Siri was bred several times by side-by-side artificial insemination to Justin ("Foxwood's Just Having A Blast At Coventry") owned by Dale Martins. Justin was the sire of a litter I had in 2021 (but with a different girl). After Siri was finished breeding, I drove up to Maryland and got her.
First on the table for an ultrasound was Siri. I have become familiar with reading an ultrasound. As soon as I saw a dark blob with something inside it, I knew that Siri was pregnant. The vet reported that he saw two possibly three puppies, plus one reabsorption site. Counting the number of puppies by ultrasound is notoriously unreliable. So all I really took away was that Siri is pregnant. Unless it is really late in a pregnancy, dogs reabsorb a fetus rather than abort it. There can be many reasons for a reabsorption; the most likely being that the fetus would not be viable.
Next Gwynie had her turn on the table. Again there was a dark blob with something inside it, meaning that Gwynie is pregnant. The vet thinks that Gwynie is carrying three, maybe four puppies. When Gwynie and Siri get close to their due date, we will have an x-ray taken which will give a more accurate count of the number of puppies (plus other information).
Gwynie's estimated due date is somewhere around 2-4 September, while Siri's estimated due date is around 6-7 September.
Also at the "T minus two weeks mark", over the next three days I worm my expectant mothers with fenbendazole.
Looking at the x-rays, my repro vets told me that Gwynie is carrying three puppies, and Siri is carrying two. Comparing the size of the pelvic opening of each girl with the size of the puppy skulls they are carrying, I was told for both Gwynie and Siri that the sizes are close. I was advised to have a cesarean section (c-section) for both girls. So that is what we will do.
Since Gwynie's due date is this weekend, the vets started "staging" Gwynie for a c-section. The vets checked out Gwynie's puppies using ultrasound and all looks good - good heartbeats and good GI motility. They took some blood from Gwynie and did a progesterone test. Towards the end of pregnancy, progesterone falls. Using the ultrasound results and progesterone number lets the vets decide when to do a c-section. Gwynie and I will now come back to NC State (a two-hour ride one-way) each morning for progesterone testing and ultrasound until the vets say "today is the day" for the c-section.
Around 3 pm - after I had sufficient time to build up a good amount of worry - I got the call that everything was fine and that I could come pick up Gwynie and the puppies. My first view of the puppies - two boys and one girl. The red tinge is from a heat lamp. Gwynie was fine - alert but not very active (understandable after surgery). I loaded Gwynie, Siri, and puppies into my car and we drove home. The puppies rode in a box with a hot water bottle to keep them warm.
I had turned the whelping nest on before I left home this morning. So the whelping nest was warm for the puppies when I put the puppies into the whelping box. The puppies quickly figured out an arrangement to keep even warmer.
After getting everyone settled and feeding Siri and Gwynie dinner, my next job was to put collars on the puppies in order to tell them apart at a glance. I use colored yarn for collars. I also needed to weigh the puppies. Here are the puppies:
The next order of business was to get the puppies nursing. Gwynie was not sure about these strange creatures that had suddently appeared. I gently lifted Gwynie's side and slide the puppies against Gwynie and towards nipples. I was happy to see that Gwynie did not resist nor did Gwynie reject the puppies. (I sometimes have ended up in wrestling matches with new mothers after a c-section when I try to get the puppies to initially nurse.) I was also happy to see that all three puppies quickly found a nipple and started sucking, and then sorted themselves out. After nursing for a bit, the puppies lost their initial wrinkly look.
Gwynie ignored the puppies for a sufficient amount time to worry me, but the puppies were busy nursing and no one was crying. Gwynie has now started to vigorously lick the puppies, indicating that she is bonding with them.
Morning picture. All during the night Gwynie and the puppies were in the upper right of the whelping box, and only this morning moved to the uppper left. The stains you see in the upper right are from Gwynie. Gwynie will have vaginal discharges for the next several weeks as a consequence of her c-section. This is normal.
In the morning I checked the puppies over and weighed them. All the sutures for their umbilical cords are healing nicely. Blue and White gained a few grams. Pink lost a few grams. It is not abnormal for a puppy to lose a little weight in the first 24 hours after birth. I also weighed Gwynie and took Gwynie's temperature, which was normal. I will be taking Gwynie's temperature for the next several days to make sure that Gwynie does not have any infection from her c-section.
I put the puppies up on the cover of my bed while I quickly changed the bedding in the whelping box. Here is everyone back in the now clean whelping box. Notice that Gwynie is panting. Gwynie has been - and will be doing - a lot of panting. Panting is how Gwynie gets rid of the heat generated from her making milk. Between licking the puppies and panting, I do not think Gwynie got much sleep last night either, and I only saw Gwynie finally lie down this morning.
Siri naturally is curious about what is in the whelping box. When Siri gets too close to the whelping box, Gwynie growls. Between Gwynie growling and me shooing Siri away, Siri has become respectful of Gwynie's space and now rarely goes near Gwynie's whelping box. Siri will soon be getting her own whelping box.
What I like to see - quiet and sleeping puppies.
Around four this afternoon, Gwynie came out of the whelping box and went outside to pee and poop. Other than when I took Gwynie out of the whelping box to weigh her and take her temperature, this was the first time Gwynie had left the puppies since we got home yesterday. I have been acting as Gwynie's butler, bringing Gwynie food and water to eat and drink in the whelping box.
This evening when I again weighed the puppies, I found that both Blue and White had continued to gain some weight, but Pink had continued to lose weight. Now every chance I get I will be putting Pink near a nipple to encourage Pink to nurse.
After being in the upper left of the whelping box all day, this evening Gwynie - and consequently the puppies - have shifted back to the upper right.
Pink's overnight weight gain made me feel better about leaving Gwynie and her puppies this morning. I had to take Siri to NC State for Siri's first c-section "staging" appointment - a blood draw to check Siri's progesterone level and an ultrasound to check the puppies. The puppies do not yet have good GI motility. Siri and I waited for the progesterone results. Not today was the verdict. We will come back tomorrow morning (and every morning) until the decision is made to do Siri's c-section.
When Siri and I got home, Gwynie came out of her whelping box to greet us, leaving her puppies in the heated whelping nest. White is using sister Pink as a pillow. White has also gotten his collar dirty.
What I like to see - puppies nursing. Notice Pink on the far left pushing with her arm against Gwynie's belly to help the milk come down into the nipple.
I spent part of the afternoon assembling Siri's whelping box. I had to move a dresser out of my bedroom in order to fit Siri's whelping box into my bedroom along with Gwynie's whelping box.
Gwynie is obviously putting the puppies on a nursing schedule (known only to her) and is leaving the puppies for short periods of time. When I took this picture, Gwynie was on the opposite side of the whelping box. Blue crawled off and I was able to get a photo of Pink using brother White as a pillow.
The puppies are starting to use the heated whelping nest, rather than just sleeping underneath mommy Gwynie. Here are Blue and White in the nest, Pink is tucked up underneath Gwynie.
At the evening weigh-in, all the puppies continued their weight gain. During the past twenty-four hours I have been ruthless about pulling both boys off nipples and shoving Pink in to get her chance to nurse. Pink is now above her birth weight.
Morning picture. The puppies were temporarily on my bed while I changed the bedding in the whelping box. White (with his new collar) and Pink are underneath Gwynie; Blue is showing off his handsome dark looks against my red blanket.
Aunt Siri in the whelping box licking Gwynie's puppies. I quickly shooed Siri out of the whelping box as Gwynie - who was on my bed - was becoming concerned.
At this morning's weigh-in, Blue became the first to join the 200-gram club. But Pink lost weight and was again back to her birth weight. I did not want to leave Pink like this while I took Siri to NC State. I reluctantly tube-fed Pink 2 ml of Esbilic, a commercial canine milk substitute. Tube-feeding is just like it sounds. It is force-feeding where you put a tube down the dog's throat and into the stomach, then inject liquid food through the tube. Tube-feeding is not without risks. A dog can aspirate some of the liquid which can cause illness, or even drown if you have the tube in the lungs rather than the stomach.
At NC State, Siri was again examined, had an ultrasound - both puppies heartbeats were good - and gave blood for a progesternone test. But again the verdict was "not today" for Siri's c-section.
When Siri and I got home, I first had to feed Siri and Gwynie lunch. I had deliberately not fed Siri breakfast in case surgery (her c-section) was today ... and Siri and the puppies she is carrying were HUNGRY! (Note the remnants of cottage cheese in the bowl in the whelping box. It is important that nursing mothers get extra calcium in their diet that they can use to make milk.)
By the time I was ready to tube-feed Pink again, I found Pink nursing. As mother's milk is superior to any of the commercial stuff, I skipped the tube-feeding. All this afternoon I have again been agressive about making sure Pink had a chance to nurse. My efforts were rewarded in that Pink's weight was nicely up at this evening's weighing.
Gwynie's puppies sleeping together.
White sleeping on his side. I like to see a puppy sleep on their side. If a puppy sleeps too much on their chest, the rib bones can grow into the wrong shape (flattened rather than round), which can later make it hard for a puppy to learn to walk.
It is interesting watching the puppies crawl. The puppies look like little seals dragging their bodies over the ice. The puppies are already efficient at moving themselves around the whelping box in search of mommy.
Siri and I again traveled to NC State for an ultrasound and progesterone blood test for Siri. The ultrasound showed that Siri's puppies have nice strong heartbeats (above 200 beats per minutes; below that the vets start to worry that puppies are "stressed"). But the progesterone result said that Siri's puppies are not sufficiently "ripe" ... so again, today is not the day for Siri's c-section. We will come back tomorrow.
The puppies crawl around and find the most interesting sleeping positions. This is the triangle position.
Blue is the first to try sleeping on his back. And later I found Blue sleeping on his side.
White and Blue - the two brothers - sleeping side by side.
Pink had a respectable weight gain today. I did not get a good picture of Pink today. Pink was either underneath mommy Gwynie ... and I did not want to disturb Pink in case she was nursing. Or I was shoving Pink into the nursing space out of which I had just pulled either Blue or White.
Unfortunately the surgery and anesthesia departments were busy, and we were asked to come back around 12:30 pm. Siri and I spent the rest of the morning visiting with nearby friends. While visiting, I noticed that Siri had gone into stage one labor. Siri was "nesting" - periods of furious "digging" plus trying to wedge herself into the safest places she could find (mostly underneath furniture).
Siri and I returned to NC State at the appointed time and I turned Siri over to be prepped for surgery - Siri's belly was shaved and an intravenous (IV) catheter inserted in a front arm. The catheter allows quick administration of drugs, in particular anesthesia drugs. I was told that it might be a while before Siri went into surgery. I want off and had lunch, spent some time in a bookstore, and returned to NC State around 3 pm ... only to be told that Siri had not yet gone into the operating room, but that the puppies were ok and not distressed. (The repro team was monitoring the puppies by periodic ultrasound exams of Siri.) So I camped out in the waiting room. I had a lot of reading material with me. But in addition to the worry about Siri and her puppies - even though I knew they were in good hands - I was now also worrying about Gwynie and her puppies. I had not expected to be leaving them alone for this length of time.
