If all goes well, puppies are due around 24 February.
Today was x-ray day. Ophelia and I travelled to NC State University. My repro vets counted four puppies on Ophelia's x-ray. The mean average Norwich litter size is 2.7 puppies. In case you are curious, the record is nine puppies in a Norwich litter.
The x-ray also revealed that it is unlikely that Ophelia will be able to free-whelp the puppies. The size of the skulls of the puppies is larger than Ophelia's pelvic opening. This is called fetal-pelvic misproportion (or more technically cephalopelvic disproportion), and in my opinion is the reason many Norwich have difficulty free-whelping. So we are planning on a c-section for Ophelia. From now until the c-section, every morning I will be taking Ophelia to NC State, where my repro vets will test her progesterone level and check the status of the puppies via ultrasound. When the puppies are sufficiently "cooked" (developed), they will do a c-section. Most likely this will be Thursday based upon when Ophelia ovulated.
I gave Ophelia a dose of the topical "Revolution" today. During pregnancy, the immune system is surpressed (so as not to hurt the puppies). A surpressed immune system allows parasites that normally would be kept under control to multiply. This is why we wormed Ophelia two weeks ago. I am giving Revolution to control Cheyletiella mites. If not under control, these mites are sometimes called "walking dandruff". Cheyletiella mites also are zoonotic, meaning that they will get on humans. I can personally attest that Cheyletiella mites are very itchy!
When we got home, I took everyone for a walk. Ophelia still keeps up - although lags - on a slow mile walk. I now have to be careful to keep an eye on Ophelia any time she is outside my fence. I do not want her wandering off and hiding (nesting) somewhere that I can not find her.
I spent part of the afternoon moving the whelping box into my bedroom. I think everything is now ready for puppies. Ophelia has so far not shown any interest in the whelping box.
Now that the decision has been made for a c-section, I am happy to feed Ophelia as much as she wants. But now she is showing little interest in food ... which makes me think that puppies are soon. In spite of hardly eating, Ophelia seems to be getting bigger and bigger.
So in the morning I loaded Ophelia and my other dogs in my car, and we headed to NC State University for Ophelia's morning appointment. My repro vets took Ophelia inside to examine her, but came out almost immediately to inform me that Ophelia was in stage two labor (active pushing), a puppy sac was already visible, and that they were taking Ophelia to surgery immediately. (Remember that my repro vets had previously determined that Ophelia would need a c-section.)
I then took my other dogs to my petsitter where they will stay for a few days. I like my mothers to come home to a quiet house for their first few days with their puppies. I then headed to get some lunch. But while I was in the restaurant parking lot, I got the call that the Ophelia had delivered four "bouncing boys", and that Ophelia and the puppies were all doing well.
I had a leisurely lunch, which was very needed. While I have done this many times, delivery - especially a c-section delivery - is still emotionally exhausting where all one can do is wait and worry. I then went back to NC State and waited some more, while Ophelia recovered and my repro vets got the puppies to do some nursing.
Finally the vets brought Ophelia and the puppies out to me. Here is my first view of the puppies. At birth, "Green" weighed 205 grams, "Blue" 170 grams, "Brown" 155 grams, and "White" 190 grams. (For now the puppies will be called by the color of their collars. I do not have any "Brown" at home, so "Brown" will eventually get a pink collar and be called "Pink".) All these are good weights for Norwich puppies.
We then began the drive home. The puppies were kept warm by a hot water bottle in their box. Usually puppies go to sleep during the drive home. Not these boys! They were noisy and kept moving around the box.
When we got home I put the puppies in my whelping box and then Ophelia. I was anxious about how Ophelia would react to the puppies. I have had mothers that I have had to wrestle down so that the puppies could nurse. (It is very important that puppies nurse in the first twelve to twenty-four hours or so after birth.) Ophelia immediate started licking the puppies and tucking the puppies up underneath her to keep them warm. Good mommy!
One of my jobs now is as butler to bring Ophelia food and water. And what I like to see and hear - quiet puppies.
In the evening I weighed the puppies. Formal introductions will have to wait. I am exhausted!
Ok, formal introductions.
Puppies typically lose weight during the first 12 to 24 hours after birth. So I was happy to see this morning that everyone had gained a little weight overnight. This meant that the puppies had nursed. It is important that puppies nurse in the first 12 to 24 hours. In addition to nutrition, they get maternal antibodies from the colostrum (first milk). Antibodies are big molecules; however the intestines of a newborn puppy are porus enough to allow the antibodies to pass into the puppy bloodstream. But after 12 to 24 hours the puppy intestines close up and antibodies can no longer get through. The maternal antibodies will help the puppies fight off bacteria and viruses, until their own immune systems are more mature. (The puppies are too young right now for any vaccines.)
After laying down all night, Ophelia wanted to sit up ... with the puppies tucked underneath her. Ophelia had just been outside where it was raining, so she says to please excuse how she looks. (You can see where the vets shaved Ophelia's left front leg to put in an IV during her c-section.) The stains in the whelping box are from normal discharges overnight due to Ophelia's c-section. A few moments later I changed the bedding in the whelping box. I continue to act as Ophelia's butler bringing her food and water. Mostly Ophelia stays with the puppies, but a few times she got out of the whelping box to stretch her legs. But once a puppy makes a sound, Ophelia goes right back.
A pile of puppies. Young puppies can not regulate their own body temperature until they are about three weeks old. Until that time it is important that the puppies stay warm. A chilled puppy can not digest food, and can easily die. Another reason to keep puppies warm is to fight off canine herpes virus, which has been known to kill entire litters of puppies. In the past I kept my room warm - almost cooking myself and the mother - and used a heat lamp. This litter I am using a "whelping nest" which is heated. So far I like the whelping nest. Every time I have picked up a puppy, the puppy has been nice and warm.
Mommy makes the best pillow.
White nursing. The red that you see is White's tongue around Ophelia's nipple as he sucks to get milk.
I decided today to change the puppy collars. Instead of the velcro collars the puppies received at the hospital, I use colored yarn.
I am a bit worried about Pink. He is not gaining weight as much as I would like. That is the lot of a breeder; there is always something to worry about.
I forgot to mention yesterday that one of the daily measurements I do is weigh Ophelia and take her temperature. I will be taking Ophelia's temperature all this week to make sure that she does not have an infection from her c-section. I will be weighing Ophelia all while she is nursing the puppies to make sure she stays at a good weight - not too heavy but equally not losing weight too much. When she first came home, Ophelia looked bloated like she was still pregnant, but now she is back to her normal slim self.
When I first got the whelping nest, I worried that the puppies would not be able to get out if they wanted. This morning the puppies showed me that they can get out of the whelping nest.
Green sleeping. Even awake, newborn puppy eyes are closed. At birth, a puppy only has a sense of smell and can sense warmth. At birth a puppy can not see or hear. Puppy eyes open around day ten and the ear canals open last to enable a puppy to hear.
One of the puppies climbed out of the whelping nest to get to the milk bar (mommy). The white stuff on Ophelia's food is fenbendazole, a worming medication for Ophelia.
White moving towards Ophelia. Puppies move by dragging themselves, like seals moving across ice. Puppies often move in an ever increasing circle until they reach what they want - mommy or the warmth of littermates.
I retrieved my other dogs from my petsitter today. Ophelia seemed happy to see everyone. But when anyone got close to the whelping box, Ophelia blocked them and gave a gentle growl. My younger dogs were most interested in the puppies. Here are Ophelia (in the foreground), then Gwynie and Izzy looking at the puppies from my bed. After everyone settled down, I took the dogs for a walk. I live in the country - in the middle of a forest to be precise - far enough away from roads (nearest paved road is three miles away) that I can walk the forest trails with my dogs off-leash. I was surprised when Ophelia wanted to come with us. But when we got about a 100 meters away from my house (about the distance of an American football field), Ophelia turned back and went home to the puppies.
White says the mommy's tail makes a nice pillow.
Mr. Pink had a nice weight gain last night and today. In fact, everyone gained at least 10 grams today ... which is what I like to see!
First picture in the morning. I was happy to see that Ophelia's discharges have lessened. They will continue for several more weeks. Yes, my washing machine gets a good workout when I have puppies! Ophelia seems to like one corner of the whelping box, and the puppies seem to have no problem moving between the whelping nest and mommy.
Ophelia guarding her puppies. Ophelia is starting to put the puppies on a "schedule", having them all nurse together so that they all sleep at the same time. Other than quick potty breaks, Ophelia spends all her time in the whelping box guarding the puppies. Ophelia's "style" is interesting. I have had some mothers who have charged out of the whelping box with teeth bared at anyone who got too close. Ophelia just puts herself between any intruder and the puppies, and gives the intruder the "stink eye". It seems to be effective, as my other dogs are respecting Ophelia's desire that the puppies not be disturbed.
Blue using a brother as a pillow
What I like to see ... puppies nursing. Like babies everywhere, the puppies nurse until they fall asleep, often while still having a nipple in their mouth.
In the weight race, everyone is now over 200 grams but still in their starting order.
White streatching. All the puppies have white patches on their chests. As they grow, the white spot will shrink until it is hardly visible. Also notice the clear nails. As the puppies get older, the nails will darken.
Mommy "cleaning" a puppy. Newborn puppies can not pee or poop on their own. So the mother licks them to stimulate the puppy to pee and poop. And then to keep the nest clean, the mother drinks the pee and eats the poop. Other than the worry, this is the easy part of being a breeder as the mother does all the work.
It rained yesterday, so my dogs did not get their usual walk. Today was nice, and to my surprise Ophelia wanted to come along on our walk. I kept to the short path (about a mile) and expected Ophelia at various points to head home. But she did the entire walk with us ... but when we got close to home Ophelia rushed ahead to check on her puppies.
Mr. Pink sleeping head to toe with his brothers. Pink has pulled ahead of Blue in the weight race and is now in third position.
Even when the puppies are asleep in a pile, usually one is moving in order to get a more comfortable position. So the piles rarely stay in the same position for very long. Sometimes when I check on the puppies I see interesting arrangments. Of course, what I always like seeing are puppies nursing. Grow puppies, grow!
White sleeping. I am not sure why he has his tongue out.
The puppies are learning (or maybe it is instinct) to push against mommy's tummy when nursing. This encourages the milk to let down into the nipple so that the milk is easier to suckle. This pushing sets up an interesting "head bob" rhythm - puppy pushes, puppy head moves backwards while sucking on a nipple, puppy stops pushing, puppy head moves forward while continuing to suckle... and repeat.
I check on the puppies multiple times during the day; I know that I do so at least once every hour. I know I check any time a puppy is fussing, which is usually because the puppy has gotten separated from its littermates. In which case I move the puppy back to its brothers and the fussing puppy usually settles down. If the puppies are sleeping, I want to see each puppy "twitch". If you stare at a puppy, every moment or so you can see the puppy do a sudden jerk. It is thought that this twitching is related to nerves growing. If a puppy is not twitching, something is wrong ... which is why I am alway checking to see that each sleeping puppy is twitching.
This evening I gave each of my dogs a rawhide chew as a treat. My dogs chew them and then eat them. Instead of chewing and eating hers, Ophelia gave her chew to the puppies.
The puppies were kind enough to line up for a size measurement picture.
Puppy lungs are not fully formed at birth and continue to develop. There is a disease - informally called "puppy lung developement disease" - where the lungs do not develop as they should. From autopsies that have been done, one can clearly see microscopic differences between the lungs of normal puppies and those with puppy lung development disease. I have had three puppies in three different litters with puppy lung development disease, all confirmed by autopsy. It is horrible to watch as what seems like a normal puppy starts having difficulty breathing, which only worsens until the puppy dies within a day or so. There is no known treatment. It is thought that the disease is genetic, but so far research has not been able to identify any suspect genetic variants. I have contributed puppy bodies to this research.
I would expect to see puppy lung development disease about now. I have been watching the puppies very carefully today looking for any signs of breathing difficulty. So far all the puppies seem to be breathing normally. If no breathing problem shows up in the next few days, I will breath a sigh of relief.
One of these things is different than the others. The most common Norwich coat colors are "red" followed by "black and tan". A black and tan puppy is coal black at birth, so all four of these puppies are reds. But Green is a slightly darker shade of red. It will be interesting to see if this color shading difference continues as the puppies get older.
Ophelia's younger half-sister, Gwynie, is fascinated by the puppies. Ophelia has let Gwynie come closer to the puppies than any of my other dogs. Here is Gwynie looking at Ophelia and the puppies.
The puppies in a line. Closeup of Blue. And of White. The puppies can raise their head, but I have not been able to catch a picture of any of them doing so.
