Bailey and Frank’s Litter – Week Two

Cuddly new toys arrived this week!

“The Toy Drive”

Toy drives are generally thought of as philanthropic deeds designed to bring some measure of joy to the less fortunate among us. Apparently Bailey does not subscribe to this notion. During the week, she started sneaking into both Whitney’s or Sierra’s whelping box stealing toys, one at a time. Every so often, she would work out a self-concocted exchange program of sorts whereby she would enter their whelping box with an already well-used marrow bone and “exchange” it for yet another toy. But it didn’t stop there. Later on, we witnessed Bailey sneak into our bedroom where there is a small stash of dog-toys for the rest of the pack and steal some of those as well. We managed to track Bailey down to her lair where we found she had stashed all of the toys like a canine hoarder. We even caught her cuddling them during her breaks. Humbug, we say.

The actual purpose of the toys is to provide obstacles for the puppies in their whelping box so they need to climb over them in order to get around, thereby building muscle mass. But that’s not the only workout they get. When the puppies lay there sleeping, they are constantly twitching – a state known as “activated sleep”. These involuntary actions also help strengthen their leg muscles. The net result is that they are now able to walk on all fours; however “wobble” would be more apropos.

Despite the thievery, Bailey is a great mom. Her litter is now located in our library so Bailey has a sofa to lounge on during her breaks throughout the day and night. Notwithstanding her new sleeping arrangements, mom’s on call around the clock to tend to every whimper. Admittedly, she administers some of the quicker meals sitting up like a mobile milk bar or meals on wheels. Since some of the puppies have already tripled their birth weight, Bailey gets top marks in that department.

The highlight for Bailey’s litter is that their eyes have opened. At this stage, the puppies have hazy vision and can only differentiate between light and dark, but this 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. No doubt they will be spending some time trying to comprehend the tenancy of their whelping box and to distinguish between the toys and their siblings.

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