Teddy and Surrey – Week 3

Breakfast is served!

“Does This Fur Coat Make Me Look Fat?”

We’ve already placed the call to Jenny Craig....just in case. Surrey’s pups are doing very well and are gaining weight as expected. They all have plump little fur-lined bellies, but those will all taper off as they grow. If they’re anything like their mom, it will be quite soon as Surrey is a latent Olympian. Since the mini-pack’s move from the bedroom to the living room, we spend a good amount of our time in the adjoining kitchen and dining room. Despite the presence of a barrier, Surrey, who’s normally quite laid back, will catapult her body over the barrier just to be able to spend time with us - up close and personal. The puppies’ growth isn’t limited to their bellies. They now require weekly pedicures to keep both mom and their siblings safe from scratches.

The benefit of Surrey and her crew moving into the living room is that Surrey now has something akin to a V.I.P. lounge at her disposal. She has both a sofa and a love seat to stretch out on for her ultimate relaxation while being able to keep a watchful eye and ear on her brood. What’s more, she has a private yard for a little walkabout which her puppies will eventually use as their playground.

Now that their vision is established beyond simply being able to detect light, dark and movement, the puppies are becoming increasingly curious about their surroundings and each other. As they are beginning to get acquainted with their littermates, they can often be seen standing in a group gently colliding or rubbing their noses and heads against one another whether awake or asleep. On one occasion, Mr. Turkey was spotted trying to fit the sleeping Mr. Corn’s head into his mouth. This is the beginning of a key period for the puppies as they are developing rudimentary social skills. They are testing each other’s limits and learning the difference between hard and soft biting and they also take turns sleeping at the top and bottom of the sibling pile. They are also curious about the humans around them and they aren’t particularly shy either. Pig-rails are rails around the inside of the whelping box that are there to help prevent mom from accidentally squishing one of her kids. When we were raising the rails up to accommodate the puppies’ growth, they wasted no time to wander over, gaze up into our eyes and to nibble on our hands while they were trying to figure out what we were up to. We’re sure it won’t be long before they have it all figured out!

That’s it for now, but be sure to join us next week for another nail-biting instalment of “Puppy Tales”.