Ophelia has the puppies on a schedule (known only to her). Ophelia comes out of my bedroom on occasions to greet my other dogs and get a pat and a scratch from me. She comes with my other dogs for our daily walk. If Ophelia is not actively nursing, she will race out my doggy door with my other dogs to bark at whatever strange sound demands attention. But mostly Ophelia hangs out either inside or just outside the whelping box.
I am still weighing Ophelia every day, and feeding her cottage cheese twice a day (with my other dogs getting a taste otherwise they feel left out). And I have to check her incision - which looks horrible but is healing nicely. By the time the puppies are done nursing, the incision will be hardly visible. But the big reason for checking Ophelia's belly is to check for mastitis (a bacterial infection of a mammary gland). Besides looking, I gently put my hand on Ophelia's belly. Ophelia's belly is warm from all the milk production, but I am feeling for any extra warm or cool spots that might indicate a problem.
Green says "I can't believe I ate the whole thing". This is the first time that I have found a puppy resting on its back.
All the puppies have now broken the 300 gram barrier. Blue has pulled back ahead of Pink in the weight race.
The puppies have no problem climbing out of the whelping nest to get to mommy to nurse. It is always interesting the contortions the puppies go through so that they all can reach a nipple at the same time.
Because everything was going well with the puppies - Ophelia is really doing all the work - I made an appointment for an agility lesson today for my other dogs. This meant leaving Ophelia and the puppies for half the day. I am sure that Ophelia wondered why we did not take her along. The puppies did not care as is evident by what I saw when I got home. Note Green sleeping on his side, the first time I have seen one of these puppies do this.
Blue sleeping
on mommy's feet. And later
on brother.
With Ophelia having the puppies on a schedule, the
puppies seem content. The puppies are gaining weight.
I rarely hear a sound from the puppies. Life is quiet
and boring ... all the puppies do is eat and sleep.
Of course it will not stay like this!
Pink was sleeping on his back, but by the time I grabbed
my camera he had rolled
over onto his side.
Ophelia cleaning a puppy.
While Ophelia is doing a good job, with four puppies it can
be hard to keep up. I am sure that the puppies are having
minor potty accidents in the whelping box. I have not seen
any poop, but I have seen a few pee stains. This is another
reason that I change the bedding in the whelping box every
day. Note that puppies do not have any teeth at this stage.
I was watching Green who was on his side moving his legs
as if he was slowly running. (I wonder if newborn puppies
dream; and if so, about what?) Then it was as if he woke
up and he rolled onto his back and started stretching
as if from a nice long nap. (Of course, since his eyes
were closed it is hard to know if he really woke up.)
By the time I grabbed my camera, Green had
rolled over
again onto his side and was back asleep.
All the puppies sleeping
together.
All but Pink have joined the 400 gram club. White has
taken the lead from Green in the weight race by a nose.
All the puppies have doubled their birth weight.
Opening of the eyes is the next developmental milestone for
the puppies. For the past few day I have been carefully
checking the eyes of the puppies when I weigh them.
This morning White had his
right eye partially open. Everyone else's eyes were
still closed. At the evening weigh-in, White's left eye
had started to open. But again, everyone else's eyes
are still closed.
Puppies nursing.
I do not get too concerned now when I see one of the
puppies not nursing. After all, there is only so much
room at the "milk bar". If the non-nursing puppy
is one of the stragglers in the weight race, I would
take action - pulling one of the leaders off a nipple
and putting the straggler in his place. But as Green
has been doing well in the weight race I did nothing.
A few minutes later, I came back in the bedroom to
find that Green had woken up, smelled milk, and had
pushed his way to the
milk bar. When I came back a little later, I found
a bunch of drunks passed
out from their orgy of milk consumption. So that
he would stay warm, I moved White back down into the
whelping nest. But when I came back a little later,
I found that White had
climbed back out of the whelping nest . I also
thought it was cute how the other three puppies had
arranged themselves. Most likely the puppies are
starting to regulate their internal body temperature.
Or maybe White was just pre-positioning himself in the
expectation that the milk
bar would return. And then the cycle repeated itself.
The other three puppies smelled milk ...
It is not unusual for a puppy's weight to stall for twelve
hours or so. But Blue's weight is essentially the same as
yesterday evening, which has me worried. Pink has moved
ahead of Blue in the weight race. And this evening Green's
tummy is very large. I suspect Green ate his share and
Blue's also.
Green working on maintaining his lead
in the weight race.
This morning Pink had her right eye partially
open. I tried to get a picture but Pink was not cooperating.
I tried later, but the
most I could get was a
yawn. Finally later I was able to get this shot
of Pink but you have to look closely to see that Pink's eye is partially
open. Note that the puppy nails (really claws) are
starting to darken ... and get longer.
Ophelia is spending more time outside of the whelping box
than in, only going in to nurse the puppies and clean them,
plus eat (because I put her food bowl in the whelping box).
Ophelia's weight has gone above the 10 pound mark, so I
am no longer free feeding her. Rather I have put her on
a schedule so that I can monitor how much she eats. Even
though the puppies can not see, they have a keen sense of
smell. When Ophelia gets in the whelping box, there is a
scramble by the puppies to
reach Ophelia and her nipples.
Blue sleeping on his side.
I like to see this. Puppy bones are very plastic. If a puppy
spends too much time sleeping on his chest, the chest bones can
flatten making it difficult to learn to walk.
Nursing and more nursing ... and sleeping afterwards.
At the evening weigh-in, everyone had at least their
right eye open. Pink has pulled ahead of Blue in the
weight race, and White is again ahead of Green by a nose.
After weighing the puppies, I changed their bedding. This involves taking the whelping box apart as it is too heavy to lift. I am getting really good at disassembling and assembling it! I always have lots of supervisors. Ophelia's half-sister, Gwynie, is sniffing the old bedding, while cousin Izzy is nose-to-nose with Ophelia.
It was an overcast, dreary, rainy day today. I am afraid that I did not get any good birthday pictures of the puppies.
At the two-week mark, there are several chores to be accomplished. The first chore was to worm the puppies. This involved feeding each puppy 0.1 ml of pyrantel pamoate via a syringe. Since the puppies are used to my feeding them yogurt via syringe, this was not difficult. Although I am sure that the puppies wondered about the different taste! The puppies will get pyrantel every two weeks. I also had to worm Ophelia with fenbendazole, a different worming medication. This is not hard as I just put the fenbendazole on Ophelia's food and she eats it. Ophelia will get fenbendazole for three days.
Another chore was to put Revolution on Ophelia to control Cheyletiella mites. Revolution is a topical medication, meaning that it goes on the skin. The puppies are too young for this medication. So that the puppies are not exposed when they crawl on Ophelia, I had to separate Ophelia from the puppies for two hours until the medication was absorbed. I waited until Ophelia had nursed the puppies and had left them before applying the Revolution. Then I put Ophelia in a crate while the medication dried. I must have timed it right, because Ophelia did not fuss about not being able to get to her puppies. However as soon as I released her, Ophelia went and nursed the puppies.
Even though the puppies have their eyes open, it does not mean that they can focus and see. To give them something to focus on, starting today I will put a different toy in the whelping box each day. The puppies still can not hear. Hearing is the last sense that the puppies will get and the next milestone for them.
Another chore for today was to cut the puppies' nails. I used some human clippers; my only goal was to take the tips off the claws and blunt them. A long nail (claw) can get caught on something and break, which is painful. Also the nails can scratch Ophelia's belly when the puppies are pushing against Ophelia's stomach to get the milk to let down.
I found the puppies all in a new corner of the whelping box. I wonder if they are starting to get too warm from the (heated) whelping nest.
One change for the puppies at the two-week mark is that I will no longer use my sensitive scale to weigh them. When using my sensitive scale, I have to put a puppy in a little box on the scale. The puppies are now getting big enough to tip the box over. Plus when they move around - and they always move! - the scale shows different weights and I find myself having to guess among the shown weights. Going forward, the puppies will use my "big dog" scale. My "big dog" scale has a feature that it averages the weight over five seconds. So even if a puppy moves around, I get a more accurate reading than my guessing. The only downside is that the scale displays to the nearest five-gram mark. But the puppies are big enough now that this is sufficient.
At the end of the day, both Green and White had crossed the 500 gram mark. Green had retaken the lead from brother White. And Pink again had nosed ahead of Blue.
Today I tried to get pictures of each puppy, both body and head. Many of the photos are blurry, as the puppies would not hold still. Both Green and I were surprised when my camera's flash went off automatically. (Again it was an overcast day here.)
Rather than use my ruler to estimate the size of a puppy, it probably is better to compare a puppy against mommy to see how much a puppy has grown. If it seems like the puppies are mostly stomach, that is not far from being wrong!
The puppies in a nice geometry. And more nursing and the aftermath.
Normally Ophelia eats three scoops of adult kibble a day (a total of about 90 ml). Yesterday Ophelia ate eight scoops of puppy kibble - which has more calories than adult kibble - plus two helpings of cottage cheese ... and still she lost weight. Nursing four puppies takes a lot of energy!
Pink joined the 500 gram club today.
I put the puppies in the middle of my bed while I change the bedding in the whelping box. Usually they all stay in a pile. While the puppies can not walk, they can crawl quite efficiently. For the past two mornings, Pink has gone exploring away from the group, causing me to pick him up and put him back with his brothers.
Later in the morning, I found White curled up next to the toy I had put in the whelping box.
The competition at the milk bar is fierce as space is limited. Today I watched Blue push one of his brothers out of the way in order to get to a nippple, which caused that puppy to push another puppy, etc.
Ophelia and the puppies got left alone for part of the day while I took my other dogs to an agility lesson. When I got back I checked on the puppies. One was trying to taste the toy. Another puppy was trying to taste a brother. The puppies are starting to focus their eyesight. And like babies everyone put things in their mouth! I also observed what is the beginning of the puppies learning to walk. Walking will take a while, but I can clearly see (unsuccessful) attempts to coordinate legs. All this only lasted a moment or so until the puppies fell back asleep.
Blue joined the 500 gram club today and retook his lead over Pink.
Blue sleeping on Pink. And Green sleeping. And White sleeping.
Ophelia, like all dog mothers, is quite forceful when cleaning her puppies. Ophelia will push her nose underneath a puppy and flip the puppy over so that she can clean the puppy. Sometimes Ophelia will even gently hold a puppy down with her paw so that she can give the puppy a good cleaning. And it does not matter if the puppy is sleeping. Here is White yawning after Ophelia woke him up to clean his bottom.
Ophelia was outside and so I got a rare sighting of puppy poop. (I cleaned it up.) But this does mean that the puppies GI tracts are working as they should!
Puppies all lined up sleeping. And later, lined up again.
Blue sleeping. Green moving. And White with his head up.
Both Green and White joined the 600 gram club today. Pink has nosed ahead of Blue again.
A little later in the morning I found the puppies again lined up.
I feed Ophelia in the whelping box. White took advantage of Mommy being distracted in order to get some milk.Another time Pink did the same thing. But Blue had the best idea ... just lay on one's back to nurse.
The puppies are spending a few moments when they are awake exploring and interacting with each other. I even saw Pink investigate Mommy's (empty) food bowl. But mostly the puppies still sleep.
Blue joined the 600 gram club today.
Green climbing over his brothers to get to Mommy. Or maybe he wants to be the top of a pyramid.
Pink taking advantage of a moment alone to get a drink. Often it is hard to find room at the milk bar.
Green trying to walk. Green got his rear legs underneath him ... but then gravity pulled on his belly and his legs slid out from underneath him.
Blue yawning.
Pink joined the 600 gram club today.
Now that the puppies are three-weeks old, I will only be weighing them once a day in the morning. The puppies are still in their original birth weight order, but now over three times their birth weight!
At this point, I become cautiously optimistic that the puppies will survive. So it is time to give the puppies proper names, rather than just the color of their collars. (Part of the reason I do not name a puppy initially is psychological protection for myself in case a puppy does not survive.) My naming convention is to choose something from a Shakespeare play, Shakespeare-related book, or Shakespeare-related movie that I have recently seen or read. Not long ago I watched the BBC television series Red Queen/White Princess/Spanish Princess. These are adaptations of some of the historical novels by Philippa Gregory about the War of the Roses and its aftermath. Naturally I went looking for four brothers! It turns out that Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisburty - one of the main characters - had four sons. So (drum roll, please) the puppies AKC registered names and call names will be:
Of course, call names are informal and can be changed on a whim. Quite often my dogs get new call names when they go to new homes.