Around 7 pm, I got my first look at Siri's puppies, two healthy boys. The boy on the left is a "black and tan" - coal black except for some tan tips on the face and feet (as the puppy grows the tan will spread); the other boy is a "red". Siri was still a bit groggy from the anesthesia. We loaded up and did the two-hour drive home; the boys whimpering for almost the entire car ride. The boys were in a box with a hot water bottle, but they probably wished to be back inside Siri.
Gwynie greeted me when I got home. I needn't have worried, Gwynie had taken good care of her puppies. (Note Blue yawning and stretching.) When I later weighed Gwynie's puppies, everyone - including Pink - had very nice weight gains. Gwynie was more happy to see me than in eating dinner ... which given how much Norwich like food, says a lot!
I first brought Siri's puppies inside from the car and put them in Siri's whelping box. Gwynie jumped into Siri's whelping box and started licking the whimpering puppies. I shooed Gwynie out, and brought Siri inside and put her in with her puppies. Siri immediately started licking her puppies. Siri's puppies also seemed to know what to do; they scrambled for Siri's nipples and started sucking. I let the boys nurse for a bit before weighing them. Then I also crashed into bed for the night.
Morning picture 1. Note White stretching. White joined the 200-gram club this morning. Morning picture 2. Siri said that it is not nice to take a picture of a woman in the morning before she has a chance to brush her hair.
Pink with a paw on brother Blue.
It is time for introductions to Siri's puppies:
Both Black and Red gained a few grams overnight. You will notice that the starting weights of Siri's puppies are much higher than the starting weights of Gwynie's puppies. While there was still a chance for a free whelp, I did not want to overfeed Gwynie and Siri ... with the intention of fattening up the puppies after they were born. Once I was told that Gwynie and Siri were going to have c-sections, I wanted the puppies to get as large as possible before being born. Siri's puppies have had five full days of extra calories with which to grow before coming into the world. Right now the order of the puppies in the "weight race" is first Blue, then Black, followed by White, Red and finally Pink.
Today was a quiet day with both Gwynie and Siri's puppies hardly making a sound. I noticed that Gwynie seems to have her puppies eating in shifts - first Pink and White, later I found Blue nursing. Perhaps my attempts to "help" Pink by encouraging her to nurse are messing up Gwynie's scheduling plans. For now, I will take a hands-off approach ... as long as Pink keeps gaining weight.
Black with his head on mommy Siri's paw. And a picture of Pink. Notice Pink's clear-colored nails. (Actually they are "claws". Nails are flat while claws are round, but we traditionally call a dog's claws "nails".) All the puppies have clear nails which will darken over the next week or so and turn black.
All the puppies had nice weight gains this evening. Pink joined the 200-gram club, passed Red in the weight race, and has even caught up to White. (Although I suspect this may be just temporary, as large weight gains are often followed by a lull.) I was most happy to see that Black and Red had gained some weight, indicating that they had been nursing. It is important that puppies nurse in the first 12 to 24 hours of life. During this short window of opportunity, a puppy's intestines will allow large molecules - such as maternal antibodies - to pass into a puppy's bloodstream. These maternal antibodies will protect a puppy for several weeks. Getting these antibodies is so important that NC State tube-feeds puppies born by c-section serum from a donor dog right after the puppies are born. Both Gwynie and Siri's puppies were given serum at NC State.
Gwynie's puppies are one-week old today and weigh as follows:
Blue has joined the 300-gram club, and Red the 200-gram club. As I predicted, Pink had a lull so White has nosed in front of her.
Now that the puppies are one-week old, I am no longer taking Gwynie's temperature each morning. Gwynie's c-section incision is healing nicely.
When I temporarily put puppies up on my bed while I change the bedding in a whelping box, their mother get up on my bed to check on the puppies. Gwynie let her puppies nurse.
Blue and Pink napping on top of White.
Gwynie is spending less time in the whelping box. But Gywnie is usually not far away from her puppies.
Almost always I see Siri's puppies tucked up underneath Siri. Gwynie did the same thing with her puppies when they were first born. I finally was able to get a photo of Red showing off his collar.
When I was weighing puppies this morning, I noticed that Gwynie's puppy Blue had his mouth open. Later as I was checking on everyone, my heart sank as I saw Blue gasping for air with deep compressions of his chest muscles. Here is a short video in mov format of what I was seeing. I had seen this before in puppies. The signs indicated to me that Blue had "puppy lung development disease" - a fatal condition. The lungs of puppies (and newborn babies) continue to develop after birth. But sometimes things go wrong with this development. The term "puppy lung development disease" is what breeders call this condition. Pathologists can see abnormalities in the lung tissue during an autopsy. It is thought that there is a genetic cause, and we know that it happens in other breeds besides Norwich Terriers. But Norwich Terriers seems to have a higher incidence than other breeds. There was a DNA study of Norwich with puppy lung development disease a couple of years ago (to which I contributed DNA samples), but nothing conclusive seems to have come from the study. In the past I have tried putting an affected puppy in an incubator with an oxygen concentrator, but the treatment had no effect; the puppy died.
When Blue started crying both Gwynie and Siri got in Gwynie's whelping box to comfort the puppy. I shooed Siri out before Gwynie could get upset, and then let Gwynie say goodbye to Blue. I drove Blue to the emergency room of the NC State Veterinary Hospital. I considered this a "hail mary" play. If I did nothing, I felt sure Blue would die. So doing something seemed better than doing nothing. At the least we might learn something.
I left Blue at the NC State Veterinary Hospital where I understand they put Blue in an incubator with oxygen. I got a report at the end of the day that Blue seemed to be a bit more comfortable, but that they had not started any treatments yet.
On my way home I stopped at my petsitter and picked up my other dogs. This had been what I had planned for today. When we got home there was much greeting by Gwynie and Siri, and warning - mostly by Siri - for everyone to stay away from Siri's whelping box and puppies.
Black joined the 300-gram club today. Pink nosed past White in the weight race.
NC State called this morning to let me know that Blue seemed to be breathing easier, although he was still in an incubator with oxygen.
Black had colic all morning, most likely from overeating. Black's cries made me feel even worse than I already felt about Blue. It is terrible when a puppy is crying and there is little that you can do.
Around noon, NC State called to tell me that Blue's breathing seemed back to normal, and that they were going to wean him from the oxygen.
I got out my nail clippers (regular human nail clippers) and trimmed the tips of the nails of Pink and White. Their nails were getting long enough to start scratching mommy Gwynie when they nursed.
Mommy Gwynie had a unqiue way of guarding her puppies.
Around 3 pm I got a phone call from NC State saying that Blue was off oxygen, seemed to be breathing normally, and that I could come pick him up. I was a bit surprised by this. They felt that since Blue was breathing normally, he would be better off with his mother. (While they had been tube-feeding Blue, they were worried that Blue was not getting enough nurishment. They were right, when I got Blue home I found that Blue had lost 25 grams.)
So I made the drive to NC State, picked up Blue, and brought Blue home. Blue cried off and on during the drive, but was really crying when we got home. I figured that Blue was hungry. But no amount of putting Blue near a nipple of Gwynie seemed to help; Blue continued to cry. Siri was on my bed looking into Gwynie's whelping box. Siri was whinning, clearly upset by the distressed puppy. It was almost as if Siri was saying "Give him to me, I will take care of him." Having nothing to lose and knowing that Siri had lots of milk, I put Blue into Siri's whelping box with Red and Black. Gwynie was not happy, but Siri is top dog in my house and let Gwynie know that she now had Blue. To my surprise, Blue did seem to settle down and was crying less. So I left Blue with Siri for the night.
Morning picture 1 - White and Pink in an "S" sleeping pattern. Or is that the "yin-yang" formation?
Morning picture 2 - (from top to bottom) Black, Siri, and Blue. Red was tucked up underneath Siri. A little later I got a photo that included Red. Note that Black (next to Blue) just looks like a blur since he was moving.
I had an appointment today at my local vet's office for the veterinary technician to draw some blood from Gwynie and spin it down in order to get some serum for a "nomograph". (A nomograph is a titer that will tell us when to vaccinate the puppies.) Normally I have this done prior to whelping puppies; this is Gwynie's third time getting poked for serum for the nomograph. Unfortunately twice now the serum got delayed and hence ruined during transportation to the University of Wisconsin (where the nomograph is done). Hopefully the third time will be the charm. I was not sure how long we would be gone at the vet's office. In case Pink and White got hungry while Gwynie was away, I put them also in with Blue in Siri's whelping box (from top to bottom - Siri, White, Pink, Blue, Red, and Black). Siri was very happy to have all the puppies! When we got home, I found the puppies working on their choreography (from left to right - White, Blue, Black, Pink, and Red).
Until Siri moved her head to lick Black, Siri and the puppies were making a circle - but I did not reach my camera in time.
Blue was quiet during the afternoon and even nursed from Siri but only gained a little weight. Everyone else had nice weight gains. White joined the 300-gram club, pulling ahead of Pink.
Siri checking on Blue in Gwynie's whelping box.
All the puppies including Blue were quiet today. Gwynie with Pink, Blue, and White and Red and Black.
Blue had a nice weight gain today. I noticed when I picked Blue up that he opened his eyes. I hate to get my hopes up - only to have them dashed later - but it seems like Blue may survive. Perhaps the oxygen treatment at NC State was the trick. Or perhaps I was wrong with my diagnosis of puppy lung development disease ... although Blue clearly was having respiratory distress. In any case Blue seems to be doing ok now. Grow little puppy, grow!
Black joined the 400-gram club this morning. Pink joined the 300-gram club, pulling ahead of White.
Siri guarding her puppies. I am no longer bringing water to Gwynie and Siri. Both now drink from to the communal water bowl that all my dogs use. I am still bringing Gwynie and Siri food to eat in their respective whelping boxes. I suspect that they would eat in their crates in my living room if that is where I put their food bowls.
From top to bottom, White, Pink, and Blue
Pink napping on her back. And later showing off her new collar as her old collar had gotten dirty and tight.
Red and Black nursing. Notice Black's nails which will soon darken.
A little colic by Black today; he tends to overeat and then have a sore tummy. But mostly the puppies were quiet. On my frequent trips into my bedroom to check on the puppies I am always looking to see if the sleeping puppies are "twitching". Sometimes I have to stare at a puppy to see it, as a puppy can be still but all of a sudden "jerk". This twitching or jerking is normal and believed to be due to nerves growing.
Blue is still the only one of Gwynie's puppies who opens his eyes when I pick him up. When I put him back down, Blue closes his eyes again. White is starting to open his eyes, but all I see when I pick him up right now are small slits (as in "why are you bothering me").
In the weight race, the current order is Black, Blue, Red, Pink, and White. White has not gained in the last twenty-four hours which has me a bit concerned. I may put Blue back in with Siri tonight, as Siri seems to have a lot of milk.
I left Blue in Siri's whelping box today.
Here is White showing off his new collar. I also changed the collars of Red and Blue.
Now that Blue is doing well, my concern has shifted to White. White has not been gaining weight. Tonight I am putting Red, White, and Pink in Siri's whelping box, and Blue and Black in with Gwynie.
Morning picture 1
- Pink, Blue, and White. First think in the morning, I
put all the puppies back in their proper whelping boxes.
