Polly is a "fluffy" Norwich. This means that Polly has two copies of the (recessive) long coat allele that makes a long (and soft) coat. So Polly does not look like a typical Norwich, either in terms of the feel of her coat or its color. In the picture, Polly is shaved down. Gunner does not carry the fluffy allele, so any puppies from a Gunner x Polly breeding will have a normal Norwich coat.
Polly lives in Maryland with her primary owner, Lynn S. I sold Polly to Lynn under the condition that I could breed Polly for one litter. The plan is for Polly to come stay with me for the last two weeks of her pregnancy and for the three months while Polly is raising her puppies. After that Polly will return to Lynn, who intends to spay Polly.
Polly clearly remembers me. (Dogs never forget their breeder. I suspect it is because our scent in imprinted as a very early memory.) Polly also vaguely remembers my house. But she is clearly a bit confused about the change in her living arrangements, especially being so far advanced in her pregnancy.
I am now taking Polly's temperature several times a day. At first to get a baseline, but later to watch for a temporary drop in temperature which will indicate that labor will start within the next 24 to 48 hours. Because Polly was bred so many times, we do not have an accurate "due date" other than "sometime next week". Monday is the day when I will start watching Polly closely for any changes in behavior - panting and digging (nesting) - that might indicate stage one labor. Stage one usually lasts for several hours before stage two labor - active pushing - begins.
About now is when I start feeling like Prissy in "Gone with the Wind" ... "Oh, Miss Scarlett! I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies!".
Polly was examined and I was told that the puppys' heartbeats all were in the normal range. Polly was given a shot of oxytocin to encourage contractions. After a wait and still no puppies, Polly was given another dose of oxytocin and again we waited. Around 8:30 pm and still no puppies the vets decided that a cesarean section might be necessary. They told me that Polly was having strong contractions, but they were only seeing minimal movement of the puppies. They said that they were going to start prepping for a c-section. If Polly started having puppies naturally, the surgery could be cancelled.
All this time because of the pandemic, I was waiting in the parking lot. Fortunately the weather was nice. I was keeping Polly's primary owner informed about what was going on both by text messages and phone calls. I went back to the hotel, packed up our things, and checked out. No matter how Polly had her puppies, we would be driving back home.
Around 10 pm, I got a phone call from the resident (junior) repro vet that Polly's c-section was starting. A 11 pm, the attending (senior) repro vet came out to tell me that Polly and her four puppies were all doing well, and that it was two boys and two girls. He apologized that it had taken so long to start the c-section, but explained that an emergency hospital has to prioritize and that it takes time to clean up and setup a surgical suite for another procedure. I asked, but he said that he did not have a good answer as to why Polly was not able to deliver naturally. Polly was having contractions, so it was not a problem of uterine inertia. The head of the puppy in the birth canal was not too large - he said he could get a finger around the puppy's head when examining Polly - so it was not a problem of fetal-pelvic disproportion. So we are left with a mystery. Shortly afterwards, I got my first look at the puppies. Polly was still pretty groggy from the anesthesia.
We then began the long drive home. The puppies traveled in a covered box with a hot-water bottle to keep them warm. I could tell from the noise coming from the box that some of the puppies did not appreciate this new mode of travel. We arrived home around 1 pm.
I put Polly in the whelping box next to my bed. (Nursing box would be a better name, but everyone calls them whelping boxes.) I gave Polly a squirt up the nose of an oxytocin spray to stimulate her maternal instincts. At first Polly wanted nothing to do with these strange creatures that I put next to the side of her belly. She would move to the other side of the whelping box. But on the fourth attempt and with the puppies starting to suckle, Polly's maternal instincts kicked in and she started licking the puppies. At that point I heaved a sigh of relief. I kept watch for a while to make sure there was no further problems, but then around 2 am fell into bed and turned out the light.
This morning Polly was very concerned when I took the first puppy to be weighed, even though I was sitting with the scale just outside the whelping box. But Polly relaxed somewhat when she saw that I gave the puppy back. However Polly kept a sharp eye on me the whole time.
Here are the puppies, their birth weights, and you can read their morning weight on the scale. (I will be weighing the puppies twice a day for the first three weeks or so.) The vet school puts colored velcro collars on the puppies. I dislike this type of collar on puppies, preferring colored yarn. (Both have their advantages and disadvantages.) I will replace their collars in a day or so. Until I do, I will refer to each puppy by its current collar color and its future collar color.
Later in the day, I was talking on the phone with Polly's primary owner and also watching Polly and her puppies. I noticed Polly's head bobbing up and down as if she was struggling to stay awke. Finally Polly laid down. I think this was the first time Polly had laid down since we had gotten home. I know that I was exhausted after a short night's sleep; I can only imagine how tired Polly must feel.
Puppies nursing. The blue wrap is where Polly had her IV catheter in her leg for her surgery.
Mostly my job for the next couple of weeks is to act as Polly's butler - putting food and water in front of Polly so that she does not have to leave the puppies. Usually Polly stays seated, but this time stood up. Polly is eating cottage cheese to keep her calcium levels up. Hypocalcemia (low calcium) is a common problem of lactating bitches ... and it can be deadly.
Orange/Pink has already learned that one way to reach a nipple is to lay on one's back.
In the evening, a pile of puppies.
The two brothers, White and Blue, sleeping next to each other, while Green uses her sister Pink as a pillow. The reddish glow is from my heat lamp. When Polly leaves the whelping box, I turn on the heat lamp on to keep the puppies warm. Usually right after I turn the heat lamp on, Polly jumps back in the whelping box. So I have to turn off the lamp otherwise Polly gets too warm. A butler's job is never done.
Since Polly had surgery, I have been taking Polly's temperature daily to make sure that there are no residual problems. Today I discovered that Polly has a low-grade fever ... but it was close enough to what is considered a high-grade fever (102.5 degrees for dogs) that I called my repro vets for advice. I was also concerned because it seemed to me that Polly was not drinking as much water as she should. (Producing milk requires lots of water.) I was advised to keep an eye on Polly and add some Gatorade to her water (as the sugar would make the water sweet and encourage her to drink more). Naturally I did not have any Gatorade in the house. After I got some from the local grocery store, Polly turned her nose up at this funny tasting water. In the later afternoon, Polly's fever was down but in the evening it was back up again. Polly's fever did not seem to affect the puppies who continued to nurse and gain weight.
The boy White seems to be the explorer of the group. I always seem to find him crawling around the whelping box away from the others. He does not seem in distress, just on a mission. White is also leading the puppies in the race to gain weight. The girl Green is bringing up the rear, but gaining weight.
Later in the morning, Polly finally laid down and got some sleep. I heard her yip while having a dream. But when she woke up, she continually kept digging up the bedding in the whelping box (which I had to straighten). Polly felt hot from her fever, so was trying to "dig" down to cooler ground. With her temperature slowly rising (although still low grade), I called my repro vets and got an appointment.
I loaded Polly and her puppies in a large crate and we made the trek to NC State. When we got there, they took the crate with Polly and her puppies inside. Polly's blood chemistry showed an elevated white blood count, which indicated an infection. The attending repro vet diagnosed mastitis on Polly's right rear teat. Now I have been flipping Polly over on her back once a day to check her c-section incision for any redness (which would indicate infection) and also to check Polly's teats for any redness or stiffness (which would indicates mastitis). However I have never seen mastitis and I had only read about it. The attending vet told me that we had caught the mastitis early. We then waited to get some antibiotics from the veterinary hospital's pharmacy. (Also I made sure that there were still four puppies in the crate with Polly!) After which we headed home, and upon arrival I gave Polly a dose of the antibiotic. I checked Polly's temperature, but it had continued to rise. Again I gave Polly water to lick from a syringe. When I checked Polly's temperature before turning in for the night, her temperature was still rising. Evidently the antibiotics had not yet kicked in.
Green using her sister Pink as a pillow. Puppies are born blind and deaf, the only senses they have are feeling and smell. Their eyes open later (usually around ten to fourteen days after birth), and their ear canals open severals days after their eyes open.
Puppies nursing. Polly slept soundly for several hours this morning, including several yips as she dreamt.
When puppies nurse, they often push with a paw against the mother's stomach to help the milk let down into the nipple. This pushing causes a puppy's head to move backwards. So you get this bobbing motion of the head. Today I was watching all four puppies nurse, and their four heads looked like the pistons on an engine bobbing up and down.
Puppies at bedtime. A few minutes later they had crawled into yet another combination. Until mommy came back and it was time to nurse and sleep again.