Jeffrey sleeping on brother Artie.
Puppies nursing. And later showing how crowded it is getting when nursing. Mommy first cleaning one puppy, and then the other.
Jeffrey with air underneath his belly.
Puppy checking out the toy in the whelping box. The puppies today seemed to be spending a bit of time exploring their environment.
Reggie resting his head on Harry's shoulder.
I was willing to bet that Ophelia's younger half-sister, Gwynie, would be the first that Ophelia would let near the puppies. The only question was when. Well today it happened. Ophelia is on the left and Gwynie is on the right. Note the puppy trying to see if Gwynie has any milk.
I decided that today was the day to build the puppy playpen in my living room. Having the puppies next to my desk will save me from going into my bedroom every time I hear a sound from the puppies. I had lots of supervisors as I built the playpen, and Ophelia had to test the crate before I was able to bring the puppies out. Now I can carry two and sometimes three puppies in my arms. But four is too many. So after Ophelia had finished evaluating the playpen, I took the crate to my badroom, loaded up the puppies, and brought them out to the playpen. ("Puppy Airlines", the only way to fly!) Ophelia immediately got into the crate with the puppies. Yes, there really is Ophelia and all four puppies in the crate! It always amazes me that Norwich mothers can get into a crate while being careful not to step on a puppy.
Reggie was the first to get out of the crate and explore. But I think Reggie was just looking for a drink. Afterwards he went back into the crate and took a nap with his brothers, while Ophelia guarded the puppies. Harry was next to venture out the crate, probably because he was hungry. Harry was followed by Artie. Jeffrey had a hard time getting out because Mommy was blocking the way. But where there is the will, there is a way! Reggie also had to climb over Mommy, in order to get a place at the milk bar. Afterwards, there was a few moments of exploring, even what looked like beginning jousting between Jeffrey and Harry, before everyone went back into the crate for a nap.
Later Harry explored the length of the playpen although I did have to help him to the crate when he seemed to have forgotten the way back. But mostly the puppies slept in the crate, with Mommy guarding them. And later "Puppy Air" took the puppies back to a more familar environment.
Later in the morning, Reggie tried in vain to get some milk from Gwynie, Ophelia's younger half-sister. Fortunately, Mommy still had some milk.
The puppies were very interested in Mommy's food bowl. But mostly the day was spent sleeping in the crate.
I had to go to the grocery store today. (We were getting low on cottage cheese for Ophelia.) To my surprise, when I got home I found Artie out of the playpen and in the middle of my living room floor. While I see great improvement each day in the puppies locomotion, I do not think Artie climbed over the wooden barrier which is across the entrance to the playpen. Rather what I think happened was that Artie was nursing when my car pulled into the driveway and all the dogs ran outside to greet me at my fence (or more likely scold me for leaving them). I think Artie was sucking so strongly that Ophelia just dragged him outside of the playpen. Artie did not seem hurt but he was not happy at being all alone. I put Artie back with his brothers and he settled down. Later Artie was out exploring so I do not think he was tramatized by the experience.
When the puppies finish nursing and doing a little exploring, they go back into their crate. It is hilarious to watch, as with their imperfect locomation there is a major traffic jam at the entrance. Usually a puppy gets turned around and starts coming back out while his brothers are trying to get in. Think Buster Keaton cops, and you will have a good idea of what it is like. But they eventually all get back inside and settle down for another nap.
This is what I mostly see all day now. Ophelia may leave the playpen, but she usually is not far away. The only thing that I do not like about this arrangement is that I can not directly observe the puppies when they are in the crate. The puppies do come out - sometimes en masse, sometime singularly - to nurse. But they do not stay out long.
After observing the puppies last night sleeping outside of the whelping nest, I decided today was the day to pack the whelping nest away. I have been very satisfied with the whelping nest keeping the puppies warm. But now the puppies are regulating their own body temperature and so they no longer need the whelping next. When I rebuilt the whelping box, I added the "pig rails". Going forward I will be interested to see how the puppies use the pig rails.
All four puppies nursing while Mommy stands up. Harry again tried to get some milk from aunt Gwynie.
Jeffrey and Artie. All the puppies can now stand and "sort of" walk. The puppies look like drunken sailors when they walk.
In the middle of the night I heard the puppies whimpering. This is not too unusual as when they are active they make these whimpering noises, most often because they are frustrated about something. I figured that Mommey had just fed the puppies and the puppies were being active. Then Ophelia got up on my bed and licked my face; I figured Ophelia was telling me that she wanted some food. So I got up and turned the light on ... and to my horror only saw two puppies in the whelping box! I quickly found the other two - Harry and Artie - a few feet outside the whelping box. It was they who were making the noise that had woken me up. The best that I can figure is that Harry and Artie had somehow gotten up on the pig rails near the entrance to the whelping box, and then tumbled out. I suspect they were trying to get to Mommy for some milk. I check Harry and Artie over, but all seemed ok. Fortunately puppies bounce! I put Harry and Artie back in the whelping box and fed Opehlia some food, who then promptly went and nursed the puppies. After that everyone - including me - settled back down to sleep. This morning I removed the pig rails from the whelping box.
Puppies coming out of the crate to nurse. The puppies are learning to come out of the crate to potty, but it is not perfect. You can see a urine stain just behing Reggie that he had just made. Puppies nursing.
Harry. And Reggie and Artie.
Aunt Gwynie (on the left) helping petsit the puppies. Gwynie playing with Harry while Reggie rests on Mommy. (Note the two puppies in the background heading back into the crate.) When Mommy moved away, Reggie also returned to the crate for the serious business of sleeping and growing.
Every day I see improvement in the puppies development. Today they came out of the crate (to get milk) more than yesterday. Here is Harry with Aunt Gwynie. And later nose to nose. Artie resting on Mommy.
Another time Ophelia and Gwynie were outside, and Artie came out of the crate and started whimpering. So Aunt Siri (really a first-cousin once removed) came into the playpen to comfort Artie.
After getting another drink at the milk bar, returning to the crate to sleep it off.
Another time I found Ophelia and the puppies all crammed together even though there is plenty of space in the playpen. Perhaps Ophelia just wanted to keep an eye on me as I prepared dinner!
Space at the milk bar is getting harder and harder to find.
Harry and Reggie doing some simple "puppy jousting". Puppy jousting is a cross between "thumb war" and sumo-wrestling. Since the puppies do not have opposable thumbs, they use their mouths.
Harry and Artie playing with aunt Gwynie.
Quite often, insteading of propelling themselves forward, the puppies push themselves backward, as Jeffrey is demonstrating.
Artie again.
Reggie says (in his best Cagney impersonation) "I was framed, I tell you, framed."
Today was the first day that I saw the puppies sleep in the playpen outside of the crate. Reggie is still nursing, Jeffrey (in the foreground) is wandering around, but Artie and Harry have fallen asleep. A little later, all the puppies gathered in a pile and took a long nap.
Artie and Reggie nursing. The pink is their tongues.
Reggie, Jeffrey, and Artie are all very interested in Mommy's dinner - kibble with a topping of cooked ground turkey.
Harry is the first one I see contemplaing "going over the wall". Harry eventually decided it was too much work and went back to take a nap with his brothers.
As I was winding down for the day and thinking of taking the puppies from the playpen back to the whelping box for the night, aunt Siri got into the playpen and started cleaning the puppies.
Last night when I was feeding Ophelia her cottage cheese, it seemed like Artie was tasting the cheese. I could not be sure. It will soon be time for me to start feeding the puppies.
This morning while I was fixing my breakfast, I knew that an adult was in with the puppies. I thought it was Ophelia, but it turned out to be aunt Siri. Later today, I again had to take Siri out of the playpen so Ophelia could get in. (Ophelia usually defers to Siri.)
Artie attacking the orange dinosaur. The puppies are starting to bite and shake the toys.
Harry is officially the first to make it over the wall on his own.
Harry was highly motivated, as Ophelia was just outside the playpen
and Harry wanted a drink.
Harry. The puppies
nails were getting long again, so today I clipped their
nails to blunt the edges.
Yesterday it seemed like the puppies spent a lot of their
time out of their crate, in ones and twos at the milk bar.
Evidently Ophelia said enough of this, and today put
the puppies back on a firm schedule staying out of the
playpen most of the time. I hardly saw the puppies all
day as they mostly slept in their crate. I thought I
would have to start feeding the puppies ... I even went
so far as to get out and wash my puppy feeding bowl ...
when Ophelia let the
puppies nurse. (Yes, that is dirt on Ophelia's nose.
Ophelia had evidently been outside digging, probably
trying to get to a vole.) But after only a few moments
Ophelia ran outside with my other dogs, leaving confused puppies.
Jeffrey taking a nap, using
a brother as pillow.
Harry biting at the
bars of the playpen.
Artie and Harry wrestling.
The puppies are four-weeks old today and weigh as follows:
Aunt Gwynie playing with the puppies in the morning and later in the afternoon.
I have noticed that each morning Ophelia gets into the puppies crate and rearranges the towel that I have put in the crate.
I try to get pictures of each puppy as part of their weekly birthday celebration. In no particular order here are the pictures:
Ophelia seemed to be letting the puppies nurse much more today. After this nursing everyone took a nap. And after dinner, I found Ophelia again nursing the puppies. Notice the fan-shape to let everyone have a space at the milk bar. A different view.
Lunch and dinner were repeats. Jeffrey eating. And Mommy cleaning up after each meal. Of course, nothing is better than Mommy's milk. I will also be feeding the puppies a fourth time each day, in the late evening.
At the morning weigh-in, Harry had taken back the lead from Artie, and Jeffrey had again nosed ahead of Reggie.
When I finally got the playpen setup this morning , Artie attacked the green elephant that dared to invade.
Reggie was the second puppy to "go over the wall" in search of Mommy and her milk.
Later, Raggie and Harry went exploring. Reggie turned back and climbed back into the playpen (because Mommy was there). Harry ventured further and found the motherlode of toys.
The puppies no longer seem like drunken sailors when they walk; rather they sort of waddle, moving their hips from side to side to help propel them forward. And now that the puppies has shown that they can get out of the playpen, I have to lock them in if I leave the house to run an errand. This also saves the puppies from the evil robot vacuum cleaner that runs when I out of the house!
As dusk fell, all the puppies climbed out of the playpen and went exploring. Artie is the first to discover the big dogs' crates on the other side of the room. I let the puppies play until it was time to go to bed.
Harry and Artie are tied for first place in the weight race. Both Jeffrey and Reggie have joined the 900-gram club, with Jeffrey a nose ahead of Reggie.
Puppies in playpen.
Along with feeding the puppies also comes the responsibility to potty train them. Beginning today, it is now my job to take the puppies outside when they wake up from naps, after they eat, and whenever I get up in the middle of the night. Puppies instinctively want to keep their area clean, so as long as I consistently provide the puppies with access to an outside place to potty, they will become house-trained. Of course, this takes time and does not happen overnight! I will also start to use my potty command "Do your business" whenever I see a puppy pottying to start to reinforce a Pavlovian reaction to the command.
Thus the puppies had their first trip outdoors this morning. There was much complaining from the puppies that this was a strange place! Jeffrey went off exploring on his own and even made use of the outdoors. (That is cousin Izzy - technically a second-cousin to the puppies - in the background. Izzy is still a puppy herself being under a year old.) When I took the puppies back inside, they seemed happy to be in a more familiar environment.
For lunch, besides baby rice, I also offered ground up puppy kibble soaked in Esbilac. Both Artie and Jeffrey showed interest. (That is Harry sleeping in the background.) The puppies would wander away from the food bowl, and then come back.
Jeffrey was the first to go through one of my practice earthdog tunnels. Harry was the first to taste the clover and grass. But what the puppies really want is some of Mommy's milk.
While the puppies took a nap, I went to the grocery store as I was again low on cottage cheese. My dogs are always happy to see my safe return, so I had a swirling group of all my dogs - including all four puppies - when I got everyone outside. That is great-aunt Mandy at the top - and going clockwise - cousin Izzy, mommy Ophelia (note the puppy sneaking a drink), aunt Siri and aunt Gwynie. Jeffrey was the first to go through my gate and start down my driveway.
While I prepared dinner, all four puppies got out of the playpen and went exploring. Harry checked out the big dog crates on the other side of the room. I was happy to see three of the four puppies interested in dinner. (I think they were mostly licking the Esbilac rather than eating much of the kibble.) Harry is still suspicious of what I am serving.
Harry has regained his lead over Artie in the weight race.
