Visitors

Today the pups met had more visitors, Chris and Nick!  They enjoyed all of the attention, as did Tilly and Maddie.  Trio & Eve had Rally training with the girls so weren't able to meet them which was a shame, they will have the pleasure of meeting them when they next visit though.

Never mind my lunch - I want my teddy

Oh, that looks good fun.  Introducing a fleece tuggy to them

A happy, tired Buffy after charming the visitors

Finally managed to get some pics of the pups outside!  I don't know how anyone can raise a litter without the support of at least two other people!  The girls (Tasha & Eleanor) took the pups out on to the grass for a short time whilst I sorted out the box.  The sun was out, which was a blessing but the grass was still a bit damp so they weren't out for long.  Between the girls they managed to keep an eye on their exploits and take a few pics.

Play Time

The weather has been rather good the last few days, but not quite warm enough for the pups to go outside for any length of time.  Call me an over-protective mum but I'd rather keep them indoors than have them unhappy outside for any length of time.  They have been going out for a short while each day whilst I strip the whelping box - this normally coincides with their lunch so they have something nice to look forward to when they do go out.  We have put up a puppy pen on the patio so I can keep an eye on them from the house.  Today the girls took them on to the grass for a quick sniff around - the grass is rather long after the wet warm weather that we've had this autumn and they looked rather lost out there.

 

Jack & Pumpkin - one little bite deserves one back

Jack showing off with his balancing skills

All tired out after some play time

You make such a comfy bed!

Please play with me?

I love my teddy - Buffy

Four Weeks

All going well here, with the lovely pups growing well and becoming much more mobile.

They have been outside today and yesterday for a short while each day - this has given me the opportunity to give the box a good clean out and freshen up before they come back in again.  They haven't been terribly keen on the routine, but this will get better as they get used to this.  I haven't been to worried about their dislike, it's always a bit difficult when the weather isn't as warm.  The weather looks to be dry, and we might even get some sun over the weekend so hope to continue with this for now.

Weaning has continued, and they are now on three feeds which will increase to four over the weekend.  The food hasn't been blended to the same degree as at the start and this has been tolerated well with them all.  Water has been added to the whelping box now that weaning has begun, and is a constant battle to keep the box dry as they tend to walk straight through it wetting everything in the box.  The pups are obviously doing well on the food as Tilly has turned her nose up at food offered to her this week, those that know Tilly will know how significant this is!

Feeding time - table manners improving, but need to work on the paddling!

Normal home routines are continuing and as the pups are growing they're becoming more aware of what is happening around them. 

Yes, you carry on vacuuming, we'll just wait till you've finished till be go back to sleep!

Pippi & Jack


 

Toller Roaching

All good toller pups need to spend a bit of time perfecting the best toller roaching position!  For some odd reason this breed loves to roach on its back, today the pups have been putting in some practice.

Pippi

And Buffy roaching

Tilly came out with us for her first proper walk since having the pups, and had a thoroughly good time.  It's so nice to see her joining in with the other dogs as the pups are getting more independent.

Hi mum, where have you been???

Looking a bit crowded there now.

Worming!

Well today is day three of the worming regime, and boy do they learn fast!

The first time they were quite obliging, happy to have some cuddles but not so happy to have the worming dose.  The second day, they were less inclined to let me part their lips to put the syringe in their mouths.  Today, it was as if they had had their jaws wired together they knew full well that the feel of the syringe meant the a worming dose was coming their way.  I'm sure that this episode will be quickly forgotten, lots of cuddles given and a drink from mum certainly helped.

Weaning is continuing to be a messy affair, not that we'd expect anything different at this stage.  They now know what the bowl is and what to expect from this.  We will introduce individual bowls later in the week, this will make it easier to ensure that all get their fair share.

Rather hard to work out where one starts and another ends!

Happy content pups

Puppy Pile!

Weaning - Let The Fun Begin!

Now that they have reached the grand age of 3 weeks, weaning commences.  Such a huge milestone in their little lives and marks the transition of them maturing and becoming more independent.

They have been fed puppy food (Fish4Dogs) which has been soaked in hot water, blended with a little goats milk added.  We begin by having quite a liquid consistency and gradually make it thicker until the pups are then able to eat the dry food.  Feeding from a bowl is such a big skill to learn, as you'll see from the pictures and is so similar to weaning babies. All they want to do is play in the food to begin with!

We start them off just having a taste of the food, gradually increasing the amounts and adding another feed until they're on four feeds a day.  To begin with they have their food in a small shallow bowl that they all share, it's more about the experience to begin with, and with an inquisitive nature the pups want to see what the others are doing.  As they become more accustomed to food times individual bowls will be added to ensure that they all get their allocated amount.

What on earth is that!

Curiosity gets the better of them

Rather nice, lets share nicely

You lick it off my ear, & I'm lick it off your nose!

Looking rather pleased with themselves, and rather messy!

Always rely on mum to clean up, and have a bit of milk whilst she's busy.

Whilst the human mum tidies the box up and changes our bed, now time for a snooze

Lots of Cuddles

The pups are much more mobile now, and so much fun to watch.  We have had to add on an extra panel to the whelping box as it was looking very likely that one was likely to make an exit sooner or later!

They've been much harder to weigh the last few times as they've become increasingly wriggly in the box that we weigh them in.  I don't think my current scales will register the weights soon either!

Trio keeping a watchful eye on the pups

Add caption

Cuddles with Christopher & Eleanor

Sweet dreams

Individual Pics

Today we have again weighed the pups, who are continuing to grow at a rate of knots!  They will be wormed this coming week and weaning will begin - exciting times ahead, and maybe a little messy!

The pups have all been introduced to collars today, on the whole they don't seam to have noticed at all.  They are paper collars (similar to ID child bracelets) that will break apart if they come under pressure and perfect for puppy identification.  They also have the benefit of being suitable of being written on - so each puppy is named on the collar and has an individual code.  As the puppies are more mobile this is a great way of telling them apart quickly and without having to keep picking them up to see their individual markings. 

As can be seen from the pics, some pups were better at sitting and watching, than others who wanted to sleep, sniff or have an explore. 

Anyway, hope you enjoy.


Foxy

Pippi



Buffy



Pumpkin



Spell



Jack

Up Date

Sorry for not posting, we've been having a few problems with the internet. 

It has been a busy few days though, as the puppies have grown they've started to get a bit big in the whelping box and we didn't want any to get stuck behind the rails in the box, so the rails have been removed.  Nails have had to be clipped again so will stop them making Tilly sore whilst they're feeding. 

Their sense of smell became incredibly obvious yesterday!  Tilly was in the box sleeping with the pups at the other side also sleeping whilst I was vacuuming.  I picked up Tilly's bed and draped it over the box entrance to vacuum underneath it.  The bed was nearer to the pups than Tilly was, they all woke almost instantly and clambered over to the bed trying to nuzzle it.  Tilly was looking on so bemused by the situation, I had to remove the bed as they were getting cross at not having any milk!!  Thankfully Tilly obliged with the feeding.