Skip to main content

Howie and Pepper Litter – Week Six

 

We're growing by the minute and cute as ever!

“The Amusement Park”

This has been a very well-behaved litter. They’re pretty quiet, play nicely with others and are very smart. Their ability to hit the mark in the restroom (the potty tray filled with shredded paper) is unprecedented. Sooner or later, it was bound to happen that some little culprits broke rank and marred their stellar reputation. The other day we found a little stuffed chick floating in the water bowl – the victim of an apparent hazing incident. We have no idea who instigated it and no one’s talking!

Mother Nature has been less than cooperative with the weather which has ranged from snowy/slushy rain to an extreme deep freeze. Normally, we’d have had a litter this age outside, so under the circumstances we had to be a bit creative, so we set up a fully decked out amusement park in the kitchen. The floor was lined with mats and towels. There were many stuffies, balls, a giant play station and a maze of tunnels. The first go-round was a big hit and by the second day everyone had lost all their inhibitions. They ran, played chase, stood and barked, bashed away at the dangling toys on the play station and ran through the tunnels. Not to be left out, Pepper acted as a mobile concession stand offering refreshments to all. At either end of the kitchen, we set up a feature they enjoyed almost more than anything – the love laps. We sat cross-legged while the pups sampled first one lap and then the other, offering nips, cuddles and kisses along the way. They had so much fun and were so spent that they began to drift off on the floor, one by one.

The pups now get three meals a day and the bowl they eat out of resembling a giant cowboy hat is typically licked clean to a polish. We do have to give Pepper a lot of credit since she keeps the milk bar open 24/7 for top-ups although we’re certain she relishes the break she gets from each puppy’s twenty-eight razor sharp teeth! Since everyone is growing so quickly, they need weekly grooming, and even the boys enjoy spa day with mani-pedis as much as the girls do. Of course, we’re not using colour on anyone just yet.

That’s it for now but be sure to join us next week for another engaging 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

Bronson and Tulip Litter – 7 weeks

We're 7 weeks old today! It has been an adventure-filled week! It was the puppies' first-time riding in a car! Introducing them to new experiences begins at this age. Rides in cars, sounds, meeting new people, etc. Our puppies are often taken to Home Depot, Winners, Homesense, Petsmart, and other pet-friendly stores after they receive their next set of vaccinations. While they still ride in the shopping cart, their horizons are broadening. We’ve expanded the puppies play area which is either in our kitchen, outside in the yard or on our porch depending on the weather. They enjoy playing together and are becoming more and more confident. Their play area includes toys an activity center, a crate, and tunnel.  Jolly Pets' Jolly Ball was a huge hit today. The puppies seemed to take turns carrying it! All of them weigh between 13 and 15 pounds. Their appetites are good, and momma Tulip occasionally stops by with a vanilla milkshake. Beef, turkey and chicken are among the protein...
Post a Comment
Read more