Kate’s Girls, Four weeks

Kate’s girls, Zoe and Zelda, have been dabbling in solid food in the days since their four-week birthday.  I say “dabbling” because they were vaguely disinterested in several offerings that have proven popular with past puppies here.  It wouldn’t be an issue except for their mama Kate’s habit of taking one look at the arriving food bowl and cheerfully exclaiming, “Ah yes, it’s your turn now!”  It isn’t that Kate isn’t happy to nurse her puppies, she is.  She settles in and lets them nurse off and on for hours at a time.

But she’s an obedient, good girl and she’s accustomed to watching my face or body language for any communication I might offer.  She’s eager to receive directives.  If I tell her to wait on a stepping stone while I move a branch from the girls’ “powder room”, I can expect to see her smiling little self running to that stepping stone for days when the dogs go out to potty.  If we’re walking on leash and I have her on the left with Emma on the right, for quite some time she’ll want to please me by heading quickly to my left.

So when I present the food bowl around her puppies’ four-week birthday, I’m ready.  I could swear she winks at me, she definitely smiles, and I know she thinks it’s time to step aside and let mealtime duties fall to me.  It’s not so dramatic as that in real life, of course, and weaning still happens gradually.  But she checks in with me across the room before jumping into her puppies’ playpen, sniffing for a moment to see if she detects any savory puppy fare.

I feel better knowing the puppies love their solid food, so this week with Zoe and Zelda was a happy success.

Here’s Zoe.

And Zelda.