first solid meal

This morning the puppies had their first meal without Emmi - a little bit of raw meat on a plate warmed up with hot water.  The first meal is usually not much of a success - the puppies don't get it right away, or they're not particularly hungry so they can't be bothered.  I think these puppies will take after their mother.  Let's just say they were absolute naturals.

Clockwise from bottom:  Raven, Rook, Merlin, Puffin, Buzz

Clockwise from bottom: Rook, Merlin, Puffin, Buzz

Rook, Merlin, Puffin

Raven & Rook; Woody at the top

Raven & Rook

It's a messy business, to be sure.  And cleanup time is when the bitey-face game really comes into its own.

 

third week

The 3rd week of the puppies' life is when they start to experience lots of new things.  Their eyes have opened so they can see for the first time which means they start to play with each other and interact with the humans when we look or reach into the box.  They have also started to hear by now which means they start to practice all their sounds; cue lots of yapping, howling and - my particular favorite - growling.  It's very funny and I promise I will try to capture it on video, but it's notoriously difficult to have the video going just at the right moment. 

Another milestone they reach at the age of 2 weeks is getting wormed.  This is the first inkling they get that the world is not just a warm cocoon of milk and snuggles.  Worming is not snuggly and it is not yummy and they hate it.  And I have to do it to them 3 days in a row!  Poor puppies.  I didn't photograph the little screwed up faces this time, but if you would like to see what they think of getting wormed, you can check out Kaija's brothers and sisters, the Juhla puppies, getting wormed here and, possibly even funnier, the Pippuri puppies getting wormed here.

Then, at about 2.5 weeks old, the really good stuff starts happening:  real food!  Here is a selection of photos from the week, including attempted escapes and the notable mess that is the first few forays into eating meat for the first time.

Intermittent stripes

Standard Lappy snoozing position

Peekaboo

Blurry escape attempt

Dizzy is catching up

Clean plate

Some puppies are greedier than others....

Messy

Sharing the last plate

Nina messy face

This eating lark is hard work

Wake me at mealtime

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.

morning cardio

It's amazing how quickly the puppies develop, even when you get to watch them everyday.  A mere 2 days since the last video in which they were very clumsy, couldn't yet heave themselves to their feet, and 30 seconds of play wore them out so that they all flaked out asleep almost immediately. 

48 hours later and they are doing morning circuits, playing, and - get this! - going to the paper to pee.  I kid you not.  And I have evidence.



You can see a few thing from this video.  Not only walking & playing puppies but also bits of Tuuli's fur all over the place.  It's really starting to come out fast now and by the time the puppies are 11 weeks old, she will be looking like a Lappy refugee.  She will lose not only all her undercoat, but most of her topcoat as well.  Take it from me, Lappies with no fur are funny looking.  Don't ask me why it happens, but it always does. 

You can also see the removable door there on the right-hand side.  We have had to resort to putting the door in because the puppies are already showing rather a lot of interest in the outside world, as you can see.  But it's much easier to take photos & video with the door out of the way.

And you can see the puppies choosing to pee on the paper!  At first I thought it was my imagination, but it keeps on happening.  We are in shock here. 

Finally, the video ends abruptly when Liila approaches the puddle left by one of her siblings and starts to lap at it.  So of course I dropped the camera quick to get her out of harm's way.  That's one habit I don't want them to develop!   Sounds to me like these puppies are ready to start weaning. 

chow down

Oh, these puppies are too funny.  I have about a dozen adorable videos and can't decide which ones to post - the one of them stomping around wagging and barking at 6 am?  The one of them drinking milk for the first time 2 days ago?  The one of them cleaning the milk from each other's faces?  The one of them barking and growling?  If I had some good video editing software I would make one fabulous video from the various different ones.  Alas, I have no such software, so a couple of specially selected ones will have to do.

Everyone commented on how noisy the polar bear (aka Hopea) was in the last video.  After she took her turn, Brown Wolf was the noisy one for a couple of days and now it's Toes, who has been barking and squawking since yesterday.  Don't worry - they all take their turns being the naughty puppy, no one gets left out.

In this video, taken yesterday, you can see that the gang are already getting very good at drinking milk.  This weekend they'll start on mushed up puppy food and, if they're really lucky, some raw minced beef or scrambled egg.





And here is what was happening at 6 am yesterday.  Some of the high-pitched barking was contributed by Tuuli who was downstairs complaining that all the fun was taking place without her presence.  Oh, and she was ready for a wee, thank you very much, so the filming had to be cut short so I could attend to her very pressing needs.





And a couple of stills:

Clockwise from left:
Brownie, Little Ilo, Brown Wolf, Toes

Brownie licking the milk from Hopea's face.

Brownie still eating while Hopea falls asleep almost in the pan of milk.

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.

dining out

My day starts at 6 or thereabouts. (If you don't count the increasingly tedious insistence by Keksi that she get a trip out to the garden at 3 am, that is.)

