Ruby and her pups 6 weeks old.

Up and down the steps with easy

This week has left in me in awe seeing the incredible progress the pups have made in one week. They are now very fast across the ground and seem fearless to everything they encounter. They have explored most of our very large garden of 1 acre and all go up and down the steps with ease.

In the kitchen keeping cool

It has been a very challenging week because of the intense heat and we have had to keep the pups in the kitchen on the tiled floor to keep them cool.

I have also realised how closely related the pups are to their wild ancestors in the way they instinctively seek shelter from the sun and have developed their own nest underneath the oil tank in our garden.

Ruby emerging from the den

Her pups sleeping and playing in the den in her absence.

In the den

Image below shows Ruby may well have stopped feeding her pups 2 weeks ago but she still watches over them when they are sleeping and playing.

I am finding the  raising of my first litter an incredible and emotional experience and I am not looking forward to seeing the pups going on their way in 10 days time.

Finally I will sign off with some pictures of the pups ability to sleep anywhere at any time.

White foot managing to get on the first rung of the ladder.

Asleep in the water bowl

Blue boy getting left on the shelf

Hidden behind my wellies. Took me ages to find him

To see all uncropped images please visit our flickr account.
 
My penultimate blog next week see you then.