The great escape

Nancy kindly came over midday while I was at the State Fair.  She received quite the surprise when she walked in - 5 baby puppies on the loose.  The pups had managed to climb over the half gate; only Olympia was left in the pen.  So the puppy pen is officially closed, and the only access that the big dogs will have is when the pen is opened by a human.  Bridget is starting to let the pups know that weaning has begun.  The pups' appetites are picking up, so also time to increase the amount of kibble fed.  Currently, the pups are eating 3/4 of soaked kibble with goat milk added each per day.  Bridget is currently eating 6 cups per day of high calorie kibble, plus hard boiled egg and chicken.  I plan to start gradually reducing her food so that her milk production decreases.  Bridget's body condition is still excellent. 

Puppy pics

Some puppy pics to start out the weekend.

 Black pups and Grandma Yuma

 Flame and Butterfly looking to get back inside.  The pups are now coming in from the front yard when called. 

 Butterfly snoozing.  This litter loves tucking under the couch or end table when tired. 

 Summer

 London leaning

 Summer tackling Olympia

 Flame

 Coming down the front walk

 London, the front steps are still padded

Butterfly and Flame, wanting back out!

4 week puppy pics

Enjoy!

 Not sure which black pup, probably Champ

 Olympia and Butterfly

 Butterfly playing with foot stool

 Butterfly batting at a weed

 Butterfly sniffing some purple sage

 Coming down the front walk

One of their last group meals.  Since then, we have been feeding the pups individually to discourage competitive feeding behaviors.  Also ensures that eat pup gets their fair share. 

 Feeding frenzy

 Flame

 Flame

 London playing with cone flower plant

 Olympia and London having their own Olympics wrestling match

 Summer trying to get up the front step

 Success, now she needs to get down.  Soon after this, I started putting down the comforter crash pad.

 Summer in front yard plants

 Summer in weeds

 Unidentifed pup yawning.  Possibly London since so light. 

Summer doing her own yawning.

4 weeks old

The pups gained approximately 1 1/2 lbs each last week.  Olympia continues to be the big pup at 6 lbs 2 oz.  Summer is the little girl at 5 lbs 4 oz.  Only 4 weeks old, and the pups are running, bouncing, tugging, climbing, sleeping through the night, keeping a clean pen by using their litter box, playing enthusiastically outside, climbing up the front steps, playing loose in the house around the adult dogs, sleeping under my couch, eating kibble from a bowl, and lapping water.  I have seen Butterfly and London up on their hind legs looking over the tall half gate.  Last Sunday they experienced light rain during one of their morning outings.  Today they wore harnesses for the first time, felt a grooming brush, and had their second worming.  They have had four nail trims already.   We have started rude and invasive handling - massaging their feet, ears, tail, muzzle, cradling them on their backs, etc.  Whew, amazing what they have accomplished in such a short time!!

First Outside Adventure

The pups had their first outside experience Friday morning.  All handled it well except that Olympia had some anxious whining. 

 Outside in my front yard in the morning when still semi-cool

 Yellow pups playing outside, Summer batting London

Taking care of business - first outside "hurry"

 First outside puppy poop by London

 Summer and Flame

 Summer

 Looks like Champion

 London, he already outgrew his small blue collar and has upgraded to a patriotic collar

London sitting

Lots of changes

This morning, I bumped out the puppy pen to full size (2 full ex-pens) so the pups have lots of room to play.  I forgot to check earlier, but the pups presumably starting cutting their teeth around 3 weeks of age.  They currently have a nice set of incisors and their baby canine/needle teeth are part way in.  Poor Bridget!  The pups have successfully transitioned from canned food to soaked kibble, and I just finished pasteurizing the first container of goat milk.  So they will be enjoying kibble and milk for the coming weeks.  I have seen Butterfly and Champ dunk their muzzles into the water bowl, but still haven't mastered lapping water.  Having some milk in the pan at meal time should help with learning that skill.

This litter likes to sleep behind and even under the litter box.  Butterfly started first, but other pups have been copying.

 Butterfly again

 Flame

 Babies fall asleep in the darnest places (London).  The bricks flank the water bowl to decrease spillage

Flame with stuffed ball toy that rattles

3 weeks old

In just three short weeks, we have a pen full of adorable playful  puppies.  In the evenings, I enjoy sitting in the pen, cuddling puppies and watching some of the Olympics.  All the pups are over 4 lbs, and Olympia is currently the big pup at 4 lbs 6 oz.   Flame, the smallest pup at birth and the recipient of numerous private nursing sessions, is the second biggest pup at 4 lbs 3 oz.  Currently, the smallest pup is Summer at 4 lbs 1 oz.  I have bumped out the puppy pen to 3/4 full size and it is filled with a variety of toys.  I have added a low water bowl for the pups to experiment with.  Just today, I started leaving a radio on, tuned to NPR, to provide the pups with some additional background noises during the day while I am at work.  This evening, I changed out the litter box and it had been well used.  I have seen multiple pups make the march down to the litter box to take care of business.  The pups had been looking over the half gate and I suspected someone would soon be crawling over, so I had set up a crash pad on the opposite side.  Soon after I got home from work today, Bridget was standing outside the half gate, tempting the pups, and sure enough, London and Butterfly climbed over the gate and headed for the milk bar.  So I had to swap out the low half gate for one that is higher.  The pups are relishing a tablespoon of canned food 3 times a day, and just tonight, I introduced them to soaked kibble, just 4 kibbles each to get them used to prehending kibble and digesting the new food item.  No complaints so far.  Over the next few days, I will gradually transition them from canned food to soaked kibble.  I have goat milk thawing so they will soon be dining on kibble and milk.