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| We love to snuggle. |
“The Construction Project”
As is the case with most pup deliveries, they happen very early in the morning or very late at night. It was the morning in this case and there really wasn’t much on tv at this time. Undaunted by this fact, Faith produced an all-male team of six boys consisting of Mr. Lilac, Mr. Dandelion, Mr. Peony, Mr. Orchid, Mr. Hydrangea and Mr. Ivy. Faith found the whole process a bit tiring so it took her a little while to assume her motherly duties to begin stimulating her puppies by licking them.
The whole birthing process was monitored by Faith’s new roommate Paige whose litter was born the previous week. Paige reacted to every little squeak of a puppy as she was unable to ascertain whether they were her own puppies or from the new family who just moved in next door to her. Paige was finally able to relax once Faith bunked down in her own whelping box (with the door closed)! Once securely tucked away without the distraction of her friend, Faith was able to focus on being a mom.
Apart from nourishment, a mother’s milk contains antibodies vital to the puppies’ survival for the first several weeks of their lives. We weigh the puppies at least twice daily for the first week to ensure that everyone is getting equal access to the milk bar. Faith watched us very closely as each puppy made a trip to the scale. At the one week mark, everyone’s weight has pretty much doubled which is clearly a testament to Faith’s abilities as a mom. Of course, it didn’t take long for Faith to jump up onto our bed for a quick snuggle, but she was never really able to relax for long as she needed to tend to the pups when they whimpered.
The one thing Faith has not given up on is her quest to build an underground bunker to house her puppies in. Both she and her accomplice Paige would work in tandem on this. As a result, we needed to keep a bowl handy for multiple foot baths.
Newborn puppies are unable to regulate their own body temperature and over the first three weeks, their temperature climbs one degree a week until it reaches the normal range. When mom is on her break, we use a heat lamp to keep everyone warm and cozy. We’ve found that these kids love to nestle into their mom or use her paws for a pillow as they dream the dreams that puppies do.
That’s it for now but be sure to join us next week for another beguiling installment of “Puppy Tales”.
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