First up for me is preparing the puppies' breakfast. While that's soaking to soften it a little I take the big dogs out. Then, weather permitting, the puppies go into the garden pen and have their breakfast, leaving the indoor pen empty for cleaning. At this time of year it's completely dark, so one thing these guys won't be is afraid of the dark.

Puppies come back in, have a little play and then conk out to sleep for an hour or so and big dogs get their breakfast. In the meantime I deal with the dishwasher & clothes washer and make sure I've got a steady stream of clean, dry vet beds.

Then I finally get my coffee at about 8 am, have a shower and get a little work done, if I'm lucky.

After my shower today I need a trip to the pet shop because I ran out of big dog food last night. Perhaps I'll take a puppy with me.

And for you, a couple of little films Jay took when the puppies went into their outdoor pen for the very first time a couple of days ago to have lunch. They are surprisingly brave about it all. There's plenty of wagging tails and a bit of playing & pouncing - by Vee & Honey, in particular.

In the second video look out for a cute moment of nose-to-nose action between Neka outside the pen and Budgie inside.

While they're uploading I'll be doing some invoices so that I can swing by the post office to send some orders when I go out for dog food. Multi-tasking is my friend.

3 weeks old weights

Here's the chart showing how the noisy little horrors have grown over their first 3 weeks. Looking back over the blog archive, I see I was calling the last litter the very same unflattering name at about this age. It's good to know they all have good, strong, healthy lungs. Uh huh.





















Everyone is still growing well, although Dino is really taking off, already topping 2 kg at weigh-in today and Butterfly seems to be tailing off a little. I'll be sure to encourage her to get maximum time at the food plate and milk bar from now on.

Here's the comparison of the average weight per litter.















Looks like this 5 are growing bigger faster than the Devon Nine. But, then again, no one in the last litter took quite so well to eating solid food so early either. Check them out tucking in followed by the usual little game. My battery died as Grey Wolf keeled over trying to climb out. Beware: cuteness alert!

busy days

We're back! As expected, it was a hectic weekend full of visiting puppy-families-to-be. The canine gang took it all in good humour. However, after being spoiled by so much attention, they're now getting demanding. Uh oh.

The workload is ratcheting up. The weaning is going really well. They are eating 4 meals a day, all provided by me. Two or 3 of them will be puppy biscuits soaked for a few minutes in warm Lactol and one will be thick porridge. Every other day or so they will have scrambled egg for one of their meals.

Now that Neka is only in with them at night, all the cleaning up is also down to me. That's fine when the weather is good and they can spend time outdoors. Going into the garden regularly also helps with the house training as they get accustomed to doing their business on the grass instead of the fur mat. Unfortunately, however, it doesn't seem to want to stop raining for more than 5 minutes at a time, so we have frequently had spiky puppies as they get caught while I'm frantically trying to clean out the indoor pen. I do have a waterproof sheet draped over the pen to protect them from the sun & rain, but when it's so windy as well, that doesn't last long.

They don't wake us at night so much now except for the occasional teeth-caught-in-the-bars emergency that results in blood-curdling puppy screams that send us rocketing out of bed and down the stairs before our eyes are even open. Of course, by the time we get to the bottom of the stairs, the crisis is over. There is nothing to match the screech of a Finnish Lapphund who thinks he just might, perhaps, have a slim chance of being about to get hurt.

Rise & shine is at about 5:45, which is an improvement on the last litter who woke religiously at 5 am. I guess it's down to the later sunrises. As their day starts with a trip to the garden, I don't dare get going until 7, though, as I'm trying to be kind to my neighbours. Yes, they're noisy. No, not the neighbours...

So if we've all gone a bit quiet here it's only because I don't have quite enough hours each day. And don't even ask about how the lounge painting project is going!

Here's the Devon Nine in their pen this morning.















L-R: Flash, Right Paw, Spot, Big A, Boots
Back: Cross, LMP
and 2 in hiding in between















Not sure who owns that gorgeous little bottom on the left, but that's Cross in the middle and Suck Monster on the right.

games in the pen

The puppies have settled in to the downstairs pen and seem to be growing right before my eyes now. In fact, I think I'll be adding the pen extension today to double the size. They are taking all the household noises as they come and haven't been too worried by the washing machine spinning or the Dyson zooming around their perimeter.

When they're not sleeping or eating, they're too busy playing to worry about any random bangs or crashes. They're interacting with each other, us and their toys a great deal now. When I come downstairs in the morning, I call them and they all run, yapping, to the side of the pen looking up, waiting for breakfast.

Breakfast today was last night's leftover puppy biscuit mush and another plate of porridge. The biscuit went down very well and no one turned up their nose or seemed to have any trouble eating it. I will gradually lessen the time I soak it for until they are able to happily crunch up the bits.

On Thursday they will be 4 weeks old and that means lots of new things. New portraits, of course, and visits from strangers & patiently waiting families. It also means I need to start making up my mind about which puppy will stay here with mum & dad and which ones will go where. Placing the puppies in the right homes is a job I take very seriously and I try so hard to make sure the personality fits the family.

