a bit more cuteness

A couple more days' worth of cuteness before the big three-week milestone tomorrow.

But first, a funny one of Jaana from when Jane & Mark visited last weekend.

Am I allowed to come up & see the puppies?

Nom nom

My plate!

Zzzzzz

week 3 in pictures

There has been playing, there has been barking, there has been growling, there has been porridge!

Happy mama, big babies

Serena sitting up like a big dog

Novak sitting up like a big dog

RAWR!

Porridge time

Nom nom

Getting sleepy

You can almost hear the snoring

Playing is hard work!

nom nom

Puppy porridge day finally came.  This is the puppies' first taste of food other than what Tuuli produces for them.  Here is Ensi's first meal without mum.  Like a duck to water.



And then everyone else joins in the fun. Some are better at it than others, as usual. Oddly, Liila just wasn't interested - she only wanted to chew on her brother. Everyone else had a little lap - mainly from my fingers though. It's a challenge to get enough into them before the porridge goes cold. It can't be too hot to start with because you don't want to burn their mouths, obviously. But it cools very quickly. And tiny puppies are just not interested in cold food.

learning ... to eat

Once the puppies' eyes have all opened and they can hear by around 14 days or so, the next thing is to start thinking about trying them on actual food.

By 2.5 weeks, one or two puppies have already discovered the water bowl... usually by accident, obviously.  As they lurch around the box, one by one they tumble face-first into the water bowl and come up sputtering.  There is always a brief period around this time when I'm too nervous to leave the water bowl unsupervised in the box.  For a day or two the puppies are big and strong enough to fall into the water bowl but I'm not certain they would be able to get themselves out of trouble.  By the time they are 3 weeks all that worry is past.  Yes, they still fall face-first into the water (and tail- or paw-first sometimes too), but they are strong enough to hoick themselves out if necessary. 

Then it's time to get them started on solid food.  The weaning puppy definition of "solid" is rather loose, mind you (so to speak...).  Their first "solid" food comes in the form of watery puppy porridge.  I use this one from Fit and Fertile.  As they get more adept at eating, I serve up gradually thicker porridge each day.  Then somewhere along the line I start introducing other things too: puppy kibble soaked in warm puppy milk until soft, raw meat paste, eggs scrambled into a warm custard with goat's milk, and so on.

So far, almost a week into the porridge adventure, I'm having mixed results.  Predictably, Mini and Tito usually dive right in as soon as the plate appears.   In every litter there is always one puppy who sticks both front paws into the plate, claiming it for him (her) alone, and this time it is Mini.  Of course.  Fiia and Tuulen are at similar stages of success with eating.  Sometimes they are more interested than other times; sometimes they just can't be bothered and, frankly, it all seems a bit too much like hard work.  They would far rather wait for mum to turn up and switch on the milk faucets.  Sox is more or less uninterested in the plate of porridge.  He likes to lick it from my fingers, but doesn't really want to have to lap it from the plate.  Actually, he would far rather spend his time distracting those of his siblings who actually do want to eat.

Apart from encouraging each puppy to eat by scooping porridge onto my finger for them to lick, my job also includes trying to keep any puppies from jumping (Mini) or falling (Tito) into the plate.  And also to stop Sox from pouncing on and body-checking those puppies who are trying to eat.  Tail flicking with mischief, he charges straight at the diner, ramming into them and sending them flying - usually into the plate.  It's quite amusing to watch, but does create a terrible mess and doesn't help anyone either (a) get a meal or (b) learn to eat.

I may capture it on video one day.  In the meantime, here are some eating puppies.

Early attempt - Mini & Tito are right in there

There goes the paw...

Tuulen tries that technique for himself.

Mini eating Taito fashion - lying down

Fiia tucking in when there's no competition

Hard work!

"Is it any wonder I don't like the plate?  Look at the mess I'm in!"

Tito has no such qualms

It's no surprise that the puppies are almost constantly covered in dried porridge at this stage.  You can see it on Tuulen's head in his 3-week portrait and on most puppies in most photos taken around this time.  In fact, you can see above that tails, heads and even the backs of necks are positively crunchy.  No wonder they spend so much time chewing on each other.

Post-breakfast game of bitey-face

fat puppies, eyes open

Two days ago we had the first tentative little blinks from opening eyes and it's looking like by the time the puppies are 2 weeks old all of them will have opened their eyes.  Without going back to refer to my "notes" (i.e. the blog from previous litters) it seems a bit early to me.  These guys also seemed to be up on their feet walking early too.  And they've started to lick your nose when you hold them close to your face.  That means they can lap and would start to drink if I offered them milk. 

But, frankly, I'm not in that big a hurry to start weaning them.  2.5 or 3 weeks is plenty early, even for greedy little baby Lapphunds.  Especially as I'm going to have to do it the hard way this time around since Pedigree no longer sell their puppy porridge.  It was so easy, so handy, the puppies did so well on it.  DRAT!  I'm amazed there isn't a similar product made by someone else.

The other thing these puppies appear to be advanced in is size.  But I know for a fact that that's incorrect perception on our part because the numbers don't lie.  They are more or less the same size & weight as previous litters.  In fact, looking at the graph, I now think that the scales I used for the first litter must have been inaccurate because I simply do not believe that Keksi, Taito and the rest of the big-dog gang were smaller as puppies than, say, Tippi and Marja, who are both now so petite. 

The first of the gang - Brownie and Claw - hit the 1 kilo mark yesterday and today only Little Ilo is just under.  

Having said all that, this bunch appear to be enormous, fat and very advanced.  Oh, and did I mention cute?

Only 4 at a time will now fit into the holding box that they all went into a week ago. 
(No, it's not your eyes, the photo is blurry - sorry!)

