Ticket had her pups this morning. She had 2 girls and 1 boy. The girls weighed about 6.75oz and the boy weighed in at a whopping 8.75oz.
Being so big the boy had a little problem entering the world and needed a little tug to see the light of day.
Mom and pups are doing fine.
The rest of the pictures can be seen in a larger size by clicking on the first one and sequence to the rest.
The boy has the tan coloured ears and dot on his back.
September 14, 2009
Mom and pups are doing great. Took advantage of the weighin to get some individual pictures of them. The boy is on the right. He weighed in at 9.25oz today and the girls were 7.5oz.
Ticket likes to pick the pups up in her mouth to move them around. We know this is perfectly normal but every time she does it we get nervous. She did it with her first born because I think she had a better idea where she wanted to be with her pups and it wasn't our nicely prepared whelping box. She had her eye on a spot under the bed. She is a great Mom with a lot of character so if the pups inherit this they will do well.
September 17, 2009
The pups are growing fast. The girls weigh 11.75oz and the boy weighs 14.75oz. At this rate they will more than double their weight in the first week.
They are moving around the pen by sliding on their belly and it is amazing how well they get around. At this stage they just sleep, find Mom, eat, and then back to sleep. Its great watching them search for Mom cause they can't see or hear yet. They are just little teat seeking missiles.
Their neurological stimulation started today and will continue for 2 weeks. We put the pups in predetermined positions for 3-5 seconds each. Stimulate between their toes with a q-tip, hold them in the palm of the hands on their back, head up, then head down. Lastly we place them on a cold wet cloth on their belly and feet. This has been used by the military to train their dogs and they feel it allows the dog to deal with stress easier as well as develop internal systems like heart and lungs earlier and stronger. They call it super dog training. Of course all our dogs are super, in our eyes, but it can't hurt to give them little boost.
Click on a thumbnail to see the larger pictures.
September 20, 2009
The pups are a week old now and have more than doubled their birth weight. They are still little eating and sleeping machines but as they get older they feed less and sleep more. As they get older they will eat less frequently and play longer. But even at 8 weeks they still sleep at least half the time. That is why we crate train our pups and stress to new owners that it is important for the pups to have a safe place where they won't be disturbed and can rest.
Their eyes will open this week followed by their ability to hear. When that happens they will begin standing a bit as they waddle around the whelping pen.
We keep the whelping room about 82F because until they are 2 weeks old they cannot regulate their own body temperature. They also don't p&p unless stimulated by mom's licking. Thats why it is important for the mom to be constantly fussing over the pups and licking them. Ticket is doing and excellent job of this.
Sept 29, 2009
The pups are 2 weeks old and progressing very quickly. We can't weigh them anymore because they are too active on the scale but suffice to say they are not missing any meals by the looks of them. They have almost completed their neurological stimulation and not fussing as much when put into the unusual positions.
Their eyes are open now and they should be able to hear in a couple of days. They are getting more mobile and starting to stand a bit. They are still mostly crawling yet but in a couple of days they will begin wobbly walking. By the end of the week they will likely be walking around pretty well and beginning to interact with one another. This is the time when rapid changes take place in their development and it is exciting to watch them experience new things.
The last picture is of their whelping pen. They have begun their potty training already. They will crawl out of the bed section and over to the metal part to have their pee. We will encourage this, and at about 4 weeks they should be ready for quick trips outside to do their business. By the time they are ready for their new homes they should be almost house trained as well as crate trained.
Their next big adventure will be brief trips out to the kitchen probably late this week.
October 2, 2009
The pups are starting to get real interesting now. They are wobbly walking around and starting to play with each other. They start by gumming each others ears or any other appendage that is available. The boy was the first one to bark at us when he heard us cooing at him.
The pictures are stills from the webcam we have set up in the whelping pen. We originally set up the camera to observe the moms giving birth without being in the room all the time. Some mom's would pay more attention to us than concentrate on giving birth so this was handy to keep an eye on the process and get in there when the birth was imminent.
Now we use it to keep an eye on them from the 2 computers set up in the house. As well as video it takes these still pictures.
The meal you see in some of the pictures is Tickets favourite mid day snack. She gets 3 large meals a day as well as treats and a hard boiled egg or two. The other 2 meals are large portions of puppy kibble. This gives her about 3 times the normal amount she would normaly get.
The cooked meal consists of a hamburger patty, a huge garlic clove, sweet potato and peas. All the ingredients are fresh from our kids farm except the peas. They have a CSA operation and if you are interested here it is.
October 4, 2009
The pups are 3 weeks old now and developing new skills every day. Their walking skills are getting better but they are still pretty wobbly. By 4 weeks they will be running around very well and we hope to get them out for long walks down the farm lane.
These pics were taken on their first trip out of their whelping pen to the wide open spaces of our living room. Typically they don't move around much the first few outings but will get more familiar with the freedom and begin to explore more each day. They were all settled down for a nap when Mom came in and that perked them up for a few more minutes. They spent only about 10 minutes in the LR before they wanted back to the comfort and familiarity of their whelping pen and a little snack from Mom.
With their hearing turned on they are starting to get vocal and will bark at us when we enter their room and talk to them. They are interacting with each other more and more each day and their play time is increasing as they are staying awake longer between feedings.
Their teeth are just barely starting to appear. When they have their teeth appear they are usually eager for solid food. This should happen later this week. I will document this event because it can be pretty funny as well as messy.
Mrs JRRanch has her eye on the little white girl to run on for show/breeding. Which means the boy and girl with the colour on her head will likely go to pet homes.