Polly checking out the crate in the playpen in my living room. I have set up the playpen for Portia and her puppy Gwynie to use as a whelping box. All my other dogs are coming home today.
Puppies nursing. The puppies eat until they fall asleep. And puppies nursing later in the day. This is really all that the puppies do ... eat and sleep. I am a bit worried about Green. She is not gaining weight as fast as the other puppies. Blue - who along with Green - were the two smallest puppies at birth, has pulled even in weight with his sister Pink.
The big news of the day was the return of my other dogs, including Portia and her puppy Gwynie. Both mothers were very interested in the other's puppies. Each tolerated the other being near her puppies. Polly seemed happy to have canine company, but was not sure about the extra puppy. Was she supposed to feed it? If so, she would need a lot more milk as the new puppy seemed like a whale (Gwynie is almost four weeks old) compared in size to her puppies. Or perhaps she was to trade her puppies for this new puppy? It was all very confusing.
I had planned for Portia and Gwynie to sleep in the playpen in my living room. That lasted about five minutes. Portia let me know in no uncertain terms that she was going to sleep in my bed as she always does. And I could not leave Gwynie alone out in living room. So I set up a small pen for Gwynie in my bedroom as an ersatz whelping box. This actually worked out better, as I could easily check on Gwynie during the night. But again Polly was confused. First Polly would go sit with Gwynie who seemed all alone (although her mother could easily see Gwynie from my bed). Then one of Polly's puppies would make a sound, so Polly would rush back to her whelping box to check and get everyone settled down. The Polly would return to siting with Gwynie. This must have happened at least four times until I turned out the light.
White, no surprise, is the first to reach the 200 gram weight mark. Blue has lapped his sister Pink and is now in second place. Green continues to bring up the rear. If I see the puppies nursing, I make sure Green has a spot ... even if it means pulling White off a nipple.
Polly has clearly put the puppies on a schedule (known only to her) and is spending more time during the day out in the living room with me. However if Polly hears a squeak from my bedroom, she immediately rushes back to check on the puppies. Here is Polly admiring herself in a mirrow.
Puppies nursing in the evening. The mat in the whelping box is staying more and more clean. While Polly is cleaning up after the puppies, Polly herself has slight - and normal - discharges from her uterus as the uterus heals from the c-section. I have two mats for the whelping box, one in use and the other being washed and dried.
Polly also gets weighed daily. I want to make sure that I am feeding Polly appropriately given that she is nursing four puppies. Polly also lost slightly more that half a pound when she had mastitis, so I want to slowly get her weight back up. Besides a quarter cup of cottage cheese a day (to prevent hypocalcemia), Polly is now getting slightly more than double the amount of kibble that she normally gets. This will go up even more as the puppies make increased nutritional demands on Polly.
It looks like Polly has a pom-pom. This is where Polly was shaved for the IV catheter for her c-section.
Pink seems to be the noisy one of the group. Whenever there is a cry from the whelping box and Polly goes to investigate - with me following - invariable it will be Pink who is the one making a sound.
Now that the puppies are one week old, I start to relax about any of the puppies having puppy lung development disease. Babies (and puppies) lungs continue to develop after birth. If a puppy has puppy lung development disease, the puppy initially seem normal but then starts to have difficulty breathing, and goes down hill quickly and dies. It is horrible to watch and no treatment is available. I have had two puppies with puppy lung development disease, and both their bodies were sent off for research. It is thought that puppy lung development disease may be related to alveolar capillary dysplasia in humans. The scientists are excited about possibly finding an animal model for this rare fatal disorder in human infants. Genetic studies are underway.
Polly is spending much more time away from the puppies now.
Canine mothers keep the whelping box clean by drinking their puppy's pee and eating the puppy's poop. The mother licks the puppy to stimulate the puppy to pee and poop. Here Polly has flipped Pink over and is licking Pink. (Notice that Pink has gotten her arm through her new collar, so I had to cut off her collar and fit her with a slightly tighter collar.)
Puppies nursing.
Polly finished the antibiotic for her mastitis today. She seems all better, and the puppies are nursing from the two rear teats. Polly continues to spend more time with me during the day, but still spends the majority of the night sleeping with the puppies. Here is Polly about to go inside through my doggy door, with her cousin Ophelia.
Puppies nursing. Blue has already had enough and fallen asleep.
White and Blue both joined the 300 gram club today, with White holding a slight lead. Green and Pink are now close together in the weight gain race.
Another puppy audition photo for the June Taylor Dancers. (June Talor was the chorographer of a dance troupe on the Jackie Gleeson Show, where her signature was the overhead camera shot of the dancers making kaleidoscopic geometric patterns.)
The puppies do not always sleep in a pile. I suppose it depends on the temperature in my bedroom, which I keep around 78 to 80 degrees. It may also mean that the puppies are starting to learn to regulate their own body temperature.
Puppies nursing. Notice the tails in the air, indicating approval of the milk being served. Polly raised her head to check on what I was doing. But after realizing that the camera was no threat to her puppies, Polly put her head back down.
The puppies were in a nice arc. By the time I grabbed my camera, Blue (on the far left) had started to crawl towards Pink.
What I like to see ... puppies sleeping on their side. If a puppy spends too much time on its stomach, the force of gravity causes the puppy's chest to flatten (as puppy bones are very plastic at this age). This flattening can lead to a puppy being a "swimmer" who only crawls and does not learn to walk.
Blue is the first puppy to sleep on his back. The white patch on Blue's chest will "shrink" as he grows, until as an adult most likely the only white on Blue's chest will be a small line of white hairs.
The puppies are not still when they are on the scale, but crawling around in circles looking for mommy.
Some head shots of the puppies:
Now that the puppies are two weeks old, I start trying out names. This is going to be my "Henry IV" litter, as I was recently watching the Henry IV DVDs with Jeremy Irons as Henry IV and Tom Hiddleston as Prince Hal. For each puppy I need both a registered name ("Shaksper ...") and a simple "call" name. Names can be any character from the play or actor from the DVD or some combination or reference. (For example my girl "Siri" is "Shaksper Serena Mckellen" named after the the actor Sir Ian Mckellen.) Feel free to send me suggestions. I register puppies when they are three weeks old, so I have to decide upon names by then. Of course, when puppies go to their new homes, their new owners can call their puppy whatever they want - and sometimes do, not liking my choice. (And sometimes I am horrified at their choice!)
The puppies like to sleep underneath the pig rails.
Polly had to spend some time in her crate today, as I put a topical heartworm medicine (Revolution) on Polly and it had to dry before she was allowed back with the puppies. Revolution also kills cheyletiella mites. Cheyletiella mites are zoonatic, meaning that they will also infect humans. I can attest from personal experience that these mites are very itchy! Normally Polly's immune system keeps these mites under control at a very low level (unless Polly is exposed to a large number). However while giving birth, the female immune system is busy with other things, and these mites and various worms (normally encapsulated as spores) proliferate. Polly was given Revolution and also wormed before the birth of the puppies, was wormed again two days after giving birth, and is getting Revolution and another worming now.
Another audition photo for a synchronized dance troupe.
Polly nursing the puppies. It is getting crowded underneath Polly now that the puppies are getting bigger.
White and Blue both joined the 400 gram club today; White in the morning, and Blue in the evening. Green - still bringing up the rear - finally joined the 300 gram club today.
Green sleeping. And White after eating his fill.
Blue has learned the most efficient way to get milk. Blue sleeping next to the purple bunny.
Polly with sagging teets. After Polly stops nursing and dries up, she again will have a flat stomach.
I stopped worrying about eyes too soon. This morning I noticed that Green's left eye was not opening, and it looked like there was white crust along the length of the closed eye. A gentle wipe with a wet cotton ball did not allow Green to open his left eye. So I called my local vet and got an appointment in the afternoon. Here is Polly and all the puppies in Polly's crate on the way to my vet. As I suspected, the problem was conjunctivitis - an inflamation most likely caused by bacteria - which dogs often get. My vet was able to gently pry Green's left eye open, stain the eye to make sure there were no scatches on the eye, and - seeing none - prescribd an antibiotic ointment for Green's left eye.
In the thirty seconds or so when the puppies are not nursing or sleeping, they are trying to raise themselves using their front two legs. While the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. The puppies will get up on one leg, then have trouble with the second and then fall over. I think I saw Pink briefly accomplish getting up on two front legs today.
