Taz is a great Mom and this was one of the most effortless whelpings we have been through.
In the afternoon Taz requested to go out several times in the process of cleaning herself out preparing for the birth. Each time she would drag us back inside and directly to her whelping pen. No mistaking something was up.
Around 6pm she started to get contractions and quickly popped out the first pup. She proceeded to deliver the rest at regular 45min intervals. Taz is a real pro and she pretty much guided us through the whole process. Touch wood, but this easy birthing doesn't happen often.
Taz and her pups are doing excellent.
June 14, 2009
The pups are 3 days old today and doing very well. The smallest girl didn't gain weight the first day but has made up for that since then. It is not uncommon for them to not gain for a day after the stress of their birthing. We check their weight every day to make sure they are making progress and to quickly catch a problem if one is not doing well.
For the first week or so we keep the whelping pen at about 80F. The pups cannot regulate their own body temp until around 2 weeks so they can get chilled easily until then.
Here are some head shots of the pups. The first one is the boy.
The pups are growing steady and twitching strongly as they sleep. They grow so fast that they twitch as their nervous system grows and this is a good sign.
They will get their tails and dew claws done today and they will start their neurological stimulation( super dog training) tomorrow. Will explain more on this in the next report.
June 12, 2009
JRRanch would like to announce the birth of their latest litter.
Boomerang was selected for breeding to Taz because of his outstanding pedigree, small size, exceptional angulation, excellent coat and great temperament.
This should match well with Taz's attributes and produce some excellent pups.
June 18,2009
The pups are 1 week old now. They have doubled their birth weight and are sporting big bellies.
They are progressing well with their neurological stimulation. The theory is that it prepares them to handle stress better as well as many other functions. We can see their improved reactions as the first few days they cry when they are put into the unfamiliar positions but quickly learn to relax. The stimulation involves putting the pups in different positions for 3-5 seconds each. The positions are: hold the pup in the palms of your hands with head and body straight up, head and body straight down, flat on their back, tickle between the toes with a q tip and lastly, feet down on a cool wet cloth. This is repeated every day for 2 weeks.
The pups eyes should open at around 14 days followed by hearing a couple of days later. Currently they do the belly crawl to get around and find Mom to eat. Then they sleep an hour or so until they get hungry for their next meal. When their eyes open we will see progress in their mobility and they will stand up more when moving. At about 3 weeks they should be scooting around their whelping pen and interacting with each other more.
June 27, 2009
The kids are progressing very well. Can't weigh them anymore because they won't stay on the scale. Suffice to say that they are not missing any meals judging from their wide bodies.
Their eyes were open at 2 weeks and today they are telling us they can hear by responding to Mrs JRRanch cooing at them. When they hear they also get more vocal so a lot more noise coming from their room. They would probably make good politicians because they just like to hear their own voice.
We removed the tray in the whelping pen which kept them on the bed and didn't allow them to fall through the sides when they are small enough to get through. They are starting to move around more and are taking side trips to the uncovered side of their pen. Soon they will be going over there to pee and this will be the first step in house training.
In a couple of days we will see more interaction and then playing amongst the pups. They will begin to walk more upright and get around much better. They will also stay awake a little longer after each feeding and do more exploring of their pen.
At around 3 weeks we will take them for their first trip to the kitchen to run around. They will spend increasing time in the kitchen until about 5 weeks when they will spend most of their day in the kitchen and only go back to their whelping pen for the night.
Then they will be ready for their first trip outside and an x-pen we have setup in a shaded area of the deck. We will start walks down the farm lane by 6 weeks. With several walks at strategic times during the day they will become trained to do their p&p outside.
The timing of these events will depend on their ability to move to the next step. Each litter is a little different in their progress so we let them tell us by their actions when they are ready for the next challenge.
July 3, 2009
The pups are 3 weeks old now. They are getting around their whelping pen much better and almost upright when they walk. They are playing with each other and getting the growlies.
Its fun to watch them now since they change a bit each day. Their personalities are starting to develope and you can tell a couple of them by the sound of their voice. Their playing is just muzzle and ear gumming with little growls. Soon the faux combat will involve a bit more running and chasing with more vocals.
The pictures are of their first trip to a blanket in the living room. They will make this trip every day now. The first trip only lasts about 5 minutes before they start to cry and shake. They don't move around too much yet either. The next trips will get increasingly longer and as they gain confidence and coordination they will move around more. When they really start to explore, in about a week, they will need to go into the x-pen for their own protection and our sanity. Its tough trying to catch a bunch of pups all going in the opposite directions, under furniture, near stairs etc.
Now is the time of their biggest demand on Mom's milk and Taz has no problem with supply. As their teeth develope we will introduce them to some sloppy puppy food. This should happen soon after they are 4 weeks old.
So far the pups have been mostly handled by Taz with the feeding and cleanup chores. This will slowly evolve to our job and Taz will want to spend more time away from the pups.
July 6, 2009
What a change in 3 days. This is their fourth time out to the living room and already they are starting to get into trouble. You can see they are standing more upright now and walking around very well. The long haired one had to be rescued from beneath the sofa. Their teeth are emerging so we will start them on some sloppy puppy food this week. Check back for pictures of this event.
July 12, 2009
These pictures were taken over the last 3 days. It shows their rapid progression from hesitant wandering about the kitchen to having fun tenting on the deck.
In the first 3 pictures taken July 10 they are in the kitchen for a brief 10 minutes.
In the next 5 pictures July 11 they are in their x-pen in the dining room. They spent several 1 hour sessions here during the day. They made great progress this day and really got into playing and moving about their enclosure with more confidence.