You may have noticed from the previous pictures that we have tentatively called the pups Tinker, Taylor and Trooper. Sticking with all "T" names like their Mom, Granny and Great Granny. The new owners can call their pup what they want but we think we will call the girl we run on Taylor.
October 9, 2009
The pups are making the trip to the kitchen 2-3 times a day now. They are growing more confident and exploring more each time. You can see from the pictures that they are exploring off their security blanket now. Soon they will need to be in their x-pen for their own safety. Too many places for injury like falling down the stairs.
They are playing and growling at each other much more now and their play lasts much longer. They still sleep much more than they are awake though.
Their first teeth are almost all showing now. Soon they will be ready for some sloppy puppy food. They will likely get a small bit of food at about 3 and a half weeks. By the time they are 4 weeks old they will likely be getting used to the once a day feedings and by 4 weeks they will progress to twice a day feedings. By 5 weeks they will be mostly weaned from Mom and she will start to get back in shape.
By 5 weeks they will be spending their entire day away from the whelping pen. They will be in an x-pen in the kitchen or on long walks down the farm lane. At about 6 weeks we will begin crate training by giving them meals alone in their crates and they will begin sleeping together in their crates. They will quickly progress to sleeping alone at night in their crates and by the time they are ready for their new homes they should be crate trained as well as mostly house trained.
In early November we will be going to Florida taking Liz's beautiful girl Ticket home. The pick pup will also go to Liz and that will likely be the mostly white girl.
October 12,2009
Lots of changes for the pups in the last couple of days.
The first 2 rows of pictures are of their first taste of solid food on Saturday. They did pretty well for the first time and then Mom came in to clean up their mess.
The first 2 pictures in the 3rd row are of their second feeding Sunday. They are just nibbling at the food so far but soon will be taking in more of the solid food as their time between feedings from Mom are extended.
Today(Monday) we started them in their x-pen in the kitchen. In their second session late morning they are more relaxed and played a bit then relaxed and took their nap. In a couple of days they will spend their whole day here with trips to outside for p&p if the weather permits.
If it warms up, we will put them in a pen on the deck for another new experience. We place the pen in front of the sliding glass door and it picks up the full sun and really gets warm there. Our summer litter eventually spent most of their day outsided in the fresh air.
October 14, 2009
The pups are away from Mom all day now but still only nibbling at their food. Expect them to get a hearty appetite for solid food real soon.
The pups are spending the whole day in the x-pen now. They are really getting relaxed in there as the first picture shows.
It was over 60F on the deck today so they spent a couple of hours out there mostly sleeping. Mom was keeping a watchful eye on her pups but wasn't allowed to nurse them. They didn't seem to mind and found all kinds of new things to experience.
They should be entirely weaned from Mom at the end of the weak and she can go on a normal diet and a slimming program. After about a week we will take her on walks with her pups and she won't have much milk if they try to sneak a drink.
We only have a couple of more weeks to share with this litter and we will really miss them because they are turning out to be real sweethearts just like Mom.
October 18, 2009
The pups are chowing down with gusto now. They finished every bit of their breakfast today. Yesterday they really began drinking water. Before yesterday they would stick their noses in the water and then walk around snorting. Mom only feeds them at bedtime for the last couple of days so they need to drink the water.
They have spent most of the last 3 sunny days outside on the deck. At about 10am its 60F there and it gets over 70 at noon. They love to nap in their tent. By 4 its getting too cold and they come in to the kitchen for the rest of the day.
They are doing almost all their p&p outside and we have very few messes in their x-pen. We put them outside at least every hour or when they wake up from a nap.
They are sleeping alone in the whelping pen at night without a peep. Soon we will start them in their crates. We will start by feeding them alone in their crates. Then we will put them in their for a noon nap for as long as we can take it. At night we will start them sleeping together in a crate. After a couple of days of that, we will put them in their own crate at night.
October 19 2009
These pups are making very fast progress to being self sufficient. Last night they slept in a crate together and didn't make a peep. Put them out at 6:00 when we got up and they did their business right away.
Later in the morning we took them for a walk on the farm lane and they did very well, following Mrs JRRanch and coming when called.
In a couple of days they will be eating meals in their own crate and sleeping alone at night in there as well.
In a couple of weeks they will be ready for their new homes.
October 25, 2009
The pups are maturing very quickly now. They have been sleeping in their own crates for the last 3 nights. They haven't lasted the whole night yet but as their bodies mature they will be able to hold on until morning. Last night for example they were put to bed about 10:00 and one of them had to go out at 11:00. They all then slept until about 5:00 when they had to go out again. We quickly learned the cry they make when they are just upset with being in the crate and the desperate cry for a potty break outside. In a couple more days they should be used to being alone in their crates at night and hopefully sleep right through.
They are gaining stamina daily and we take them for longer walks down the farm lane to tire them out and help develop their systems to maturity. The first several walks they stay very close to us. After about a week of this they are getting more adventurous and explore everything and we have to keep our eyes on them or they can be gone into the corn field in a flash.
The second video demonstrates the faux fighting they do a lot of at this stage. This is all part of their socialisation as they test each other and find out that they can't bully without their sibling fighting back and that it hurts to get bitten so maybe I shouldn't do it. Each day a different pup tries to be dominant but ends up being put in their place by the other pups.
Today we took a few short movies during the walk and posted them to YouTube for you to see. You can hear some of the older dogs barking from their kennels as they want to join the fun with the pups.
Mom's milk has almost dried up now so we should be able to take her on walks with her pups soon. She likes to run around their x-pen on the deck and play with them through the wire. I think she will really enjoy walks with her pups and will try to pass on some of her hunting skills.
