan even put his body across the air vent to get maximum cool.

The Remaining Pink - The One!

Yes - the title keeps on changing as the litter decreases. But like the line in the iconic film
"The Matrix," (for us) she is "The One!"

Pink (yet to be named) is with us as a member of our household. We love her demeanor, her intelligence and her curiosity. Previously, you saw her interaction with Ming and when they all (Ming, Pink and Duncan) run around, they play well. Ming being the mother naturally tries to keep her offspring on course. Hmm - how does that parallel to human life?! Anyway, here are some pictures of Pink and the end of the "Remaining" posts.

Kind of Empty

Back at the end of June, there were nine.  The sounds of nine puppies was a bit overwhelming.  The pen as you can see below served as a holding area but we also created two other pens to separate the litter.  As you can see below, it was a bit stuffed but the pups loved it because they enjoyed packing with each other. 

Here it is on our second day without the seven that departed and it feels kind of empty.   
Duncan (Green Black) seems sad, doesn't he? The pen is certainly big enough for both puppies to stretch out in.  Now that there are fewer, we've been reinforcing the need for the puppies to hold it in and wait until they go outside to..well, go outside.  Both have performed brilliantly and from the reports of the other caregivers, every litter mate is picking up on the house breaking stuff.  Many marvel at how smart their pup is.  We're very happy to hear all these great stories.  Keep them coming.

Also you see pictures of Pink and in a rare moment, I caught her when she was "talking" to me.  You can see all those nice puppy teeth.

You Will Behave!

One of the things we marvel at is the maternal instinct that just pops up. When the puppies were first born, Ming knew what to do to feed her offspring. When we were retiring for the night, she made a headcount, sniffing each one to make sure they were all there. When we were carrying one away to be groomed, she was protective and followed us around to ensure her pup's safety. Now as the brood has thinned out, there are just two in the household remaining. Green Black (Duncan) and Pink (yet to be named) are getting individual attention and to be honest, it's better all around instead of Ming being swarmed by all nine.

As we observe, Ming is not taking lip from any of them, wanting them to submit to her. It sounds rough as she tries to tell them who is boss. Occasionally we hear some loud growling but we were assured by old Westie hands that this is entirely normal. Some of it is playing, other disciplining, and teaching.

Below is a video of Ming and Pink. Pink is staying as a permanent member of our household and she gets the most "attention" from Ming of the two pups primarily because she challenges Ming more. She may have a stubborn streak as well. Ming usually just runs around and plays with Duncan while disciplining him occasionally.

The Remaining Five: Pink Black

As we continue the series on the remaining puppies, several have departed this weekend including Pink Black.  Since the series was titled the Remaining Half-Dozen, now Remaining Five it's really whittled down to two.  But in the sprit of it all, here is Pink Black, a female.  

Here she is using a small rocking chair as a cigar.

These pictures shows her on the ledge of our fireplace. 

She was tentative about it and then got enough courage to jump off.

The Remaining Five: Pink Green

We had hoped to continue the Remaining Half-Dozen several days ago but this Saturday saw the departure of Green (more in another "Adios" post). So here we have Pink Green, a female. She is one of the three "pinks" and is quiet very much like the others. In some of these pictures, you can see that she is daring - wanting to get off the table. As the puppies grow, their ability to stay still diminishes but here are some pictures that we were able to capture.