Skip to main content

Storm & Hannah Litter – Week Two

I can see the world now!


 “Peekaboo”

 The big news this week is that the puppies have opened their eyes. At this stage, they can only differentiate between light and dark, but the haze will clear up very quickly over the next week or so as they begin to experience normal sight. They can hear quite well as soon as their ears have opened. Now that they’re being so well fed with the all-day buffet that Hannah has provided, they’re a little quieter at night. That, of course was one of the conditions we gave Hannah in allowing her to remain in the bedroom.

 In order to accommodate the puppies’ rapid growth, we’ve raised the pig rails in their box up a notch. These are rails around the inside of the whelping box that are there to help prevent mom from accidentally squishing one of her kids. At some point during the coming week, the rails can safely be removed altogether. Now that the puppies are getting adept at staggering around, an extension will be added to the box soon which will give the gang lots more room to play in. That’s when the real fun begins!

 Hannah is an extremely dedicated mom and seldom leaves her puppies day or night; their plump, round bodies are a testament to that. Since their body temperatures will not have been regulated until after week three, the little gang relies on mom and each other for warmth. We use a heat lamp for good measure when mom’s on her break. As they lie there asleep, the puppies are constantly twitching. These involuntary actions, referred to as “activated sleep”, help strengthen their leg muscles allowing them to stagger along on all fours like imbibing sailors on shore leave.


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

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