Morning picture 2
- Red and Black. Black always seems like just a black
blob when I take pictures. I was determined to get a good picture of Black
today. Here is Black's
face. Notice that as Black grows, the "tan" color
seems to be spreading. Red of course wanted
his picture taken.
Afternoon picture 1
and afternoon picture 2.
There really is not much exciting going on right now.
Everyone is quiet. Not long after I took these pictures,
I put White in with Siri where I saw him nursing.
Since Gwynie is not immediately eating her cottage cheese,
today I tried whole milk yogurt. Yogurt seems to be
more to Gwynie's liking. It is important that nursing
mothers get extra calcium. If not, a nursing mother can
get hypocalcemia (low calcium; also known as eclampsia or
milk fever) which can be fatal. If you take a nursing
bitch to the vet with any complaint, almost the first
thing the vet will do is check the dog's calcium level.
Pink opened her eyes today. All three of Gwynie's puppies have now opened
their eyes. It is time to
put things in the whelping box so that their
eyes can learn to focus.
With Gwynie's puppies now being two weeks old, it was
time to start deworming them. Each puppy got 0.1 ml of
pyrantel. The puppies will get dewormed every two weeks until
older.
Gwynie started another three-day course of deworming with
fenbendazole. Dogs (like people) often have parasitic
cysts (eggs) in their bodies (most commonly in the GI
track). These cysts are normally kept in check by the
immune system. However during pregnancy the immune system
is suppressed so as not to attack the puppies. This can
allow the cysts to "hatch" causing worms. And worms can
be passed from mother to puppies when nursing. This is
why we worm canine mothers both before and after giving
birth, plus worm the puppies.
I noticed today that Blue is starting to spend time
out
of the heated whelping nest. Blue probably is starting
to generate his own body heat, which happens around this
time in puppy development. For the first two weeks or
so of puppy development, puppies are dependent on external
sources of heat (such as their mother's body). We want the
puppies to be warm so that they can digest their food, and
also to fight off viruses. There is a canine herpes virus
- related but different from the human herpes virus - that
breeders fear as it can quickly kill an entire litter of
puppies. So I am happy to see Gwynie's puppies starting
to generate their own body heat.
White spent the day with Gwynie and his siblings. White
had a nice weight gain today. I hope it continues.
Blue seems like he is trying to catch up to Black and retake
the lead in the weight race. Red joined the 400-gram club
this evening.
Siri lodged a protest with management on the lack of coverage
of her puppies.
Pink has nosed ahead of Red in the weight race. The order right now
is Black, Blue, Pink, Red, and White.
I was looking over my notes from previous litters, and noticed a
reminder to myself to stop weighting puppies twice a day once the puppies
reach two-weeks of age. A lack of weight gain over a 12-hour period only
causes me to worry unnecessarily. A 24-hour period between weighings
is more appropriate.
I was reminded today when I saw that Black had joined the 500-gram club
that it was time to start weighing the puppies using my "big dog" scale,
rather than my puppy (postal) scale. The puppies are outgrowng the box
in which I put the puppies, plus the puppies move around so much that the
scale keeps reporting different values. My "big dog" scale averages
the weight over five seconds and returns a single number. The downside
of my "big dog" scale is that it only reports values in 5 gram increments.
Gwynie's puppies, after nursing, are active for about
10 seconds or so before falling back asleep. They try
to get up on all four feet, but mostly fall over as they
have not yet learned to coordinate their feet. The time
interval during which they are active will slowly increase.
Siri is top dog in my house, and Gwynie almost always
defers to Siri. I have noticed that Gwynie is no longer
growling at Siri if Siri gets close to Gwynie's puppies. If
Siri hears a sound from a puppy in Gwynie's whelping box,
Siri now jumps in to investigate. Gwynie just stands
aside without complaining.
This morning I had Gwynie's puppies up on
my bed while I changed the bedding in Gwynie's whelping
box. Siri got up on my bed to be with Gwynie's puppies.
White took the opportunity to nurse from Siri.
White sleeping on his
side. When Gwynie's puppies were moving around,
I was able to get a photo of
White with his head lifted.
Red. Red and Black have not
opened their eyes yet.
Red says
"I'm sleeping. Do not
bother me. Talk to the hand."
Morning picture 1
- Blue, White, and Pink doing a conga line dance.
Morning picture 2 -
Siri, Black, and Red.
Gwynie's puppies
nursing. Black lifing
his head with Red in the background. I had not yet
changed the bedding in the whelping boxes. Some of the
dirt has been tracked in by Siri and Gwynie.
Red and Black nursing.
Notice how big they have gotten!
I do not know what to call this puppy group position
- other than something to give me a heart attack as
it looks like Blue and White are dead. (There were not
dead, just sleeping.) Note the stains to the right of Pink.
I will now explain.
When puppies are born, they can not pee nor poop on
their own. Their mother has to lick a puppy's belly to get it to
pee and poop. The mother then drinks the pee and eats
the poop to keep the nesting area clean. I have been
trying to get a picture of this licking, but I have not
been successful. Now that Gwynie's puppies are older, they
are starting to pee and poop on their own. Mommy Gwynie
continues to try to keep the nesting area clean by eating
(licking up) the poop. Hence the stains to the right
of Pink. This attempt to keep the nesting area clean
will become a losing battle as the puppies get older.
Fortunately mommies Gwynie and Siri have a butler who
daily changes and washes the bedding in the whelping boxes.
Week 3
.
Siri's litter is two weeks old today. Both Black and Red have opened their eyes, and they weigh as follows:
Red joined the 500-gram club today. I wormed Black and Red, and I will be worming Siri later.
Of course, when they are sleeping - which is most of the time - Red and Black have their eyes closed.
Since their eyes are now open, I will put things in Siri's whelping box for Red and Black's eyes to focus on.
Since White is still last in the weight race, if I see Red and Black nursing I often put White in to nurse off of Siri also. Here is White next to Black. White is lying on his back to nurse. Red is on the other side of Siri. When White was finished, I put him back in Gwynie's whelping box. Gwynie is hardly upset about these transfers any more.
It is interesting noticing the difference that a few days makes in the two litters. Now when I put Gwynie's puppies up on my bed while I change the bedding in their whelping box, all three puppies become active, moving around, sniffing the different smells probably left by my other dogs. When I put Siri's puppies up on my bed, they just go back to sleep.
Siri's puppies have started to generate their own body hit and no longer spend all their time in the heated whelping nest.
I clipped the nails of all the puppies today. I believe this was the first time that I have clipped the nails of Red and Black. While doing so I discovered something interesting. Both Red and Black have rear dewclaws; while Pink, White, and Blue do not. (So now if it was dark, I could distinguish the two litters by feel.)
I believe all dogs have front dewclaws, which are analogous to human thumbs. Many Norwich breeders remove dewclaws at the same time that they dock tails. Professional groomers hate dewclaws, as dewclaws slow down grooming. I do not dock tails. On the advice of a well-known sports medicine veterinarian, Dr. Chris Zink, I do not removed front dewclaws. Chris argues that front dewclaws, which are low on the front legs, are tied into muscles that will atrophy if front dewclaws are removed, making a dog less stable and agile.
Rear dewclaws are another matter. Most dogs do not have rear dewclaws. It is thought that there was an evolutionary advantage to not having rear dewclaws. (Although a few breeds have rear dewclaws in their standards and so are bred to maintain rear dewclaws.) Thus the genetic machinery that would cause the equivalent of a human "big toe" to develop is "turned off" in the canine genome. Rear dewclaws are high up on the leg and only attached to the leg by a loose bit of skin. Thus the claw can catch on something and tear off, causing the dog pain. Rear dewclaws should be surgically removed, which is easy to do when a dog goes under anesthisia during its first dental cleaning.
So "normal" for a dog is to not have rear dewclaws. Scientifically, a rear dewclaw is called a "hind limb preaxial polydactyly". Polydactyly just means an extra digit (finger or toe). Polydactyly also occurs in other animals - including humans - and is often seen in cats. (Perhaps you have heard of Hemmingway's cats.) In dogs, a mutation in the LMBR1 gene on canine chromosome 16 can cause rear dewclaws, although other (unknown) mutations can also cause rear dewclaws. The DNA testing company that I use (Embark) reports on the mutation in the LMBR1 gene. I know that the mutation likely came from Red and Black's father. I will be interested when I Embark-test Red and Black as to whether they carry the LMBR1 mutation. (If not, that would be really interesting!) The research that discovered the LMBR1 mutation was done in 2008, and I have not found any more recent research on canine polydactyly. (Google Scholar is my friend.)
Both Gwynie and Siri have become used to my picking up
the puppies. They no longer seemed concerned that I
will drop one of their puppies - (humans are so clumsy)
- but they do watch me carefully. To distract Gwynie and Siri
while I weigh their puppies in the morning, I give them
their morning dose of calcium (cottage cheese for Siri,
plain whole-milk yogurt for Gwynie). Blue decided to
check what mommy Gywnie
was eating. Blue got yogurt on his face and head.
Mommy Gwynie later licked the yogurt off of Blue.
Gwynie's puppies are three-weeks old today, and weigh as follows:
Blue joined the 600-gram club today, and Pink joined the 500-gram club.
Now that Gwynie's puppies are three-weeks old, my pessimism
turns to cautious optimism that Gwynie's puppies will
survive. Although, I am still concerned about White;
I wish he would gain more weight.
Up until now I have been calling Gwynie's puppies by
the color of their collars. This is partially psychic
protection for me in case a puppy dies. But now that
Gwynie's puppies are three weeks old and I think they will
survive, it is time to name them. Each puppy will get two
names - a formal "registered name" which will go on their
American Kennel Club (AKC) paperwork, and an informal "call
name". Call names - being informal - often get changed,
especially by new owners when a puppy goes to a new home.
My naming convention for a litter is to pick a Shakespeare
play and use names associated with that play - character
names, or actor names from a particular production of
the play (or spin-off of the play). Often the play
that I choose is something that I have recently seen,
or even something that recently reminded me of the play.
For Gwynie's litter, I was recently watching the HBO series
"The Newsroom", one of whose episodes is called "First
thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers". This line
is from Henry VI Part 2, so that became the play for
Gwynie's litter. All this past week I have been trying out
various formal and informal names. I like call names that
are two-syllable, as they are easy to say. So without
any further ado, here are the registered name and (in
parentheses) call name for each of Gwynie's puppies.
From now on I will refer to Gwynie's puppies by their call names.
Afternoon picture 1.
It was a quiet rainy day here, so I did not seem much
activity. I did see Maggie very briefly up on all four
legs before toppling over. Later I saw Maggie interacting
with the toy in Gwynie's whelping box - pushing the toy
with her head and also trying to bite the toy.
Afternoon picture 2.
Black is sleeping next to mommy Siri. Red has his paw
up in front of his face as if to say "No pictures now.
I am sleeping." ... or perhaps to block the flash from
my camera.
I believe the ear canals of Gwynie's puppies opened last night
and Maggie, JC, and Ricky can now hear. In the morning,
my oldest - Mandy - barks furiously telling me to hurry
up, get out of bed, and feed her. I have been watching
Gwynie's puppies in the morning, and today I noticed that
they all raised their heads when Mandy was barking, as if
to say "What is that strange noise?".
