Sierra and Storm’s Litter – Week Two

We love our new toys!

“The Mobile Salad Bar”

A mom’s job is never easy. To add to this challenge, Sierra contracted mastitis this week; an inflammation of a mammary gland which is an infection caused by a little bite or scratch. This is not uncommon and not serious when diagnosed and treated in the early stages. We opted for two courses of treatment: the medical solution of a regimen of antibiotics coupled with the homeopathic one of strapping a cabbage leaf to the affected area. While the cabbage patch mom’s malady is improving very rapidly, the rest of the pack has been very curious about Sierra’s mobile salad bar.

The puppies have all gained well with everyone more than doubling their birth weight. That’s quite an accomplishment considering Sierra is only firing on nine of ten cylinders. Sierra is a very attentive and loving mother, looking after the needs of her little family with every whimper, never straying very far from them or for very long. She does however find a moment for her frequent ritual of rolling on her back in the foyer several times a day. 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. In fact, she’s even done double-duty by helping to nurse some of both Whitney’s and Bailey’s pups.

This week, we relocated Sierra and her family to the living room. Here she joins her good friend Whitney with her own three 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 one 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 the group will eventually be introduced to the great outdoors. Fortunately both Sierra and Whitney are not possessive and greet all passers-by amicably. 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.

We’re always jubilant when we notice that the puppies’ eyes have opened. At present, they 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 ear canals have opened. This is when the fun times really begin as the little ones discover the world around them.

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