A fan of puppies. One can clearly see that Green (on the far left) is smaller than her siblings. Pink joined the 400 gram club today, leaving Green as the sole remaining member of the 300 gram club. Green is now approximately 50 grams lighter than Pink. As long as Green continues to gain weight, I am not too concerned but I am watching Green's weight closely. Green's left eye seems all normal today, although I will continue to apply the antibiotic ointment for several more days.
White sleeping, as mommy checks the whelping box to make sure everything is ok. Often I find the puppies sleeping underneath the pig rails.
In the evening I was watching the puppies right after they had nursed. Polly got out of the whelping box, and for thirty seconds or so the puppies kept looking for mommy before falling asleep. But while they were awake, the puppies looked like drunken sailors - they got up on one leg only to fall over, bumped into their littermates and fell over, etc. It was hilarious.
Two mothers - Polly (on left) and Portia.
Green sleeping with the purple bunny.
Blue trying to walk. All the puppies are trying to walk; coordination of four legs just needs to be worked out.
Puppies nursing. At nursing time there is a lot of slurping sounds. The puppies are generally quiet. Pink is probably the most vocal. Today rather than just a squeak, I heard Pink make a trilling sound as her mother cleaned her.
Besides twitching, the puppies will occasionally do a big stretch, then go back to sleep. Here is Green streching. Notice Green's left eye is open. I am continuing to apply the antibiotic to her left eye.
The puppies practicing on the ground their cheerleading squad routine.
Five-week old cousin Gwynie really wanted to see the puppies today. Finally I put Gwynie in the whelping box, and Gwynie licked the puppies ... but nobody wanted to wake up and play.
The puppies are three weeks old today, and my pessimism turns to cautious optimism that they will survive. It is also name day. The theme for this litter is Shakespeare's play Henry IV. So their registered and call names are:
Today the puppies weighed as follows:
Polly later in the day nursing the puppies.
Cousin Gwynie (who is almost six weeks old) figured out how to climb into the whelping box to play with the puppies.
Portia has continued to nurse Polly's puppies. If you look carefully, you will see five puppies in the photo! (Polly's puppies and Gwynie). Hotspur telling Gwynie "You are in my spot".
Ten-month old cousin Ophelia is also getting in the whelping box to play with the puppies. Here is Kate checking if Ophelia makes a good pillow.
Puppies playing watched over by second-mommy Portia with cousin Ophelia in the background.
Hotspur sneaking up and attacking the orange dinosaur from the rear.
The puppies are now being active for a few minutes before they fall asleep.
The puppies are much more active. Mortimer even began planning his escape from the whelping box.
The puppies got new collars today - not helped by ten-month old Ophelia who decided to TP my living room with the balls of yarn.
When Gwynie hardly touched her evening meal of "gruel", as an experiment I put the bowl in the whelping box with the puppies. The puppies thought this was a great present and cleaned the bowl! I have never had puppies so young interested in food.
I moved the puppies out to the playpen in my living room for the day. There was much concern about this move from both Polly and Portia. At first the puppies did not want to come out of the crate. Or wanted back in, like Catrin here. And throughout the day, the puppies would occasionally realize that they were not in the whelping box and would sing out their displeasure at this change of venue.
But eventually the puppies came out - all except Mortimer who prefered the safety of the crate. No, that is not a dead puppy in the foreground - just Kate sleeping on her back. Later I found Kate had stuck her muzzle through the bars of the pen, and was sleeping with her head resting on one of the cross bars of the pan.
A nice picture of Polly.
Eventually, Mortimer came out and joined the others. Here are the puppies sleeping in the North-South-East-West position.
There was a little exploring of the play pen, but the puppies mostly slept ... and ate. Notice how there is really only room now for three puppies when nursing. Polly and Portia seem to be taking shifts feeding the puppies. All the puppies are gaining weight nicely. Catrin - still bringing up the rear - joined the 500 gram club today. But sleeping was still the major order of the day. Here are Catrin and Kate sleeping on the other side of the pen from Polly. Towards the end of the day, Mortimer went back into the crate to sleep. In the evening I returned the puppies to the whelping box for the night.
I keep an extra eye on ten-month old Ophelia when she is with the puppies. Ophelia can sometimes be rough with the puppies. But Ophelia can also be surprising gentle, like when I watched Ophelia lay down and lick a puppy.
The two mothers, nursing puppies together.
Note that Portia's puppy, Gwynie, is in the playpen also getting some milk. To my surprise, Gwynie mostly stays out of the playpen; seeming to realize that the playpen is for the younger puppies and no longer for her.
When in the playpen, the puppies often sleep inside a dog crate whose door I have taken off. Catrin was sleeping outside the crate.
Hotspur is the first to climb over the wall (the wooden block) and get outside the playpen. Mortimer was a bit more cautious, but quickly followed. Both puppies were not sure what to do next and found my tile floor slippery. I put both back in the playpen. Hotspur took a long nap after his excursion.
I have only been feeding the puppies breakfast of baby rice and Esbilac the past few days. I am amazed that with nursing from two mothers that the puppies are still interested in eating. The puppies are almost 4 weeks old - the age when I usually start trying to interest puppies in food. So at dinner time, I decided to try feeding the puppies dinner. After eating, the puppies feel asleep.
Note Catrin, who has fallen asleep in the feeding pan! The white specks are some baby rice that the puppies have gotten on them. Dinner was such a success that I fed the puppies another meal just before bedtime, which they gobbled down. So going forward I will feed the puppies four times a day.
Polly and morning puppies. I can tell from the picture that it is morning because the puppies have not soiled the mats. Now that the puppies are bigger, Polly can not drink all their urine, so yellow spots appear on the mats during the day. And since I have started feeding the puppies - although the puppies are still getting most of their nutrition from their two mommies - Polly has said "Right, you clean up the messes." So add sanitation detail to my list of chores. This includes inspecting rear ends; and if necessary, cleaning any messy rear ends with a cotton ball dipped in warm water.
Mortimer "going over the wall":
Hotspur surveying lands to conquer. (The puppy pan is in the middle of the floor so that the older dogs will clean it before I give it a wash.)Jennifer and Keith, their niece Rosalind, and their two Norwich came to visit today to see the puppies. So the puppies had their first trip outside where we were sitting.
Exploring the new environment is tiring and the puppies quickly feel asleep. Fortunately Gwynie had lots of energy to entertain us.
Three puppies wrestling. Mortimer and Kate wrestling. Puppy wrestling is like sumo wrestling - the objective seems to be to push the opponent over.
After the puppies eat and I see that the puppies no longer interested in the food pan, I let Polly in to clean up. This always generates renewed interest in the food pan by the puppies.
I watched Hotspur and Mortimer go "over the wall" together, then Hotspur went right along the fence and Mortimer went left. Obviously they could explore more area if they split up! Later I saw the two boys again escape from my puppy playpen, but this time with an objective - Portia and her milk. Afterwards Mortimer found a dog bed for a nap. This bed is one of Polly's favorites, so I expect that the bed has Polly's scent.
Puppies eating breakfast. If the color of the "gruel" (baby rice) looks different, it is because I had to use a different milk source. I had not expected Polly's puppies to start eating so soon, so I misjudged the number of cans of Esbilac (puppy milk replacement) to have on hand. Consequently I have run out of Esbilac. (I have more on order.) So I am using goats milk (which most grocery stores carry) which can be used as a substitute for Esbilac - although Esbilac is better as it specially formulated for canine puppies.
I had to be out of the house for the morning. I did not want any of the puppies to go "walk-about" (get out of their puppy playpen) yet I wanted Polly to be with them so that the puppies could nurse. So I temporarily increased the size of the puppy playpen and locked Polly and her puppies inside (with a bowl of water for Polly). When I got home, I put the playpan back to its traditional shape.
Kate is the third puppy to "go over the wall". I did not see the escape, but only turned around to find her the middle puppy nursing from Portia. In the background you can see Polly getting into the playpen to nurse Catrin.
When I put the food pan down, the puppies - even if asleep - seem to smell the food (probably the milk) and they come tumbling out of their crate to eat (usually lead by Catrin). Today as an experiment, for breakfast I also gave the puppies a mixture of ground puppy kibble mixed with goats milk. Hotspur, being the adventurous one, was the first to try this new food. Then the others came over to try it. But Catrin showed the most interest. Mostly the puppies licked up the milk. I doubt whether the puppies ate much of the kibble.
Nursing together - Portia nursing three of Polly's puppies and Polly nursing Portia's puppy. And later nursing together outside.
Instead of nursing with his siblings, Hotspur is off exploring my baby tunnel. Hotspur found the entrance yesterday, but can not figure out why he can not get in today. Kate went into the tunnel. (Portia watches from the other end.) And Catrin also went exploring in the tunnel ... and does not seem upset by the spider.