I had trouble this morning getting JC's weight.
JC kept getting up on his front legs, which made him
slide backwards on my scale and fall off the edge of
the scale. When I finally was able to get JC's weight,
I realized why he did not want me to see his weight.
JC lost weight in the last twenty-four hours,
and was no longer in the 400-gram club. If I saw Gwynie
or Siri nursing today, I was ruthless about pulling
off the nursing puppy and shoving JC into the spot.
Here is JC with Red
and Black after nursing with Siri. And later
back with his
litter-mates.
Black and Red sleeping, glad
that the interloper, JC, was now gone.
Maggie sitting up.
All of Gwynie's puppies were trying to walk today,
even Ricky who is so heavy. They would get up on their
front feet, then get up on all four feet ... but then
either move backwards or have their rear legs slide out
from underneath them. It was like they were trying to
stand on ice. Here is JC, who was up, but then his rear feet slide out from
underneath him. Dang those rear feet! This must
have gone on for 30 seconds or so before everyone gave
up and went back to sleep.
Afternoon picture 1
- Gwynie napping with her puppies. Maggie is at the
top in the corner, Ricky is tucked up between Gwynie
and the wall, and JC is on the other side of Gwynie.
Afternoon picture 2
- Siri napping with Red and Black.
Black joined the 700-gram club today. JC, on the other
hand, had his third straight day of weight decline.
I called my local vet, but I could not get an appointment
until tomorrow for JC.
Maggie
snuggled with a toy. Later I found Maggie using brother Ricky as
a pillow.
I took this picture
in the late afternoon. Ricky is sleeping on the toy,
JC and Maggie are napping in the heated whelping nest.
Notice the stain just to the right of Ricky ... for which
there is a story.
Earlier this morning I was checking on the puppies and I
noticed that there a bit of poop where the stain later is
in Gwynie's whelping box. The poop was not solid-formed
but soft, almost diarhea but not liquid. The poop must
have been relatively new as Gwynie had not cleaned it up.
I was not sure who made the poop, but suspected either
nearby JC or Maggie, as Ricky was on the other side of the
whelping box. I quickly scooped the poop up with a tissue
(which left the stain). I took the poop to my local vet
for a fecal exam, as a parasite was on my list of suspects
as a cause of JC's weight loss. In the afternoon I got a
phone call from my vet's office - the poop I had brought in
had a large number of coccidia cysts - meaning that someone
was infected with coccidia, a single-celled protozoa.
Normally the immune system of an adult dog takes care of
coccidia ... but in puppies coccidia can be fatal. This is
most likely the cause of JC's weight loss. I went back to
my vet, got sulfadimethoxine - a sulfa-based antibiotic,
came home and immediately dosed all the puppies - both
Gwynie's and Siri's. Most likely JC got coccidia from
either Gwynie or Siri. Coccidia is species-specific,
but has very hardy cysts who can last a long time in the
environment until injested and their life-cycle begins
again in the gut. I will be taking all my dogs tomorrow
to my vet's office - JC for his appointment with my vet;
my adult dogs for fecal exams and likely more medication.
I took all the puppies - who refused to look at the
camera - and all my adult dogs to the vet today. Their
crates piled up made quite
a sight in the waiting room. Note the pad on top
of the crates. My adults were there to see a tech who
collected a fecal sample from each dog. The puppies,
especially JC, were there to see the vet. When we got
in the exam room I laid the pad out on the floor and
got the puppies out of
their crate. The puppies were evidently exhausted from
the new experience of a car ride. From top to bottom -
Maggie, Black, JC, Red, and Ricky.
The vet came in, examined JC,
and - other than the weight loss of the previous days most likely
caused by coccidia - declared JC healthy. My vet did note that the soft
spot on the top of JC's head had not closed yet. Puppies, like human
babies, have a soft spot on the top of their head until the skull
bones grow and fuse together. Most likely JC's fontanelle will close as JC gets
older. ("fontanella" meaning soft spot on the top of the head, and my
new word for the day.) This will be
something to check at future vet visits. Ricky got bored while JC was
being examined, crawled/walked back into the
crate, leaving Maggie,
Black, and Red. After my vet was finished with JC, she
was kind enough to look at everyone else:
The fecal results for all my adult dogs - including
mommies Gwynie and Siri - came back negative. My vet and I
discussed coccidia and how to proceed. The plan is to keep
the puppies on sulfadimethoxine for eight days, and also
put all the adults on sulfadimethoxine for eight days. (All
except Ophelia, who may be pregnant.) Sometimes the fecal
floation test is not sensitive enough to pick up coccidia.
I am to wash all the bedding in my house, and give my adult
dogs baths in case they have picked up coccidia cysts in
their fur. If the puppies show any signs of illness,
I am to bring the puppies back to be seen by a vet.
Other than that, bring the puppies back in approximately
three weeks for fecal tests.
Afternoon picture
1 - Ricky and Maggie using JC as a pillow.
Afternoon picture 2
- Black teaching Red how to play possum.
Morning picture 2
- Black and Red. Black joined the 800-gram club today.
I was surprised at how "dirty" the bedding was in Siri's
whelping box this morning; it reminded me of what I had
been seeing in Gwynie's whelping box. I have read that
the sulfadimethoxine that I am giving the puppies does
not actually kill the coccidia protozoa, but rather
interrupts development when the protozoa reproduce.
(This interruption in development is why sufadimethoxine
can not be given to my girl Ophelia who may be pregnant.)
After stopping development, the immune system
takes care of (kills) the adult coccidia. I hope this diarrhea
in Siri's whelping box is just flushing out dead coccidea.
Gwynie's puppies - Ricky, Maggie, and JC - are almost
walking. They get up on all fours, take a step or two, but
then fall over. They are using this form of locomotion
more and more. Siri's puppies - Red and Black - are
getting up on their front legs, but still mostly crawl to
get around.
I have observed that often when Siri and Gwynie go into my
bedroom to check on the puppies, that Siri will first peek
into her whelping box. If Siri finds everthing ok, she then
goes and peeks into Gwynie's whelping box to make sure everything
is ok there also. Only then is Gwynie allowed to check on her
puppies.
Sometimes when I pick a puppy up it will make a trilling sound, which
seems to be their way of expressing annoyance at being disturbed. If you
ever saw the original Star Trek episode "The Trouble With Tribbles", the
sound seems exactly the same as the sound of a tribble.
Afternoon picture 1 - Gwynie's
puppies nursing. It has been an overcast day today, so the flash
of my camera caused a reflection in Gwynie's eyes.
Afternoon picture 2 - Siri's puppies
nursing.
Siri's puppies are three-weeks old today and weigh as follows:
Both Red and Black seem to be hearing noises now.
Since Siri's puppies are three-weeks old, my pessimism turns
to cautious optimism that Red and Black will survive. Red
and Black have not caused me any worry; whereas each of Gwynie's
puppies has caused me worry. (And I remain concerned about JC.)
Being three-weeks old, it is time to name Siri's puppies. This
was an easy litter to name. Black is my first black-and-tan
Norwich. All my other Norwich have been some shade of red or
grizzle. So the Shakespeare play "Othello" immediately came
to mind. And the other leading male in "Othello" is the
character "Iago". And for another tie-in, Siri is named
after the Shakespearean actor Sir Ian Mckellen, whom I had
the pleasure once of seeing play Iago on stage in London.
So their registered and call names will be:
The derivation of Red's call name is Iago -> Santiago -> Sandy.
I will refer to Black and Red as Otto and Sandy from now on.
While Gwynie's puppies were on my bed while I changed the
bedding in their whelping box, I noticed that they are
now crawling around and getting too close to the edge of
my bed. So I decided that today was the day that I would
set up the puppy playpen in my living room. Here is the completed puppy playpen
next to my desk, with Gwynie inside the crate and Siri
outside checking on the workmanship.
When I moved Gwynie's puppies out to the playpen around
noontime, Maggie and JC immediately started nursing. Ricky
did a belly-flop over the wooden barrier designed to keep
puppies in, and started
exploring. However my tile floor is very slippery
for puppy feet, so Ricky could not go far and I
put him back inside the playpen. Gwynie led all
her puppies inside
the crate where they nursed. The puppies then fell asleep and stayed
inside the crate most of the afternoon.
I left Sandy and Otto in
their whelping box. Sandy and Otto are at the stage
where their attempts to walk look like slipping on ice.
When Gwynie's puppies awoke in the late afternoon, there
was a mad scramble to get
to Gwynie to nurse. After that it was time for
exploration. Both Maggie and Rickie (on the right in the photo) did
a circumnavigation
of the crate. During the journey Sandy stopped
to rest. I was able to get a photo of Sandy up on all four
feet. Aunt Izzy came
over to investigate the puppies and did a beautiful play-bow (although
I do not think the puppies appreciated it).
Here is Ricky
tasting a ball and a little later
trying to chew
his way out of "prison". Here are all of Gwynie's puppies moving
around - (from top to bottom) JC, Ricky, and Maggie.
Then it was time to nurse
again and take another nap.
Later I saw JC outside the crate crying. Siri got into
the playpen and I think let JC nurse a bit, while Gwynie
looked on.
At the end of the day, Gwynie's puppies magically flew
back to their whelping box for the night.
Morning picture 1.
I decided that today was the day to start offering Gwynie's
puppies food. Rather than get up, weight Gwynie and Siri,
then prepare breakfast for my adult dogs ... now my
routine will be to get up, weight Gwynie and Siri, weigh
Gwynie's puppies, move Gwynie's puppies to the playpen
for the day, prepare breakfast for Gwynie's puppies
and my adult dogs, and start serving - beginning with
Gwynie's puppies. JC did not gain any weight since
yesterday, but neither did Ricky. Sometimes there
are pauses in weight gain so I am not unduly worried ...
although I want to see JC gain weight. Maggie and Ricky immediately
began eating, justifying my decision to start feeding
the puppies. The food is Royal Canin Starter, a canned
food specifically for puppies just starting to eat.
JC was not interested in the food, even when I tried
to feed him by hand. Perhaps JC had recently nursed,
and was not hungry. Maggie and Ricky certainly did a respectable job with their
first meal. Mommy Gwynie - like mommies everywhere
- got to clean up.
Later Gwynie was aided by
aunt Ophelia (on right). After breakfast, Ricky, JC,
and Maggie walked around
exploring. I really should say "staggered around like
drunken sailors" rather than "walked". Getting
tired Maggie headed into
the crate for a nap. (Notice JC up on all four feet.)
Mommy Gwynie had to get
in the crate to encourage JC and Ricky to stop playing
and come inside for a nap.
Lunch was a repeat of breakfast.
As was dinner. At dinner, I tried to get JC to eat more by feeding
him from my hand. JC ate a bit more, but had an unusual reaction
to the food. JC would get some food in his mouth, but then act
as if he some food caught between his teeth. Of course, JC is too young
to have teeth yet, but JC was really working at what was in his mouth.
I do not know what to make of this reaction.
While I would like JC to eat, mommy's milk is still
probably the best thing for JC. When I have seen Gwynie
letting the puppies nurse, I have removed Ricky until JC
has his fill, then put Ricky back with Gwynie to nurse.
