Emmylou had her pups early this morning. She had 3 girls and 2 boys. They were all breach birth and one had to be aspirated to get fluid out of its mouth before it would start breathing. Some of them look a little purple as a result. This will turn to the normal puppy pink by tomorrow. The pups are all on the large side (7.5 - 8 oz.) and are all feeding vigorously. These pictures were taken about an hour after the last birth. Emmylou is resting now and the pups are tanking up non stop. Will get some head shots in a couple of days. Check back often as we post updates regularly and give a little narrative of their progress.
Dec 14, 2006 evening
Couldn't resist sharing this picture. We have to change the bedding a couple of times a day at this stage. In order to do this we have to move the pups out of the whelping pen for awhile. Friends brought this cute bed for the puppies and I had to capture their first use of it. Thanks for the lovely gift Marie and Bente the puppies like it already.
December 15,2006
The pups gained about 1oz today. This is good since the first day after birth we expect some to stay the same. The pups only eat and sleep at this stage. When they sleep they twitch a lot. They will sleep in a little pile and the constant twitching is quite a sight. The twitching tells us that they are healthy and growing. They twitch as their nervous system grows and sometimes the twitches are quite strong with their leg kicking out or their head jumping off the bed.
December 16,2006
The pups had tails docked and dew claws removed last night. When this is done at this age they don't feel much and it only feels like a pinch to them. Right after it is done the pup has forgotten it and is looking for its next meal. The pups weigh from 8.75 to 10.25oz. this morning.
December 17,2006
The pups weighed between 9.25 and 11.25oz. this morning. We are seeing some differences in size and activity develop.
December 18, 2006
The pups are growing fast and eating with real gusto now. Poor Emmylou, they really attack her teats. The pups weighed in at between 10.5 and 12.8 oz this morning. We will continue to take their weight every day for a couple of weeks. This can give us an early indication if one of them is not progressing and we can get the pup into the vet for quick diagnosis. At day 3 we also started Bio-Sensory stimulation. This is a set of 5 3-5 second stimulations we do on each pup. They are held upside down, on their back, head up, tickle feet with q-tip and set down on a cold cloth. This is done every day for 12 days. Observed benefits have been: improved cardiovascular performance, stronger heartbeats, stronger adrenal glands, more tolerance to stress and greater resistance to disease.
In the pictures below the 2 boys are on the left and the 3 girls on the right. Their eyes will open at about 2 weeks and their hearing will begin to function a few days after that. The pups are all tri colour and we expect their heads to fade in colour to about what mom looks like. Their body colour typically stays black. You can also see their noses, which started pink, are starting to turn black.
Dec 20, 2006
A couple of more pictures to show the puppies growth. They are growing steadily at 12.3 to 15.3 oz. today. The two heavier pups at birth are now stretching out their weight difference with the smaller three. The bigger ones are one male and one female so it looks like one of the males may be small like pappa. He's the one with the large blaze second from the left above.
The pictures below were taken when the pups were out of their whelping pen to get their bedding changed. This has to be done only once a day now because mom has no more discharge and she is keeping the puppies very clean. At this age they don't p&p until stimulated by mom who then immediately cleans it up. This was necessary in the wild so predators couldn't smell the puppy den. The whelping pen is kept at 85F because the pups can't regulate their own temperature until they are about 3 weeks old. This is on the border of being uncomfortable for mom so we will slowly lower the temp after 2 weeks. By 3 weeks we should have it at normal room temperature in their pen. This is about the time they will start getting real active as well.
Dec 23, 2006
Just got back from a 3 day trip to Kentucky. Thanks to Benta and Marie for puppysitting for us. They stayed at the farm and looked after all our animals allowing Mrs JRRanch and I to take a little trip together. Marie got to see a new born goat kid while we were away. The pups are doing very well and are starting to lift their heads up more.
Dec 26, 2006
The pups eyes are beginning to open. In a couple of days all of them will have their eyes open. They are starting to rise up more into a walking position. Still a belly crawling walk but as soon as they see better they will start to get around with more confidence. They will likely begin to hear by the end of the week. Mostly they just sleep and twitch a lot. Their waking moments are mostly taken up by searching for mom and eating.
Dec 28, 2006
Three of the pups have their eyes fully open now and the other two are just starting to open. It is normal that they all don't develop at the same rate. I expect they will all be fully seeing in a few days. When this happens they start to get around much more. The pups now fill this little bed. The 2 boys are on the right and the 3 girls below.
Dec 30, 2006
All but one pup have their eyes open. They are raising up and getting around more. In these pictures they are trying to climb out of their bed. The one on the right has just started to get its eyes open and will be getting around like the others tomorrow. In the next week they will really start to make progress. By the end of the week they may be ready for their first trip outside the whelping room. When they reach 3 weeks they will be able to regulate their own temperature and will be hardy enough for new experiences. A few of them can hear a bit now and they should all be hearing by monday.
Mrs JRRanch and I will have a very quiet New Years waiting for Taz to give birth. Will start her page when the event happens.
Jan 1, 2007
Back to the puppies. You can see the progress the pups are making from todays pictures. They are standing up more and getting around with more co-ordination. They are also hearing now. When we enter their room they can hear the door opening and all their heads pop and a couple give a little yip to greet us. By the end of the week the whelping pen will seem confining to them and they will be ready for their first trip to the kitchen.
Jan 4, 2007
The pups are almost 3 weeks old now.They are walking pretty well and starting to play. They are gumming each others legs or muzzles and growling in mock battle. Very soon now they will get their first outing to the kitchen. Pictures of that event will be posted.