Of course, some puppies' personalities change when they move into their new home and get their paws under the table, don't they Koda? Koda was a quiet little mouse when he lived here with us and when he went to his family his cheeky, adventurous character really developed! A little bit of work and he's now reverted to his good-boy status and is a real delight.

The magic 1-month-old milestone also means that I'm hoping the pups will start spending some of their time in the garden. Fingers crossed for good weather - or at least better than it's been for the last 2 months or so. Now need to find some time to get the grass cut good and short in preparation.

For your entertainment today, a little video of games in the pen.

the big move

It's been quite a busy weekend here for the Devon Nine. I started to feel sorry for Neka having to run up and down the stairs everytime a pup made a squeak and even sorrier for myself having to do the same. So over the weekend I planned the big relocation.

On Saturday I scrubbed the puppy pen and down came the pups, two-by-two with Neka trailing after me & Jay as we carefully carried them from the cardboard box that they called home for the first 3.5 weeks of their lives and placed them into their new pen. They settled right in and were very interested to meet Keskiyo & Annie & took everything completely in their stride without a hint of fear or shyness.

Here are a couple of photos of them snoozing in their new digs.

L-R: Suck Monster, Flash, Big A















A selection of puppies! Flash is clearly yet another one of this litter who takes after her dad, resting her top lip on the bar to show off her tiny brand new teeth.















The weaning is going very well. They now polish off 2 large platefuls of porridge at every meal and tonight I'll try them with their first taste of puppy kibble soaked in warm milk until it's mushy. I'll report back how we get on!

hard work

Sorry if you were waiting all day yesterday for a post that didn't come. I'm getting more tired and the puppy care is getting a bit more complicated.

Porridge 4 times a day to coincide with Neka's 4 meals. Make sure everyone gets their fair share. Follow with shallow bowl of water to encourage them to drink. Not quite as interesting as the porridge yet, though.

As they grow they are making more of a mess too. They and the mat get covered in food when they're eating. Neka still cleans up all the poos (phew for that!) but they are weeing freely with no help from mum, so clean newspaper has to go down everytime they wake up. Big shout out to Jo and her neighbours for the very welcome steady supply of newspaper. I don't know how we would manage without them because it would take me 5 years to gather enough newspaper singlehandedly.

I don't think I'm the only one finding it tougher. Neka has decided she has had enough of being sequestered with the pups 24/7 so she now opens the door and comes downstairs to find the rest of the family whenever she feels like it. She's such a social thing, I can't say that I blame her for getting bored and lonely. She's still a great mum, though, and quickly scampers back to the box at the first squawk.

She rarely lies down to feed them now and that's also no surprise, as they descend on her like little vampires everytime she gets in the box. So she usually nurses sitting up or, occasionally, standing up with the puppies hanging off! She used to do that with the last litter when they were about 4 weeks old and had teeth but at the moment it seems a bit soon for her to expect the poor little mites to reach when she's standing. They're still so little - well, relatively so, anyway.

I do wonder if she'll ever get her girlish figure back this time!

Today's photos - box of puppies anyone?

eating puppies

... or perhaps I should say puppies eating!

Couple of quick videos for you today as you didn't get a photo yesterday. The first shows three clever little mites licking from the porridge plate. Turn the volume up on your computer to hear the little lapping & chewing noises.

I can't believe they are so advanced already! I give them a plate of porridge 3 times a day and, at any one time, I can usually get 4 or more licking from the plate with greater or lesser success. They are all slowly getting the hang of it. Flash is best at it, but the video just shows the last hardcore eaters as I was too busy trying to get them to eat to be fooling about with the camera. I think it's Flash, BigA and, maybe LMP.

The second video features Boots & Chew & shows a hint of what happens after they have given up on the porridge - licking it from each other and learning to play. It gets especially engaging when they are licking/chewing each other's faces - but this lot were too sleepy for such shenanigans today.

Enjoy!

porridge face

Consider yourselves very spoiled. Here are a couple of shots of Right Paw and LMP tucking into their porridge this afternoon. I know I should keep these pics for next week when I'm too busy to be taking photos to amuse you with, but they are just too scrumptious to keep to myself.

LMP showing she's learned a thing or two from Suck Monster:















Right Paw looking just a little bit sleepy, but willing to give this porridge thing a go. Moments later he headed straight for the plate to lick it up himself! No slow learner, this one.















See how they're learning to sit up? Now don't say I never do anything for you.

Just a few hours left to vote in the poll (see right). Tomorrow I will reveal all together with the 2-week photos.

cats & dogs

How's this for getting on like cats and dogs? Witness Taika cosying up to her new friend Charlie. All together now - awwwwww.















Today all the puppies are rampaging around on their feet, eyes open. They had their first worming, which was yet another unpleasant experience for them. I administer the liquid with a small syringe and they open their little mouths expecting something yummy. They're not impressed with the taste of the wormer, though, apparently. They will have the same tomorrow & the next day then a break of 3 weeks before going through it all again.

I'm girding my loins to get the puppy porridge out today and see if I can interest any of them in trying a bit. Should make for a good photo opportunity, so more later...