Our twins will go to preschool on thursday this week and our older son will start on the 28th.
I am really looking forward to spending some quality time with our older son even if it is for a few mornings next week 
Things are winding down with new bulldog babies arriving and it seems like the dust has settled so to speak. We are in one of our busiest times.
Our success seems to be echoed with other bulldog owners at this time also. It seems as though maybe something must have been in the water, haha
We are enjoying the puppies and of course the kiddo’s also do. Our older ones are just now 5 weeks old and this is the age where they are starting to show their little personalities and actually playing with us. They are very accustom to our voices (quiet and loud) and it is fun to see their reaction when they are around us verses the boys.
I have started some of the stimulation exercises noted on our website for handling puppies at an age of 3 days to 3 weeks, and to be honest it is not all that different then what we are normally doing at this age anyway. As for the holding the head up and then down this is often down when we are cleaning butts
Yes the puppies need to be wiped so that they are encouraged to poop and pee. It is important to their growth and health that this is done. And with a mama that stays with the puppies such as our lab mothers they are constantly licking and cleaning their newborns. The exercise that I probably have not given 100% is the toe rubbing. I am trying, it just seems to slip my mind when we are playing with them. I have noticed that on some days one may be very comfortable with laying on their back and then the next day they seem to fight it. At this age it is probably just because they are hungry when I do the exercise with them.
We still feel that for the puppies well being it is best to keep them in the incubator for the first week. Sometimes longer depending on the mama’s instincts. Thank goodness for most of these mama’s being very good at keeping their babies warm without laying on them accidentally. No casualties as of yet YEAH!!! Our average litter size right now is 5 so that is up from 4 last year. So things are improving or it is luck of the draw??
Heading out to spend some quality time with the babies, my boys are in bed. There are some good things about getting ready for school, back to routines and a little more free time in the evenings. Without being so dog tired, no pun intended
write more later, Beth
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