I was trying to get this picture of Artie sleeping on the purple bunny when Harry came over to see what I was doing. When awake, the puppies watch when either myself or my dogs move around the room.
The little angels sleeping.
My dogs were rough-housing (wrestling) and Artie and Jeffrey joined in. (That is cousin Izzy on top and aunt Gwynie on her back.) Reggie was getting a drink.
Artie was the first to climb up on one of the dog beds that I have around the room. When Mommy moved off, Artie stayed and fell asleep.
Harry and Artie sneaking a drink. Afterwards, Artie found the dog pillow underneath my desk and took a nap. A nap sounded like a good idea so while the puppies were sleeping, I snuck off and had a nap myself!
Artie exploring in one of the big dog crates across the room from the playpen. Jeffrey (near the camera) and Artie. Artie and Harry wrestling.
Puppies nursing. Afterwards the puppies hardly touched their dinner.
Jeffrey and Reggie (near the camera). Artie chewing on aunt Siri's ear. Jeffrey sleeping in the donut next to my desk.
All the puppies sleeping while I have been writing today's exploits. Someone is waking up ... time to take them outside.
I also found last evening when carrying the puppies in and out that puppy teeth are starting to come in. Puppy teeth are very sharp, sharper than an adult dog's teeth.
Morning picture. The puppies did very well eating puppy kibble soaked in Esbilac. Of course, Mommy's milk is still preferred. Harry today joined the 1-kilogram club.
The puppies seem to have an easier time walking on my cement porch, whereas they sometime slip on the tile that I have inside. And instead of peeing in my yard, where I have set them down, the puppies will sometimes climb up on my porch and then pee. And then walk through the urine ... which leaves interesting tracks!
Harry and Jeffrey going through my baby agility tunnel on my porch.
Evidently the puppy grapevine told of the wonders on sleeping on my donut dog pillow.
Reggie eating some of Mommy's cottage cheese.
Artie and brother outside. Harry trying to poop, which is difficult with aunt Siri licking his bum. Artie again. Notice how one of his ears is up. Ears will now go up and down as the puppies teethe.
For lunch the puppies had their first taste of canned food (Royal Canin Starter). It was a big hit! I was curious if the puppies would try dry kibble, but they did not.
Artie sleeping by himself on the dog pillow underneath my desk. When the puppies are sleeping I do errands that take me out of the house - taking the big dogs for a walk, or taking the trash to the dump. When I do, I now leave a special puppy CD running that is filled with city sounds. This helps familiarize the puppies to sounds that they do not hear in the rural area where I live.
Puppies outdoors. And getting a drink.
Artie is the first to find the big dog pillow on the other side of the room. At the same time Jeffrey and Reggie were sleeping in the donut. And Harry was sleeping on a purple cow.
Ophelia and I are working at cross-purposes trying to get the puppies on a feeding schedule. Today Ophelia nursed the puppies before we got up, so the puppies were not interested in breakfast. The puppies ate some lunch, but then hardly touched dinner again because Mommy fed them right before I offered dinner. As the puppies teeth come in and the puppies bite rather than suckle, Ophelia will nurse them less. The puppies will then start eating more of what I offer.
With the puppies being able to walk, you may wonder how I am weighing the puppies. After all, a puppy can just walk right off the scale. What I do is use a trick to "stack" a puppy. Holding the puppy, I drag the puppy's feet backwards across a surface several times. Then when I put the puppy down, the puppy will stay still for a few seconds. This gives me enough time to get a weight.
While Ophelia eats her morning cottage cheese, the puppies nurse (since they skipped what I offered for breakfast.) Jeffrey and Reggie tasted some of Mommy's cottage cheese.
Jeffrey got his head stuck in the plush toy. After pulling his head out on his own, he then stuck his head in again! And again got his head stuck. Before Jeffrey got frustrated, I helped him get unstuck.
Jeffrey and Reggie wrestling with Harry and Artie who are on their backs.
Jeffrey sleeping on a big dog pillow. If you look closely, you can see Artie napping in a big dog crate.
Puppies outside playing on the grass. We have been having a late March cold snap, and I can not allow the puppies to play outside for too long.
Two puppies on the far side of the exercise pen (x-pen) that I use at night. At night I do not want the puppies loose when I take them out to potty. So I put them in the x-pen. It takes me two trips to get all four puppies outside, and then two more trips to bring them back inside. Needless to say this gets me wide awake in the middle of the night!
While the puppies are leaning and exploring the world, part of my job is to expose the puppies to new things that they would not otherwise encounter on their own. There are various lists of suggestions for socializing puppies. My goal is to have the puppies encounter one new thing each day. An easy new experience is a new surface, in this case a metal pan.
Jeffrey and Reggie discovered the communal water bowl today, and I saw each of them take a sip.
Jeffrey and Artie joined the 1-kilogram club today.
Puppies sleeping in a pile. Playing outside. And sleeping on Mommy. Take puppies outside, bring puppies inside, take puppies outside, bring puppies inside ...
The puppies did not seem interested in ground kibble today and Ophelia did a lot of nursing. Note how chunky Harry looks in the morning picture. After their breakfast and after taking the puppies outside to potty, I let the puppies loose in my living room while I do my morning ablutions. Invariably afterwards I will find the puppies (and my other dogs) asleep on the various dog beds around the house.
Any time Mommy is around, the puppies will try to sneak a drink. Note the puppy on its back. I later got this picture of a puppy on its back nursing. Sleeping with Mommy is also good ... and sometime you can sneak another drink.
Reggie, Harry, and Jeffrey sleeping together. (That looks like a really awkward sleeping position for Harry!) Artie was sleeping on the other end of the pillow. I have noticed that if I see three puppies sleeping together, it is almost always Artie sleeping alone in another spot.
Reggie showing off his puppy teeth which are starting to come in.
Morning picture. Harry is the first to join the 1100-gram club. Reggie has again nosed ahead of Jeffrey. Heavy rain was forecast for today, so I had the puppies outside before the rain came.
Harry with aunt Siri. Siri is cleaning Harry. Between his mother and aunt Siri poor Harry never gets a chance to poop in peace. Reggie was biting aunt Gwynie's tail. Cousin Izzy showed the puppies that she does not have any milk. Artie and Reggie were on my baby dogwalk, which is showing its age. Another picture of Artie.
Jeffrey. And Jeffrey snuggling with aunt Siri.
Tonight for dinner my dogs got scrambled eggs as the topping to their kibble. I also gave some scrambled eggs to the puppies. The puppies thought it was the best thing ever!
Morning picture. Artie joined the 1100-gram club today. Jeffrey nosed ahead of Reggie again.
Jeffrey and Harry sleeping together. I think it is the angle that Jeffrey has his head turned that makes Harry's head seem so big.
After the rain yesterday, it was nice to lay in the sun and let the puppies nurse.
Three of the puppies helping Mommy eat her morning cottage cheese, while the fourth puppy sneaks a drink. The white flecks on the puppies are bits of cottage cheese.
Now yesterday's dinner had including a topping of cooked chicken livers for the dogs ... always a house favorite! As an experient for dinner, I mixed some of the cooking juice with ground puppy kibble and gave it to the puppies. The mixture was quickly gobbled down by the puppies! This told me that the puppies will eat the kibble, they just need an inducement. So for breakfast, I mixed some canned dog food with ground puppy kibble. The puppies ate it up!
The little angels all sleeping after breakfast.
Reggie and Jeffrey joined the 1100-gram club today with Reggie nosing ahead of Jeffrey.
It was a nice day today to lay in the sun and nurse the puppies. Before I could take the picture, Ophelia stood up in response to the barks of my other dogs. The puppies just continued nursing.
The puppies outside my gate with older dogs. The puppies kept going outside my gate today. It got so bad that I finally closed the gate ... which meant that when the puppies are outside I now have to lift my older dogs over the gate when they want to come in or go out. The puppies were frustrated by the gate and tried to open it by ramming the gate. But the gate held firm.
Reggie biting the tail of one of his brothers. (You have to look closely.) And later the tail of aunt Gwynie. Jeffrey also played with aunt Gwynie's tail. And later Mommy's tail.
Artie and brother starting to wrestle.
Jeffrey showed me that his going out my doggy door yesterday was not a fluke. He really knows how to push the door open.
I had to get the "Bitter Apple" out for the first time today. One of the puppies was biting and trying to tear the Pish Pad edge. To discourage this, I sprayed the edge with Bitter Apple, a concoction that makes things taste bad. The puppy took a taste, shook his head in disgust, and walked away.
I carefully watched the poop of the puppies today to make sure that no one got diarrhea - chicken liver is rather rich. But all poop was nice and firm. My adult dogs all had leftover chicken liver as part of their dinner. So again I gave the puppies a mixture of the chicken liver juice and ground puppy kibble. But this time I also put some regular puppy kibble (not ground up) in the puppy feeding bowl. I was curious if the puppies have enough teeth to eat regular puppy kibble. They do!
Artie pulling on a pig's tail. Perhaps Artie is trying to audition for the next "Angry Birds" movie!
Reggie and brother next to aunt Gwynie. Not long ago the puppies could walk underneath Gwynie. It is clear that the puppies are growing!
Reggie squating to pee. Male puppies squat to pee until puberty when they start to lift their leg. I am seeing small progress on the puppies potty training, which makes me feel good that my efforts are having an effect.
Twice today I heard a puppy cry out in pain when another puppy bit them during play. This is how puppies learn bite-inhibition. When a puppy tries to bite my hand when I am carrying them, I let out a squeal so that the puppy learns not to bite me also!
Artie joined the 1200-gram club today.
Harry and Jeffrey went exploring today and found me in the bathroom.
Mid-morning nursing. Then ganging up on cousin Izzy. Artie went exploring and got halfway down my fence-line before turning back. The puppies wrestling.
Artie coming out of my baby tunnel. That is a puppy piddle on the left. Often when I hold the door for the puppies and call them outside, they can not hold it long enough to traverse my porch and get to the grass.
Harry at the water bowl. The water is slightly green because of a water additive called "Healthy Mouth" that helps reduce plaque and tarter. Healthy Mouth is on the Veterinary Oral Health Council's approved list ... which means there is some science showing the product works.
When I strip my adult dogs, I throw the plucked fur outside for the birds (who use it to line their nests). Jeffrey and a brother found a pile and were fighting over who got to keep it.
Harry joined the 1300-gram club today, and Jeffrey the 1200-gram club.
Artie being careful before stepping off my porch. In some places the cement slab is only an inch above the ground, in other places two inches, and even more in other spots. At one time or another, each puppy has taken a tumble when jumping off my porch. Here is Artie showing the depth of one of the holes next to my porch. These holes were made by past puppies digging. Adult Norwich are not usually "diggers", although they will try to dig up small vermin. Young puppies, on the other hand, like to dig for the fun of it!
Two against one is fun if you are one of the two!
Reggie trying to sneak a drink from Mommy who was resting on the top of my baby dogwalk.
Puppy watching me as he nurses.
Aunt Gwynie on the left and Ophelia on the right. Jeffrey is sneaking a drink. Gywnie and Ophelia are half-sisters, and sometimes even I have trouble identifying who is who!
Puppies ganging up on cousin Izzy. All four puppies got into the act.
All four puppies made it about half-way down my fence line before turning back.
Scrambled eggs were again on the menu for dinner. Harry says "I can't believe I ate the whole thing"! Harry did not want to wake up when I took the puppies out to potty.
Sticks are nature's chew toys, good for sharp puppy teeth!
Reggie joined the 1200-gram club. Being six-weeks old, I again wormed the puppies with 0.1 ml of pyrantel pamoate.
According to breeder folklore, at six-weeks of age puppies look like miniature versions of what they will look like as adults. The next time this happens is when the puppies are six months old, then again at eighteen months of age when they are essentially fully grown. In between these times, different body parts grow at different rates, and the puppies can look like lanky teenagers.
Mommy Ophelia standing watch over her puppies.
Reggie is the first to discover that you can go from my living room to my bedroom. Reggie also figured out how to go out my doggy door. Two of the puppies also entered my house via my doggy door, but I think they were just following one of my older dogs.
For some reason, puppies are fascinated by the tunnel that does not go anywhere.
Cousin Izzy showing Reggie and Harry how chewing stick is really done.
Puppy chasing an empty water bottle. Empty water bottles are great toys as they make noise and move in unpredicable ways.
Instead of sharing, Ophelia today growled at any puppy who came near while Ophelia was eating her morning cottage cheese. Ophelia's incision is almost all healed. If you look closely, you can see that Ophelia is still having some slight bloody discharge from her vulva because of her c-section ... which is normal.
