The first of the development stages is The Neonatal Period. This period starts at day one and goes to day 14. At this stage the most important and main influence in the puppies life is their dam. Her health, milk supply, attitude towards the pups and people who come see them influence the behavior development of the litter.
Puppies First Week: Again, I can say that I am so thankful for such a good brood bitch. Tikka, as always keeps a close eye on her pups, feeds them, sleeps with them, cleans them and generally, just enjoys spending time with them.
Pups this litter were a bit small in weight compared to Tikka’s last litter. Pups weighed anywhere from 16 ounces - one pound 4 ounces. The pups lost a wee bit of weight during their first day. Tikka’s milk had not come in right away, so after the colostrum, they was not much else left. Thankfully, the milk came in on day 3 and the pups have been gaining and growing rapidly since! We also had a very small runt this litter. We named him Frodo. I decided to bottle feed Frodo to see if we could get him up there in weight. Although he gained some weight, he never really gained much. Sadly, we lost Frodo on day 10. He was still very small (1/3 of size of other pups). Although I know this is likely the ‘best’ and there was something ‘wrong’ with Frodo, it is never easy loosing a puppy. Frodo was a lovely sable boy, who is now buried under my favorite tree by the pond.
The first week has come and gone and the pups are doing awesome. Tikka continues to take very good care of them, giving attention to every pup with a good cleaning and feeding them continually. Tikka will spend the whole night in the whelping box with her pups, allowing them to feed as they want/need to. Tikka did not sleep much the first few night, so it was good to see her relax and spend some time sleeping!!
In this neonatal period the pups spend 90% of their time sleeping. They are actually pretty fast crawlers and have no problem righting themselves when they turn over. The pups are generally quiet/content and Tikka keeps a close eye on them. She loves to clean them and spends time stimulating them so that they can defecate.
Tikka loves to cuddle with the puppies and will not stay away from the whelping room for long. Usually it is for a quick pee/poop and then back to babies.
We have had a few visitors (close friends/family). Tikka is always welcoming of others in to see her pups but does watch them carefully. We do not allow anyone to touch them at this point. Tikka will sit beside you ‘admiring’ her puppies with you or she is inside feeding them.
I started the Neurological Stimulation with the puppies on day 3 and have continued to day 16. We have kept the temperature in the whelping box around 25/26 Celcius for the first 10 days. Now in week two we are keeping it around 22-24. This seems to be sufficient.
It is now the second week for the pups. Tikka and the puppies are doing great. Although it seemed that the pups may have had a bit of a late start (with getting milk), I think they are actually a bit ahead of schedule in their development. Lots of movement and I am just amazed at how many are starting to ‘stand’ and take a few steps!! They also use their nose to find Tikka and their milk supply! They are VERY good at this. The pups are also responding to me by my smell and are starting to ‘cuddle’ a bit with me. I love this time.
Two Weeks: Pups turned 2 weeks old today, Tuesday the 15th. All are doing very well. They are certainly well fed!!! Most of the pups, if not all, are actually ‘walking’ to get to Tikka now when they smell her near by. I am just amazed by this….although they still fall while walking they are actually very co-ordinated! They are also starting to ‘stand’ to poop!! It is so interesting to watch! If they fall while standing it is down on their front legs. Their rear is still in the air as they are pooping. Course, you don’t see that for long as Tikka is instantly in there to clean them up once she hears any kind of a grunt or gets a whiff of a smell!
Their eyes are just beginning to open with slits. Interersting. Last litter they were a bit more open at this time period. Having said that this litter is moving more than the last one.
The pups are growing each day. Tikka now has to lay out more to fit in all the pups. Even then, some are left out and wait for their turn or fight their way in any push someone else away. They are also VERY confident/strong pups. It is fun to watch them fight and ‘win’ the nipple they want!! The nipples closer to the front are still the most favored ones. Tikka’s appetite has not been as strong for this litter as past litters so I have tried to supplement her a bit with some herbs and some homoepathy to produce more milk. It has worked. These pups are VERY quiet! They are very content, will sleep for hours without a feeding. We have had a bit of softer stools for a few days, which I am pretty sure is due to the abundance of milk. Also perhaps to Tikka loving to eat her liver! We will cut down on the liver a bit.
Tikka has been super good with the other dogs. We have not allowed them in the puppy room at this point, but she shows no issues with them inbetween feedings. She misses some of her play time with Riggs, so I just started to let her out for a bit longer to play. She enjoys this but it doesn’t take long before she is at the puppy door wanting in to check on everyone.Now, a bit of an update on the puppies individually. We have 2 girls. No collar sable girl and no collar black/red girl. Right now, sable girl is the largest pup. She seems to have a very nice head and good bone. She is also the darkest sable at this point. She seems pretty content. Black /red girl is very balanced in her type. Very proportionate. She may settle a bit more quickly than her sister when cuddled, but that is hard to tell as they are so young. She is also a good size and perhaps has a bit more red/tan coloring on her cheeks compared to the other black/red pups.
Then we have blue color sable boy; blue paw collar black/red boy; black/red, red collar boy; green collar sable boy; no collar black/red boy and black collar sable boy.
I THINK the red collar black/red boy is perhaps a stock coat. His coat is a bit shiner, lays a bit closer to the body and perhaps a bit more ‘silky’. He is also the DARKEST of the black/red pups. VERY black face and his red coloring is sometimes hard to see on his legs. I sometimes wonder if he is a bi-color. He reminds me a lot of Rocky, the dark stock coat from Tikka’s first litter.
No collar black/red boy is a bit smaller than the others but very proportionate. I call him my elegant boy. HE is very content.
Blue paw color black/red boy is also very proportionate. He seems to have a good head, has nice little red markings above his eyes and a wee bit of red on his cheeks. He likes to talk when he eats.
Blue collar sable boy is a wee bit bigger than the first boy pups I mentioned. He seems to be very content. Nice dark face, good coloring. He might be the lightest of the sables….but this is still very dark. He is also content.
Green color sable boy is very similar to his sable brothers. Nice dark face, good dark coloring. Content.
Black collar sable boy is perhaps a wee bit smaller than his sable brothers. He also is very content.
I expect that their individual personalities will come out more and more now as they age. I can hardly wait for their eyes to open, to interact and play with people and each other more.
Thus far I am very pleased with this litter. VERY uniform, very content. I have trimmed all their nails once. I try to do this while they are sleeping and usually get a few little kicks and curling up when I do them.
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