Sierra and Hudson’s Litter – Week Two

“Like Mother like Child”

First it was just one, followed by another and then another. We’re not clear on why it happened, but since Sierra has been sleeping on her back in the whelping box, more often than not, her mini-pack has been doing likewise. One benefit of this sleeping position is that we can inspect everyone’s feet and schedule them for their weekly pedicures. With their tiny little black paws pointed skyward, we can hardly wait until they all start snoring in unison.

 

Miss Limoncello

Since her pack mate Heidi who was about to have her own litter had designs on moving into Sierra’s whelping box with a ready-made family, we relocated Sierra and her family to the living room. Here she joins her good friend Whitney who is already living there with her four week old flock. While Sierra spends a good deal of her time in the whelping box with her puppies, she now has the added freedom and flexibility of sharing the end of a sofa with Whitney in the event she needs a power nap. The living room is a gateway to the puppy run outside where some of our pack spend their leisure time. Fortunately both Sierra and Whitney are not possessive and greet all visitors on their way outside. In fact, both ladies have been observed doing surprise dorm inspections on each other’s whelping boxes, so we’d best keep things as neat as possible.

It’s a well-known fact that girls of all kinds excel at many things and to this end, little Miss Limoncello was the first in her group to open her eyes. At present, the puppies can only differentiate between light and dark, but the haze they look through will clear up very quickly over the next week or so as they begin to experience normal sight. They are able to hear quite well as soon as their ears have opened. Normally puppies will bellow whenever they’re hungry, but Sierra keeps them so well fed with the all-day buffet at their disposal that we barely hear a peep out of them.

Since their body temperatures will not have been regulated until after week three, the little gang relies on mom and each other for warmth. We use a heat lamp for good measure when mom’s on her break. As they lay there asleep, they are constantly twitching. These involuntary actions, referred to as “activated sleep”, help strengthen their leg muscles but fortunately they don’t have very far to go for now.

That’s it for now, but be sure to join us next week for another riveting installment of “Puppy Tales”.