JC needs the calories more than Ricky who is almost
twice the weight of JC. I have also continued to put JC in with mommy Siri
when I have noticed Siri nursing her puppies.
I will be feeding the puppies four times a day - breakfast, lunch,
dinner, and before-bed.
Siri has once again filed a complaint with management about
the lack of coverage of her litter. All I can plead is
that Sandy and Otto have to do something other than sleep.
Here is Siri waking up
Otto to tell him that the milk bar is open.
Ricky joined the 800-gram club today, and Maggie joined
the 700-gram club. JC had a respective weight gain since
yesterday.
Morning picture 2 - Red and
Black.
JC again turned his nose up at the Royal Canin Starter
canned food that was offered for breakfast. As an
experiment, I poured
some Esbilac into the food bowl. Esbilac
is a commercial puppy milk formula. This JC licked, as did
his brother and sister.
While I am concerned about JC, he is gaining weight. So
I decided to go ahead with my planned trip to "Montgomery".
"Montgomery" to a terrier person means the terrier-only
(conformation) dog show held annually in early October
in eastern Pennsylvania, put on by the Montgomery County
Kennel Club. Almost always, Montgomery is the largest
gathering of Norwich Terriers in the world. I have
attended every Montgomery since 1997 (although someday
something will cause me to miss one). On the
days around "Montgomery" have grown up lots of dog events -
many terrier-specific - so it really is Montgomery-week
rather than just the one day of terrier-only conformation.
For me, I usually compete at the four days of terrier-only
agility (my favorite agility trial), attend the national Norwich
club's health seminar, banquet, and business meeting (all on different
evenings),
and then "Montgomery" on Sunday.
I will be away from the puppies for a
whole week, but I am fortunate to have two very good petsitters.
Plus now that everyone is three-weeks old, I am cautiously
optimistic that the puppies will survive.
I spent today transporting puppies to my petsitters.
First I dropped of Gwynie and her puppies with Ali and
her family:
Week 4
Week 5
Then I took Siri and her puppies to Nancy's house and helped them get settled. (You have to look carefully for Otto, who was taking advantage that the milk bar was open.)
For those of you wondering when I will start to take applications for the puppies, I plan to do so not long after I return from Montgomery. In the meantime, besides keeping me informed on weights and how everyone is doing, I have asked both Ali and Nancy to send me pictures, which I will share as time permits.
In the evening Ali sent me the following photos:
Pictures from Nancy (Siri's litter):
Otto joined the 900-gram club today.
Pictures from Nancy (Siri's litter):
Ali reports that Maggie and Ricky's baby teeth are beginning to break through their gums. I am told that the puppies have new nicknames:
Pictures from Nancy (Siri's litter):
Nancy reports that Otto and Sandy are beginning to play with toys. Both ate a bit of canned food today for the first time. Sandy joined the 800-gram club today.
Siri's litter is four-weeks old today, and Nancy reports that they weigh as follows:
Pictures from Nancy (Siri's litter):
Nancy reports that Otto joined the 1-kilogram club today.
JC joined the 600-gram club today, but is noticeably behind his
siblings.
Pictures from Nancy (Siri's litter):
Ricky joined the 1-kilogram club today.
Pictures from Nancy (Siri's litter):
Nancy tells me that Otto joined the 1100-gram club today.
Week 6
Next I went and picked up Gwynie and her litter at Ali's house.
All the puppies have grown and are up walking!
When I got home, there was much greeting of everyone. The puppies were hesitant about coming out of their crates because of all the barking.
All the puppies together in the puppy playpen. At night the puppies will continue to sleep divided by litters in their respective whelping boxes. But during the day the puppies will be all together.
For dinner, I ground up some puppy kibble and mixed it with some canned puppy food. The puppies will take communal meals four times a day.
After dinner, I put Gwynie on my bed and let JC have some private nursing time. Note that Gwynie's c-section scar has healed nicely.
Ricky was the adventurous one, exploring in the middle of my fenced yard. The puppies had outgrown their collars that they wore when I left. So today everyone got new collars. Here is Ricky modeling his new collar.
Otto and Maggie went "over the wall" - the wooden log - and explored my living room. Otto demonstrated that he could go in and out of the puppy playpen several times.
Later the puppies had their first visitors.
Visitors being exciting but exhausting, afterwards the puppies took naps. Two puppies went to sleep in the big dog crates on the opposite side of the room from the puppy playpen. Otto took a nap on the dog bed underneath my desk. Ricky and another puppy decided nurishment from mommy Siri was the thing to do.
Afterwards it was back outside for more play. Note JC and Maggie getting a drink from mommy Gwynie.
Otto wedged into what seems like an uncomfortable position for a nap.
The puppies are doing a lot of jumping and biting of each other. Some of the biting is quite harsh. But since their puppy teeth are not fully in, no one seems hurt. Here is Ricky trying to bite JC's tail.
Maggie joined the 900-gram club today, and JC joined the 700-gram club.
Morning picture - breakfast. The puppies were hungry this morning and I had to give them seconds. After breakfast, the puppies hung out on their "porch".
Ricky among the pile of toys. Later napping on a big dog bed. And even later, using the wooden block as a pillow.
Sandy investigating the baby tunnel on my porch.
I believe Maggie is the first to find the communal water bowl. (The puppies have a small water bowl in their playpen.) The water is green because of a water additive called "Healthy Mouth".
This morning Maggie was the first puppy to find her way from my living room to my bedroom. I think Maggie is going for the title of "Maggie The Explorer".
Sandy joined the 1-kilogram club today, and Otto joined the 1200-gram club.
Morning picture - breakfast. The puppies had a good appetite.
While the puppies settled down for an after-breakfast nap, I took a shower. After I finished, I went in search of where the puppies had decided to lay their heads. Sandy and Otto were easy to find, although Otto was difficult to spot (look upper left). Ricky and JC were on another dog bed in my living room. But I could not find Maggie. I finally found Maggie in my bedroom, on a dog bed underneath the ramp to my bed.
JC and Maggie planning future excavation work.
Nap time:
I finally had a chance to set up the new baby dogwalk that I purchased at Montgomery. You can see that old baby dogwalk next to it. Maggie was the first to attempt the new dogwalk:
All five puppies trying to get milk from mommy Gwynie.
Morning picture - Play
time, (from left to right) Otto, Maggie, Sandy, and Ricky.
Late I got a picture of JC
entering the tunnel.
This morning I watched as Otto, who was outside the playpen, could
not get to the water bowl which was inside the playpen. Otto clearly
wanted a drink. But no amount of biting at the playpen fence would
get him access to the water bowl. Finally Otto figured out that
if he went around to the opening of the playpen and went inside
the playpen, then he could get to the water bowl.
When awake, the puppies are either exploring ... or
jumping and wrestling with
each other. The puppies still often
sleep together. (Note Maggie on top
of JC who is on top of Otto.) But I am
noticing that more and more the puppies are going off to either sleep
alone (like Ricky did)
or in pairs on a dog bed.
I cooked some ground turkey today, which will be the
topping on my big dog's kibble for the next couple of days.
I put some of the juice on the puppies' kibble, which was a big hit.
When I see a puppy wake up, I try to take the puppy outside
to potty before a potty accident occurs. With all the
travel back and forth through my door, the puppies have
clearly figured out that there is something "magical"
about the door. Especially when the puppies have observed
the adult dogs going through the door, without my holding
the door open. Today I watched as Otto pushed open the
doggy door to let himself back inside.
Morning picture - breakfast.
I added one crushed blueberry to the breakfast menu. One of the
puppies ate the blueberry.
You can add "gatekeeper" to my list of jobs. Maggie left
my fenced yard via the open gate today. So now I have
to keep the gate closed whenever any puppy is outside in
my yard. Which means that I have to open and close the
gate to let the adult dogs in and out.
Four puppies napping together - from
near to far - Otto, Maggie, Ricky, and Sandy.
Otto and Ricky were wrestling and I was able to get some pictures
of Ricky's puppy teeth:
All five puppies have their sharp "puppy teeth" coming in.
For lunch the chef
added a small amount of cottage cheese, which the
puppies ate. I will be watching to see if the cottage
cheese agrees with the puppies' digestive systems.
Maggie, Sandy, and Ricky were all in a pile wrestling ... but by
the time I took a picture they
had separated.
Two puppies in my baby
tunnel. The camera was tilted so it only seems like
a puppy is "banking" off the side of the tunnel.
My last two litters have been singletons (just one puppy in each litter).
Watching all five puppies is like watching a three-ring circus. Two puppies
are over here, two more are over there, and one is somewhere else!
Morning picture. Two
crushed blueberries got eaten as part of breakfast.
Which ever mommy has cleanup duty gets chased around the food bowl
by the puppies. The puppies hope to
get some milk. Now that the
puppies' teeth are coming in, Gwynie and Siri are less willing
to let the puppies nurse. When a puppy comes up to nurse Gwynie and
Siri are more likely to move away (Gwynie) or growl at the puppy (Siri).
So far both mothers are letting the puppies nurse at night (around
2 am, I believe).
Puppies wresting
- Sandy biting Otto's tail, who is on top of Ricky.
Because JC is so small in comparison to the other puppies,
JC comes out the worse when another puppy jumps on him.
JC mostly tries to get away.
You will notice that some puppies have both ears up, some have both
ears down, and some have one ear up and one ear down. Ears will continue
to go up and down until later when they all will be up.
For dinner, the chef presented a crumbled hard boiled
egg on a bed of puppy kibble; some of the kibble
coarsely ground. All of the puppies seemed to enjoy the meal.
JC always arrives early for a meal and usually is the last to leave.
After breakfast and potty time outside, everyone settled down
for an after-breakfast nap:
Maggie, Ricky, and JC in the donut-bed.
I deliberately did not grind up the puppy kibble
today. All the puppies now seem able to chew "whole"
puppy kibble.
I obviously kept the puppies outside for longer than Ricky liked.
So Ricky went to
sleep on the new dogwalk.
The puppies always seem to scatter in different directions.
Here the puppies
are together. Note that Ricky has JC pinned and Sandy
is trying to decide whether or not to jump off the porch.
A few moments later
Ricky was trying to bite JC's tail, Otto was wrestling
with Maggie, and Sandy was wandering off.
Here are the intrepid explorers JC and Maggie off exploring the "jungle".
Later I saw Maggie - the
little dot of brown against the fence - explore further
than any of the other puppies so far.
I always like to know where my dogs are - both adults and
puppies. I spend a lot of time throughout
the day counting noses and making sure I know where everyone
is taking a nap. Today I could not find JC. After several
passes through my house, I finally found
JC sleeping behind my toilet.
Otto is the first to make it to the
top of my old dogwalk.
The white ramps are slippery. JC was trying to pull up
the pink rubber mat underneath a ramp. If you look in
the upper left near the black drain pipe, you can see
Ricky.
Morning picture Note the
water dish in the corner.
Maggie sniffy aunt Ophelia while
Otto and Sandy look on; JC and Ricky are in the background.
Sandy letting me know that it is
time to take the puppies inside.
Note Sandy's frayed collar. Besides biting at ears, the puppies bite
at each other's collar ends.