After exploring outside, I brought the puppies in for a nap. Catrin and Kate guard the entrance while the boys sleep in the back.
My dogs got scrambled egg on top of their kibble for dinner today. I gave some scrambled egg to the puppies, but only Kate seemed to appreciate my cooking. I suspect that the puppies have not yet figured out biting, only licking and sucking to get food. Mommy Polly was very happy to eat the leftovers!
Today I wormed the puppies. Each got 0.1 ml of pyrantel pamoate (sometimes known by its brand name of Strongid). I use a small syringe and put the liquid in their mouth. Fortunately pyrantel pamoate must taste ok, as the puppies lick it up. This is actually the puppies second worming,as I wormed the puppies for two days ten days ago. Now we repeat for two days.
The puppies are climbing out of the playpen more and more now and exploring. Here is Hotspur with my "tippy board" - actually a balance exercise board; there is a ball underneath so the board can tip in any direction. Usually I bring the tippy board out when puppies are older, but it was already out because of cousin Gwynie (who is three weeks older). Several of the puppies have played with the tippy board in previous days; this was the first time I could get a picture of someone on the board.
Two mothers nursing - Portia on the left, Polly on the right.
I often let cousin Gwynie into the puppy playpen to help clean up leftovers. Here is Hotspur checking Gwynie out by sticking his nose underneath Gwynie. I am not sure if Hotspur is being precocious or just looking for milk.
When the puppies are now out of the playpen, they are scattering in various directions - which makes keeping track of them difficult!
For dinner, my dogs got cooked ground turkey on top of their kibble. I gave some of the cooked grouned turkey to the puppies, but only Mortimer was willing to give it a try. Mortimer gave it the "four paw get in the pan and eat" seal of approval. So that Mortimer did not get diarrhea from eating too much of this new food, I let mommy Polly in early to each the rest.
Mortimer is the first to taste the water from my dogs' water bowl. The water is green because of a water additive (Healthy Mouth) recommended by my dental vet that aids in plaque control.
Hotspur sleeping. Kate found a different place to sleep - in one of my big dog's crates. Perhaps Kate was attracted to the old pink tee-shirt in the crate. But more likely the attraction was the scent of mommy, as Polly likes to eat in that crate.
Mommies nursing together again.
Puppies playing outside. I am starting to take the puppies outside more as it is time to start potty training.
Finally some nice pictures of Catrin.
There was a near riot in the playpen at lunch time when I put in a small bowl of ground kibble soaked in Esbilac. Only two puppies could get their heads in the bowl at one time. I guess it is time to add ground kibble as a regular menu item to meals.
Mortimer is the first to discover my baby teeter and went back and forth tipping it several times.
Puppies at breakfast. The puppies will eat for a bit, then wander away from the "table", then come back for more. This often repeats several times.
As an experiment today, I put Gwynie in with Polly's puppies to eat lunch. Gwynie was not eating when I put her alone in a crate. Puppies often eat better when there is competitioin. Also I conjectured that eating together might help Gwynie bond with the puppies. I rated the experiment a success, and plan to feed all the puppies together going forward.
Even though the others are less interested, Kate and Mortimer are still interested in auditioning for a dance troupe.
All the puppies trying to nurse from Portia. The puppies are now so big that it is difficult for all of them to nurse at the same time.
Morning puppies. All the puppies were lined up with their front paws on the pig rail, but I could not grab my camera in time. It will not be long before the puppies will be climbing out of the whelping box.
Breakfast. For any given meal, different items seem to be popular. Sometimes it is baby rice. Other times it is ground puppy kibble. The two puppies in the bottom left have their snouts in a small bowl of unground puppy kibble. Cousin Gwynie continues to join the puppies for meals.
Mortimer and Hotspur sleeping together. This is their mother's favorite dog bed.
Puppies wrestling.
Mommy Polly posing with two puppies.
Puppies sleeping in a huddle.
Puppies nursing
Puppies nursing outside. Cousin Gwynie has snuck in to get some milk. Portia waits nearby.
Mortimer and Polly sleeping together.
I had to be out of the house for the morning. So I temporarily expanded the puppy playpen again.
Mortimer and Catrin wrestling. The puppies baby teeth are now coming in.
Kate walking underneath aunt Portia. And later Kate taking a quick nap using mommy Polly's paw as a pillow.
Cousin Gwynie sleeping with Kate and Hotspur.
Around four this morning I got up to take the puppies outside ... and found Mortimer outside the whelping box. Mortimer had evidently climbed on a toy in the whelping box, then onto the pig rail, then gotten out of the whelping box. Mortimer was not distressed; he was just exploring! It will not be long until the puppies have to move to crates for the night.
At this morning's weigh-in, Hotspur is the first to join the one kilogram club.
I thought today might be the day when aunt Portia stopped nursing Polly's puppies. But late in the day I saw Portia nursing Gwynie and one of Polly's puppies. Polly does the majority of the nursing of her puppies. And Polly spends time in the evening with her puppies in the whelping box.
Kate laying underneath mommy. That is a lovely show stack by Polly and nicely shows off her proportions.
Aunt Portia nursing Kate, cousin Gwynie, Mortimer, and Catrin. And later both mothers, Polly and Portia, nursing puppies together.
Polly sleeping with Kate. And later Catrin using Hotspur as a pillow. It is easier to get good pictures when the puppies are sleeping and not moving around!
Hotspur is the first to use my doggy door to go outside.
From top to bottom - Hotspur, cousin Gwynie, and Kate. On a nearby dog bed, Mortimer was using Catrin as a pillow.
Puppies nursing with aunt Portia. Cousin Gwynie at far left; Mortimer is getting a lick from cousin Ophelia.
Mortimer thinking about climbing up my drain pipe.
Hotspur (showing his rear end), Kate, and Cartrin at the entrance to my baby tunnel.
Catrin practicing her "Norwich stare" on her mother. Norwich are very good at using their stare to encourage people to feed them! And Catrin showing the effects of stress on a puppy.
At the evening feeding before bed, while the puppies ate their baby rice, they really chowed down on the puppy kibble. It is time to start fading baby rice from the menu.
Later in the morning, all four puppies sleeping on the dog bed underneath my desk.
Catrin playing on my tippy board.
Two puppies sleeping on mommy's paws.
Cousins Boo and Bear and their owners Jennifer and Keith (along with their nephew Rosalind) came to visit again today. Jennifer - who has a much better eye than I do (and also a better camera) - took lots of pictures of the puppies. As Jennifer sends me copies I will add them here.
Some observations about the puppies.
When I put the food bowl down, the two girls are always the first to rush over and start eating. I suspect the two boys - who are now larger - are crowding the girls away from mommy's nipples when the puppies are all nursing together.
It used to be that when I took the puppies outside, that they would all try to stay together. Now they all scatter in four different directions. It is the same when they are loose in my living room. It often now seems that I am missing a puppy whenever I check on everyone.
Now that the puppies have teeth, cousin Gwynie is more respectful of the puppies. If Gwynie starts to play too rough, more often than not a puppy will turn on Gwynie with snapping teeth.
The puppies are wrestling (playing?) more and more with each other. Usually the girls play together and the boys play together, but not always. The boys are very similar - in size and temperament - to each other, as are the girls to each other.
Since the puppies have demonstrated that they can climb out of the whelping box, now at night they are locked into the box with a sliding panel. It also means that I have to raise and lower the panel when mommy or aunt Portia want to nurse the puppies - which is usually twice during the night right now.
According to breeder folklore, puppies at six weeks look like miniature versions of what they will look like as adults. Going forward, differnt body parts will have different growth spurts. Breeder folklore says that at six months the puppies again look like they will as adults, then they become gangly teenagers until they become adults. Yesterday Jennifer took stacked and head shots of each puppy. I plan to post her photographs under 26 September when Jennifer sends them to me. (The puppies would not hold still for me today!)
Notice how floppy are the tips of Hotspur's ears. Later the puppys' ears will stand firmly erect.
Catrin can almost fit inside a cinder block.
Mortimer realizing that there are more worlds to conquer.
Puppies sleeping on the dog bed underneath my desk.
A swirling mass of Norwich.
Polly letting the puppies nurse. Now that the puppies have teeth, Polly (and aunt Portia) are starting to cut the puppies off from the milk bar, letting the puppies nurse for only a minute or so before moving away.
Three generations - Polly's mother Mandy on the other side of the fence from Polly and three of Polly's puppies.
