Here's Taz a few days before her puppies were born. When we took her in for her x-rays she weighed 25lbs. and was carrying 8 pups. This was a shocker for us since we usually have about 5 per litter and our previous largest was 7.
September 4, 2007
Taz had 8 pups this morning. She gave us very little warning, just started popping them out. Usually the mom will do a lot of panting and nesting so the impending birth is obvious. Taz did a little panting and then got right down to her job. They all came out without too much fuss except one little girl. She had cord from first born pups wrapped around her so it made for a larger package to birth for Taz and she yelped when it came out.. It took a bit of work from Mrs JRRanch to get this one untangled and breathing but it is now a very healthy pup. Mom has plenty of milk but only 8 taps so there is a bit of contention at times. We will have to monitor this for the first few days to make sure they all get their share. We weigh them every day and can spot quickly one that might not be getting enough and give them special treatment at the milk bar. At birth the pups weighed between 5.5 and 7.25 oz. which is a pretty large size considering there were so many of them.
Oh yeah 5 girls and 3 boys.
September 6, 2007
The pups are 2 days old now and growing fast. You can see their little bellies are bulging. For the first few weeks they twitch a lot as they sleep which is a sign of a healthy, growing puppy. The twitching happens due to the speed of the growth of their nervous system causing uncontrollable jerks. They weigh between 7.5 and 9.25oz. now.
We keep the temperature in their whelping pen around 85F for the first 2 weeks and then start dropping it slightly until they are 3 weeks old. The reason for this is that they cannot regulate their own temp until 3 weeks and if the whelping room temp is not kept up they could be susceptible to illness.
Look at the little girl in the RH picture, totally relaxed and flat on her back, sleeping soundly.
September 7, 2007
The pups are 3 days old now. They had their tails and dew claws done last night.
Tonight we start the neurological stimulation which is supposed to make them super dogs able to jump over tall buildings. Actually this stimulation is purported to make them a healthier more rounded dog less troubled by stress and able to cope with new situations quickly. We have been doing this for a couple of years now and think it does make a difference when we do temperament testing at 7 weeks. But, its tough to tell, our pups are all perfect, at least in our eyes. Will explain more about this conditioning in the next post.
The pups were between 8.25 and 10.25oz. when we weighed them this morning. So they are gaining about an ounce a day which is normal for JR pups. At this stage they crawl around on their bellies to find Mom and milk. After eating they crash until they get hungry again. This happens about every hour. So it seems like someone is always eating.
September 10, 2007
The pups are 1 week old today. They are all growing steadily and are very spunky already. They weigh between 11-13.75oz now. They seem to be constantly on the move. Top left I tried to line them up for their picture and by the time I got the camera up they were on the move. The next picture was taken about 30 seconds later and its total chaos as usual. In the last picture, they are back in their whelping pen with new bedding.
We have been doing the neurological stimulation for 5 days now and will continue for another 8 days. The stimulation consists of 5 steps lasting for 3-5 seconds each. First a q-tip is twirled between their toes, then they are held between our hands in 3 positions - straight up, straight down and flat on the back, finally they are placed on a damp cold towel. Although each position is only held for 3-5 seconds some pups still complain about being taken out of their comfort zone. By the end of the process they usually are laid back about it and don't complain or struggle anymore. This should help them cope with change and stress later in their lives. Thats the theory, and since our pups are always perfect (sheepish grin) it must be working.
September 12, 2007
Three boys on the right. Five girls below.
They are getting around very well now with their belly crawl. In a few days their eyes will open and they will begin to stand more erect and walk about. A few days after that they will begin to hear and should be getting extremely mobile. Right now mom is doing all the work. Feeding the pups and cleaning up after them. In fact up until about 2 weeks the pups don't p&p unless the mom stimulates them by licking. But after that she has a little harder time keeping up with their messing and thats when our work begins. With 8 pups this is going to be a never ending task until we get them going outside at around 5-6 weeks, weather permitting.
In the next couple of days we will take out the tray they are confined to in the whelping pen. Then they will have one side for bedding and one side will be metal pan. They will likely train themselves to p&p on the metal part rather then making a mess on their bedding. Most litters do this and it makes cleanup much easier for Mrs JRRanch.
