JRRanch-Charlie-Pups

July 19 2014

Charlie had 3 girls and one boy early this morning. After going through the early stages for almost half the previous day she started contractions about 3:30am. She delivered her last pup just after 5am so for a first time Mom she did very well. The pups are all a nice size from 5.5 to 6.5oz

Mom and pups are doing very well and the pups are quickly filling their bellies cause Mom has a good supply of milk.

Mom getting a little quiet time after a long night and the pups are feeding constantly.

Check back often as we will be adding to this page with pictures and descriptions of their progress.

You can also watch the pups live on the JRRanch Puppy Cam. I think we will try to have it live 8-10, 12-2 and 6-9 every day. If you want to see it at a specific time just give us a call.

You can click on a thumbnail below for a larger pictures.

The boy is easy to spot. He is the one with the most colour on his body.

July 26, 2014

We would have updated sooner but we have had some excitement the last few days.

Wed. night we noticed that BS(Bum Spot) had not gained weight and Thur. she lost some. Thurs. nite she was breathing hard and raspy.

We took her to the vet first thing Friday and he x-rayed her and gave her an enema as well as tubing down her throat to relieve gas but nothing proved conclusive so he sent her home with some antibiotic.

We also started to supplement her with goats milk via an eye dropper. One drop on her tongue at a time. She responded very quickly and by this morning she was breathing well and feeding off Mom with gusto.

We don't name the pups but we have to identify them for weighing etc so we have BS(bum spot) NBC(no body colour) and RSS(right shoulder spot) for the girls and the boy just gets called da boy.

This picture shows BS getting caught up on her feeding while one of the fatties sleeps on her back.

Hope everything is back to normal now and we can relax and let Mom do her job.

July 28, 2014

Hope to get more regular updates now that the excitement with BS is done.

Today she was up about 2oz and eating with gusto so whatever the problem was it looks like we have it solved. She is still very feisty and gives me a hard time giving her medication.

We removed the whelping box today so they can wander over to the uncovered side of the whelping pen. They quickly adapted to this as the boy immediately hung his head over the edge. They will start to pee on the uncovered side and avoid messing their bedding and this is the start of their potty training.

Their eyelids are getting more defined and they should open between 12-14 days. When that happens they will get more mobile and when their hearing starts a few days later they will get more vocal.

July 31, 2014

Here are some head shots of the pups. You can see their eyes are beginning to open. With their eyesight they will begin standing and walking around. Now the fun starts as they begin to explore their new world.

Their ears are starting to fall down also and they will begin to hear shortly. They will be able to hear their own voices and will be so impressed they will show off their new abilities at every opportunity.

Also their noses are getting blacker and by the time they are weaned they should be all black.

In the last picture you can see the increase in their size relative to Mom.

Aug 8, 2014

The pups are 3 weeks old now. Most are walking pretty well and we are seeing a bit of playing.

They still mostly eat and sleep but they now take short period of walking and playing.

Later next week they may be ready for their first short trip to the living room.

Today they got their first worming and had their claws trimmed. We will worm them again in 10 days.

The pups will develop quickly now as they gain independence. Lots more opportunities for pictures for these updates.

Aug 18, 2014

The first 4 pictures were taken on the 14th on their third trip out of their whelping pen.

The next pictures were taken on the 18th where they have graduated to the x-pen in the kitchen. They spend all day in the kitchen now. They get 3 meals a day here and have gradually built up their intake of solid food. The little girl was the first to eat heartily and surprisingly the big boy is holding out for Mom's milk.

They took to the change to the kitchen with ease. They are not bothered by us walking around them or all the noises in the kitchen. We will sometimes bang a pot or make noises just to condition them to their surroundings and none of them are startled.

Aug 13, 2014

The pups made their first trip out of their whelping pen last night and this morning. They did very well and this morning really explored.

By the end of the week we will likely need to put them in their whelping pen in the kitchen for their safety and our sanity.

Aug 21, 2014

The pups will be 5 weeks old tomorrow.

They are almost on their own now. They spend the whole day in the x-pen in the kitchen. We feed them 3 meals a day in the x-pen. All are eating well now so Mom not really needed anymore but we put her with them at bedtime for about an hour for a late night snack. Then they sleep through the night alone with no fuss. By the weekend they will be fully weaned. Mom visits them in the pen and they acknowledge her but don't whine to be fed by her.

Their next big adventure will be to spend some time outside on the deck. Next update will have pictures of this weather permitting.

Aug 22, 2014

The pups are spending a lot of time on the deck now. They are eating heartily and the little one is the most aggressive eater as she really gets into it.

They also like their walks down the farm lane or just horsing around in the grass.

Aug 25, 2014

On Sunday the kids and grand kids came over and the pups got lots of socializing. This will happen a couple more times before they go to their new homes so they should be used to meeting new people and being handled.

Monday friends came over to visit their new pup and introduce their big dog to the pups. They hit it off very well. Not sure who the leader will be with this pair but the pup showed no fear and their Golden Retriever Merlot put up with the pups antics.

Also Cassie, from Katie's litter last year, paid us a visit and loved the new pups.

The pups are being introduced to lots of new situations and are handling it all very well.

Aug 29, 2014

The pups are 6 weeks old now. They are getting into a very comfortable schedule.

They usually wake around 6am (no messes in the whelping pen through the whole night!)

They immediately go outside for their p&p.

Then they have breakfast in their crates ( the first step in crate training) and when done go back outside.

Weather permitting they spend most of the time outside or in their x-pen in the kitchen.

They get a light lunch of yogurt in their crates then outside again.

They get their supper around 6pm in their crates.

At 10-11pm they go out for their last p&p and then into their whelping pen for the night.

Rinse and repeat :)

Just when they are getting comfortable with this schedule we are going to throw another challenge at them. Tonight we will pair them up to spend the night in their crates. We will start 2 to a crate for several nights then just when they are comfortable with that we will put them in their own crates for the night.

This is the time when we may lose a little sleep again as the pups rebel at being split up.

However being split up for the night is good training for when they go to their new homes and no longer have their siblings for support.

Sep 1, 2014

The pups are progressing very well. They have been sleeping alone in their crates for a couple of days and when we put them to bed around 11pm we hear no complaining. They do wake us up usually before 6am to go immediately outside for their p&p.

When they are in the x-pen in the kitchen they will often ask to be let out when they need to go so they are almost potty trained. We keep the pee pad in the x-pen and they use that regularly also.

The little girl had a bit of a flare up of her swollen gland problem when we tapered off her steroids. So we went back one step in her treatment and she has progressed. Looks like we will have to continue treatment a bit longer than expected. We have been assured that once she has this problem beaten she will not suffer any long term effects or lingering problems.

She will likely remain smaller than the other pups but she is still as active as the rest and eats heartily. She lost some of the little squabbles with her siblings in the past but like a true Jack she is showing that size means nothing to her and she has turned the tables on them lately and now they think twice before picking on her.

Sep12, 2014

We constantly try to find new and challenging things for them to do. The pups are growing fast and learning every day. They spend as much of the day outside as possible. At least 3 long walks(for them) every day. We probably go about 1/2 mile every walk so with all their darting about that probably amounts to 2 miles a day at least. Quite a bit for their short legs. A tired Jack Russell is a good Jack Russell.