Hotspur letting it all hang out for the world to see.
Catrin sleeping on Polly's rear leg.
Whenever the puppies are outside, I like to be with them. I have never had a problem, but young puppies are just the right size to tempt a hawk or owl. If an adult dog is outside with them, I will sometimes come inside for a moment to take care of something, but I always hurry back outside. Today I came inside to do something, and watched as Catrin went through my doggy door from the outside to the inside, and came over and got a drink of water. Usually my puppies first learn to go from the inside to the outside. Catrin just has to be different! And in the evening before I turned the lights out for the night, I noticed Catrin walking on a pig rail in the whelping box!
Every time I think that aunt Portia has stopped nursing puppies, Portia proves me wrong.
Puppies wrestling. Notice the teeth.
Polly nursing a puppy underneath my porch chair.
Two against one is fun if you are one of the two.
Puppy wedged into a space to nap. Evidently it is a "safe" spot.
Cooked ground turkey over a bed of ground puppy kibble was on the menu for supper. Evidently the meal was a hit, as the puppies are eating "seconds" and they cleaned their plate a second time.
Portia did not nurse the puppies the previous night, but did last night. It sometimes seems as if Polly and Portia have divided the nightime nursing duty; one taking the early shift, the other the later shift. Other times, one will nurse the puppies, then the other will climb into the whelping box and the puppies will nurse again. It is very amicable.
Empty plastic bottles make great toys.
Polly nursing Catrin and Hotspur. Notice how big the puppies have become in comparison to Polly.
I decided to change all the puppies' collars today as they were looking rather ragged. Hotspur decided to help me when I had the pink yarn.
Kate (with her new collar) making the tippy board stop moving.
In the evening, all the little darlings tucked up for the night.
Hotspur and Mortimer wrestling
Kate hugging with mommy Polly.
Playing on the tippy board.
Mortimer using sister Catrin as a pillow.
Hotspur has a new nickname - "Pigpen" - as he has already gotten his new collar dirty.
Mortimer with puppies playing in background.
Kate in my training earthdog-liner. Earthdog is a small-terrier dog sport that simulates hunting vermon. Dogs go underground through a 9 inch by 9 inch tunnel to reach rats in a cage (so the rats are not hurt by the terriers who want to kill the rats). The sport does not have much visual appeal ... watching it is like watching submarine races. But most terriers enjoy it and it is nice to see the dogs excited about what they were bred to do. My training earthdog-liner is a short 9 inch by 9 inch tunnel to get the puppies used to the size.
When we are outside and the puppies get tired of playing, they will often take a nap inside my training earthdog-liner. Here is Mortimer snuggled with his siblings.
Hotspur spooning with mommy Polly.
Polly nursing five puppies - her four puppies and her niece, Gwynie.
Morning puppies all fascinated by something.
Whenever I put the camera down to take a face shot, the puppies charge the camera. So some of these photos are not as sharp as I would wish.
Puppies playing with Mommy.
Aunt Ophelia was wrestling (playing? teaching?) cousin Gwynie. Mortimer was right in there, helping aunt Ophelia. After all, two against one is fun if you are one of the two.
The puppies - usually the boys - are making use of my doggy door again. The girls seem to prefer me to hold the door open for them. Partly this is a function of body size, because a puppy has to use a certain amount of force to open the doggy door. I often see a puppy up on its hind legs using its body weight to open my doggy door.
I have several DNA tests that I want to do on the puppies before they leave me. Today I swabbed the inside cheek of the two girls with a swab for a test that I am particularly interested in to help me decide which girl to keep. I will swab the two boys for this test later. So the puppies have begun their lives of contributing to science! To swab a puppy, I have to catch the puppy after it has a long nap but before the puppy can drink any water or interact with any siblings.
I have stopped adding Esbilac (puppy milk replacement) to the puppies' food. The puppies seem content to eat dry food - mostly ground-up puppy kibble and sometimes regular puppy kibble that I also offer. Afterwards, the puppies want to get a drink of water ... or even better some milk from mommy. I would estimate that the puppies are now getting more than half their calories from kibble rather than their mother's (or aunt's) milk.
I am also starting to offer the puppies small bites of other types of food. The crushed blueberries I often put in their morning meal are disappearing. I often use human sandwich meat (usually turkey) as training treats for my older dogs, and I sometimes gives some to the puppies. When I feed kibble to my dogs at supper, I like to put something tasty on top - cheese, a teaspoon of wet dog food, etc. So now the puppies are getting a taste of whatever I am offering the older dogs. I think a varied diet is good for dogs, as it makes their gut bacteria more robust.
From left to right, cousin Gwynie, Catrin, and Kate.
This evening cousin Gwynie had the "zoomies" - Gwynie was racing around the house. (Like a young child, I think Gwynie really needed a nap.) In the most animated I have every seen Polly, she chased after Gwynie and tried to hold Gwynie down. I have also started to see Polly wrestling (teaching?) her puppies.
I know from having DNA tested both of the parents of the puppies that the puppies body color will be red (or possibly red grizzle). The dark black hairs that the puppies currently have are call "guard hairs". Some breeders strip out the guard hairs, but I prefer to let the guard hairs fall out naturally.
Today is "Montgomery". Beginning in 1997, every year on
this day I have been in Montgomery County Pennsylvania,
where a terrier-only conformation show almost always
has the largest gathering of Norwich terriers in the
world. And the week preceeding is known as "Montgomery
Week" as there are normally lots of terrier activities
(agility, obedience, etc), talks, and club meetings held
in Pennsylavania. Of course, this year because of the
pandemic there is no Montgomery show and no Montgomery
activities. The clubs have held Zoom meetings ... and
while business has been done, it is just not the same as
meeting in person, seeing old friends and acquaintences.
Puppies sleeping with mommy.
And later, all the puppies taking a nap in another of their
syncronized positions.
I do not want to give the impression that the puppies spend all
their time sleeping. The puppies spend a lot of time playing,
wrestling, and running around outside - and inside! But I tend
to get blurry photos when the puppies are moving.
Kate, cousin Gwynie, and Hotspur are nursing from aunt Portia.
Eleven-month old aunt Ophelia looks on.
All the puppies gathered
around grandmother Mandy on the other side of the
fence.
Catrin was playing on my
baby teeter. She went up the teeter, made the teeter
tip, and then go bang as it hit the concrete. Catrin then
immediately turned around and went back up the teeter to make
the it bang again. Catrin must have done this three or four
times in succession.
Cousin Gwynie and
Catrin getting milk from aunt Portia. Mortimer looks
on before joining a few minutes later.
Mortimer and Catrin wrestling.
Hotspur checking out a
hole that does not go anywhere.
I had thrown a bed sheet on the floor with plans to
take it to the laundry. Catrin decided it was a nice place for a nap.
Hotspur demonstrating his mastery of my balance board.
Hotspur was able to stay on the board for a good minute without
being thrown off.
Hotspur playing with
a piece of spinach that accidently fell on the floor as I was
preparing myself dinner.
Shaksper
Towers open for new occupancy. And after the first tenants have
moved in. Since the puppies are used to sleeping with
each other, initially they will sleep two to a crate.
The penthouse is reserved for cousin Gwynie who has been
sleeping in a crate for several weeks now. Gwynie being
older - by three weeks - gets to stay up later. Gwynie is
allowed to play on my bed with my older dogs while I
read or watch a movie in the evening. Gwynie usually falls
asleep on my bed and then gets transfered to her crate.
To my delight, none of the puppies complained excessively
about the new sleeping arrangements.
I had just about convinced the puppies not to bite my toes
and ankles. Now we have had some chilly days causing me
to wear long pants. The puppies think it is great fun
to bite this new material at their level. Cousin Gwynie
especially likes to bite my pant legs and hold on while
I try to walk.
You may have noticed that I took the puppies out in public
before they had their first puppy shots. I assessed the risk
to the puppies as low for the following three reasons:
1. Prior to the breeding, Polly was titered and the
results showed that Polly has high levels of antibodies for
distemper and parvovirus. Polly nursed the puppies during
the first couple of hours after the puppies were born.
During this time, the intestines of the puppies allowed
maternal antibodies to pass from Polly into the puppies.
2. Recall that the puppies were born at NC State University
via cesarean section. Following NC State's protocol for
c-section puppies, the puppies were given serum from a
donor dog. So the puppies got antibodies from the donor
dog, in addition to the antibodies from Polly. (Although
titering a sample of the donor dog's serum showed that the
donor dog's serum did not have protection for parvovirus.)