The Super Dog training continues and the pups are not reacting as strongly as they did initially. Most are just relaxing in our hands in each position. The only one they tense up with now is getting their little feet put on a damp cold cloth.
More updates after their eyes open.
September 15, 2007
The pups are 11 days old today. Thought I would show this picture to compare how they have grown from the birth picture above.
They weigh between 15.5 and 18.5oz now. Two of the girls are going to be a bit smaller than the rest of the litter and the weight and size difference will probably get greater as they grow.
You can also see the brown taking over from the black on their heads. They will likely fade to mostly brown on their heads and most of their body colour will stay black. Mom's head was completely black at birth and faded to brown just like her pups are doing.
Their eyes aren't quite open yet but they are belly crawling around with a lot of speed and power. When their eyes open and they begin to walk more upright they are going to be a lot of fun to watch.
And a couple of more from the same day I couldn't resist sharing.
September 18, 2007
The pups are 2 weeks old today. A couple of them have their eyes fully open and the rest are in various stages of openess. Some are trying to stand up and walk and it is pretty funny to watch them stagger around and fall in their attempts. At best you could call it wobbly walking at this stage.
A couple of days after their eyes open they will be able to see better. That is when they really try walking and seriously start getting into things. This is the fun stage in their development since they progress so rapidly now. They still pretty much just eat and sleep now but as they get older they will stay awake for a little longer after their meal and play should start. Its a hoot to watch them play and growl at each other as they take turns being the dominant one.
We will start slowly dropping the temperature in the whelping pen each day now and by their 3 week stage they should be able to take normal room temperature. We dropped it to 80 degrees today and noticed they are sleeping in a little tighter bundle
Stay tuned, more to come.
September 22, 2007
The pups are progressing quickly now. They are almost 3 weeks old and are getting around much better now. They are even starting to play a bit. They try to bite each others legs or muzzle and get all growly. The star of the pictures today is the littlest girl. Below she is demonstrating the puppy walk. On the right she is getting set to let out a howl and bottom right she is coming over to inspect the camera.
The puppy sensory stimulation is finished. They all are very strong and very plump. Mom has a lot of food for them and they are eating with gusto. Next week we will start short treks outside the whelping pen. They will get to spend longer each trip out until they are ready to go into the X-pen in the kitchen. This will probably take at least a week. We don't want to rush them but will let them progress at the pace they seem comfortable to keep them challenged.
September 25, 2007
The pups are 3 weeks old now. They have their eyesight and hearing. When we go into their puppy room now they jump up and give the intruder a puppy bark. Still not active for very long periods of time but they are playing and gumming each other a lot when awake.
They got their first worming medication today. We will repeat this in about 2 weeks. Mom gets some too.
We took the pups out of their whelping room for the first time. We put them on a blanket in the living room. This first trip only lasts about 10 minutes and then they tell us they are ready to go back. The duration of these trips will slowly increase until they are 5 weeks old when they will be spending most of their day in an X-pen in our kitchen. Shortly after that they will get their first trip outside if the weather is nice.
At about 6 weeks we will begin crate training where they will initially be paired up to sleep the night in a crate. By 7 weeks they should be sleeping in a crate of their own. They won't sleep thru the night at this age so we will have to take them outside for potty breaks during the night.
September 28, 2007
This is their 4th trip out of their whelping pen. They are starting to get used to it and getting more adventurous but still only last about 10 minutes before they need a nap.
As you can see from the pictures, thay are starting to wander all over the living room. In a few days it will be tough to contain them so we will need to use the x-pen to keep them from getting into trouble. We will set this up in the kitchen and in a week or so they will spend their whole day there. In about a week they may be ready to go outside for their p&p so that will mean about a dozen trips outside during the day. If the weather permits we will take them for walks down the farm lane.
Every few days a different pup stands out from the pack. For the past couple of days it has been the girl with the patch on her left shoulder. First she is being an attentive audience to the little girl singing her heart out. Further down she is getting onto the bookshelves and then nuzzling with her buddy. Then she strikes a stunning pose for the camera in the bottom picture. She is the most mobile at the moment and actually starting to run.
