There’s a lot of good we can say about Topaz’s litter: they are consistent as a group — meaning they’re smart, beautiful, big, and calm. According to their caretaker, all of this together is an excellent foundation. And they even have a special trait: they are very “people-oriented.”

The puppies, now six weeks old, moved out to the garden house — beloved by every litter — a week ago. Since then, they’ve required less work, and every day they prove how intelligent they are. Their caretaker, Gizella Ménesi, said:

I put up a small fence so they wouldn’t get underfoot while I clean their area in the garden. There’s a little door in it, and they immediately started using it. Earlier generations learned the same thing more slowly — these ones didn’t even bat an eye. That’s how clever they are.

The smallest puppy and the family’s older dogs are also curious about what’s happening in the other part of the garden

A people-loving team

All nine of them are “people-oriented,” meaning they are very attached to their caretakers. For example, if they can choose between playing with their siblings or interacting with a person, most of the time the human wins. Of course, they do play with each other and enjoy exploring on their own as well.

This is good in the long run, because our goal is for the visually impaired owner to be the most important person in the guide dog’s life,

 Gizella said. However this strong love for humans also has a downside: during their intense curiosity they tend to grab and chew on people’s ankles. So it’s better if they show their friendly, plush-toy-like side:

High school students participating in community service arrived this week. They helped with the dogs, which included massaging the little ones, walking the older ones, and filling the Kinder eggs needed for next week’s naming ceremony.

There’s another small change as well. Earlier, the puppies were very squeaky — constantly whining and whimpering. Of course, they can still throw a tantrum, especially when they’re hungry, but they’ve become much quieter.

Mini is “ankle-biting” too

The smallest one has now turned into a real puppy; she’s eating and playing more skillfully (her plush-toy videos are available on our YouTube page), and she’s ankle-biting just like her siblings. She has made great progress in her development and has reached 2 kilograms. We are hopeful that everything will continue to go well with her. She can already be left at home for half a day, since she eats just like the others, but she still cannot join in the group play, because the bigger ones would think she’s a squeaky toy. Luckily, Gizella’s own dogs are kind to her — she plays a lot with our retired mother dog, Zina, and with Scully, who is in charge of guarding the house. Both of them spend time with the little one several times a day.

A puppy first gets to know someone by checking whether they might be their mother

Scully calmly allows this

This week, the puppies will receive their first vaccination and their microchip. Follow along to see what happens with them and how they develop — we last wrote about them in this article.

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In the cover photo, the smallest puppy can be seen playing with their mother, Topáz.