3. I knew that any dogs that the puppies met during the
outing would have been appropriately vaccinated.
When we got home, all the puppies took a long nap.
In the evening, the puppies went to sleep in Shaksper Terrace.
As an experiment I put each puppy in their own crate.
This experiment was not successful, with Kate leading
the chorus of protest.
Catrin using brother Hotspur as a pillow.
I had a delivery today brought by a large freight truck. I was
curious as to how the puppies would react to the noise and
the unusual sight. I had all the puppies outside so that
they could observe. I am happy to report that none of the
puppies showed any fear. The puppies just watched with quiet curiosity
as the truck rolled by.
For dinner, the chef put a garnish of tuna fish
on the evening's kibble. This was met with great approval
by all the puppies.
The puppies have now explored the far reaches of my fenced
yard. Other than a single nap in the morning, another
in the afternoon, and a third after dinner, the puppies
are up and playing. I - on the other hand - am exhausted
from getting up with the puppies at night. The puppies
can go through my doggy door if they want. But mostly
they wait for me to open the door. Keeping track of the
puppies and staying with them when they are outside is a
full-time job ... and the puppies (and my other dogs) want
me to do other things - prepare their food (very important
to everyone!), clean up after puppy "accidents" in the
house, wash the mats in the puppy play-pen, pay bills, etc.
So more and more I have to trust that the puppies will be
ok if alone outside during the day. (I still do not like
to leave the puppies alone outside at night.) I want to
protect the puppies, so this "letting go" is hard.
Today the puppies were not interested in a late night meal.
So it is time to cut the puppies down from four meals a
day to just three.
After taking the puppies outside for a
last potty trip before bed, I put the ramp to my bed up.
I wanted to see who would come up onto my bed while
I watched a movie. Hotspur (the explorer) was first,
followed by Catrin. The two played on my bed before
falling asleep. Afterwards I transfered them to their
crates for the night.
It has been raining
today so all the puppies
including Catrin
either looked liked drowned rats or fluff
balls.
Kate practicing for her
Playboy centerfold shoot. Notice that the patch of white
on Kate's chest is slowing shrinking as Kate is growing.
Eventually there will be just a single line of white hairs
hardly visible on Kate's chest. I am told the same will
be true of the white on Kate's chin. This is first time
that I have had a puppy with white on the chin.
Kate using brother Hotspur as a pillow.
Hotspur and Mortimer playing tug-of-war with
the cardboard center of a paper towel roll. The cardboard
makes a great toy, but I have to get the cardboard away
from the puppies before they shred the cardboard and
scatter it everywhere.
Anytime I open the refrigerator door, I usually have
a puppy sticking a nose in to take a sniff at all the
interesting smells. If there is more than one puppy,
I have difficult time closing the door.
The puppies are now sleeping in individual crates, with
only occasional protests.
This morning Polly was
nursing her puppies and Portia was nursing cousin Gwynie.
I have not seen Polly nurse Gwynie recently. I have seen
Polly tell Gwynie "no" when Polly has come over to nurse.
I have also seen Polly
tell her puppies "no". I occasionally still see one of
Polly's puppies sneak a drink while cousin Gwynie is
getting some milk from Portia, but mostly Polly's puppies
no longer rush over
to nurse from Portia.
Puppies playing
- wrestling in the foreground, playing with a toy in
the background. My floors are a mine field of toys as the
puppies scatter the toys around.
Catrin and Hotspur interested
in something.
Polly wrestling
(teaching? playing?) with the puppies. Evidently the
reward for doing well is
a drink. Polly's face is wet
from playing with wet puppies as today was very rainy.
I have stopped grinding puppy kibble. The puppies now
chew whole kibble just like big dogs. A little something on top
of the kibble encourages eating. This evening it was cooked
ground turkcy. And boy, are the puppies eating much more now!
I wish I had purchased the big bag of puppy kibble last week,
rather than the usual size bag that I normally buy.
I saw a puppy today biting at the concrete pad on my
porch. So I knew it was time to go collect some
sticks. Fortunately the nearby woods provide lots
of sticks. The puppies thought the sticks I got were
great to chew on.
Sticks - natures's chew toy for teething puppies!
Puppies playing and
mommy Polly supervising.
Puppies getting some
milk from aunt Portia.
Catrin on top of Kate wrestling.
Mortimer next to cousin Gwynie.
If Mortimer was standing, the size difference would not be so
dramatic, but you can see the three weeks difference in their
ages.
Polly's puppies went to stay with Jennifer and Keith
today to have a play-date with uncles Boo and Bear.
The rest of us went to an agility lesson. Here is
mommy Polly on the
A-frame. After all her mommy duty, Polly is very
happy to get to do something fun. Cousin Gwynie got to play with a little boy,
and be held by the boy,
and also do some puppy and agility training.
Some pictures by Jennifer and Keith:
After further travels and adventures, we returned
to Jennifer and Keith's house to pick up Polly's puppies.
Here is Kate looking
at me over an agility jump in Jennifer and Keith's back yard.
Cousin Gwynie getting some
milk from her mother, Portia.
Polly is under this pile
of puppies (Polly's four and cousin Gwynie). Polly is
actually letting the puppies nurse.
The puppies outside playing.
The two sisters, Catrin
and Kate, were wrestling and it was getting too rough,
so mommy came over to investigate.
Kate climbing over
"aunt" Ophelia. Technically Kate and Ophelia are
first-cousins once-removed. But Ophelia being older gets
the honorific title of aunt. I think of Ophelia as being
an adult, even though she is only eleven months old.
Catrin napping.
For dinner this evening, the puppies had a meal of kibble
with a drizzle of cooked
chicken liver. The puppies complemented the chef
by cleaning their plate. My adult dogs had the chicken
livers as a garnish to their kibble. It is getting time
to start feeding the puppies individually in their crates,
rather than having communal meals.
I am always amazed at how Norwich mothers will allow
their puppies to nurse even as the puppies get older.
I am definitely seeing a decrease in frequency in
nursing, and I have not seen Polly allow cousin
Gwynie to nurse in a couple of days. Here is Polly
nursing three of her
puppies.
Mortimer with a stick
he had been chewing.
A succession of shots of Hotspur running towards me:
Pic 1,
Pic 2,
and Pic 3.
The puppies now are going in and out my doggy door at will.
My doggy door is in my outside storm/screen door, with a
hole in my main door in case both are closed. Usually I
leave the main door open, so the puppies have an easy
time going throug my doggy door. While I try to be
careful when I am going in or out not to have the storm
door close on or hit a puppy, it inevitably does happen.
The puppies have learned to be careful around the door
especially if I am near it. Sometimes they wait for me to
go first and let the door close before they come through
the doggy door. Other times they will come with me and
race to beat the door before it closes.
Today was the start of deer hunting season in the
rural county in which I live. My county allows hunting
with dogs. So the local hunt clubs have packs of fox
hound-type dogs that the hunters use to flush deer.
Of course my dogs hear the baying of these other dogs and
feel that they have to bark to warn off these other dogs.
Occasionally some of the hunting dogs will get lost and
come through the woods to my place. Then my dogs really
start barking to chase these interlopers away! But none
of the puppies seem disturbed by all the barking nor by
the gunshots in the distance.
Catrin chewing on a
stick. Catrin and Kate seemed to spend a lot of time
wrestling today. It almost seemed like fighting with
the older dogs sometimes breaking it up. Possibly the
two girls were establishing their position in the pack.
The boys just watched, their attitude being "like whatever".
All the puppies have gotten the nickname of "evil puppy"
- especially when I have to clean up a potty accident!
I have started to feed the puppies individually in their
crates. I can not tell if the puppies like or hate this
new seating arrangement.
Polly's puppies sleeping together
during a mid-morning nap.
I was doing some yard work on the other side of
the fence, and the puppies were all following
what I was doing. Hotspur decided he could get a better view if he
stood on cousin Gwynie.
Three different sizes
of puppies: (from the top) twelve-week old cousin Gwynie,
Hotspur, and eleven-month old aunt Ophelia.
Polly's puppies all interested in something
in the grass.
This seemed to be the day of four puppies. As I
often do during the day, I check on the puppies -
where are they, what are they doing, and - especially -
what are they getting into. (There is a saying -
Silence is golden. Unless you have a Norwich Terrier.
This it is "suspicious".) I have five young, active - and
mischievious - puppies (Polly's four plus cousin Gwynie)
to keep tabs on. Today it seemed that every time I checked
on the puppies, I could only find four of the five. I had
to go through the house and check the yard a second time
to find the elusive fifth puppy (always a different puppy
every time).
