Skip to main content

Bella and Hudson's Puppies - One Week Old!

Bella is such a fantastic mum!

It seems hard to believe that a whole week has passed since Bella and Hudson’s little ones were born. Time has just flown by for us - perhaps not so much for Bella. She’s such an attentive mum, staying in the whelping box with her puppies, leaving them only briefly for the occasional bathroom break. The other day, we started out on a short walk with Bella in the yard. After about a minute, she darted back toward the door in a panic. Apparently we were not walking back fast enough for she kept running back and forth as if to imply: “Hurry up! My babies need me !”.

We spend most of our days just sleeping and cuddling!

Puppies are born without sight or hearing, however they are able to detect light. For now, their sense of smell is what guides them to mum! They crawl around using swimming-like movements, propelled mostly by their tiny forelimbs and a good deal of determination.

Despite lacking their sight and their hearing, the puppies are definitely born with voices. As they wake up from their naps, one after the other, their tiny voices build to a crescendo like a choir, announcing that it’s dinner time once again. One or two of them have even discovered their little barks, however tiny.

Bella does a great job caring for each and every one of them and she regards us very intently as we take each baby over to the scale for its daily weigh-in. Most of the puppies have almost doubled their birth weight. They have huge appetites and always seem to either be at the milk bar or paddling their way up to it! Quite enviably, they spend most of their day napping and suckling. The boys are occasionally overzealous and try to hog the milk bar. They attempt to nudge the girls out of their way, so we monitor their time nourishing as we don’t want anyone missing out!

Next week will be even more exciting as their eyes begin to open and they become a little more mobile. We look forward to the weeks ahead as these little buds continue to blossom.


Click to play this Smilebox slideshow
Create your own slideshow - Powered by Smilebox

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ruly and Tulip Litter - Week 1

Ruly and Tulip Litter - 1 Week Old What a week it's been! The Tulip puppies continue to thrive, gaining weight steadily and remaining fairly quiet. Tulip dotes on her family, rarely straying far from the whelping box. As you can see on the 24/7 camera, she is starting to spend a bit more time outside the box, but she consistently checks on her babies. Tulip currently eats around 4 pounds of food per day, along with calcium and pre-probiotics supplements. As her pups grow, her daily food intake will be gradually increased, reaching 5 - 6 pounds per day by the time the pups are about 7 weeks old. This increased caloric intake is necessary to meet the energy demands of milk production and to maintain Tulip's own body condition. Tulip still believes an outdoor den would be best for her pups, so we are monitoring her closely when she ventures out. The whelping box is lined with padded bedding and clean, white bleached towels on the bottom. The white towels allow us to quickly spot a...
2 comments
Read more

Ruly & Tulip Litter - Week 2

Many viewers of the 24/7 puppy camera have raised questions, such as what are the pipes running alongside the whelping box. These are called "pig rails" and they are designed to protect the puppies from their mother accidentally lying on them, ensuring the puppies' safety.  Since the puppies are unable to regulate their own body temperature, we use a heat lamp over the whelping box to keep them warm when Tulip is outside the box. However, we turn the heat lamp off when she is nursing the puppies. By 3 to 4 weeks of age, the puppies can regulate their temperature, which should then be in the normal range of 100.5°F to 102.5°F (38°C to 39.3°C). The most significant event this week is that the puppies' eyes have opened. Mr. Devil's eyes (the one with the red collar) were the first to open. Each puppy followed and within 48 hours they had all opened.  The puppies are now weighing almost 3 lbs, and Tulip provides them nourishment at least every 2 hours, often throughou...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ruly and Tulip Litter - 7 Weeks Old

Tulip’s Puppies Celebrate Their 7-Week Milestone! Another week has flown by, and it's hard to believe these puppies are already 7 weeks old. For the most part, they've been a very quiet litter. Don't get me wrong, they have their moments of boundless energy, running around in circles like little tornadoes. But compared to some of my more "vocal" litters at this age, these pups have been relatively calm. They love attention and cuddles, which is a delight for us humans. The big adventure this week was the trip to the vet for their health checkups. I'm happy to report they received a clean bill of health and were a big hit at the clinic. However, I'm always on guard at the veterinary hospital, as that's where sick dogs go. So we quickly wheeled the crates into the exam room on a trolley, making sure to keep all other dogs and people clear of my pups. This time of year, the threats of kennel cough and parvo are ever-present. The puppies weren't sure a...
Post a Comment
Read more