Out come the bellies.

A sister or brother's head makes a fine cushion for a puppy bottom.

little video

Here's another one of the little 20-second porridge videos to keep you going until such time as I get my audiovisual stuff sorted out.

video

Having failed abysmally in the puppy video department this time around, I've dug out the old, poor-quality vid recorder and am charging the battery as I write this. In the meantime, I have managed to upload a 30-second clip that Jay filmed during chow-time yesterday. Better than nothing, I figure.



And if that video doesn't work (like it didn't when I tried it earlier), then click this link and go see the puppies' sire Elias playing in the snow with Keskiyo's gorgeous half-brother Armas. Who says male Lappies can't get along with each other. Sweet, sweet boys.

soup's up

I didn't intend to start weaning the puppies over Christmas. With everything else happening, I didn't need the additional chore of 4 times a day plates of puppy porridge. Not to mention all the additional cleaning that goes with that.

But needs must, as they say. (Why do they say that, exactly? And who are 'they', anyway? Are 'they' the same 'they' who say "Mustn't grumble"? Because if that's the case, then this is officially the last time I use the phrase. Either of those phrases.)

The honeymoon is well and truly over and the novelty has most emphatically worn off the puppies, as far as Keksi is concerned. Which makes for noteworthy timing, actually, as our interest in the puppies is waxing at least as quickly as Keksi's is waning. They are just starting to get interesting now, which is just as well since now is when the work really begins.

Keksi is well aware of how much fun she's missing out on when the other dogs go out for their walks each day, even though we have improved our sneaking out technique somewhat. She also wants to hang out downstairs with the rest of the family instead of being relegated to upstairs with the cats and puppies. We have agreed on a compromise: she is allowed to be on the stairs where she is officially not part of the downstairs, going-out-for-walks-in-the-snow pack, yet she can still see what's going on and get her ears scratched from time to time when we pass.

Last night she was falling asleep as we were having festive Bellinis with the neighbours. No, not drunk. Really.




















To make sure she gives the puppies a full measure of quality time, though, I still stay in the room with her for a while a few times each day. Otherwise she just hops in, tops them up to a minimum level, gives their bottoms a quick scrub then it's straight out again. If she's got some company, she's more than happy to stay in the box. And of course that gives me a chance to have some puppy time too.

But with Keksi more than happy to ignore her brood a bit more now, and with them getting so big and active, they're getting hungry. So yesterday I broke out the puppy porridge. This is a great product - as soon as the puppies smell it they wake up and make for the plate. It's truly remarkable how quickly they learn to lap it up.

Well aware that I spoiled you yesterday with some initial porridge photos, I just had to grab a couple more this morning. At each meal it seems that some puppies are more interested than others; they take turns really sticking into the porridge. This morning it was Junior, Kicker & Kuusi.

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

weaning

We've had an eventful ride so far, Taika, these puppies & I. I never knew whether Taika was going to wash her paws of the babies and depart, leaving me to it. Then there was the worry that she wasn't producing enough milk. But by the time of the 2-week milestone, I realised that all was finally well. Taika had learned her job and was performing it well (if a teeny bit begrudgingly). She was cheerful, enjoying her walks but also hurrying back to the pups whenever she heard them squeak. The puppies were growing fast & fat and developing just as they should. I no longer needed to provide extra milk for anyone nor did I have to do the bottom licking anymore. Ahhh, at last I could relax and enjoy the whole experience. Apart from the worming, of course, which the puppies & I 'enjoy' alike.

And it was a nice 3 days while it lasted.

I think the puppies are growing teeth because Taika has started giving them a speedy feed, an even speedier wash and then hopping straight out of the box again. And there have been complaints. Loud ones. I think they're still hungry, so it's time to break out the weaning stuff.

In the past, on recommendation, I've always used Pedigree Puppy Porridge, which is great stuff. It comes in a 2kg tub of powder that you mix with water into a milky paste of the desired consistency, gradually getting thicker as the puppies learn to eat. Then they eventually graduate to softened puppy kibble. But I've been having difficulty finding a supplier with the porridge in stock and for a few terrible days I feared Pedigree had stopped making it around about the time they yanked their public support for dog shows. But no, they do still support breeders - just not in a public way. That's fine by me just so long as I can get that great porridge.

There were other brands of similar-sounding stuff available, but the last thing I wanted to do was risk using an untried product. What if it upset their digestion again? No, no, no.

So, while I'm waiting for the Pedigree tub to turn up, I've started in the labour-intensive manner. First, soak a few pieces of Arden Grange Weaning/Puppy food in just-boiled water. Some soften quicker than others. Some never do, fish them out. Mash up softened kibble with a fork until mush. Next, make up some Lactol milk and get it to the right temperature. Combine. Give to puppies.

The first meal wasn't very successful. I used a plate which had 2 major problems: (1) the stuff stayed in the middle of the plate and the puppies can only reach the edge of the plate; and (2) such a little amount of milky mush gets cold very quickly on a plate. Not appetising for puppies. The second meal was much more successful. These puppies are smart! They caught on straight away. I tried to take a video of them all eating (some from the plate, some from each other) but my primary concern was keeping the food coming, so the video didn't turn out very well. So I had another quick attempt after a couple of the puppies had given up. What are they eating from? The lid of the empty Lactol can.

Don't miss the growl at about 30 seconds.





And may I say what a relief it is to get my internet connection back after 48 hours beyond the pale. I guess BT were threatening not to reconnect us until Sunday or Monday just so we'd be grateful beyond complaint when they got us back online earlier than threatened. Phew! Quite apart from my blog & Facebook addictions, there is the small matter of the financial year-end for work. I really, really need online access to my work computer at the moment.