The guard hairs on the body of the girls seem to stand up
(are "poofy"), while the guard hairs on the body of the
boys seem to lay flat against the body. I do not have an
explanation for this.
I used to be able to differentiate Hotspur and Mortimer at
a glance because Hotspur looked rounder in the middle. Hotspur
must have recently had a growth spurt, because this is no longer
working for me, as Hotspur seems as slim as Mortimer.
The puppies sleeping after their ordeal:
Actually I do not think the puppies were tramatized at all.
Nor where their immune systems working on overdrive.
Assuming puppies nurse in the first 12 to 24 hours
of birth - as Polly's puppies did - they get maternal
antibodies in the first milk ("colostrum") from the mother.
These maternal antibodies protect young puppies, but slowly
die off. Vets give a series of puppy shots (usually three)
trying to hit the time when the maternal antibodies die
off, but so that a puppy is not left unprotected for
any length of time. If the shots are given too early,
the maternal antibodies block the effect of the vaccine.
Before Polly was bred, she was titered to measure her
level of antibodies for distemper and parvo. Polly has
very high levels of antibodies. A formula is then used on
these measurements to more precisely predict when Polly's
puppies should have their puppy shots (usually two are
then sufficient). The report for Polly's puppies said that
Polly's puppies should have their puppy shots at age
13 weeks and age 17 weeks ... but that an optional shot
could be given at nine weeks. (Waiting to give a first
puppy shot at age 13 weeks makes some people nervous.)
I elected to give the optional shot - although it probably
is being blocked by Polly's antibodies - because three of
the four puppies will be leaving me.
Kate saying "Talk to the paw"
I did not see the puppies nurse yesterday, and only very
briefly today. Polly is definitely trying to cut them off.
Polly was eating puppy kibble - which has more calories -
but I have switched Polly back to regular adult kibble.
And I have cut down on the amount of cottage cheese Polly
is being fed. (The same is true for aunt Portia.)
Catrin (at the top) and Kate
looking at the chef and imploring
that dinner be prepared quicker. The boys came running
inside when grandmother Mandy - instead of ringing the dinner bell -
gave the dinner "bark".
Polly napping with
Kate and one of the boys. Hotspur, I think.
The puppies have the run of my house and I am not able to
supervise them all the time. While there still are potty
accidents in my house, the small number tell me that my efforts
at potty training are having an effect.
Polly grooming Mortimer
(licking his ear).
Mortimer and the plate. Mortimer
was barking and running up to the plate, trying to get the plate
to play. The plate just sat there.
With the puppies now able to stay in their crates for a few
hours in case I need to run to town, I no longer have need
of the puppy playpen.
(And anyway, the puppies think of my entire house and
fenced yard as a playpen!) Today I decided to pick up
the puppy playpen. The toys and crate will remain, the
x-pen and pad will go back into storage.. This actually
will aid the puppies' potty training; as without the pad,
there is reduced temptation to pee on something soft.
All four puppies
playing with a partially deflated ball.
Aunt Ophelia showing the puppies how to deal with invading
little green men.
The puppies were squabbling
over something in the grass (a bug to eat?). Mortimer
did not take part. Notice on cousin Gwynie how the guard
hairs have thinned out (fallen out).
Polly cleaning Hotspur.
A mother's job is never done.
Polly nursing her
puppies. There was only a few seconds of slurping
noise. When cousin Gwynie came over, Polly stopped
allowing the puppies to nurse.
It was a rainy day today. To cut down on the
mud that the puppies would track inside, I put down a towel by the
doggy door. While the puppies have no problem going out
and playing in the rain, they have not realized that they
can also go potty when it is raining. We had a lot of
potty accidents inside today.
The puppies have watched me put my older dogs up on my
grooming table for their daily teeth cleaning. (I use a
dental wipe, which I wrape around my finger and rub on the
dogs' teeth. It only takes a minute or so per dog and does
a good job of keeping the teeth clean.) The puppies have
realized that my older dogs are getting a treat for letting
me clean their teeth. So now I have to put each puppy
on my grooming table and give each a treat. While each
puppy is chewing their treat, I am using the opportunity
to train them to let me look at their teeth.
Polly showing what all the
fashionable women are wearing
these days.
Puppies in a row. Hotspur just
has to be different.
After being lean, Hotspur has gained some weight.
I predict Hotspur will soon have a growth spurt.
The puppies had a their first big road-trip today -
to Wilmington North Carolina, about a three-hour drive.
Mommy Polly came along to supervise. Along the way, we
stopped at a rest stop and I set up an exercise pen so
the puppies could potty. The purpose of the trip was to
check out Hotspur's future home. The puppies had a great
- and exhausting - time checking out this new backyard.
Some picture by Jennifer:
Some pictures I took when we got home:
Christopher and Victoria said that they would wait. They
met a very pregnant Portia for the first time just a week
or so before Portia gave birth to Gwynie. They followed
Gwynie's puppy blog ... telling me that they wanted more
pictures of Portia! A few weeks ago, Portia, Gwynie,
and I visited their lovely farm. Victoria has three
Border Collies with which she competes in herding trials,
and sheep that she uses for practice. Christopher wanted
a dog of his own, and had always wanted a Norwich terrier.
A dog family, a farm, three Border Collies to rule ... what
more could a Norwich want!
Since Portia had stopped nursing, and Gwynie at thirteen
weeks of age no longer needed her mother, it was time.
In the morning I took Portia to my vet for a certificate
of health. Since it was a windy rainy day, in the
afternoon we sat in my barn to do the transfer paperwork.
I set up an x-pen so
that Christopher and Victoria could meet Polly's puppies.
Here is Christopher holding
Portia, and Victoria holding Portia's daughters,
Ophelia and Gwynie. (For the past several days, I had been
stripping Portia so that Portia would look presentable.)
And then Christopher and Victoria drove off with Portia.
I am always depressed for several days after one of my
adult dogs leaves.
Polly sitting on a cinder block.
Kate, Mortimer, and cousin Gwynie
turning a stick into a toothpick.
I have been meaning to mention "puppy hickups". The puppies
sometimes get hickups, often after eating and probably from eating
too fast. Just as in humans, the hickups stop after a few minutes.
Jennifer and Keith and their dogs, uncle Boo and
honorary-uncle Bear, came to visit today. Boo had recently
been sick, so I was happy to see that he is better.
Here is Jennifer with
all the dogs. And Jennifer and Keith holding Polly's puppies -
(from left-to-right) Mortimer, Kate, Hotspur, and Catrin).
Jennifer is always trying to steal my puppies. (Err, I mean
that Jennifer always wants to nurture my puppies.) This
time Jennifer convinced me that cousin Gwynie would benefit
from an overnight play-date with uncles Boo and Bear.
Keith took this
picture as they were driving off with Gwynie.
I can not make out which puppy is which, but the adult
dogs are (from left to right) cousin Ophelia, aunt Siri,
grandmother Mandy, and (behind the pole and the Norwich
sign) mommy Polly.
Three puppies taking their mid-morning nap - Catrin
in front, Hotspur in the back, and Kate on the right. (Mortimer
prefered his own pillow.) When these three work up, I watched as
each went outside to potty without any encouragement from me.
It is nice to see that my potty training efforts are having a positive
effect.
In the afternoon, the puppies met Mr. Dremel. Up to now
I have been using some small human nail clippers on the
puppys' nails. However I prefer to use a wood-working
Dremel (grinder) instead of clippers to keep my adult
dogs' nails short. I find with a Dremel that there is
less chance that I will cut the "quick" - the blood
vessel that runs down the interior of a dog's nail.
(Actually it is not a nail, but rather a claw. But we
call it a nail.) Dogs are naturally leary about being
near a power tool. But a little bit of sugar (Nutri-Cal,
which is mostly glucose) makes the experience tolerable.
In return for licking some Nutri-Cal from the squeeze tube,
I get to use the Dremel on the nails of one paw. Some more
licks of Nutri-Cal, and I get to do the next paw, etc.
When I do the first paw for the first time with a puppy,
there is much anguish at this scary experience. But the
puppy quickly learns that I am not going to hurt them -
and that they do not have any choice in the matter(!) - plus
the bribe of the Nutri-Cal helps. By the fourth paw the
puppy tolerates the experience of having their nails done.
Jennifer and Keith returned cousin Gwynie this
afternoon. Gwynie was happy to be home and out of the tutu in
which Jennifer had dressed her.