Reggie, Harry, and Jeffrey all sleeping in a row. Artie was on the other side of the dog pillow and sleeping on the floor.
Puppies nursing. Note how from this angle, it almost seems as if the puppies are covering Ophelia.
Jeffrey showing his teeth. I wore shorts today for the first time this spring. The puppies spent the day attacking my ankles with their sharp teeth ... which earned them gentle kicks to dissuade them. And they all earned the nickname "little ankle biter".
This evening I saw aunt Siri "toughening up a puppy". Siri had Harry on his back and was really faux-attacking him. Much growling and if one did not know better, one would think Siri was really hurting the puppy. Ophelia was nearby and did not intervene. Finally Siri stopped and walked away. Harry lay still for a moment, then got up and walked in the opposite direction.
My toy box is right next to my door. One of the puppies grabbed a toy on the way outside this morning and dragged the toy all the way across my porch. I was able to rescue the toy.
Even though he had just had breakfast, Harry does not pass up an opportunity to sneak a drink.
After the puppies have breakfast and then some time outside to play and potty, I bring everyone inside. The puppies play for a bit but then settle down for a nap. Usually the puppies nap on the dog beds in my living room. Today I found Jeffrey sleeping on one of the dog beds in my bedroom.
I could not get a good picture of Jeffrey today. I should explain about the yellow/green stuff around the nose of the puppies. The pine trees around where I live are all having sex (dropping pollen)! And here is an unflattering picture of Artie - given how his head is tilted and the wind, the picture makes it seems like he has funny-shaped ears, which he does not.
After a long play session outside, the puppies gather at the water bowl.
I clipped the puppies nails today ... and discovered something interesting. Both Artie and Jeffrey have rear dewclaws! (Harry and Reggie do not.) Declaws are just another nail (claw). Front dewclaws (which all four puppies have) are low on the front legs and I believe all dogs are born with front dewclaws. Rear dewclaws - which only occasionally appear - are higher up on the rear legs. Now dewclaws are a subject of controversy, with many breeders having dewclaws surgically removed. Professional groomers hate dewclaws as the declaws make grooming difficult when time is money. But there is evidence that the muscles of the front dewclaws are used by dogs when they run, so I leave front dewclaws on. In the past, I have had rear dewclaws removed as I was told that the rear dewclaws can catch on things and rip off, causing the dog more pain than if they are surgically removed. It has been a long time since I have had rear dewclaws on any of my puppies. I will need to do some investigating to decide what to do. Technically rear declaws are "hind-limb-specific preaxial polydactyly". There has been some DNA work to identify what causes rear dewclaws, but this is still an area where not everything is known.
Bodies:
I was not able to get a body shot of Reggie.
We had a thunderstorm roll through today. As I normally do when we have severe rain, I put a towel down by the doggy door for the wet feet of the dogs. Harry seemed to think that the placement needed rearranging.
What I see a lot, the puppies wrestling. In this picture Harry is on his back being attached by Reggie, who is being attached by Artie, who is being attacked by Jeffrey. Tail biting is another fun sport, as Reggie demonstrates on Harry's tail.
Jeffrey showing his teeth. And Harry chewing on some plant.
Reggie was vigorously shaking (as if to kill) the green bunny.
I have to be careful when walking to do the "puppy shuffle". The puppies can now move fast enough that they can - and do! - dart ahead of me and in my path. Thus instead of picking up my feet, I now have to shuffle so that I do not step on anyone. Similarly, I have to look before I turn around as I could easily step on a puppy standing right behind me.
Morning picture. The puppies take a few bites, then walk away, then come back and take a few more bites and then repeat the process. It can be hard to know when the puppies are done eating. When it seems like they are finished, I let Mommy in to do clean up. The puppies then attack Mommy like piranhas!
Harry today joined the 1400-gram club.
Artie today figured out how to go out the doggy door. Fortunately the puppies are not (yet!) regularly using the doggy door, preferring to have the doorman (me) open and close the door for them. After playing outside, Artie rested from the stress of using the doggy door.
Overhead shots:
Think of my fenced yard as a big square with my porch at one corner of the square. Today Harry, Jeffrey, and Artie explored along my fence line to one corner of the square, while Reggie explored to the other corner.
Harry chewing on a stick. (You have to look closely for the stick.) Another picture of Harry with the stick. Harry's teeth look sharp ... and they are!
When we are inside and things get too quiet, I start looking for the puppies. I need to know where they are napping so that I can keep a lookout for when one of them wakes up, and then hustle everyone outside to potty. Often I can only find three puppies. Today I was missing a puppy and searched high and low, even checking outside in case someone had slipped past me and gone out the doggy door. Finally I found Reggie sleeping behind the crate in the playpen.
A couple of days ago I brought out my wobble board for the puppies. This is a circular board with a ball underneath it. (Actually it is a human balance board.) Initially the puppies noticed that it moved when they put a paw on it ... and then try to bite it to make the board stop moving. Today I saw Jeffrey be the first to get up on the wobble board with all four feet. However before I could grab my camera, he had walked off and was biting the board again to make it stop moving.
After breakfast I had the puppies outside playing. I looked around and two puppies were missing. Artie and Harry had gone inside via my doggy door to take a nap.
Puppies chewing on sticks. I realized today that my fenced area was getting to be more of a jungle than a yard for the dogs, so I did my first mowing of the Spring. Artie exploring the newly mowed grass. Harry found a pine cone that got kicked into the yard by my mower.
Dinner today was a sprinkling of cooked ground turkey over kibble. I had warned the puppies not to drink too much milk before dinner, but the puppies did not listen to me. But in spite of just having drunk their fill of milk, the puppies ate all their dinner leaving little for Mommy to clean up. Afterwards the puppies fell into a turkey-induced coma:
When the puppies are wrestling and one puppy gets too rough and the other puppy yells in pain, Ophelia comes running over. Sometimes Ophelia intervenes, other times she does not.
Morning picture. Jeffrey joined the 1400-gram club and is in a tie with Artie for second place in the weight race.
Of course, after breakfast and then playing outside, it is time for a morning nap. Artie and Reggie and Jeffrey, Harry, and Ophelia.
Wobble board wrestling - the puppies think it should be an Olympic sport.
The puppies have become much more coordinated. Now when they run towards me it is like a thundering herd!
Today the puppies had a big adventure - a trip to the big city. First we loaded up into crates, two puppies in one crate and the other two in another crate. The puppies are now large enough that they will not all fit comfortably in one crate. Then we had a two-hour drive to Raleigh. The puppies quickly settled down and went to sleep during the drive. Then we arrived at a new place and the puppies got to meet their uncle Bear. The puppies stayed with my friend Jennifer while I did some shopping and took my older dogs to an agility lesson. (Ophelia of course stayed with the puppies.) The puppies had lunch and dinner at Jennifer's house. Then Jennifer had to say goodbye, first to Harry and Artie, then Reggie and Jeffrey. We then made the drive home.
Jennifer sent me these pictures that she took during the puppies visit.
Jennifer probably has more pictures and videos on her Instagram account, #norwichagility.
When we got home the puppies - having slept during the car ride - had lots of energy to run around and wrestle. Note Jeffery getting a drink.
The puppies are now going in and out my doggy door at will. I can either go crazy trying to keep the puppies all inside or all outside so that I can monitor them, or I can accept that sometimes some of the puppies will not be under my direct supervision. Usually one of the adult dogs is with the puppies if they are outside, so at least there is some supervision.
Reggie and Jeffrey playing tug-of-war.
The puppies are finding new places to sleep. Jeffrey was by the water bowl, while Harry was in my bedroom next to the whelping box.
The big news of the day was the visit by Toni and Erez to see the puppies. One of the puppies - still to be decided - will be going to live with them. Toni and Erez got to see all the puppies and my dogs. We had a long discussion about many dog topics. Reggie got tired of all the talk and went to sleep underneath Toni's chair. While we were talking I put aunt Siri on my lap and started stripping her (pulling dead fur using my fingers). Jeffrey thought it was great fun to scatter the fur on the ground. Later Toni took the puppies for a walk around my fenced yard.
Reggie says that having company is exhausting.
The puppies continue to find unusual places to nap. Artie thought it was such a nice day that he decided to sleep outside. Harry decided the milk carton that holds my printer was a safe place for a nap.
Later I found Reggie watching Jeffrey chew a pine cone.
The puppies have been dragging favorite toys to the various doggy beds.
Harry playing with aunt Siri's stripped fur.
Artie dragging a toy around outside.
Today I started teaching the puppies the "Pretty teeth" command. I reach over a puppy's head with my hand and gently lift up the lips to look at the teeth. I then give the puppy a treat. I start by lifting the lips for less than a second. I will work to extend the time that a puppy will let me hold their lips up.
Morning picture. Note the older dogs outside my fence. Harry today joined the 1600-gram club and Jeffrey joined the 1500-gram club.
The older dogs were outside, so Artie and Reggie got to clean my breakfast bowl. Usually aunt Siri does the honors.
I was really tired, so after feeding everyone breakfast I want back to bed for a nap. When I awoke, I saw that Harry has the honor of being the first puppy to climb up the ramp to my bed and take a nap with me.
Wrestling is a favorite sport. Harry and Reggie tried to wrestle with a fence in the way.
Jeffrey with a firm grasp on a favorite toy.
Harry laying in the grass. And later sleeping underneath a kitchen cabinet.
In the late afternoon a dear friend and her two Norwich came to visit for a few days. After all the excitement of a new person and dogs, then some hard playing, the puppies fell asleep while we were talking on the porch.
Puppies with visitor Journey. We figured out that Journey is a second-cousin to the puppies. Puppies with visitors Journey and Hemi. Hemi is almost 17 years old. We figured out tht Hemi is a fourth-cousin to the puppies. Hemi is the only Norwich to earn both an obedience championship (OTCH) and an agility championship (MACH). Artie was fascinated by the bells that Hemi wears. Hemi's no longer sees or hears well, so the bells help his owner keep track of where Hemi is. The puppies were very respectful of Hemi.
Harry pulling on a leash that my friend had on her chair. Later the leash was loose, and one puppy started to drag it through the tunnel on my porch. Harry grabbed the other end and a game of tug-of-war ensued.
The puppies ate a good amount for lunch but still had room for Mommy's milk.
Puppies on tippy board. Harry sleeping on a brother. Reggie seeing if there is anything to eat.
Harry and cousin Izzy. Being still a puppy herself, Izzy spends a lot of time playing with her cousins.
Artie jumping on Reggie. If two against one is fun, three against one is even better (as long as you are one of the three).
My friend was on the walking-wounded list, so mostly we sat on the porched, talked and enjoyed the spring weather. The puppies found the velcro on my friend's boot fascinating. We finally had to get the Bitter Apple spray out to stop the puppies from ruining the boot. I spent a lot of the time stripping aunt Siri and the puppies played with the fur. Mommy nursed the puppies. We watched as the puppies did their first circumnavigation of my fenced yard. But mostly the puppies found all the talk boring and just slept either singularly or in a group.
After our visitors left, everyone settled down for a nap. Four puppies sleeping together.
Artie trying to get up onto my bed. I now have to remember to put the ramp down on the floor when the puppies are loose, otherwise they will climb onto my bed.
Reggie using Jeffrey as a pillow. Artie and Harry sleeping together.
Tonight's menu was cooked ground turkey with dinner with Mommy's milk for desert. Notice how big the puppies now are in comparison with Ophelia. Every day I notice how heavier and bigger the puppies feel.
Reggie trying to get cousin Izzy to play. Jeffrey believes in letting it all hang out.
In the evening I again watched as Ophelia offered her Greenie to the puppies. After the puppies played with the Greenie, Ophelia took the Greenie away and ate it.
It was cold and rainy all day today. We spent more than the usual time indoors today. Here is Harry doing his bit to spread the toys around.
Jeffrey (looking down) and Artie (looking at me) on my baby dogwalk.
Harry walking towards me. Often when I bend down to get a picture, the puppy will move towards me ruining the shot.
Jeffrey is trying to win the "Pigpen" award.
Reggie chewing on the ends of his collar. This is why the ends of the collars are often frayed. Also I have seen a puppy grab another puppy by the ends of his collar and drag the puppy.
On rainy days we have more than the usual number of potty accidents inside - which is understandable - although I do try my best to continue their potty training by taking the puppies outside on a regular basis. But I did see one encouraging sign today that my training is having an effect. As I was doing one of my periodic checks of where everyone was, I heard a dog go out my doggy door. I thought it was one of the big dogs, but upon checking it was one of the puppies. He walked out into the rain, pooped, then came back inside. I was so proud of him!