Didn't get a picture of it but after about 10 minutes of power playing they all curled up on the blanket in a nice tight puppy pile and fell asleep. That was our signal to take them back to their whelping pen and their anxiously waiting Mom.
October 1, 2007
The pups will be 4 weeks old tomorrow. They are taking trips to the living room 2-3 times a day and getting used to the wide open spaces. They are way ahead of schedule from previous litters. We started them on some soft puppy food today. Their teeth are through the gums and that is the sign they are ready for solid food. They all ate a bit but didn't clean up the bowl. The star of the eating contest was the big boy Tony. He tucked right in to the food and, as you can see below, was eating from both sides of the bowl. He definately ate the most and was the champ of the feeding frenzy.
They will be fed softened puppy food once a day for a couple of days and then they will graduate to twice daily feedings. In a couple of days I expect they will be wolfing down everything we put down for them. Mom will be relieved because feeding this bunch must be taking a lot out of her. She is eating at least 6 times her normal daily ration just to keep up the milk production.
This afternoon we took them out again and we noticed a change right away. None of them showed any fear and they ran all over so it was tough keeping them from danger like falling down the stairs or biting electrical cords. Tomorrow we will have to set up the x-pen in the kitchen to keep them contained. With the weather being so nice we will also introduce them to outdoors very soon.
October 3,2007
The pups went into their x-pen for the first time today. They spent about an hour here. The first half hour they played with their new toys and rough housed then they crashed. Mom told us she wanted them back after about an hour. The pup that has stood out today is the one with 2 spots on her back. She is one of the smallest girls. That is her on the left, in the picture below, with her little sister and striking a pose in the picture to the right of that. She rebelled the most for being fenced in but after about 5 minutes settled down and started taking a round out of one of the big boys. They really did very well in adapting to the x-pen and none were afraid of the experience.
First to crash were the two big boys and they were closely followed by the rest of the gang.and the big boys eventually woke up and wandered over to join them on their bed. Most of them slept on the bed but a few spilled out onto the floor. They had another stay in the x-pen later in the day for another hour. The time in the x-pen will lenghten until they spend their whole day there.
They are eating a little more mushy puppy food each day and should be on full ration by the weekend. Mom will be relieved.
October 4, 2007
The pups took their first trip outside this morning. The first picture shows how small they really are on the driveway. Highlighted today is the biggest girl Jemma. Below she is basking in the sun and a few seconds later howling at it on the right. They all caught on to the p&p thing outside and that will be a relief for us so to speak. In the bottom picture the fuzzy boy gets into the howling thing also. The bag on the driveway was our attempt to get them all bundled up to take them all out at once. As soon as they were loaded they were squirming out. Finally got them outside and emptied the bag and then they wanted back in there to play. I don't think this is going to work. Besides the 8 pups get get too heavy for Mrs JRRanch to carry all at once..
At this age we can carry 4 pups at once but as they get larger we will only be able to carry 3 of them which means 3 trips to get the lot of them outside. It is important to get them outside quickly because as soon as they wake up we try to get them outside for their p&p. As we continue this we find they will prefer to go outside and will wait a bit to get there. By 8 weeks they will be almost fully house trained.
Between 2 trips outside and 3 times in the x-pen the pups spent about 4 hours out of their whelping pen today.
Mom is wanting out of the whelping pen more often now and has cut her appetite a bit. I think she will be weaning her pups very soon. She still has plenty of milk and the pups are not nearly up to full ration of puppy mush yet. Things are changing fast now.
October 6, 2007
Took the pups for a walk in the leaves this morning. They had a ball and lasted about 30 minutes before petering out. The pup we noticed today was the girl with the right eye spot and slightly longer fur. She has pretty much stayed in the background until today when she is off exploring with the most adventurous ones. Her stamina has improved also so she is probably losing a bit of her puppy fat and gaining energy.
