4 weeks old weights

I haven't been able to compare the weights of this litter to the weights of the last litter at this age because my old postage scales only went up to just over 2 kg and by this age most of the puppies have reached that weight. Needless to say, when I needed to buy new postage scales for work I made sure they would be more suitable for weighing puppies. Makes sense, no?

Here's the usual picture followed by the numbers.



























At this point everybody wants to know which puppy they are going to have. They need to know. Yes, you might even say they have a right to know. Do the owners-to-be of these puppies know? Er, know. I mean, no.

I always make it clear to everyone right from the beginning that they won't really be given a choice of which puppy they will get. If someone wants a specific colour or sex, that's fine. We discuss and agree that long before any puppies are even born. But apart from those considerations, I call the shots when it comes to placing puppies with the right families. The reason I call the shots is this: I know the puppies and I make it my business to get to know the puppies' new families and so I know who will be best suited to whom.*

I just haven't figured that out with this bunch yet.

I do have an excuse for taking so long to decide, and this is it: the puppies' personalities are only starting to develop now. They are just learning to play and interact with us, each other and their toys. They are learning what their teeth are for. It will be a while before it will be clear which is the absolute naughtiest one that will be moving back home with Taika...

And as for which ones will be suitable for the show ring. Yikes, that's a tough call even for very experienced breeders. I'm just guessing here, really. In the past I have found that my best guesses have always been made at 5 weeks of age, not 4. So at this stage all I'm guessing is that at the 5-week update the puppies will have the names that have been chosen for them by their new families.

As they say, watch this space.

I've got some cute videos & photos of the puppies settling into their palatial new downstairs pen which I'll sort out & post later.

*Do not criticise my grammar, people, I beg you. I have no idea how to use who & whom - and I'm not convinced that the word 'whom' is even necessary in the normal run of things. So many words in English are quite obsolete these days, I find. However, it's nice to throw a 'whom' in there from time to time just to see who's paying attention.