The scratching reflex

This reflex actually appeared several days ago, but I didn't manage to get my act together to film it until today. It is extremely cute.

Also: Developments in interaction - and our first escape!

All the puppies had experimented with lifting themselves up to the edge of the box and peering over, but all had been deterred by the inability to feel the floor on the other side.. until today, when a low growl from Trinity alerted me to the fact that Aqua has finally escaped and was climbing into her food dish in an attempt to get closer to her. I was at first surprised that the little boy had been the first to escape, but soon realized that he was always the most motivated and urgent in his desire to reach Trinity for nursing and care. So, he was the only one willing to hurl himself blindly over the edge of the box to plummet an unknown distance (8 inches) in the hope of reaching Mama. He may turn out to be a puppy to watch.

He and the others are also becoming more interactive with each other, Mama, and me. They began to greet Trinity with wagging tails last Thursday, began to wag when encountering each other yesterday, and today definitely wagged to greet ME as well. Let me tell you how exciting this is. Scientists indicate that puppies become "tame" as a learned behavior much later, and the fact that they recognize me as something to wag at makes me feel like I must be actually offering them comfort when I try to pet and hold them or else they wouldn't greet me the same way they greet their family.

The fact that the puppies really do enjoy human touch (well, MY touch, since Ariel's out of town this weekend and they don't know anyone else - here's hoping they wag for him, too) is also becoming evident in other ways. As you can see in the video above, the pups can enjoy a firmer touch now - rubbing and gentle scritching in the right spots will cause them to lean into the touch and even occasionally elicit a groan of pleasure. Their ears, newly opened, are occasionally itchy or just uncomfortable and the pups will tilt their heads to move their ears under my fingers. They also sometimes enjoy having their sore jaws massaged, but this is trickier because sometimes they are too tender and the pups' reactions can differ.

Also, I witnessed several more instances of pups tottering away from the soft bedding to stand, swaying on gelatin legs, and pee on papers or plain linoleum. I spent some time today planning how I will be arranging the kennels and x-pen to optimize their instinct to potty away from the nest.

Aside: man, kennels are expensive :(