I have not mentioned "puppy dreams". When a puppy is sleeping, I will often hear the puppy make small "yip" sounds. Sometimes this is accompanied by slight movement of feet. Even before their eyes were open, I would sometimes see slight movment of feet when a puppy was sleeping.
Another think I have not mentioned is "puppy hickups". Sometimes a puppy will get the hickups. There is nothing to do about the hickups, and they eventually stop on their own. Adult dogs do not seem to get the hickups.
It is said that if you have a Norwich Terrier that you will never go to the bathroom alone. But really Reggie, you do not have to also take a shower with me.
The big excitement of the day was the visit by Sally and Sal to see the puppies. One of the puppies - still to be decided - will be going to live with them. Sally and Sal got to see all the puppies and my dogs. The weather was chilly, so we spent most of the time indoors talking and playing with the puppies. All the puppies fell asleep except Harry, who finally crashed on Sally's lap.
Artie and Harry playing with aunt Gwynie and cousin Izzy. (Artie has a paw on Izzy.)
Reggie underneath the furniture in my bedroom.
Now that the puppies are eight-weeks old, I am going to stop weighing them every day. It is clear that they all are growing nicely. I will weigh them every week going forward. I find it interesting that the puppies weight order is exactly as their birth weight order: Harry first, Artie second, Jeffrey third, and Reggie fourth.
The puppies gave me a big scare this morning. Before taking a shower, I was checking where all the puppies were sleeping. I could only find three puppies! I searched my house three times, checking all their usual napping spots and even places where I have never seen the puppies. By checking collars, I knew it was Reggie who was missing. I even checked outside. No fourth puppy! I was beginning to panic, when out of the corner of my eye I spotted Reggie. I had not been checking my bed because the ramp to my bed was down. Evidently Reggie had gotten up on my bed before I put the ramp down.
The big adventure of the day was the puppies first trip to the vet! Today was the day that they were going to get their first puppy shot and also get microchipped.
Harry was up first. (In other words, Harry was the first puppy that I pulled out of their crates. The order the puppies were seen is totally random.) Harry was weighed, had his temperature taken and a fecal sample removed. (The indignity!) The vet checked Harry over. I asked the vet to especially listen to Harry's airway. Harry occasionally snores, which always has me worried about Norwich Terrier Upper Airway Syndrome (UAS). Unfortunately snoring and its absence are poor indicators of whether or not a Norwich has UAS. (But that does not stop me from worrying.) My vet said that she could not hear anything abnormal about Harry's breathing. Then Harry got his DHPPC vaccine shot (Distemper, Hepatitis, Parvovirus, Parainfluenza, and Coronavirus). After which he got his microchip injected. Harry (and all the puppies) did not mind the vaccine shot, but they all yelped as the microchip was injected. This in spite of the fact that I use the "mini" microchips, but the microchip needle is still larger than a vaccine needle. Because my vet does not normally stock the "mini" microchips, I order them and bring them to the vet. These microchips are ISO (International Organization for Standardization) rated, so are good if the dog travels overseas.
Next was Reggie, who got the same treatment including his shot and microchip.
Then Jeffrey had his turn. The exam included checking that the boys have two testicles. Oh the indignity! (All the puppies have two balls, or "nuggets" has my vet referred to them!) Then Jeffrey got his vaccine shot and microchip.
Last was Artie, who found the whole exam thing rather boring. Like his brothers, Artie did not complain about the vaccine shot, but did not like the microship shot.
Afterwards, the front office staff all got to hold the puppies Indeed the staff had all been coming singularly into the exam room asking to hold the puppies They played"pass the puppy" until each puppy got a hug.
When we got home I watched the puppies carefully, but I have not seen any signs that the puppies have had any reaction to the shots. They continue to run, wrestle, and play normally.
One of the things that is going to change for the puppies now that they are eight weeks old is that there will be no (fourth) evening meal. Although like my other dogs, the puppies will get a taste of cottage cheese for as long as I continue to feed Ophelia two servings of cottage cheese a day. Another change is that the puppies have spent their last night in the whelping box. Today I disassembled the whelping box and stored it away. From now on the puppies will sleep in crates. Today I started building the "puppy condo" next to my bed. Tonight the puppies will sleep two to a crate.
Morning picture. This is the last time that the puppies ate all together. I realized last night that while two puppies can fit in a crate, these big boys would be more comfortable sleeping in their own individual crates. So this morning I finished constructing the puppy condo. The puppies ate lunch each in their own crate. Now I will be better able to track how much each puppy is eating.
Artie (on his back) and Reggie sleeping on great-aunt Mandy's favorite spot. Actually I think this dog bed has gotten flipped over, but evidently it is still just as comfy.
Ophelia nursing puppies. Ophelia now is no longer cleaning up puppy leftovers. Plus I have cut Ophelia's food back to only a little more than her pre-puppy amount (plus cottage cheese). So Ophelia is letting the puppies nurse less and less.
Cousin Izzy found an uneaten rawhide treat and played "keep away" with the puppies. She would lay down near a puppy and start chewing on the rawhide. When a puppy came towards her, Izzy would run away and the puppies would chase her. This game must have gone on for five minutes or so. It was amazing to watch the puppies - who only last week circumnavigated my fenced yard by slow steps - now gallop around chasing Izzy.
Another picture of Harry. Note the puppies wrestling in the background.
Jeffrey sleeping on his back and Artie underneath my desk.
With the puppies sleeping in crates, I have to listen when they tell me they want to go potty. No more rolling over for a few more minutes of sleep. This morning, with the sun only a promise on the horizon, all the puppies were demanding that I get up. I figured that the puppies were hungry. Great-aunt Mandy was sounding the "Morning call for breakfast". I rush everyone out to "The Yard". In my half-awake state and everyone yelling at me, I just dumped some plain kibble into their bowls. In retrospect, I should have taken the extra minutes to mash some wet food into the puppy kibble. I put each puppy back into their crate with their food bowl. But the puppies were having none of it! The wanted FOOD, real FOOD ... not plain dry kibble. If the puppies had metal drinking cups, they would have been pounding them on the bars of their cells. The puppies scattered their kibble all over their crates. (The rawhide chew is left over from last night.) The poor warden had to clean the mess up later. Finally I put the puppies down and Mommy fed the puppies some "real food". Interestingly, while the riot was going on, Ophelia did not eat her own food (which the puppy is checking out).
I lock the puppies in their play-pen while I take the big dogs for a walk and the the evil robot vacuum cleaner rampages through the house.
Today was nail-day at my house. I try to trim my dog's nails once a week ... but when I am lazy it is once every two weeks. Today the puppies met Mr. Dremel. To introduce the puppies to Mr. Dremel, I smeared some Nutri-Cal on a puppy's face (which is primarily glucose), then quickly touched the dremel to each nail (really claw) of one paw. My goal at this first meeting was just to blunt the nail. Then more Nutri-Cal on the face and I did another paw, and I repeated until all four paws were done. Here is Artie modeling what a puppy's face looks like at the end. When I was finished and put a puppy down, all the big dogs licked the puppy's face clean.
Ophelia fed the puppies right before dinner time, so I delayed dinner for an hour. This gave me time to cook some chicken livers as a topping for the dog's food. The puppies got some juice dribbled on their kibble. There were no complaints about the evening cuisine.
Jeffrey resting by the water bowl.
"Hey guys, look at this. If you put a pebble on an incline, it always rolls down hill. Watch, I will do it again." The puppies must have repeated this experiment three or four times. It is always fun watching the puppies figure out the world.
Harry kept attacking until the hedgehog cried "uncle".
Jeffrey by the water dish. Another thing the puppies have been learning is that if you pull on the rug underneath the water dish, the water in the dish moves. Fascinating!
Reggie watching me from the safety of the wooden tunnel.
Artie sleeping underneath my baby dogwalk.
The forecast for today was for warm temperatures. After I ate breakfast, I took my adult dogs for a walk while it was still cool. When we got back, I took the puppies for a walk along the inside of my fenced yard.
I have found that one scoop (30 ml) of puppy kibble with a topping seems to be about the right amount to feed the puppies. Of course, Ophelia is happy to eat any leftovers. The puppies did better eating more for lunch than they did for breakfast.
It was warm today, but reasonably comfortable with all the windows open and the overhead fans running. The puppies slept most of the afternoon in various part of my house:
Cousin Izzy and the puppies continue to chew on - and destroy - the branch that I put in my yard for them to gnaw on.
The topping for dinner today was tuna fish, a first for the puppies. In anticipation that it would be a favorite, I gave each puppy one and a half scoops of puppy kibble. I was not wrong, the puppies ate almost all that they were given. Everyone is sacked out now, sleeping it off.
Morning play ... or in other words, wrestling.
Even with all the toys that the puppies have, it is a simple thing like an empty soda can that really fascinates them!
How many puppies can you fit into a milk carton?
The puppies were fascinated with something in the grass. Artie is at the top, then going clockwise it is Harry, Reggie, and Jeffrey.
Look at those sharp teeth!
Better bums contest:
The puppies are trying to keep their play area clean. I have noticed that the puppies are now going further out into my yard to poop.
Ophelia is really starting to cut the puppies off from the milk bar. Here is Ophelia at lunch telling the puppies "no".
Usually the puppies are all awake at the same time or all sleeping at the same time. But sometimes one or two will be awake while the others sleep.
With all his favorite toys on his bed, Reggie is forced to sleep half on and half off his bed.
The puppies continue to maintain their birth weight-order.
This morning Ophelia did not want to eat her breakfast, but instead wanted to first nurse the puppies. After eating a decent amount for breakfast, the puppies were happy to visit the milk bar. Jeffrey first had to check out what Mommy had refused to eat. After nursing the puppies, Ophelia ate her breakfast while sharing it with a puppy. Normally Ophelia (like any other Norwich) would growl and chase away another dog coming near her food.
Here is Artie demonstrating his high-beam act (or maybe future agility prowess). Artie started on the pillow at the right, got up on the white crate and started walking along the top of the line of crates. I finally rescued Artie with he got to the end of the line of four crates.
The puppies play hard ... and they sleep hard.
On one of my many hunts for a missing fourth puppy, I finally found Artie sleeping in my shower.
Reggie may be the smallest of the four puppies, but he is no less fierce. Here is Reggie on top of Harry.
I had the puppies out to potty around 4:30 am. "Good" I thought "now perhaps the puppies will sleep in." No such luck. As soon as the sky started to lighten around 6 am the puppies wanted to get up and they wanted breakfast NOW.
After the puppies eat in their crates, I let them out first, put all their food bowls in the playpen, and then let Ophelia out to eat up any leftovers. This morning the puppies ate all the leftovers. I kept replentishing the leftovers, and the puppies kept eating them. Evidently eating is a competitive game with these puppies! Ophelia did get some leftovers to compensate her for letting the puppies nurse.
Jeffrey and Harry playing tug-of-war.
Artie with a toy.
The puppies continue to chew on the branch I dragged into the yard.
The puppies like running in the narrow space between the playpen and the wall. Wrestling back there is even more fun!
The puppies today stared on their contributions to science. I swabbed the inside of each of their cheeks with an Embark DNA swab. Embark is a panel DNA company, meaning that with one swab one gets lots of results about health, coat color, and other things. Results will be available in a couple of months.
When I started writing this, the puppies were sleeping off dinner. Jeffrey, Artie, and Harry were on the pillow underneath my desk. Well, Harry was half on the pillow. Reggie was on the donut besides my desk. But the puppies have since woken up and are now playing outside.
I was taking pictures of Harry and Jeffrey wrestling in the hope of getting a shot showing teeth. I got the shot (Harry is on top so those are Jeffrey's teeth). But when the puppies heard the clicking of the camera they stopped and looked at me. After which they resumed wrestling.
Reggie was on his back chewing on some grass. When he heard the camera Reggie stopped and looked at me.
Reggie and Jeffrey (laying down) with cousin Izzy.
Reggie and Jeffrey at the watering hole.
Artie today climbed up on top of the big dogs' crates, walked (jumped) along the line of four, until coming to the end.
Today was a day of visitors. Not long after lunch Karissa, Tom, and their Norwich, Winnie (who is a great-aunt to the puppies), arrived for a visit to see the puppies. Tom was mobbed upon arrival. When the puppies finally got tired, we put them in their playpen for a nap. Then the humans and adult dogs all went on a nice long walk, during which Tom and Karissa collected some pine cones for the puppies. Here is Jeffrey carrying his pine cone. After I did Winnie's nails with my Dremel, I did the nails for all four puppies. Then Karissa said her good-byes, followed by Tom saying his good-byes. However I made sure that the puppies stayed!
