We are having the coldest January in a long time, and the puppies seem to think they want to go out into the snow. They turned three weeks old yesterday and have not yet started on minced meat or puppy food, which means they don’t have much energy to draw on yet. It was probably around –10 °C outside, but curiosity is still there and little tails are wagging. After a few minutes it becomes really cold and the puppies start to shiver. Back indoors and warmed up again, Naela at least becomes quite mischievous and playful. I surrender with Rainbow fits well and this is a special live version

At exactly three weeks of age, the puppies are eager to go outside. They look out and are, of course, naturally attracted by the white snow and all the birds. But oh, how cold it was! The coldest temperature was –15°C, and in the sun it reached –5°C. It was therefore only a short visit, as the puppies are still very young and easily get cold. They have only been living in the conservatory for three days, and today there were other things on the agenda. We were visited by our daughter Sophia and her children – two boys, one six years old and the other almost three. Despite having plenty of energy, they were very gentle and careful. We introduce new challenges to the puppies step by step during the nine weeks they live with us, and this visit was one such challenge. It also allows us to assess the individual personalities of the puppies. Meeting new people will soon become routine as the future puppy families begin to visit. At the same time, it is important that the puppies are able to relax. A good exercise for dogs of all ages can be seen at the end of the video. Sociability is an important personality trait and is also strongly hereditary. This trait is evaluated both in the Swedish Mental Description test and in the Swiss Verhaltensbeurteilung, and we know that both parents have very high scores. This is important because it is difficult to train a dog to genuinely enjoy making contact with other people. A family dog should be social. Strong sociability does not prevent us from teaching our dogs not to approach strangers unless we allow it – this is easy for a dog to learn. There are, of course, working dogs for which high sociability is not desired. However, such dogs require extensive training and control, for example police dogs.

What a day to move into a castle of glass. At 18 days old and for the first time outside the whelping box, the N-litter puppies already show glimpses of their personalities. Slippery floors, a large glass room full of strange objects—and still they are curious. Curiosity is the most important quality a puppy can have: the courage to explore even when things feel a little scary. Mother Isa is calm and radiates confidence, which has a very positive effect on the puppies. She supervises closely and gives a reassuring lick whenever needed. Since both mother Isa and father Attack have excellent mental scores from the Swedish “Mentaltest Hund (MH),” the puppies inherit these strong traits. At the same time, they are influenced by their social environment: Isa, Java, and Lexie are all involved in their upbringing, and all have equally strong mental test results. Positive genetics are reinforced by a positive social environment—just as negative traits can be reinforced as well. A fearful mother produces even more fearful puppies. Whether strong leg muscles are inherited is debatable, but there is certainly nothing wrong with the puppies’ leg strength. Standing up to eat already, however, is perhaps a bit early—as the film clearly shows. Two covers of Linkin' Parks "Castle of Glass" fits well to the film

The N-puppies are now 12 days old and weigh around 1 kg—almost triple their birth weight! They are also starting to open their eyes, which means they can begin to orient themselves in the puppy box. We place a small white cloth in one corner, and voilà—the puppies go there to relieve themselves. Isa now leaves the box quite often, so we can leave the puppies with her alone without any problems. She is also starting to regain her playfulness when going out with Jawa and Lexie. We still keep her on a leash to protect her teats.

What a birthday present, two days before Christmas! Lexie has been peeking at the five N-litter puppies since they were born six days ago. Today, she got to meet them properly in the whelping box—almost entirely alone with five adorable puppies. Santa was quietly observing from a corner. Isa, the mother of the N-litter, gave her permission. She stayed just outside the box, half-asleep but still keeping an eye on things. Lexie was very gentle, and her maternal instincts were awakened. She tried, at least, to do what she had seen Isa do. She may also be pregnant herself, as we mated her two weeks ago. A video of the mating is available in the playlist.

Morning routines on day 3 begin with weighing. The puppies have already gained 30% in weight in 2.5 days—a record. But then again, each puppy has two teats to itself. We take the opportunity to change the bedding, even though Isa takes hygiene very seriously. However, it is vital for the little ones that the mother stimulates their stomach and intestines so that what needs to come out actually does. Without this stimulation, puppies die. The mother dog knows this and is therefore very persistent. She can even smell which puppy needs the most massage. It’s delightful to watch the puppies nurse and see how they work to get the milk flowing. When the flow starts, they wag their tails. Once full, they immediately pass out—but are, of course, cleaned again by Isa. This goes on more or less around the clock. Isa knows when it becomes too much and then leaves the puppies alone so they can sleep undisturbed. At that point, she can take a nap herself or go for a walk with us. PS I think Tommy J's version of "Go the distance" from Disneys Hercules fits well to the puppies third day.

ABBA’s song “I Still Have Faith in You” fits Isa perfectly. Trust Isa—she knows and she tells us. On day 60 after mating, she made it clear it was time to give birth. After countless attempts to push out the first puppy, she told us she needed help. Since Isa is not a large bitch but had a very large belly, we trusted her and drove to a veterinary clinic. The car ride helped her deliver the first puppy, hind first. We continued to the clinic anyway and received help with the remaining puppies, which were large by Isa’s standards. In total, five puppies weighing between 340 and 420 g were born in Isa’s third litter and our 13th overall—the M litter. For those who are interested, we will follow these puppies from birth until they move to their waiting families in week 10. Join us on this journey, which we document with short videos. It is both educational and exciting and complements all other information about the litter, including pedigree, parents’ health status and merits, and much more on our website, Collies vom Seehain.