Mother Polly playing (teaching?)
with Mortimer.
Polly's four puppies and cousin Gwynie on my bed.
(One puppy is next to the headboard; cousin Gwhynie
is near my pillows.)
Puppyhood is the only time that a Norwich gets to eat
as much as they want. (A girl gets a second chance
when they are nursing a litter.) Adult Norwich have to
watch their weight, as it seems that they can look at food and gain
weight. But for puppies, for breakfast, lunch and dinner
I have been refilling any puppy food bowl that goes empty. When
a puppy is full they stop eating. Somewhere around four months
of age, a puppy will be more interested in playing than
eating lunch, and I stop feeding lunch. (At the latest, at five
months of age I stop feeding lunch.) After that I countine to
feed puppy food twice a day. And I start watching a puppy's
weight and body condition score. Around one year of age, I switch
a puppy to adult kibble.
Hotspur napping.
The two girls were "bookends" for
the pillow Hotspur was on. Mortimer thought that
the milk carton that is my printer stand was a better place to nap.
All the puppies together
in a huddle.
With the weather having turned cooler, instead of my usual
shorts and sandles, I now am wearing jeans and slippers.
The puppies think that pants legs and slippers are great things
to bite and hang onto while I try to walk. The easiest
way to teach the puppies that this is not a good idea is just
to keep walking as normally as I can. Eventually the
puppies fall off and learn that this is not a very productive
activity. Similarly to teach the puppies that it is their
responsibility to stay out of my way when I am walking,
I (gently) plow into them if they are in front of me.
Two brothers napping together.
Tug-of-war This has
become a popular game recently. I never got a good photo
of another game (and it seems to be less popular now) which
I call "Gunfight at the OK Corral" - two puppies at a distance
will stare at each other, then someone "draws" and the two puppies
will run at each other. Of course the most favorite puppy game is
"wrestling" - with teaches bite inhibition and how to play with
other dogs.
Catrin - after admiring herself in the mirror - decided
to take a nap.
Puppies - and cousin Gwynie - playing together.
Hotspur rubbing his snout and
a moment later.
Jennifer and Keith and their dogs, uncles
Boo and Bear, came and visited again. Keith holding mommy Mandy
(on left) and daughter Polly. And Jennifer and Keith
holding Polly's puppies.
Polly after drinking some water.
Again Jennifer stole cousin Gwynie to come stay with Boo
and Bear for a few days. Later in the evening Jennifer
sent me an election
celebration photo.
Today was all about Mortimer,
as today was his "leaving" day. Mortimer
played
with his littermates for the last time, and got last minute instructions
from his mother, Polly. But then his new owners Anne and
Terry came to get Mortimer.
Anne told that they plan to call him "Elvis" instead of "Mortimer".
Polly watched as her son drove off
to get on a plane and have an exciting new life in Madison Wisconsin.
And then there were just three.
I got a text late in the evening that Anne, Terry, and Elvis
had arrived safely in Madison.
Today was also aunt Ophelia's birthday. Ophelia is now one
year old.
I heard from Anne that
Elvis was settling in nicely
in Wisconsin.
I have been keeping Polly's primary owner, Lynn,
informed how Polly has been doing with almost daily
pictures of Polly and weekly phone calls. However with
the puppies now twelve weeks old and all planned puppy
owners having met Polly, it was time to return Polly
to Lynn. So today was devoted to returning Polly.
Polly played with her
puppies one last time. Then Polly, her puppies,
and I drove north into Virginia. Lynn drove south
from Maryland and we met met at a mutually agreed
spot both arriving within five minutes of each other.
Lynn was naturally very
happy to see Polly and to get Polly back. The puppies
were unsure about their
mother leaving. We allowed
everyone to say goodbye
while Lynn and I talked. Then Lynn and Polly drove north,
and the puppies and I drove south.
That evening Lynn texted me that Polly was safely home and
settling in nicely. Lynn wrote "I am glad that Polly's
puppy adventure was so positive. I am glad that I let
you breed her. I am so proud that she had four beautiful
healthy puppies."
Afterwards, we continued to Jennifer and Keith's house for
a belated birthday party for aunt Ophelia and uncle Bear.
Jennifer's niece and nephews also attended. Here is
Jennifer feeding all the
dogs - the puppies are hidden by the older dogs!
And Keith holding the
birthday dogs - Ophelia on the left and Bear on the
right. (Bear's abdomen is shaved because Bear recently
had an ultrasound.)
Some pictures by Jennifer:
After the party, I rescued cousin Gwynie from a life with
Jennifer of caviar and fancy dresses. We then made
the long car ride home.
I took Catrin to the vet today to get her certificate of health
in preparation for her leaving.
See no evil, hear no evil,
speak no evil - (from left to right) Catrin, Kate,
and Hotspur.
In the evening
on my bed
Then I loaded cousin Gwynie and the three puppies, Kate, Hotspur, and
Catrin in the car and we drove to the big city. First stop
was Jennifer and Keith's house. Jennifer wanted to say goodbye
to Catrin. (Although Jennifer hopes Catrin will come back for a
play date sometime). We tried to get all three puppies
together for a photo, but they were all too excited.
I then left cousin Gwynie, Hotspur, and Kate with Jennifer
where they will be staying for the next two days. (I will
be competing at an agility trial this weekend and the
puppies are too young to attend.) Catrin and I then drove
to our second stop, to visit aunt Winnie ("Shaksper Tamora
Queen Of The Goths"). Winnie's owners, Karissa and Tom,
wanted to meet Catrin and also get a lesson on using a
Dremel to do Winnie's nails. I was happy to see Winnie
again whom I had not seen since she left me in July.
Finally we arrived at Catrin's new home. After paperwork and
instructions from me, I left Catrin with
her new owners, Terry and Ian.
Terry and Ian have told me that they plan to give Catrin the new
call name of "Boo". (This is going to be very confusing for me,
as Jennifer and Keith also call their older dog "Boo".)
I then returned home to just three dogs - Mandy, Siri, and Ophelia.
This seemed very strange as just a few weeks ago there were ten
dogs in my house.
Jennifer sent me a picture of Hotspur and Kate playing with uncle
Bear ("Shaksper Guildenstern").
Over the past week I have noticed first the puppies
scratching, and then I noticed my older Norwich scratching
at more than the occasional itch. From experience I knew
that this meant that we had an outbreak of Cheyletiella
mites in my house. These mites - which live on the skin -
normally are kept under control by a dog's immune system.
But pregnancy causes a bitch's immune system to be
weakened, and young puppies have immature immune systems.
I dosed Polly with Revolution (selamectin) right before
the puppies were born and as soon as Polly was away and
not nursing the puppies for two hours. Usually that
is sufficient to stop the Cheyletiella from getting out
of control. But evidently not this time. Unfortunately
you can not give Revolution to puppies until they are
approximately 2.6 kilograms (5 pounds). I have been giving
the boys Revolution as soon as they weighed 2.6 kilograms,
but the girls have not gained weight as fast as the boys.
The mites get passed from dog to dog when they play, and lay
eggs on each other ... and so we have an outbreak.
Treatment for Cheyletiella mites is to dose with Revolution
two or three times anywhere from two to four weeks apart.
Also recommended is to more frequently wash the dog's bedding where
Cheyletiella eggs may have fallen.
So right before we left the agility trial site, I dosed Mandy,
Siri, and Ophelia with Revolution as I knew that they would
be in their crates for over two hours during our ride home.
I wanted the Revolution to dry and get absorbed into
their skin before they came into contact with the puppies.
On the way home, we stopped and picked up Kate, Hotspur, and cousin
Gwynie and then made the long drive home.
The puppies resting at the foot of
my bed. You can see the ramp that the dogs use to
access my bed. Cousin Gwynie is in the foreground:
aunt Siri is in the background.
In the evening Hotsper and Kate sleeping
togother on a pillow. And later, when we all are in my bed.
Hotspur is in the foreground. You can also just see
the fur of one of my older dogs who is partially under
the covers.
Hotspur's new owners, Jim
and Irene, came, signed all the paperwork,
listened to my long list of instructions, and then
took Hotspur away.
Irene tells me that instead of "Hotspur" they plan to call
him "HP", standing for "Harry Percy". (Recall that his
registered name is "Shakpser Harry Percy".)
And so Kate (on the right) watched her brother drive
off.
And a picture of Polly who
has been to the groomers since returning home to Lynn.
And so this brings this puppy blog to a close. I am always asked
to continue, which I will again try to do on my
Shaksper News blog.
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