Next up were some very dear friends who brought their granddaughter to see the puppies. The puppies got more play and even more play. Harry and Artie were the first to say enough and fell asleep, thus missing my friends' departure.
When I got out of the shower this morning, I found the puppies asleep in my bedroom. When Ophelia came back from her morning walk outside, she went to each puppy and groomed them - licking each puppy on the face and ears, and checking their rear end. Ophelia did this for the puppies on one dog bed, then went to the other dog bed and did the same for the puppies on that bed.
My living area is very "puppy proof" ... I think I have everything out of reach that could hurt a puppy (wires are behind barriers, etc). Plus nothing that a puppy might chew is precious or of deep sentimental value. However this does not stop puppies from finding something! For example after my shower today, I found that the little angels (who by this time were sleeping in my bedroom) had torn up the backing of a mirror. Not any big deal ... except that I had to clean up the mess! This inexpensive mirror is on the floor so that the puppies get used to seeing their reflection in a mirror.
Harry chewing on a pine cone. Yesterday this was a nice fully-formed pine cone ... but not today after puppy teeth had ripped and shaken it!
Reggie showing his fangs. Two of his brothers are holding Reggie down.
I discoverd a post-vaccination lump on Artie's right shoulder where he got his shot. This is not unusual and should go away in a week or two, or at most a couple of months. The lump is caused by either an infiltration of immune cells, or a lymph node near the injection site becoming activated and enlarged. The lump does not seem to be causing Artie any discomfort, so it is not anything about which to be concerned. (However if it is still there I will point it out to my vet when we go in for second puppy vaccination shots.) I have not found any similar lump on Artie's brothers.
The rule of thumb is that a puppy can "hold it" (not have to potty) for the number of hours that a puppy is old in months (up to about eight, after which it becomes cruel to expect a dog to hold it). I have observed that during the night one often gets an extra "grace hour" of "hold it". I take the puppies out to potty right before I turn in, and now I am only having to get up twice during the night to take the puppies outside to potty. This morning the second time was around 5:30 am. Instead of putting the puppies back in their crates, I left them loose to see what they would do. I went back to bed and played possum. When I do this, after a nominal attempt to wake me, my big dogs curl up next to me and go to sleep. I was curious what the puppies would do. After playing for a bit, the puppies climbed the ramp to my bed and followed the example of my big dogs and curled up next to me and also went to sleep. I finally go to sleep in!
Morning picture. Everyone has eaten and my big dogs are waiting to be let out for their morning walk. I put the puppies in their playpen while I took the big dogs for a walk.
Mid-morning snack. Ophelia seems to be nursing the puppies only once a day now. My goal is to try to capture a picture of that last time at the milk bar.
The puppies are getting fast. On the several times a day when I let my big dogs out my gate, often one, two, or even three puppies will also escape. When I rescue the puppies, I tell them that there are flying monkeys out there who will snatch little puppies and take them away. I do not think the puppies believe me as the next time my gate is opened, the puppies again try to escape.
Morning picture. I was in my yard trying to encourage the puppies to come off the porch and go potty. Noboby wanted to join me; they all wanted me to go in and fix breakfast.
I have been surprised about Ophelia's mothering-style. I have been lucky in that my Norwich mothers have all been attentive and gentle with their puppies. But if anything Ophelia is too gentle. I am used to my Norwich mothers "toughening up a puppy" - flipping a puppy over, growling, and play attacking the puppy. If one does not know better, one might think that the mother is really trying to hurt the puppy. I have always assumed that this was done to teach a puppy something - perhaps manners or how to defend itself. I have wondered why Ophelia is not doing this. (A while back I saw aunt Siri lay into a puppy. I assume this was because of some infraction of canine etiquette; Siri is top dog in my house.) I have wondered if the puppies being all males had something to do with the lack of "toughening". This morning I finally saw Ophelia "toughening" a puppy - but it was in the most gentle style. Ophelia alternated growling and attacking the puppy, with licking and grooming the puppy.
Today the puppies had a visit by Irene and Jim and cousin HP (HP standing for "Harry Percy"). Here are three photos of HP with the puppies:
After playing with HP, the puppies were thirsty. Fortunately it was time for their mid-morning drink at the milk bar. After which the puppies went to sleep, so Jim, Irene, and I plus all the big dogs took a walk.
The puppies had tuna fish as a topping for dinner today and all ate a big dinner. (I never got around to rebuilding the playpen today after picking it up this morning.)
Reggie resting under the protection of the wooden tunnel.
As I have been writing this, Artie discovered that some of the toys have squeakers. So I have been serenaded by a succession of squeaks.
The puppies are ten-weeks old today and weigh as follows:
I had to be out of the house in the afternoon. Since I was not sure when I would be back I left the puppies in their playpen. As it turned out, it was late in the afternoon before I got home. While my older dogs (especially great-aunt Mandy) chastised me for being away so long, the puppies seemed to have just gone with the flow. Now the puppies are outside running around and wrestling.
I now have a hard time closing my refrigerator door as almost always a puppy is blocking the way, sniffing the smells inside the refrigerator.
As part of breakfast, besides a crushed blueberry, I am now including a multi-vitamin (one quarter of a "Pet-Tabs Plus") in each breakfast bowl. Blueberries have a 75 percent "uptake rate". Often I find that one puppy leaves their blueberry which then gets eaten by one of his brothers. But the puppies really seem to like their vitamin which always gets eaten.
"Didn't this bed used to be bigger?"
Artie playing with a favorite toy. The toy is a cow milking machine liner.
Puppies taking their late-morning nap. The puppy in the back does not look like it could be comfortable, but it is amazing the positions that the puppies will be in while sleeping.
Ophelia let the puppies nurse right before lunch. I was worried that this would ruin the puppies appetite for lunch, but the puppies all ate a big lunch. It had been 30 hours since Ophelia last let the puppies nurse. The time between nursings is getting longer.
Dinner tonight was a topping of cooked ground turkey ... a house favorite. Harry showing his appreciation.
Harry, with brother Jeffrey in the background.
After some playing after dinner, the puppies all fell into a turkey-induced coma.
But now the puppies are all up and running around outside.
Morning picture. My older dogs are waiting to be let out for a run after breakfast. The puppies are getting fast, when I opened the gate all four escaped outside. Fortunately I was able to round all four up and bring them back to my fenced yard ... much to their annoyance!
The puppies continue to find new places to take a nap. Here are Harry and Reggie napping in the corner besides my toilet. And sometimes the puppies like to nap underneath the chair at my desk. I have to check where the puppies are before I move my chair when I get up.
I was asked today about the coat color of the puppies and the dark hairs that they have. The dark hairs are "guard hairs" and will all eventually fall out (or can be pulled out). These puppies will be red or possibly red-grizzle. The best way to get an idea of the eventual coat color of the puppies is to look at the base of their ears:
It can be hard to see the exact color in photos because of differences in lighting. Also you only want to look at the base of the ear. The upper part of the ear will have guard hairs.
There is a difference in the puppies guard hairs. Artie is the easiest to spot as his guard hairs are the darkest. Of the other three, Reggie's guard hairs seem shorter and look like someone has combed him. Both Harry's and Jeffrey's guard hairs are longer and wavey.
Regular portrait pictures:
Some more pictures of Jeffrey: photo1 and photo2.We have had thunderstorms here this evening. I was happy to see that the puppies are not scared of the thunder. The puppies mostly spent their time chasing my big dogs (who were running around barking in return at the loud noise).
Morning picture. The puppies still can not understand why they are not allowed to go outside my fenced yard and run with the big dogs. Like children everywhere, the answer "because I said so" does not seem to satisfy them.
Ophelia and puppies. Notice that the puppies are getting larger in comparison with mommy.
Mommy watching puppies chew on the "chewing branch".
Recently at night I have not been using the small pen in my yard to constrain the puppies to a potty area. Rather now when I take the puppies out at night I just put them down on the grass and tell them to "do your business". Usually a few minutes later them come back inside and I put them back in their crates. So today I picked up the pen and put it away.
Inside I have noticed that the puppies will use the playpen as a potty area ... probably because of its absorbant pad. In an attempt to encourage good potty behavior (go outside), I am now not building the playpen unless I need it to constrain the puppies when make a trip to town.
The puppies keep taking their toys outside, dragging them through my doggy door. As it was a rainy day today, I keep bringing the toys back inside.
I have not seen Ophelia nurse the puppies today ... or yesterday. It is possible that she has stopped. I did notice this evening that Ophelia is playing rougher with the puppies, flipping a puppy over, growling and baring her teeth at the puppy. I assume this is some sort of play or teaching, as the puppy will come right back at Ophelia. Often aunt Gwynie and cousin Izzy do the same thing with a different puppy. Jeffrey got trapped in a wooden tunnel with Gwynie at one entrance and Izzy at the other. Or maybe Jeffrey was just being smart!
I feed all my dogs including the puppies in their crates. I then bring the puppies to my living room for communal "seconds" until no one is interesting in eating any more. But today it was more fun to flip a bowl over and play hockey with it!
After finishing breakfast (and I took the hockey puck away from them) the puppies congregated around Mommy's crate. I opened Ophelia's crate to let her out so she could go eat leftovers. But before Ophelia could come out, the puppies mobbed Ophelia's crate and I heard crunching. I could not see but it is possible that Ophelia saved some of her breakfast for the puppies.
Almost all puppies get the nickname "ankle biter" from me. When a puppy attacks my ankles, it earns them a gentle kick to discourage them... or as gentle as I can be when in pain from sharp puppy teeth! I have a couple of scratches on my ankles from their attacks. When I am wearing long pants, the puppies will sometimes grab the bottoms of a pant leg. I try to keep walking normally so that a puppy learns that being dragged is not fun.
The hunters in my rural county use big foxhound-type dogs to flush their prey. When there is a hunt going on nearby, my adult dogs hear the barks of the hunting dogs. This causes my dogs to run back and forth and bark in defense of their territory around my house. Not infrequently like today, one of these hunting dogs will get separated from its mates and wander into the field around my house. This causes my dogs into even more frantic barking and chasing off of the intruder. It is humorous watching my Norwich chase off one of these big dogs who probably weighs more than all my dogs combined. The puppies of course were excited by all the barking and running around by my big dogs. They ran back and forth (inside my fenced yard) following the movement of my dogs outside my fence. Reggie even tried out his voice with small puppy barks!
Harry next to Ophelia.
Mommy still checks out
the puppies to make sure that they stay clean.
Jeffrey trying to figure
out how cousin Izzy was able to jump up onto my bed.
And why can he not do that?
Ophelia up where the
puppies can not reach her. The puppies would really
like Mommy to give them some milk, but Ophelia is being
firm that the milk bar is now closed.
The forecast today was for sun and nice temperatures.
So I picked up all the toys, moved all the crates outside,
put all the dog beds either up or outside, and generally
moved everything that was not large off the floor.
After multiple potty accidents inside by the puppies, my
floors needed a good cleaning. I locked all the dogs and
puppies outside and then swept and mopped all the floors.
The cleaner I can keep things, the more the puppies will
get the idea that the only acceptable place to potty
is outside.
While the floors dried, the puppies and I made the long
car drive to the big city. My older dogs stayed behind in
my fenced yard. Two of the puppies were car-sick during
the drive to the city (which tells me that I need to get
the puppies out for more long drives). The puppies got a
play-date at Jennifer and Keith's house with uncles Boo and
Bear and aunt Madeline, while I went to do some shopping.
Here is a photo of the
puppies with uncle Bear in the foreground and aunt
Madeline in the background.
If Jennifer send me photos of the puppys' visit, I will post them
here.
When I picked up the puppies two-hours later, Jennifer told
me that the puppies had played the entire time and were
only just starting to fall asleep. Jennifer commented that
all the homes were getting great puppies. Jennifer noted
that Artie before she could stop him had gone over their
practice agility teeter (much bigger than the baby teeter
the puppies play on), but Artie was not fazed by the
drop of the teeter. Reggie had gone through their curved
(hence dark) agility tunnel. The puppies are only used to
a straight tunnel; going though a curved dark tunnel can be
frightening but Reggie was not showing any fear. Jennifer
thought that both Harry and Percy were very handsome.
I had to make sure that I left with all four puppies,
as Jennifer always wants to keep my puppies. The puppies
and I made it home in time
for dinner.
Three puppies playing with
a food bowl, while Reggie checks out the box of new
toys that has appeared.
Puppies playing.
