3 weeks old

 It's been a busy week for Joulu.  He's had his nails cut a few times now, he has been wormed - neither of these events is something he's particularly keen on, like all puppies.  On the plus side, his eyes are open, he has learned to walk (and getting good at it), he is now playing with his toys (result - they don't bite back!) and he has started to lap at milk (yummy but hard work) and had his first meal.  

Is it possible he's getting cuter?  He's definitely getting funnier at times.  Little walking video at the bottom.

This pretty boy (tongue out!)

And again!  Sleeping version

Not perfectly sharp, but with pretty mama

Mamas are good for snoozing with

Practicing walking

Hanging out with the toy-siblings

Milk is yummy

Being a puppy is TIRING WORK

Squawking over-tired puppy

And then .... zzzzzzzzzz

3 weeks old

As promised, the puppies are more or less crunchy with dried-in food at this age.  They have started to eat solid food - and by solid, I mean puppy kibble soaked into mush and mixed with warm puppy milk.  Any that they don't manage to get on themselves while they are eating, their littermates spread when they start playing after meals.

They will have their first taste of raw food tomorrow - yum!  But in the meantime, here they are at 3 weeks old.  They still mostly sleep, but when they're awake, they are barking, growling, playing, stomping around and wagging. 

Neot

Penny

Fowey

Trever

Kensey

Ottery

weight

I have to say, these puppies look enormous to me.  They feel fat & heavy & very cuddly.  Don't ask me why - I have no idea why I have this perception, because apparently it's not true!  The numbers don't lie, and as you can see from from nerdy charts below, it seems that these puppies are extremely average in size and weight (if extreme average-ness isn't an oxymoron).

In other news, the puppies have been wormed for the first time.  That never goes down well because it's a liquid and they tell me it tastes terrible.  As proof, you can see their uncles from Tuuli's first litter being wormed at the same age here.  

This time I tried Drontal wormer instead of the Panacur I normally use.  I do believe the puppies tolerated the terrible taste more readily than others have coped with Panacur in the past.  I was slightly concerned as the Drontal is obviously a stronger drug, because you only give it once whereas the Panacur you give once a day for 3 days.  However, there have been no apparent ill effects, and it can only be a good thing for them not to have more than one day of it at a time.  

And here are the weights.  The puppies were weighed twice a day for the first week and then daily for the second week.  From now on they will only be weighed weekly.  The first table shows their weekly weight followed by a chart showing the same information in diagram size; and they are all extremely close.  The last chart is my litter average weight comparison chart.  See - I told you it was nerdy.  

If you're having trouble seeing the images, you can click on them for a larger size.

3 weeks old

The puppies are 3 weeks old and have an average weight of 1825 grams.  These puppies have been pretty big all along, and with great round bellies.  Just for fun I've been comparing them to the other litter of 3 who were also pretty big puppies and grew into pretty big dogs.  As you can see, the Sisko gang were slightly bigger at birth and 1 week, exactly the same at 2 weeks but at 3 weeks their average weight is less than the average weight of the Täysikuu clan - although Maxene is heavier than Anni was.

	Birth	1 Week	2 Weeks	3 Weeks
Täysikuu	329	558	1334	2020
Sisko	347	812	1334	1825

The weaning process has started.  Unusually they are not very interested in raw meat yet, but they love kibble mush soaked in warm milk.  

They were pretty cooperative about having their photos taken today - mainly because I got them when they were sleepy, I think.  As usual, the puppies are a bit crusty in the 3 week photos because when they're eating they get more stuck in their fur and all over each other than they do in their mouths.

They are a pretty yawny bunch, it seems.  Every photo shoot involves a great deal of yawning.  Pretty cute.

Patty

LaVerne

Maxene

3 weeks old

The 3-week photos are always the same - the puppies are a bit crunchy around the edges from their first few attempts at eating and they are a bit damp from being cleaned by mum.  They're also active and learning to play and noisy from learning to growl and bark.  These puppies are a bit noisier than the norm and we're thinking it's because they're feeling too warm.  They now have a cool mat in the box with them, and Emmi has another one to lie on at night outside the box.

In other news, Maija & Tuuli had a vomiting and diarrhea bug a week ago so we were desperately careful about keeping Emmi away from them so that she didn't pick it up and pass it to the puppies in turn.  24 hours of starvation, and the bug was gone; Maija & Tuuli bounced right back to normal, so after a couple of days Emmi reintegrated.  And shortly thereafter she apparently went outside to the park next door for a wee and picked it up.  She has chosen to starve herself, so I'm hoping she will be back to normal tomorrow.  And I'm pleased to report there is no sign of sickness with the puppies.  Yet.  Not sure I want to think about what it might be like to have 7 puppies vomiting and spewing liquid poo every 5 minutes.

But in the meantime...

Woody

Robin

Raven

 

Rook

Buzz

Puffin

Merlin

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.