Mom gave them three feedings only yesterday and the pups spent most of the day in the x-pen and Mom got to go into her favourite kennel outside for most of the day. Mom slept away from the pups last night so the pups were hungry when we fed them this morning. Then Mom topped them up and went out to her kennel for the day. Mom will feed them one more time tonight and that may be the end of it if the pups don't need any more of her milk. Mom is pretty relieved by this and will be brought back with her pups for walks next week when her milk has dried up. So its up to us now. We will be busier than one armed paper hangers trying to clean up after them.
The pictures below are of the puppy mentioned above, in the leaves and smelling the flowers. The pictures below that are of a couple of posers Maurice and Teddy.
October 9, 2007
The pups are 5 weeks old today and maturing very fast. Most of the pictures are from yesterday when they spent all afternoon around the stone well covering. They slept most of the time but spent a lot of time smelling the grass for quarry. The hunting instinct is starting already.
The featured pup today is Maurice ( pronounced Moreese). He is in the 2 pictures directly below. He is developing a coat just like moms. It is thick and beginning to show waves on his back. He is a very hansome boy.
Couldn't resist showing the cute picture of Tony also.
We only post here a few of the hundreds of pictures we take of the pups. The rest will be put on a Video CD for the new owners to take home as part of a complete puppy package.
The last picture was taken today on our deck. This is the beginning of crate training. Soon they will be paired up to sleep in crates for the night as well as get all their meals in them. By the seventh week they will be eating and sleeping in their own crate. In the morning we don't let their feet touch the floor. We pick them up and take them immediately outside to do their p&p. By the time they are ready to go to their new homes they should be almost completely house trained.
They spent the entire afternoon outside on our deck. They slept most of the time as the fresh air seems to make them very tired.
October 12, 2007
The pups are settling into a routine now. They wake at about 6 and go directly outside for p&p. They come in for breakfast then back out for p&p. They come in for a nap then back out for p&p when they wake. If its warm enough they stay out as long as they can take. Then back in for lunch then out for p&p and play. Then back in for nap and out for p&p when they wake. They sometimes stay out most of the afternoon on the deck where we can keep an eye on them. Then in for supper and out for p&p. Back in for a nap followed by outside for p&p. Back in for a little play and a nap. Many more trips outside for p&p and finally they are put to bed in their whelping pen about 10. Then we get a chance to relax.
The next night (Saturday) we started them sleeping in pairs in their crates. They cried for about 1/2 hour then slept through the night and their crates were dry in the morning. A few days of this and they will get their own crates at night. Probably more crying about this but they will probably catch on quickly. They also get their meals in their crates now so we can be sure they are all getting an equal share of food. This also gets them more comfortable about being in the crate alone.
The featured pup today is Teddy. He is the only real long haired pup in this litter as you can see by his fuzzy face below. It is tough to get a picture of him as he is always on the go and doesn't pose for the camera like some of the others. He can be pretty independant at times wandering off to hunt for pretty leaves to chew. He is a typical laid back male pup.
The other two pups bottom are Jemma on the left and Annie looking a little cold and ready to go back to the warm kitchen. The last couple of days(Friday and Saturday) have been too cold for them to stay outside very long.
October 16, 2007
The pups are 6 weeks old now. They are being fed twice a day in their own crates and sleeping at night paired up in crates. They are sleeping through the night most nights now. A couple of nights they woke us up at 4am to go out but last night they slept in to 6am. In the next day or two we will have them sleep in their own crate at night. That will probably lead to another sleepless night for us but these kids are catching on quickly so perhaps we will be lucky.
They are playing for longer periods now and when we go for a walk we tire out before they do. A couple of long walks down the driveway and as much time as possible in the pen on the deck is keeping them well exercised. A good Jack Russell is a tired Jack Russell.
This is a very nice litter and its making our choice of selecting a pup to keep for our breeding program very difficult. We may keep 2 females but the choice will be made as close to 8 weeks as possible to allow for as much development as we can. We will do temperament testing after 7 weeks, a health exam at our vet and then do final assessments later that week.
The grand kids were over thanksgiving and the helped us name the pups. They are from left to right top to bottom : Theresa(f), Teddie, Kate(f), Maurice, Jemma(f), Percey(f), Annie(f) and Tony.
