Wootinhille Tess X Shelmar Tobias
pups born April 15, 2009
Last updated : June 1, 2009
April 15, 2009
Tess had her pups very early today.
Big thank you to Dr Les for taking the late night call and shortly after delivering all these pups by C-Section.
Mom and pups are all fine. Three girls and 2 boys between 6 and 9 oz. at birth.
Tess is doing a great job and is very proud of her pups. The pups are growing plump now.
Did the tails and dew claws today - April 18.
In a couple of days they will start their Neurological Stimulation to turn them into SUPER Pups.
Click on the first thumbnail to get to the larger pictures and navigate through all the pictures in this batch.
April 23, 2009
The pups are about a week old in these pictures. They have had their tails and dew claws done and are well into their neurological stimulation routine.
Tess is doing a great job and the pups are growing fast. Their eyes should open next week and a couple of days after that their hearing will begin. You know their hearing has developed when you hear them yip when the door is opened to their room.
At this stage they just sleep, crawl to Mom for a meal and then sleep again. In their sleep they twitch a lot as their rapid growth triggers their nervous system. So most of the time they are just a pile of twitching bodies.
May 2, 2009
The pups are 2 1/2 weeks old now. Their eyes are open and they can hear now. They are getting around their whelping pen very well with the typical puppy belly crawl.
The first 2 pictures were taken a few days ago and the rest were taken today. They were taken to the living room to stretch their legs. Typical of pups at this age a couple wander around for 5 minutes and the rest fall asleep in a minute or two. Thats Kleetus the cat checking out the pups. He couldn't figure out what they were but decided he didn't want to have anything to do with them. Good decision Kleetus. In a couple of weeks they will be terrorizing him.
As they mature they will be awake longer and the trips out of their comfortable whelping pen will be longer with a lot more exploring. Soon they will need an x-pen to keep them under control and safe.
In 2-3 weeks they will be mature enough for their first trip outside. They will be spending most of their day away from Mom by then and Tess will get a well deserved break.
May 6, 2009
The pups are developing fast now. Each day you can see progress in their mobility and their different personalities are starting to show.
After being out of the whelping pen for a few minutes they are ready to get back to napping. They still sleep far more than they are awake. Even a 8 weeks, when they are ready for their new homes they will need plenty of rest. This is why we crate train all the pups so they can get some time alone for uninterrupted sleeping. Jack Russell's need a lot of exercise but when that is accomplished they love to nap. This all adds up to well behaved and well adjusted companions.
They are developing their voices also. This little a capella group love to sing. The last 3 pictures are of their little singing group as well as a solo performance.
May 12, 2009
The pups are spending a lot of time out of their whelping pen during the day. Set up and x-pen in the kitchen for them to play without constant supervision.
Lots of pictures of them sleeping cause thats what they do. They wake up, party hearty for a few minutes and then settle back into a puppy pile for another nap.
They have lots of toys to play with and aren't afraid of new things in their pen. They immediately run over and inspect it as they are doing with the new tunnel.
Lots of sparring going on a faux fighting with yapping and ferocious sounding growlies. This is the most important time in their socialization. From now until 8 weeks old they teach each other to respect each other and Mom or the others will discipline any that go overboard.
Their teeth are almost out now so they do a lot of chewing. They also chew on each other and when you hear a yelp it is usually someone biting too hard and the bitee saying that is enough.
They will get a bit of solid food soon. This will be the beginning of the weaning process. The Mom and pups will tell us when they are ready, but it will start somewhere after 4 weeks of age up to 5 weeks. They are started on a pablum like porridge. Each day a bit of wet kibble will be added to the gruel until it is only wet kibble. This will take about a week and when they have progressed to 2 good feedings a day their time nursing from Mom will be cut down. Eventually Mom will only be with them at bedtime for a little top up and TLC. They are usually fully weaned before they are 6 weeks old.
Stay tuned for pictures of their first feeding frenzy.
May 16, 2009
Here are the pictures of the pups eating their first solid food. Looks like they really enjoy their food and get right into the bowl when the spot in front of them runs out of food. After the pups eat their fill Mom is put in to clean up the rest. This encourages them to eat when it is presented to them and then allows 2 feedings a day. Their pen would really be a mess if the food was left in there all the time.
Shortly after eating they are taken outside to do their p&p and this is the beginning of house training. They are also put outside every hour or so or immediately after a nap. If all goes well they will be mostly trained by the time they go to their new homes.
Their next big step will be crate training. They will be paired up 2-3 to a crate for the night. May be some sleep lost at first by everone. After a few days they will get used to this and will be ready for the next step, their own crate at night. They will also be be fed their own meal in their crate to help convince them that this is a good place. Most pups take to this right away and their crate becomes their safe place where they enjoy going to get away for awhile or to get an undisturbed rest.
Our adult dogs are still fed in their crates and prefer sleeping in there at night. In fact one of the girls (Kate) is afraid of thunder and the only thing that stops her from shaking during a violent storm is her sanctuary, the crate.
Kleetus (the cat) doesn't mind the pups and seems to tolerate being in with them for a bit. This is good training for the pups so they don't get excited or annoyed with cats later.
May 27, 2009
The pups are about 6 weeks old now. They will be going to their new homes in a couple of weeks.
They have taken to their crate training very well but as expected a couple of noisy nights. They are sleeping in their own crates at night now and eating individual portions in there as well.
They get a chance to get outside now and they really love the trips to the back yard. They love hunting in those tall fern trees or just catching a quick nap in the grass. They are learning to handle new situations without getting excited or afraid. All this will help them adapt to their new home when that time comes.
They also have a new box to explore in their x-pen. They destroyed the first one and are working hard at doing the same to the new one. They love to chew as their teeth are emerging and the cardboard is easy to sink their teeth into. The first one in to inspect the new box was Kleetus. He is going to miss these pups but one male will be staying on to keep him on his toes.
May 29, 2009
Visit to Granny's Farm
The pups got to spend the day with Granny on the farm. It was a lot of fun baby sitting these guys.
Granny took the pups on our traditional walk down the farm lane and Grumpy took some pictures of the kids.
June 1, 2009
Another visit with Granny today. Very wet and cold outside so took some head shots of the kids.
They spent most of the day napping in the kitchen. When it was time for p&p they went out to the deck but couldn't stay outside very long.
No long walks today.
