Skip to main content

Storm and Sierra Litter – Week Five


Our big adventure outdoors!


“A Family Affair”


Everybody loves a puppy and there’s no exception in this household. There are times when security may be lax and a breach into the puppy zone can occur. Hannah the four month old who is herself still a puppy, adores them. On her way outside to the washroom, she will frequently pull a hard right turn into the whelping box to mingle with the pups. She loves to lie down in the middle of the box where she studies them with a very inquisitive expression on her face. Not to be outdone, our big boy Haydain has also found his way in there. He offers the puppies a very cursory greeting and absconds with one of their chew toys which we later have to coax out of his mouth. There’s Bailey, Sierra’s next door neighbour who will wander into the whelping box to nurse Sierra’s little ones just so she can make off with yet another plush toy. And finally, there’s benevolent Whitney who has since become a semi-permanent resident of the living room. Her maternal instincts are so acute that she frequently checks up on all of the puppies just to make sure they’re okay and lays on the sofa overlooking the whelping boxes to keep an eye on them. Now there’s a heart of Golden.

Our property is located high up on the Niagara Escarpment and as such, we tend to get a generous helping of snow that lasts longer than at a lower elevation. But that doesn’t hold a puppy back. We managed to get Sierra’s litter outside to enjoy a good romp or two in the white stuff. Admittedly, they were a little tentative at first, but despite the cold, they soon warmed up to the notion of being outside and it was business as usual. They made snow angels, they ran, they slid and they wrestled with their siblings. It never fails that a few of them find sticks which they immediately begin to whittle with their pointy little teeth without the benefit of a YouTube how-to video. The best part is that the little ones are beginning to form strong bonds with humans as well and they follow us around like the Pied Piper. When it’s time to come back inside, each and every one is rewarded with a kiss and a cuddle before they retire, spent from the afternoon’s activities drifting off in their little heaven filled with soft, furry playmates.

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

Click to play this Smilebox slideshow

Comments

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...

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...

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...