October 19, 2007
On a nice day like today the pups spend almost the entire day outside on the deck. They also get 2-3 long walks down the farm lane to do their p&p as well as get rid of their pent up energy. They are starting to follow us on the walks now as opposed to running helter skelter all over.
Here they are all crammed into a little bed on the deck after one of the walks. Yes, all 8 of them are in there. They also have their crate to sleep in out there but this is new and they all wanted to try it at once. Their play time is much longer now but they also sleep a lot especially when they are outside in the fresh air.
They are sleeping almost through the night now. They are put to bed about 10 and wake up after 5am. Still paired up for the night but will get their own crate to sleep in next week. Started giving them a little treat in their own crate at noon. A couple don't like being alone yet and raise a fuss and get them all going. Hopefully next week they will all take to being in their crate alone. This will help them when they go to their new homes.
October 24, 2007
The pups are just 7 weeks old in these pictures. They are getting more mature and spending much more time playing. At this age there is a lot of growling and mock fighting as they all try to establish dominance. This is the time they learn to socialize nicely with their siblings or suffer the consequences of a nip to calm them down. This is a very important part of their development and if they are separated from their siblings before 8 weeks they miss out on this and may take longer to adapt nicely to their new homes.
The first 3 pictures are of the pups learning to hunt. We went for a walk with one of the older dogs and it started to dig for a mouse. The pups got interested and took over the dig. They got into it with gusto. All trying to get down the hole at once. Tony, on the right came out with dirt all over him. They all eventually got down the hole and contributed to the digging. Most got just as dirty as Tony but when they were done they just shook and the dirt went flying off them.
The last picture was taken a couple of days later when they were shut in due to rain. It shows that the simplest things amuse them. They have many toys and chew things in their pen but they chose an empty box to play with. When the box is turned over they take turns jumping on top and fending off all others trying to get up. This little game gets them used to climbing up on things and the next day they were climbing up stairs with confidence. Sometimes they don't come down the stairs very gracefully but they are learning quickly how to do it. Now at the end of their walk they just climb the stairs all set to be let in to get their cookie as a reward.
They spent their first night in their crates alone last night. We gave them each a raw marrow bone and that kept them occupied for quite awhile. They slept until about 5am. They went out for p&p then back in their crates and slept until 7am. Hopefully by the time they are ready for their new homes they will be sleeping right through the night.
They will get their vet visit tomorrow and their first set of shots. A few more days and they will be ready to go to their new homes. We will be running on one of the females to potentially stay in our breeding program. The rest will be going to their new homes and will be awesome companions.
November 7, 2007
We still have 3 pups for sale. We have just found out that Tony and Annie are still available. They would be suitable for most homes but preferably without small children. They are full of vigour and true JR's. Both are going to have smooth/short coats.
We have also decided we will only be running on one pup and so reluctantly we will also be selling Theresa to a pet home. She is a very laid back girl suited for any home but particularly good for an older couple. She will have a rough/longer coat.
The pups are crate trained, well on their way to being house broken and have had a health inspection by our vet. They enjoy long walks down our driveway and several of these a day keeps them tired and well behaved.
Annie is the picture on the right and Tony is below her. Thats Theresa below this text.
They are all available to approved homes.
November 16, 2007
Annie and Tony went to pet homes and Theresa went to a show/breeding home.
We wish all the pups well and are confident they have found loving new families.
November 18, 2007
This is Kate.
She is the girl we will be keeping in our breeding/show program for a while to see if she works out. If she looks like she is an improvement to what we currently have she will stay and be shown and bred after a year. If she does not measure up she will be sold as a pet around 6 months. If we kept all the pups we love we would soon run out of room on the farm.
Its always tough to sell pups you have lived with for 8 weeks but we are sure the 7 that left have found a good home and will provide their new families lots of enjoyment and love.
Kate missed her siblings when they all went. But the next day, several long walks and lots of cuddles from Mrs JRRanch, and she has settled into her new routine. I hope she works out because she is a striking young girl and she is quickly wrapping us up in her love.
While we have no puppies left from this litter we will be having another litter before year end and another early in 2008.
