Skip to main content

Storm and Sierra Litter – Week Three

We are a relaxed bunch!


“Moonlight Serenade”

It was early March. The final remnants of day ebbed to usher in the night. A gentle breeze redistributed particles of leaves and other debris in the yard while the fireplace in the bedroom flickered, its light casting a warm glow in the room. Their mom rose slowly to find a corner of the room to stretch out in. Without warning, a tiny voice pierced the stillness and then a second, a third and a fourth. Before long the quartet of boys were howling in unison like a pack of miniature wolves. It seems as though they were serenading their little sister, Miss Lavender who slept through the entire performance. Clearly they have inherited Sierra’s “happy howl”.

While Sierra dotes on her mini-pack, she has been getting her share of “me” time and can occasionally be spotted flat on her back in one of the nearby doggie crates. As the puppies begin to grow up, not only are they walking or doing something that resembles it, but they are also beginning to engage with one another. They amble around getting acquainted, greeting their siblings with a gentle head butt. With this being the beginning of a key socialization period for the puppies, they are testing each other’s limits and learning the difference between hard and soft biting. They also take turns sleeping at the top and bottom of the sibling pile. Since their hunting and chasing instincts are emerging, they practice with their siblings or their plush toys (unless mom has absconded with them).

Sierra and her babies have now been evicted and have made the move out of the bedroom, down the long hallway and into the living room at the opposite end of the house. So far mom is content. She has a loveseat and sofa to curl up on at night or during breaks. Since there is a door leading out into the backyard in this room, the puppies won’t have far to go once they’re ready to experience their first blast of what we’re hoping won’t be arctic Caledon air.…but there’s still time for that.

That’s it for now, but be sure to join us next week for another melodic installment of “Puppy Tales”.
Click to play this Smilebox slideshow
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