eyes poll result & food

I guess you think you're clever getting it right that "someone else" would be the puppy who opened their eyes first. So, well done for getting it right!

However, I'm guessing that you all thought it was going to be Honey. I thought it was going to be Marilyn because she was the one who was making blinking motions even with her eyes closed. That's why I included her in the group listed on the poll. In the end we were all fooled, though, because it was Kicker. He was followed later that day by Kuusi and Vee and by the next day everyone had pretty much caught up.

While I've got 5 minutes, I'm also going to do a quick weight update, and try to load a little video. I'm struggling with the new camera, I don't mind telling ya. I took a few videos, but again they were high-def and taking about 4 days to upload. This one is lower quality and shorter, but pretty cute, in spite of the fact that it's slightly out of focus. Must try harder!

Nope, it would not upload. Urggghhh.

In the video I tried to post you would have had a hint of how much they have developed. Now that they can see and hear, they are making more noise and starting to play. And they are getting pretty mobile - and pretty clever too - they make straight for the newspaper to have a wee. However, as soon as at least one paw hits paper, away they go, so it's usually their front paws that make it to the paper while the back end wees onto the vet bed. It's the thought that counts, though, right? Especially at this time of year.

The next instalment will be a report on the first attempt at real food! That's always a hoot. Truly not to be missed. Since I was unable to provide the promised videos lately, here are a couple of quick photos to whet your appetite (and theirs).





The very 1st plate of puppy porridge is a surprisingly big hit with everyone











Marilyn & Vee keep going when everyone else has given up











It's hard work learning to eat real food - Junior & Honey falling asleep licking it off each other's faces

vandalism

Today the weather turned unexpectedly warmer than it has been since the puppies were born. Keksi wasted no time in rucking up the vet bed to leave the puppies stranded on the newspaper underneath.





One is hidden under the lump of vet bed.







Then she set about trashing the newspaper stack, ripping and digging it up, leaving destruction all around her. Satisfied with her handiwork, she stretched out next to the box where she could keep an eye on her babies from the relative coolness of the floor.













Seems I remember Taika doing a similar thing. And I'm pretty sure Neka did more than her fair share of paper ripping too. Something about the cervix contracting back to normal size & a bit of discomfort that goes with that. Fair enough.

Tomorrow the traditional one-week-old weight poll goes live just for a bit of fun. And if you're very lucky I'll get a video of the first little wagging tails as Keksi's milk comes down.

poo day

Contented mum with her skirt of nursing babies this morning












Those of you who have been following this blog for a while will know that I never shy away from describing in graphic and sticky detail the, er, messier side of puppy rearing. You will remember the night of worry I had with Neka and her vomiting and diarrhea in the garden.

For Taika's litter, I had a very different poo story - but again it was such a worry.

Well, today is the day I regale you with tales of poo & placentas for this litter. It's not all puppy cuddles & warm milk, you know.

In the wild - and indeed in the captivity of breeders' whelping rooms - dogs and their relatives eat all the stuff that comes with newborn puppies, including the bag the puppy is delivered in, membranes, umbilical cord and placenta. It's kinda disgusting for us humans to consider, but it is a natural instinct, and in the wild the nutritious blood-filled placentas would be the only food the newly whelped dam would have for several days until she could leave her babies to hunt.

Not only do the placentas offer good nutrition for the dam, but some also believe that eating them encourages good maternal behaviour and the production of milk. So it's a good idea for her to have them. Some will even ask the vet performing a caesarian to return some of the placentas for this purpose.

So, we have adequately established that placentas = good. However, everything in moderation, is a useful tenet in this instance. I've seen it recommended that the breeder try to limit the bitch's consumption of placentas and take some of them away because in addition to all the good stuff, placentas - being so rich and full of blood - also produce thick, black diarrhea. You've seen or - even worse - smelled digested blood? Pretty disgusting. Well, placenta poo is digested blood with bells on.

That's what Neka was struggling with after her 9 puppies (and their 9 placentas) and that's what Keksi had last night.

But drama? Not a bit of it. Four times during the night she woke us and beetled off downstairs to the door. She's still moving very quickly for a lady who has just given birth 7 times, but she does take smaller quick steps! It's clear that she goes to the back garden to do her business at home, as that's where she heads each time. I have to call her back to the front door and the neighbouring park as we no longer have any grass out back thanks to past puppies.

Each time she simply scooted out to the park, relieved herself of a long wee and two great handfuls of black, tarry poo and then turned tail to return to her brood. No hassle, no drama, no accidents.

And this morning, a mere 30 hours after giving birth, no more black poo! Well, whaddeya know. I'm pretty sure I was still dealing with it 4 or 5 days after birth with the litter of 9. So perhaps the moral of this story is to limit the number of placentas eaten by the bitch to 7. That seems an ideal number. On this occasion, anyway. Have you ever heard that no two bitches and no two births are the same? Yeah, well, that. Inconvenient, n'est-ce pas?

There are some humans who even think it's a good idea to eat their own human placentas. But let's not go into that - diarrhea, green slime, black and red slime, vomit, etc, all of it is fair game on this blog, but not even I am willing to go there!

Did I say it's not all puppy cuddles & warm milk? Hell, it's not even mostly puppy cuddles & warm milk. And I haven't even gotten to the green stuff yet. You lucky people have all that to come.

But, first, here is a row of sleeping puppies from last night. You can see where Honey and Marilyn (and probably the rest of them too) have been wiping their green dye off onto the vet bed. It was changed for a clean one no less than 4 times yesterday. And you can see that Marilyn, 3rd from the top, is still sporting the slightest green tinge.



















And so to finish...
Someone asked me how I know that Junior is a domino and not just a brightly coloured black & tan. The answer is this: it's not always going to be easy to tell with puppies, but here was my proof with this puppy. The first indication of the domino pattern is in the white face - particularly the centre of the face where most other patterns are dark - and the very large white 'eyebrows'.
















Then, to look at the colour of the fur on his body; white on his belly and legs, shading gradually up through the sable-y colour you see here to a dark silvery-grey stripe down his back. Striking, no?















As it is with wolf sable puppies, I suspect this coat colour will change and change as time goes on. I'll keep you posted.