Today they spent the whole morning in the dining room x-pen with a half hour trip to the x-pen on the deck. After inspecting the outside they had a little nap in their tent. When they woke up they were given their first bowl of water and they all had a little drink.
At their feeding this morning they all ate a little more solid food. Each day they will eat a bit more until they are getting most of their nourishment from the solid food fed twice a day. They will probably be weaned totally from Mom by the end of the week.
Update: Couldn't resist taking these last 3 pictures this evening of the pups taking a nap in their tent on a cute bed.
July 9, 2009
This is their first feeding of solid food. They all had a bit and when they were done we let Mom in to show them how it is done. The pups were quite impressed that Mom ate all that up and were watching her and learning.
Eventually their appetite for solid food will take over and Mom can take a break from the regular feedings.
July 13, 2009
The pups are spending almost all day on the deck or in the dining room now. They are really gaining confidence and are really tearing around and playing in their enclosures. Mom only feeds them 3 times a day now and they are tasting their solid food but not really eating much yet.
July 16, 2009
The pups took their first walk down the lane yesterday afternoon. They had a lot of fun and followed Mrs JRRanch very closely. As they get older they will get bolder and explore a lot on their own. Thats when it will take 2 of us to keep track of them. They could easily get lost in the corn fields if we don't keep a close eye on them.
We will take the pups for a walk down the farm lane at least twice a day from now on. This will develope their coordination and replace a bit of baby fat with muscles.
The pups are 5 weeks old today and to celebrate the ocasion they tucked in to a hearty breakfast. This was their first full meal. They will not get fed by Mom at noon but will stay on the deck or dining room all day. This evening they will get another meal and later in the evening they will be put with Mom for a little late night snack before bedtime.
In a few days they will be totally weaned from Mom and she can go back to her regular routine. A few days after weaning we will take Mom with us on the walks. We won't let her feed them any longer but she can still help a bit with their socialization.
July 18, 2009
The pups slept alone last night after their evening snack from Mom.
Not a peep out of them all night and their were no messes in their whelping pen. They went out first thing and did their p&p then they had a hearty breakfast. Spent most of the day in their x-pen on the deck.
They should be totally weaned from Mom tomorrow. It around 6 weeks they will start their crate training. They will sleep in them at night and get all their meals in the crate. By the time they are ready for their new homes they should be crate trained and mostly house trained.
July 20, 2009
The kids are listening to a CD with barking dogs, car horns, sirens, thunder and a lot of other loud sounds they will hear later in life. It is too quiet on the farm to teach them this.
Hopefully hearing loud sounds later will not frighten them and allow them to take them in stride.
The picture was taken when the barking dog CD was playing and it certainly got their attention.
July 27, 2009
Mom came for a visit today. You can tell from the smile on her face that she is very happy with the progress her pups are making. After a few maulings from the pups I think she is relieved to be away from them most of the time now.
It was raining but this didn't dampen their spirits and they all got ran around oblivious to the weather. They also ran full speed under the cars and bumped their heads several times when they forgot to duck. They got their tails and backs covered with mud from the cars.
The pups have settled into a daily routine now. Up before 6am and immediately outside for p&p. Then they get breakfast and depending on the weather spend their morning outside on the deck. Around noon they get a little snack of yogurt. They also go on several walks during the day and are very hungry around 5pm when they demand their supper. Several more trips to the deck until about 10pm when they are put to bed together in their whelping pen.
This week we will start crate training by feeding them in their crates and then putting them to bed in pairs in crates for a few nights before graduating to sleeping alone in their crates at night.
Aug 3, 2009
The pups have reached their last stage of crate training. They are fed both meals in their individual crates and sleep all night(almost). They last until about 4am then they need to go out. Each day their little systems last a bit longer and we are hopeful they will sleep in to 6am soon.
The picture of them in their crates was taken at noon when they have a little treat and a nap. We set up the crates in the kitchen so they will get used to the activity when they are in their crates. At first they cry with any activity but eventually they get used to it and can sleep through the banging of loading the dishwasher.
Tonight they went for a long walk then had their supper. They had about a 1/2 hour nap in their crates before they reminded us thet they had to go out for their p&p.
They have not had one accident in the crates yet.
When they go on their walks now they are getting very bold and adventurous. They also eat everything in sight, grass, leaves, worms, pine cones. Sometimes we can catch them before they swallow but mostly all this stuff goes down the hatch. Hopefully they will become a little more discriminating in their eating habits. We really do feed them.... honest.
We will do temperament testing on the pups this week to try to determine each pups suitability for their new homes. We also have to decide if their is one that we should run on in our show/breeding program.
Aug 6, 2009
Sad day for us. Two of the pups went to their new homes. The other 2 will be going to their new homes soon as well. One(no body colour) will be going to a show/breeding home in the US.
The hairy girl, Agnes (aka Aggie) and the boy, Bounder, went home today. The picture of the boy behind our motorhome is how he got his name.
All the pups have excellent families for their new homes and I am sure they will be very happy. It just makes us sad to have to part with them. This was an excellent litter and we had a lot of joy helping them find their way in the world.
Good luck kids. Don't forget to come back to the farm and visit with your Granny and Grumpy.
Aug 8, 2009
Took the two remaining pups to Rob and Deb's Rat Day today.
They had a lot of fun playing on the agility equipment and the go to ground tunnels. They met lots of new dogs and got cuddled by lots of new people. They took it all in stride.
We let them see the rat up close and their response was true Jack Russell.
Just wanted to share a couple of videos of them. First time posting videos so I hope this goes OK.