Siri's puppies are six-weeks old today, and weigh as
follows:
Otto joined the 1400-gram club today. (No, that is not green lemonade
in the background of Sandy's photo. Rather it is a mixture of Healthy
Mouth in a lemonade jug. I use the jug to refill my dogs' water bowl.)
Morning picture 1
- sleeping head to ... butt? (Maggie, Otto, and Sandy).
Morning picture 2
- JC and Ricky. Notice the size difference between JC
and Ricky. JC is definitely the runt of the two litters.
Sandy getting a drink from the
water bowl in the puppy playpen. Note the mirror in the background.
The puppies are getting used to the mirror and no longer wondering
why the puppy they see does not want to play.
Puppies always want to investigate where the hole in the cinder
block goes. But the hole does not go anywhere, the
block is there to anchor my fence. My "fence" is really
just a large number of x-pens (exersize pens) hooked
together. I can pick the fence up when I need to mow.
Today I saw Maggie reach the far corner of my fenced yard.
Otto and Maggie wrestling. Notice
Maggie's sharp puppy teeth. The puppies seem to be doing more
wrestling today.
Gunfight at the OK corral - I often
see this ... two puppies will stare at each other. Then at some point, one
puppy will "draw" and charge the other puppy, who immediately also charges.
Wrestling then ensues.
Morning picture
- Like children everywhere, the puppies will eat some food
... get distracted ... come back to eat some more food
... play some more ... etc.
I was talking on the phone and the conversation went longer than
I expected. The puppies got tired of waiting for me to call them
in to dinner, so they laid down to wait.
The puppies are learning that when I hold the door open and call
out in a high sing-song voice "Puppies, puppies", that they can
come inside. Of course, this is only if a puppy wants to come inside!
And then there are distractions along the way of coming inside plus
coming back outside if I go out to pick up a laggard. But sometimes
it works.
My day seems continuously interrupted taking puppies
inside and outside. First all the puppies have to go
outside to potty before eating. Then inside to eat.
Then immediately back outside to potty and play. When I
notice the puppies getting tired, all the puppies have
to come inside to nap. Then sometime halfway to the next
meal, the puppies will wake up and want a drink of water.
If I can catch a puppy in time and get them outside to
potty, good; otherwise I am cleaning up the pee. And with
five puppies, I sometimes (often) can not catch each puppy
in time. Then after I bring the the puppies back in, they
nap again until the next meal. Now multiply this by four meals.
No wonder I have a hard time getting other things done!
The puppies have diarrhea. The diarrhea seems to have
started last night. Maggie and JC seem the hardest
hit, but the others also have diarrhea to some degree.
I am not sure of the cause. Besides puppy kibble and
canned puppy food, I only recently fed the puppies some
hard-boiled egg the other night for the second time.
The puppies tolerated hard-boiled egg the first time with
no GI problems. Possibly the canned puppy food, being
meat-based, had something that disagreed with the puppies'
tummies. I just hope that the cause of the diarrhea is
not some nasty virus. Needless to say, I have been doing
a lot of clean up today in the (frequent) cases where I did
not get a puppy outside in time. I have only been feeding
the puppies puppy kibble today, no canned puppy food.
The puppies seem less interested in eating, but are still
active and acting normally.
Both Maggie and JC lost weight since yesterday, everyone else
gained. Ricky joined the 1400-gram club.
The diarhea seems to have subsided. It evidently was some sort of
24-hour thing. Again I only fed the puppies plain puppy kibble today.
Again there was less enthusiasm about the cuisine.
Morning picture - all five puppies.
Maggie and JC playing
with my shower curtin.
I brought the puppies some
sticks and pine cones to chew. Sticks - nature's
chew toy!
I have had
my wobble board
out for a week now and the puppies have been making the
board bang by stepping on it. They also try to bite the
board to stop it from moving. I have not seen anyone
up on the board yet with all four feet. When I hear a
puppy playing with the wobble board, I grab my camera.
But usually either the picture is blurred or the puppy
has moved off to play with something else.
Puppies (a different view):
Sandy trying to figure out the magic incantation
to get my doggy
door to open. The adult dogs go through it ... why
can't Sandy?
Mommy Gwynie up on
the wooden tunnel in order to get away from Ricky.
Both mommies Gwynie and Siri are only letting the puppies
nurse at night.
JC on top of Otto. Too often Otto (and
Sandy and Ricky) - because of their size advantage over JC - dominate any
wrestling with JC ... pinning JC, chasing and outrunning JC, etc. Often
I see JC just trying to get away from his bigger brother and cousins. So
it was nice to see JC on top for a change.
Otto is so stressed.
Ricky found a
new place to take a nap.
Sandy leaning that
pine cones are prickly.
I am often asked why I do not have a dishwasher.
The answer is that I have willing slaves who are
happy to use their tongues to clean any dish or pan
that I put on the floor. The adult dogs gave my wok a
good cleaning first, but Sandy and especially Otto made sure that nothing was
left. (I give any dish or pan that the dogs clean
another wash before putting it away.)
JC seems to be the first to "find his voice" ... because of
his size giving a high-pitched bark to tell the chef to
hurry up with the food.
I have to be careful now when going in or out my
outside door. Frequently a puppy will dart in or
out while the door is temporarily open.
As I live in a rural area, I have a recording of city sounds
that I leave playing for the puppies whenever I have to leave
the puppies in their playpen. The city sounds are interspersed
with soothing classical music.
Evening picture
1 - JC and Maggie in Gwynie's whelping box. Evening picture 2 - Sandy,
Otto, and Ricky in Siri's whelping box. I have continued
to put Ricky in with Siri and her puppies at night.
Gwynie and Siri are no longer providing the majority of
the calories for the puppies. So several days ago I switched Gwynie
and Siri from puppy kibble back to adult kibble, and cut the amount
back to their usual pre-breeding amount. I also cut their daily supplement
of approximately 1/4 cup of cottage cheese (for extra calcium for
milk production) dowm from two to one.
Instead of nursing the puppies in the early hours of
the morning, both Gwynie and Siri have switched to
nursing in the evening right after I feed Gwynie and Siri their
cottage cheese.
Nursing
picture 1 - Gwynie letting JC and Maggie nurse.
Nursing picture 2 -
Siri letting Ricky, Otto, and Sandy nurse. In the picture
Siri has her right rear leg lifted in order to allow the
three big boys access to Siri's nipples.
Ricky joined the 1.5 kilogram club today, Sandy joined
the 1300-gram club, and Otto joined the 1600-gram club.
Morning pictures:
Sandy napping with mommy Siri.
Upon coming home with my adult dogs from their walk,
I found two unusual things. When we left for the walk,
I had left all the puppies inside napping on various
dog beds. However upong coming home, Otto was outside
in my fenced yard. Otto must of gone out my doggy door.
The second unusual thing is that upon coming inside and
checking where the other puppies were, I finally found
Ricky up on my bed.
Ricky must have climbed the ramp that my adult dogs use
to get up on my bed. This means that I must now start
taking the ramp down when the puppy are loose. (I do not
want the puppies peeing or pooping in my bed!)
When preparing lunch today, Ricky - who was outside -
heard the kibble being poured in the puppy pan. Ricky
proceeded to push his way through my doggy door in
order to get in line for lunch.
Mommy Siri nearby while
Ricky is on top of Sandy wrestling.
All the puppies - Ricky at the top,
then Sandy, the Otto staring at JC, and Maggie bottom right.
The puppies can run and dart in front of me very quickly
now. I have to be careful to do the "puppy shuffle" -
sliding my feet along without lifting them - so as not to
step on a puppy.
When I am wearing sandles, the puppies have been investigating
my toes. This sometimes involves "tasting" my big toe ... which
is painful when a puppy bites with their sharp puppy teeth. (Yes,
I am talking about you Otto.) I have had to resort to gentle
kicks to discourage puppies from amputating one of my toes.
I think Sandy is going to win the award for most calm puppy.
When I put Sandy on my weight scale he just stands there. Everyone
else wants to get off the scale and explore my grooming table.
Maggie is the worst; I have to reposition her on the scale multiple
times before I can get her weight.
Morning pictures:
Otto now goes in and out
my doggy door with little difficulty. The other puppies
have not yet figured out my doggy door.
We are having warm weather. This afternoon rather
than leave the puppies in their playpen in the
warm inside while I went to the store, I left the puppies on my porch
in the shade where there was a breeze and it was cooler.
Two against one is fun ... if you are one of the
two.
Sandy drinking at the communal water
dish. (The water is green
because of an additive called Healthy Mouth, which is
recommended by veterinary dental specialists.)
JC's diarrhea seems to have stopped (thank goodness). The
sufadimethoxine he is getting is probably the reason.
We have an appointment with my local vet on Friday.
(Note that the puppies get bored waiting for me to take
a picture.) Otto joined the 1700-gram club today, Sandy
joined the 1400-gram club, Ricky joined the 1600-gram club,
and JC ... JC joined the 900-gram club!
I almost had a morning picture with all
five puppies together on one of dog pillows.
First everyone
was on except JC. Then JC jumped on but Ricky left.
(You can just see Ricky's foot in the lower left.)
How many puppies are in
this picture? I went through my house twice looking
for a missing puppy, before I notice that there were three
puppies here next to my dresser. (Notice the teeth marks from
previous puppies.)
Today the puppies met Mr. Dremel, which I use to grind my
dog's nails down. If you let a dog's nails grow, they will
eventually break off which can be painful. Because Norwich
have black nails (really claws), it can be difficult to
know where the blood vessel and nerve inside the nail is. If
you clip the nails too short, it can be easy to cut
into the blood vessel causing bleeding and pain. I prefer to use
a dremel and grind the nail down. Usually a dog will complain
before you can grind down to the blood vessel.
Sandy squeezed himself in
a tight spot in order to take a nap. Evidently Sandy
felt safer that way.
Otto was being a little too rough with JC, so
mommy Gwynie
came over to break up the wrestling.
JC napping in one of
the adult dog's crates. While over on the donut,
Maggie was chasing Otto away.
Later with everyone playing outside, I found that Sandy
had just plopped down
where he was for a nap.
JC is the first to get on my wobble board with all four
feet and stay on for several seconds.
Four puppies on the donut
bed. Only Maggie is missing. Sandy is on the far left, then
going clockwise it is Ricky, JC, and Otto.
Today's big adventure for the puppies was a trip to
my local vet for first puppy shots. Here are the puppies in the waiting
room. The puppies will get a succession of three DHPP
combination vaccine shots usually three weeks apart.
For the first 12 to 24 hours after a puppy is
born, a puppy's intestines still allow large molecules to
pass from the puppy's digestive system into a puppy's blood stream.
When a puppy nurses during that first day of
life, their mother's milk
contained some of their mother's antibodies. Antibodies are
large molecules. Because the intestines allow passage, these antibodies pass into a
puppy's blood stream, where they protect a
puppy. However over time, these maternal antibodies
break down and thus no longer protect a puppy.
To prime a puppy's immune system to protect
a puppy from distemper, hepatitis, parvo and parafluenza
(DHPP), puppies get these vaccine shots. (Distemper
and parvo are often deadly.) The problem is when to
give these shots. If too early, the maternal antibodies
block the effect of the shot and the puppy is unprotected
when the maternal antibodies decay. If too late, again the
puppy is unprotected. Many vets use a formula that seems
to work for most dogs like "give puppy shots at 6, 9, and
12 weeks of age". However rather than just guessing when
the maternal antibodies are no longer effective, there
is a more scientific way. Before the puppies were born,
I had blood drawn from both mommy Gwynie and mommy Siri.