In front from left to right, Reggie, Artie, Harry; Jeffrey
is in the back.
Harry in the fridge. I keep
warning the puppies about getting trapped in the refrigerator.
Puppies in what seems to be their favorite
spots for a nap - Harry underneath my chair,
Artie on the green bed underneath my desk, Reggie
and Jeffrey in the donut bed. Later I found Reggie using Harry as
a pillow.
Aunt Gwynie playing with the puppies.
In front from left to right - Artie, Jeffrey, Harry; Reggie is in the back.
Top views:
These weights are pre-breakfast. After breakfast, the puppies patrolled "their territory". Artie was at my feet when I took the picture, but joined his brothers a few moments later.
The forecast is for rain for the next several days, so I spent the day trying to get ahead of yard work. The puppies were on their own between meals. The puppies dragged several toys into the yard (which their butler will have to pick up). I have not found any potty accidents in the house. While the puppies are by no means totally house-trained, I am very pleased with their progress.
I feed each puppy one scoop (30 ml) of puppy kibble at each meal. Then I bring the puppies out for "communal seconds". Today I kept track of how many scoops of "seconds" were eaten at each meal - three scoops for breakfast, two scoops for lunch, and three scoops for dinner.
Since Ophelia is no longer nursing the puppies, I have cut out her daily ration of cottage cheese. Now I am using the cottage cheese as a topping for both puppies and big dogs. (A topping is about a teaspoon.)
Artie using a colorful toy as a pillow. I have been told that Artie will be getting a new call name - "Obie" - when he goes to his new home. At this point, none of the puppies recognize their call names. I have to use unusual sounds when I am trying to get a puppy to look at my camera. But from now on (in order to train me) I will be calling Artie by his new call name of Obie.
The puppies looking at us as the big dogs and I return from a walk. Great-aunt Mandy is on the left.
This morning I heard one of the puppies barking in my bedroom. (Or what passes for a bark, as being puppies their bark is still rather high pitched.) When I investigated, I found Harry trying to get aunt Gwynie to play with him. Gwynie was just ignoring Harry.
Obie showing his many talents. Not only can Obie make a toy squeak, he can do so while balancing on my tippy-board!
Harry showing his wet beard after getting a drink of water.
Obie watching the world go by from a safe spot.
All the puppies napping underneath and around my chair. Reggie, Harry, and at the top of the picture, Jeffrey. Obie was on the other side.
I took the puppies for a car ride today for a little over an hour. No one got car sick. When we got home, since I knew that the puppies had not eaten in the last hour, I swabbed the inside of each puppy's cheek with an AKC DNA swab. This DNA will be used by the AKC for identification and parentage-verification purposes. I do not know if it was the car ride or the bristle DNA swab, but all four puppies had a reduced appetite for dinner. I am not concerned. All of these puppies have sufficient reserves for any upcoming growth spurt.
Puppies in playpen when I had to run an errand.
Puppies in yard and not caring that it is lightly raining.
Puppies wondering why they can not go out and run with my older dogs. From left to right, Reggie, Jeffrey, Obie, and Harry.
Anytime I open my refrigerator door, I have to scoop a puppy or two out of the way when I go to close the door.
Ophelia and Jeffrey. Even though Ophelia is no longer nursing the puppies, she still grooms them (licks them). Ophelia still comes running if a puppy is yelling (usually because a brother is playing too rough). And I have seen Ophelia do some "toughening up" of a puppy. (Today I watched Ophelia go after Harry.) I believe Ophelia has not had to do as much puppy training (like I have seem my other mothers do) because the puppies have three other adults teaching them - aunts Gwynie and Siri and cousin Izzy. (Great-aunt Mandy just wants the puppies to leave her alone.)
Puppies greeting us as the big dogs and I came back from a walk. All of the puppies were leaning up against the small fence looking at us, but moved before I could get my camera out.
I thought Ophelia was done letting the puppies nurse, but I caught Ophelia giving the puppies a taste.
I believe today was a "potty accident"-free day. At least I have not found any potty accidents inside my house today. One of the puppies keeps piddling on my porch instead of walking a few more feet to the grass. But as long as the puppies do their business outside, I am happy.
When my big dogs want to go outside my fenced yard and I open the gate, often a puppy will make a run for it and get outside before I can close the gate. I then have to chase the puppy down. Today Reggie got out and almost made it to the tree line before I was able to catch him. Fortunately (for me) Reggie got distracted and stopped to watch a big beetle that caught his eye.
Morning picture as my older dogs and I left for an early walk while it was still cool. And the puppies greeting us upon our return.
Puppies napping. Reggie is on the donut. Across the top from left to right are Jeffrey, Obie, and Harry.
Today it was evidently Obie's turn to try to make a run for the tree line after he escaped while I was holding the gate open for my older dogs. The puppies can really move fast now!
Jeffrey carrying a favorite toy.
Morning picture - puppies settled down for an early morning nap. From top to bottom - Obie, Harry, and Reggie. Jeffrey was still up playing. It is not unusual for two or three puppies to nap, while the others still are playing. But a few minutes later, Jeffrey also settled down for a nap.
Obie cleaning his brother's ear. Obie spent a good three or four minutes while I watched licking and gently chewing on his brother's ear. His brother never objected.
Puppies chewing on the branch that they have been working on for several weeks.
The puppies have learned how to jump up and grab the dish towel that hangs through my refrigerator's door handle. I have had to repeatedly rescue the towel from the puppies and rehang the towel.
When I watch the puppies now, I can not help thinking that the puppies believe they have figured out the world. Only I know that in the next few days, their world will completely change.
All except Reggie broke the 2.6 kilogram threshold. So today I put Revolution on Harry, Jeffrey, and Obie. (Reggie will have to wait until he gains a little more weight.) Revolution is a topical heartworm and tick preventative (but only of dog ticks, not deer ticks which carry many of the nasty bacteria). Revolution also kills Cheyletiella mites. If you ever see a Norwich doing a lot of scratching and there is no obvious reason, more than likely the cause is Cheyletiella mites.
Morning picture. I have been feeding the puppies 1.5 scoops of puppy kibble for breakfast and dinner plus 1 scoop for lunch (A scoop is 30 ml.) The puppies still like "communal seconds". Starting at the top and going clockwise are Reggie, Jeffrey, Harry, and Obie.
The puppies and great-aunt Mandy. The big dogs and I had just returned from an early morning walk and I had lifted great-aunt Mandy over the barrier. By making a funny sound, I was able to get everyone to look at me for the picture.
If you do not mind a slightly damp floor, an ice cube makes a fun and interesting toy.
Finding that two of his brothers had taken all the room on the donut, Obie just climbed on top of his brothers for his nap.
The big adventure of the day for the puppies was a trip to the vet for shots and to get certificates of health. First up was Reggie who was examined, gave a fecal sample, got his second puppy shot, and received the nasal bordetella vaccine. Then it was Obie's turn who also gave a fecal sample, was examined, got his second puppy shot and his nasal bordetella vaccine. Harry did not have to give a fecal sample so was spared the indignity of having a probe pushed up his anus. (Harry will be coming back to my vet next week for his certificate of health, so will then have to give a fecal sample.) But Harry was examined and got his second puppy shot and his nasal bordetella vaccine. I asked my vet to especially listen to Harry's airway, My vet admitted that she could hear abnormal sounds but thought it was slight. Finally Jeffrey was weighed (as was his brothers), gave his fecal sample, examined, got his second puppy shot, and his nasal bordetella vaccine.
After all the business was done, it was time for the fun part of being hugged and passed around by the staff. Obie started with one member of staff but never got passed, preferring to stay on her lap and ... well, just stay on her lap
Reggie, Jeffrey, and Obie all got their certificates of health. Although my vet noted that she found a worm egg in Jeffrey's stool sample. My vet confirmed that I had followed the recommended worming protocol of pyrantel pamoate at two, four, six, and eight weeks of age. My vet recommended that I give Jeffrey a course (three days) of fenbendazole - a different worming medication. Since it will not hurt them, I gave all the puppies fenbendazole with their dinner.
I spend the day getting all the puppies' paperwork in order and packing their bags. We will be travelling tomorrow.
In the evening, when the puppies all start running around like crazy (like right now), I know that the puppies will soon crash and go to sleep.
After breakfast, I put everyone (puppies and big dogs) in their crates and loaded the crates in my car. We then drove to Maryland. Here are the puppies at a rest stop. My first destination was the home of fellow Norwich breeder Dale Martins. Dale owns Justin, the father of the puppies, and Dale wanted to see the puppies. Here is a family photo of Justin, Ophelia and the puppies. (Justin is at the top of the photo.) Dale threw some treats on the ground to get everyone in the photo.
Leaving everyone else at Dale's house, Ophelia and I delivered Obie to his new home with Toni and Erez. My last view of Obie.
Ophelia and I then drove back to Dale's, picked up Reggie, and drove Reggie to his new home where we spent the night.
So then I was left with just two puppies: Harry and Jeffrey.
Toni sent me these pictures of Obie:
Dave sent me these pictures of Reggie:
Our first stop was a visit in Raleigh at the home of Jennifer and Keith and their three Norwich. Here is everyone (except cousin Izzy). Jennifer wanted to take a picture of Jeffrey on the teeter. Jennifer is a very good photographer and you can see her pictures and videos on her Instagram account: #norwichagility.
Jeffrey and Harry then had a last moment together. (Jeffrey is on the left.) Harry will be staying overnight at Jennifer and Keith's house. I loaded my adult dogs and Jeffrey into my car, and we drove to my petsitter where I left everyone except Ophelia and Jeffrey. Ophelia, Jeffrey and I then drove to South Carolina. Jeffrey at a rest stop.
Sal and Sally with Jeffrey, their new puppy. Ophelia and Jeffrey at Jeffrey's new house. Claudia, Herb, and cousin Robin who live nearby came over to visit. Jeffrey tried his best to impress cousin Robin. I then said my goodbyes to Jeffrey. Ophelia and I went to Robin's house to spend the night.
In the evening, Jennifer sent me this picture of Harry. And Sally texted me this picture of Jeffrey.
Harry, my dogs and I then drove home. So then there was just one puppy, Harry.
Sally sent me these photos of Jeffrey:
Sally writes that they have decided to call Jeffrey by the call name of "Wilson" ... so that is what I will use from now on to refer to him. Sally also wrote that her curiosity to see Wilson's coat color got the best of her, so she stripped Wilson a bit.
Ophelia missed her annual dental cleaning date because she was pregnant. It was rescheduled for when I estimated all the puppies would be in their new homes. Today I had to take Ophelia to the big city for pre-anesthesia blood work. I brought Harry and dropped him off at Jennifer and Keith's house for a few hours of play with his Norwich cousins.
When we got home, the big excitement of the day was a tornado warning! My mobile phone alerted me to the warning. Checking the weather map it looked like the storm would pass nearby. So out of an abundance of caution, I put Harry and my other dogs in their crates and put the crates in my bathroom (my only room without a window). We got heavy rain, but no tornado. It did not hurt the dogs to spend 30 minutes in their crates.
Harry. I have been told that Harry will be getting a new call name - "Bernard" - when he goes to his new home. So I will now start calling him "Bernard".
Bernard waiting for me to get out of the shower. Ophelia is on the same towel. Great-aunt Mandy is in the upper left.
The big adventure of the day was a trip to the vet to get a certificate of health. Two pictures while waiting for the vet:
The vet did not find anything wrong with him, so Bernard now has a shiny new certificate of health. And afterwards there was the game of "pass the puppy" in the front office:
I spent part of today packing Bernard's bag in preparation for his trip to his new home tomorrow.
Two pictures of Bernard:
On the last night a puppy spends with me, he or she gets to sleep in my bed with my big dogs. Actually Bernard has slept the last two nights in bed with us.
Morning picture. Again Bernard has not eaten his blueberry. Bernard playing with a favorite toy on the donut bed.
After breakfast, I loaded everyone in the car and we set out to take Bernard to his new home in Philadelphia. There was an obligatory rest stop along the way. And we stopped to see a fellow Norwich breeder's puppies - Bernard is in the bottom right - and to drop off my big dogs (except Ophelia). Ophelia and I then took Bernard to his new home with Patrick and Bobbi and their daughters.
I had not made any plans for after delivering Bernard. I thought I would just get stop at a motel on the way home. But Toni and Eraz had offered a bed and there was enough time to get back to Maryland while it was still daylight. So Ophelia and I got to see Obie again.
I have heard that everyone - Bernard, Reggie, Obie, and Wilson - are all doing well. So now it is time to end this puppy diary.