This picture gives you an idea of their whelping pen. One side is covered with soft bedding and covered with an old sheet. The other side is left uncovered. We find that at this age they start to prefer to p&p on the left side of their pen keeping their bedding dry and clean. This is their first step in potty training. After they have had their first shot and if it is warm enough, we will take them outside to p&p every time they wake up or hourly. We have had great success doing this and many puppy owners tell us they are house trained when they get them at 8 weeks.
Jan 6, 2007
The pups are 3 weeks old and ready for their first trip outside their whelping pen. Most pups are a little timid at this time and are a bit overwhelmed by the wide open spaces. A couple of these kids did that but the other three started exploring right away. We will take them out each day and get them used to walking in a larger environment. Each outing will increase in length and in a few days they will be up to 15 minutes before they have had enough. In about a week they will need to be kept in the x-pen because we won't be able to control them and protect them from falling down stairs and other normal hazards in the house. They are too young and vulnerable to take outside yet. Weather permiting we may be able to get them outside for a brief period in a couple of weeks.
Jan 12, 2007
This is the pups second time eating solid food. They are very good eaters and needed no encouragement to dig in. They start as nice polite eaters on the right. Then they really get into their food below. In very short time they have almost finished their food and only a couple of pigs are left at the trough. The rest are cleaning up the bits of food they have strewn around in their feeding frenzy.
We feed them once a day for a couple of days to allow their systems to get used to solid food. Then we progress to twice a day and access to mom will be limited to 3 times a day. After a few days we will limit mom to being with her kids only at night. By the end of next week they will be completely weaned and spending most of their day in the x-pen in the kitchen. Mrs JRRanch is sad when we have to wean the pups from mom but Emmylou doesn't mind. She is starting to get overwhelmed by being with this rambunctious lot all day long. She enjoys being away from them for longer periods now. After they are weaned mom and pups will get together for walks outside if the weather allows. This will allow mom to teach the kids a few last social skills. Then it will be up to ourselves, friends and grand kids to finish the socializing before they go to their new homes.
Jan 14, 2007
We started giving mom some time away from the pups. Here they are at right alone in their whelping pen. Neither mom or the pups mind being separated.
Later the same day we set up an x-pen in the kitchen (the bottom pictures). Once again they don't seem to be phased by this at all. They sleep most of the time. When they wake up they p&p all over the place and we have to be quick to clean it up to avoid a real mess. They play for 10-15 minitues and sleep for an hour.
Jan 16, 2007
The pups are spending their whole day in the x-pen in the kitchen. This is good training for them to experience the normal commotion in the house. They are completely weaned from mom as of last night. Emmylou was real happy to get back to her kennel and all her friends. Omen made a big fuss over her when she arrived. We will bring her back to visit with her pups in a few days after her milk has dried up.
Jan 20, 2007
Someone's at the door!!! Who is it?
It's Mrs JRRanch and she brought a new toy for us. Everyone chew on the new toy together. Lets see if we can tear it apart in record time.
These kids are spending their whole day in the x-pen in the kitchen. They are getting used to all the traffic and noise. When they get tired they have no problem taking a nap right here. They still spen their nights in their whelping pen. In a few days we will start them sleeping in a crate at night. They will have a partner at first and when they get used to that, we will put them in their own crate at night. Hopefully, by the time they are ready to go to their new homes, they will be fully crate trained.
Jan 23, 2007
The puppies spent a few minutes outside yesterday for the first time. Today it was much warmer and they were outside several times for a few minutes at a time. They go on our deck in front of the sliding glass door which gets very warm when the sun shines. We piled up some snow into a mound and they love to climb on it and play king of the hill. The larger black and white pup is from a previous litter. She is small for her age and gets along well with these kids. She gives this litter someone more experienced to show the way in new situations and has sped up their transition to doing their p&p outside. They go outside for a few minutes every hour for p&p and have had very few accidents inside since they have been going on the deck. The fresh air also tires them out and they crash shortly after their time on the deck.
Jan 25, 2007
The pups are getting very close to being house trained now. They woke us up at about 2:30 this morning asking to be put out to p&p. They went right back to their whelping pen for the rest of the night after doing their business. Mrs JRRanch was very proud of her babies for doing this. Today was -20c and they still want outside for a couple of minutes regularly. We keep an eye on them every minute they are outside to make sure we bring them in at the first sign of them getting cold. Even in this cold they want to play on their little mountain. When they come back in we always reward them with a little cookie and they will remind us if we forget.
Feb 5, 2007
It been too cold to get pictures outside and they can't stay out for more than a couple of minutes. After going outside then a flurry of playing in their x-pen this is their most familiar pose. They are getting very good at asking to be put out if we leave it too long and we only have the occasional mess in their pen. We have had a bug go through this litter. They get an upset stomach for about a day and then they are back to normal. We can't figure out why and our vet is stumped. It doesn't seem to bother them much as they bounce right back the next day. So far four of them have been affected. We just hope the medicine we have them on will stop it from progressing to the last pup and the younger litter.
They are sleeping in their own crate at night now. We had very little trouble getting them accustomed to sleeping on their own. When they go to their new homes they will be completely crate trained.
March 6, 2007
Most of the pups have gone to new homes or have been commited to breeding/show homes. The boy top left (Lucas) and the girl bottom (Emma) will be staying here for awhile and hopefully enter our breeding program. The boy top middle (Cooper) will be going to his home this Saturday. The girl top right (Fuzzy?) will be going to her home in New Mexico next week. The small girl in the middle (Sizzle) is from the Taz litter and she is a couple of weeks younger. She will be going to her new home in Las Vegas next week. We will be driving down to New Mexico for a little vacation. When we get back we will only have 2 pups left and that will be a sad relief.