The blood was spun down, and I mailed the serum from each
dog to the University of Wisconsin. Researchers analyzed
the amount of distemper and parvo antibodies in the serum,
and sent me back a report suggesting when the puppies of
each litter should get their puppy shots. Gwynie had
a bit more antibodies for distemper and parvo than Siri,
so it worked out that both litters should get their
first puppy shots about now.
However before the puppies could get their shots, they
had their weight and temperature taken. The puppies
were good and did not complain about the indignity
of having their temperature taken rectally. Then the
vet came in, examined each puppy, and gave them
their puppy shot.
Because of his being the runt of the two litters, I
especially discussed JC with my vet.
Afterwards - in what has become a tradition whenever I bring
puppies to my local vet - the front office staff wanted to
hold the puppies. So we played a fast game of "pass the
puppy":
I watched the puppies carefully for the rest of the day,
but I did not notice any of the puppies having a reaction
to their shots. (I, on the other hand, had gotten my annual
flu shot the previous day and felt achy all day.)
The puppies have gotten good about not pooping in their whelping
boxes at night, and this morning was the first day in which
I did not find any urine stains in their whelping boxes. However
after taking the puppies outside this morning, the puppies came
back inside and three of them peed and pooped in my kitchen. Ah
well, baby steps!
Gwynie's puppies are eight-weeks old today, and weigh
as follows:
Maggie joined the 1300-gram club today.
The big adventure for the puppies today was a trip
to be independently evaluated by a fellow breeder.
Liz is a long-time Cavalier-breeder whom I have known
for many years and whose opinion I respect. The puppies
would have a long car ride - two hours - to Liz's house.
So I had to time this carefully, as two hours is about
the maximum that I could expect the puppies to
be crated without having an accident. (The rule of thumb
is that a puppy can comfortably "hold it" for an hour of
crate time for every month of life, with perhaps an extra
"grace" hour at night.) So after breakfast and letting
the puppies play and potty, while the puppies were down
for their first morning nap, I took the adult dogs for
a walk. When we got back, the puppies were just waking up.
After letting the puppies potty, I put the puppies in their
crates and we drove to Liz's house, arriving around noon.
The puppies were good travellers. No one had an accident
and no one got car sick.
Liz had a pen set up in the shade, so when we arrived
I let the puppies out, introduced the puppies to Liz, and then
the exam started. First was "meet a friendly stranger".
Liz's brother was kind enough to be the "friendly stranger".
One at a time I released a puppy from approximately three
feet away from where the "friendly stranger" was crouching.
All the puppies immediately ran up to the stranger, none
showed any shyness or fear. Another test involved
Liz rolling a small ball in front of a puppy
to see if the puppy would chase the ball. All the
puppies wanted the ball.
Here is JC with the ball.
Another test involved an unfamiliar surface. Liz spread
out a plastic trash bag and we
watched the puppies
walk on the bag. (That is Maggie on the left trying
to drag the bag.) Another test involved Liz feeding a puppy
a treat, moving her hand a foot away then
feeding another treat
when the puppy came to her hand, and repeating this several
times with the puppy (to test trainability). There was the
test where Liz dropped an object to make a loud noise.
All of the puppies turned and looked where the noise
came from, none showed any fear ... Maggie even started
towards the noise.
While the puppies had
lunch, Liz and I discussed the puppies. Liz said
that all the puppies had good temperaments, none showed
any fear, all were friendly. Her feelings about each
puppy was primarily based upon the speed that each
puppy performed the various tests. As we both agreed,
there is very little scientific research showing the
predictive value of these tests; rather these tests
are part of breeder "folklore". We also agreed
that Maggie did very well on the tests, but that may
be because girls mature earlier than boys. We also
discussed JC, about whom I have concerns. I next described the
homes that I have available for the puppies, and Liz
gave me her opinion as to which puppy would do best in
each home. (Liz's opinion agreed with my own thoughts.)
Ricky started dragging
the water bowl while Liz and I talked. We then packed
up and did the long drive home, arriving in time for the
4 pm feeding of the puppies.
I am beginning to see the mothers "train" the
puppies in social manners - at least, that is my
guess as to what is happening. A mother will flip a puppy
on its back, and then play-attack the puppy. The puppy will
start screaming, which only makes the mother attack more.
I something think of this as "toughing up the puppy". Of
course with two mothers, sometimes the
mothers start
wrestling to show the puppies "how it is done".
Morning picture - The
puppies are finished with breakfast. For breakfast I have
been putting in the small bowls whole-milk plain yogurt,
which is often eaten first.
After all the travel and excitement of the past two days,
I gave the puppies an "off-day". Besides the weather was
beautiful and I wanted the puppies to enjoy the outdoors
before the cold weather that is forecast for later this
week. I noticed today that Maggie and Ricky have joined
Otto in going in and out my doggy door whenever they want.
Morning picture
- at my friend's appartment. Finally breakfast.
The puppies got to meet
a neighbor's dog. Another picture. Notice JC
biting the bar of the x-pen.
The puppies napped and
had lunch. After we pickup Izzy, we made the long car ride
home.
When we got home the puppies seemed happy to be able to run around
in the yard:
Sandy likes to nap right
next to the gate. Which means that when someone - like
aunt Gwynie - wants to come in, I have to wake Sandy up.
Everyone but JC now is using my doggy door. JC just does
not have the mass yet. The puppies push the doggy door
open by jumping up and pushing the door open with their
front feet and body weight. Their body then falls and
they are halfway in and halfway out the door. Then they
pull themselves through the door. Sometimes biting the
door is involved if the door is not cooperating.
First I picked up Siri's whelping box and stored it away
until the next time it is needed. Then I assembled five
new crates and set up the puppy condo. Here is the puppy condo, just needing
towels for "flooring" in each "apartment". (One nice
thing about the puppy condo is I get back some space in
my bedroom.) I also disassembled the puppy playpen in my
living room, replacing it with dog beds. Since the puppies
will be eating in their crates, there is little need for
the playpen ... and it can always return if needed.
It was a rainy day today, so I could not get any
outdoor shots of the puppies.
Ricky says "Where am I supposed
to sleep?"
Otto spooning with JC. Usually
I see Otto jumping on JC and holding JC down. Or Otto dragging JC by
JC's tail, since Otto masses significantly more than JC. JC is getting
better about standing up for himself. But often JC attracts additional
unwanted attention by the high squeal JC lets out when getting jumped
on.
The puppies had dinner in their crates for the first time today,
which went well. The puppies also had their before-bedtime meal
in their crates. Now that the puppies are eight-weeks old, this
fourth meal will be phased out ... except for JC.
Morning picture - breakfast.
One good thing about the puppies eating separately is that I now
can monitor how much each puppy is eating.
JC in the empty toy crate.
The puppies are not good about picking up their toys, expecting
their butler to do all the house work.
I was informed by the prospective new owners of Sandy that
they plan to call him "Jimmy". So from now on, I will refer
to "Sandy" as "Jimmy".
With the weather now having turned cool, rather than shorts
I am now wearing long pants. The puppies, having mostly given
up on trying to amputate my toes, have now turned their attention
to hanging onto my pant's legs. This makes it difficult to walk
when one has two or three puppies hanging on.
Being the first of the month and the puppies being old
enough, all the puppies got a "puppy dose" of selamectin.
Selamectin (brand name "Revoluton") is a heartworm plus
flea and tick preventative. Now it is cold enough that I
do not think the puppies will come into contact with any
mosquitos - which spread heartworm. Nor do I think the
puppies will meet any fleas or ticks. But selamectin
also kills cheyletiella mites. These mites can cause
a dog to scratch excessively ... and these mites are
zoonatic, meaning they will also cause people to itch.
(I have had the mites on me and the itch is terrible!)
Normally an adult dog's immune system keeps the mites
under control. But when the immune system is weakened -
for example during pregnancy - these mites can get out
of control. So I have used selamectin on mommy Gwynie
and mommy Siri during their pregnancies, and now on the
puppies who have immature immune systems.
I had some workmen putting some heating tape on an outside pipe
in my yard, so that the pipe does not freeze (like it did last
winter). While the workmen went to get a part, I let the dogs
out in the yard. The puppies investigated the hole that the
workmen had dug. First JC fell into the hole, and I rescued
him. Then Maggie fell into the hole and I rescued her. Otto
then fell into the hole, but
Otto was able to climb out
on his own. Ricky and Jimmy were too busy wrestling
to worry about hole.
When the workmen returned to finish, I put the puppies in an x-pen.
Ricky, Otto, and Jimmy on a dog bed.
Jimmy sleeping in the empty toy crate.
Up until now I have been letting the puppies eat as much as they
want during a meal. But an upper limit is 60 mL (1/4 cup) of puppy kibble
during a meal. Today Otto - no surprise - was the first to eat all his
kibble and clean his bowl.
I got my RSV vaccine shot yesterday, so for me today was a day
of headache, aches, and immense fatigue. The puppies refused
to take that as an excuse.
This morning, right before I was about to take a shower,
the adult dogs raised a ruckus, barking furiously.
I suspect they caught the sent of a rabbit or squirrel in
a nearby field. While letting the adult dogs out of my
fenced yard, one of the puppies (either Ricky or Jimmy,
I have forgotten) slipped out with the crowd. Often a
puppy will just go a few feet before being distracted by
something, and then I can rescue the puppy. Not this time!
The puppy tore off after the adult dogs. So there I am,
in flip-flops and my birthday suit, chasing the puppy down
my gravel driveway. Fortunately I live in a rural area,
with no neighbors in sight. And yes, the puppy was rescued.
The puppies are unhappy
that they are being left behind while I take the adult
dogs for a walk.
Lunch time. We have
assigned crating in my house. JC is top left, Maggie top
right. Otto is bottom left, Ricky in the middle, and Jimmy
bottom right.
Ricky barking and biting
at the tunnel in which Ricky could hear another puppy
running back and forth.
Mommy Siri and puppies.
Siri badly needs stripped (groomed).
In their continuing efforts to drive me to exhaustion,
one of the puppies - in this case Otto - usually
stays awake, forcing me to keep track of him or her.
Jimmy admiring himself
in the mirror.
I just bought this new baby dogwalk ... and already the puppies are
tearing it up!
After breakfast, the puppies went outside to play. Four
puppies - from left to right, Ricky, Otto, Jimmy, and Maggie -
continued to
disassemble my old baby dog walk.
JC followed mommy Gwynie
on a ramble.
Morning naps:
Puppies playing:
The prospective owners of Ricky have
informed me that they plan to call him "Porchie" after Lord
Porchester, Queen Elizabeth II's friend and racing manager.
So from now on I will refer to "Ricky" as "Porchie".
Visitors! Irene and Jim brought cousin HP ("Shaksper Harry
Percy") to visit the puppies. Technically HP is a first
cousin to Siri's litter, and a second cousin to Gwynie's
litter. Here is Otto
chasing cousin HP who is wearing a harness. (Otto's
grandmother Mandy is in the foreground.) The puppies got
lots of hugs (picture
1, picture 2),
and practice untying
shoelaces (Otto, Porchie, and Jimmy with
a shoelace in his mouth). Having visitors was
so exhausting that the puppies fell asleep (picture 1, picture 2) so Irene,
Jim, and HP left.
Puppies playing (JC is
chewing a stick.)
JC seems to have finally figured out how to use my doggy
door ... although he prefers me to hold the door for him.
Siri's puppies turned nine-weeks old today, and weigh
as follows:
Mommy Gwynie cleaning
JC's face by holding JC down and repeatedly licking
his face.
Today was forecast to be one of the last warm days for
a while. I took advantage of the weather and moved crates, toys, and dog beds out onto
my porch. I then gave the floors a good cleaning,
mopped them down with a solution of bleach, and let the
floors dry before allowing the dogs back inside. While I
have been spot cleaning when I find a potty accident,
sometimes you just have to clean the entire floor.
For a while now, when I take the puppies out to potty
at night, I just plop them down in my yard, tell them
to "do their business", watch to make sure they pee,
then go inside to get the next two puppies, and repeat.
(The puppies are now big enough that carrying two at a
time is the most I can manage.) Often the puppies when
they are done will come back inside ... otherwise I have
to go find them. The puppies are sleepy and usually head
for a dog bed. I then carry each pupy back to their crate
until the next night-time potty trip.
Jimmy squatting to pee.
Boy puppies squat to pee, and do not start lifting their
leg until puberty.
Gwynie (left) and Mandy (right)
with the puppies.
Mandy is a great-aunt to Gwynie's puppies, and grandmother
to Siri's puppies.
While I was working on the computer today, Porchie woke up
from a nap. Before I could do anything, Porchie went out
my doggy door and went into the yard to pee. I was so
proud of him! While the puppies are by no means house
trained, it is nice to see that my efforts to potty train
them are having an effect.
I have been putting various things as a topping on the
puppies's kibble. Tonight the puppies were introduced
to sardines. Each puppy got a piece of a sardine no
bigger than the tip of my pinky finger. When introducing
a new food, one should start out small so as not to
upset the GI tract.
Porchie napping next to a very
pregnant aunt Ophelia.
Gwynie's litter - JC, Maggie (on her back), and Porchie
Mass escape! I was working in another room and heard the
adult dogs barking. I was not too concerned as the adults
often bark when they hear hunting dogs in the distance.
(It is deer hunting season in the rural country were I
live, and the hunters here are allowed to use dogs to
chase deer.) The puppies were asleep in the living room
... or so I believed. When I finished and came back into
my living room, no puppies. And there were no puppies in
my yard. And then I noticed the open gate. The adults
evidently had pushed the gate open, and the puppies had
followed the adults outside my yard. Two of the puppies
were near the gate, two further away, but one I could
not see. As I gathered up puppies that I could reach,
I started calling "Puppies, puppies" in as high a voice as
I could. The missing puppy fortunately came running toward
me, coming out of some winter grass where he blended in.
From now on, that gate stays locked unless I am standing
next to it.
Mommy Siri playing with Jimmy.
The puppies are such angels ... when they are asleep:
Visitors! Karissa brought great-aunt Winnie ("Shaksper
Tamora Queen Of The Goths") to see the puppies. Here is
Karissa greeting the
puppies. Later we got a more formal photo of Karissa holding all five
puppies with Winnie on the ground. And another of
Karissa holding Winnie
and Otto.
With Karissa's help, the puppies had their first "approved"
walk outside of my fenced yard - a circumnavigation of the
outside of my
house. Only a few times did Karissa have to rescue a puppy
who was going in the wrong direction.
Porchie and Otto sharing a toy.
The big event of the day was
taking JC to my local vet
for a planned appointment. I have been concerned about
JC for some time ... his slow development and the lack
of coordination in his legs. JC's movement seems to
have gotten better with time; he walks and runs almost
as fast as his siblings. Other people who have seen
JC - including my local vet - have also remarked that
there is something not quite right with his movement.
A neuromuscular problem is suspected. I have made the
decision to keep JC until I can have JC evaluated by
a veterinary neurologist at NC State. Once I have a
diagnosis and prognosis, I can make better arrangements
for JC. But this may take several months.
Today was the first step ... a bile-acid test. A bile-acid
test evaluates the liver. A liver shunt - specifically a
portosystemic shunt - can cause slow development. Norwich
terriers are the second most common breed (after Yorkies)
for liver shunts. I always bile-acid test both parents
before a breeding - and eventually all the offspring -
but the genetics of liver shunts is unknown.
A bile-acid test involves fasting overnight,
taking some blood, feeding the dog and then two hours
later taking some more blood. The serum from the blood is
then sent off to a lab to test for the amount of bile acid
in both samples, which gives information about the condition
of the liver.
As you might imagine JC was not happy about not getting
any breakfast this morning! But JC survived and when
I got him home, JC ate a hearty lunch.
Since I knew I would be away from the house for several
hours this morning, I had to decide what to do with the
other puppies. In the past when I have had to go out, I
have set up a playpen in my living room. Today I decided
to leave the puppies loose with the freedom to use my
doggy door to go out into my yard. I figured that I could
clean up any potty mess inside ... plus I wanted to see
how well the puppies were doing in their potty training.
When JC and I got home at lunch time, I did not find any
potty accidents. (Of course, the puppies may have found
some place I have not looked.) But I will take this
as progress!
Two comments about Jimmy. First Jimmy has gotten sneaky about
joining the adult dogs when I let them out the gate of my yard.
Twice today I had to go chasing after Jimmy. The second time
Jimmy almost made it to the tree line of the neighboring forest.
Second, Jimmy often does not eat the toppings that the chef
adds to his kibble. Jimmy turns his nose up at a small helping
of tripe ... which all my other dogs love. And tonight Jimmy
did not eat the half of a hard boiled egg that was offered. Jimmy
eats the kibble, just not the topping. Jimmy, like some toddlers,
must be a "purist"! Jimmy will outgrow this phase.
The big adventure for today - at least for Otto and Jimmy -
was accompanying me to my local auto mechanic's shop, while
I got some new tires for my car. This is a family-run business,
and children and dogs are welcome in the waiting area. Plus I have
specifically been told to bring puppies. Here are pictures
of the visit:
The
puppies greeting us
as the adult dogs and I return from our daily walk.
A long-time friend, Carlynn,
has come to visit for a
few days with her Norwich Journey ("Itsy Bitsy Fellow
Traveler"). Journey is a first cousin once removed from Gwynie's
litter, and a third cousin thrice removed from Siri's litter.
My friend Carlynn's dog, Journey, being
chased by all the
puppies. Note Otto's tail.
Some pictures by Carlynn:
Carlynn "fishing" for puppies
using a pole with plush toys attached to the line. If you look closely
you can see JC biting one of the toys.
Pictures by Carlynn:
Otto and Jimmy's big adventure today was a trip to the vet.
Jimmy was examined by my
vet and got his second
puppy shot, microchip, and certificate of veterinary
inspection - informally called a "certificate of health" -
necessary for interstate travel. Otto also got his temperature taken and
his second puppy shot.
After which Otto and Jimmy got passed around among the
receptionists:
and also met some young
girls in the waiting room.
Neither Otto nor
Jimmy seemed to
be affected by their second puppy shot. Both continued
to play, eat, and nap normally.
JC likes to
take toys outside.
The puppies saying good-by
to Jimmy who is in the crate. I like to keep puppies
until they are twelve weeks old. But sometimes there are
good reasons to let a puppy go earlier to their new home.
In this case Jimmy's new owner, Sarah, has the upcoming
week off of work, and thus can spend time bonding with
Jimmy. Sarah flew from Atlanta to the Raleigh airport
to pick up Jimmy,
returning to Atlanta later in the afternoon.
So now there are only four at my house ...
The puppies got to see a tractor and a small bulldozer today.
I had some work being done on my property to improve the trails.
The puppies have figured out how to spill the water
out of my no-spill bowl. First you grab the towel
underneath the water bowl. Then you tug ... which
makes the water slosh in the bowl. Then you tug harder
and the water sloshes even more, until eventually you
get all the water out of the bowl and onto the floor.
And when I bring over a towel to mop up all the spilled water,
you stand on the towel.
Great fun ... for the puppies!
Mommy Gwynie teaching JC
some doggy manners. I saw Mommy Siri do the same to
Otto today.
Sarah sent me a picture
of Jimmy and reports that Jimmy is settling in nicely
in his new home.
While aunt Ophelia was outside going potty, Maggie
jumped into
the whelping box to investigate aunt Ophelia's puppies.
I quickly got Maggie out before Ophelia came back.
The big adventure for Porchie today was a trip to the vet.
Porchie was examined by my
vet, got his second
puppy shot, his internasal bordetella vaccine, his
microchip,
and his certificate of veterinary inspection.
And afterwards, hugs from the receptionists - picture 1 and picture 2.
When Porchie and I arrived home, we found that Maggie was
outside my fenced yard. Evidently Maggie had found a wee
crack in my fence and squeezed her way out. Fortunately
Maggie had not gone far. I blocked the suspect crack.
Porchie showed no ill effects later from his trip to the vet.
Morning picture - Otto, JC,
and Porchie are on the dog bed; Maggie did not want to stay
for the picture.
The puppies grumbled about not getting turkey on
Thanksgiving. But the chef was not feeling well,
so the puppies only got a taste of tuna fish on top of
their kibble. The puppies did not buy the argument that
because tuna begins with a "t" that it was an acceptable
subsitute for turkey.
Maggie modeling what all the fashionable female Norwich are
wearing on their heads these days.
(Actually Maggie got her head stuck in this plush toy. I had to help
Maggie get unstuck.)
Morning pictures:
Mommy Gwynie playing with Porchie.
They are wrestling over possession of a rawhide chew.
The big event of the day was Maggie and JC
going to the vet
to get their second puppy shots. And afterwards hugs
from the receptionists:
Even though I tried, I could not get everyone to
look at me at the same time.
I have seen mommy Gwynie and mommy Siri individually
go after a puppy to "teach it manners" (toughen
it up?). Today I saw both Gwynie and Siri go after the same puppy
(Maggie). Maggie is a "drama queen" who squeals like she
is being killed if an adult dog chastises her.
The big event of the day was Otto's trip to the vet to get
his certificate of veterinary inspection (informally called
a "certificate of health") prior to travelling:
Mommy Siri spent time this morning teaching her
puppy Otto. Mommy Gwynie did the same with her puppy Magie.
Then it was time for goodbyes. Forewing and Josh came
and
picked up Otto. JC
and Maggie watched their (second) cousin
drive away.
This is a good time to end this diary. Maggie will be
staying with me for breeding and agility. JC - for now -
will also be staying. Everyone who has seen JC notices
his strange gait. JC walks and runs, but the movement
of his legs is unusual. Additionally, JC seems to have
difficulty controlling his bladder and bowels. All this
points to a possible spinal problem. I have made an
appointment for JC with the NC State University veterinary
neurology department. Unfortunately the appointment is
not until March. Once I have a better understanding of
JC's prognosis, I likely will be looking for a
"special needs" home for JC.
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
