All About Dogs: January 2012

Monday, January 30, 2012

New Adventures for the Four Week Olds

The plumpty dumpties won't be plumpty dumpties for long. Today they graduated from their whelping box to a spacious indoor puppy pen (goodbye kitchen!). And now they can learn to trot and run.

Regular Reader knows a winter litter is a first for us. All of our previous litters whelped in either early fall or late spring. When we found out, however, that we could expect to welcome our first human grandchild into this world in May this year, we knew we wouldn't be having a spring litter. So it was either go for a litter when we did (resulting in our current gang) or wait another year. You know how that worked out.

The dilemmas with a winter litter are first, how to give the pups room to run and explore safely, and second, how to expose them to typical outdoor sounds while they can hear but while they haven't yet entered fear stages.

Hopefully we've figured out the first: while not a perfect solution, the pups' new indoor pen will give them room to move and explore and romp a bit, at least for now while they are this size. And it's big enough for us to later introduce steps and tunnels and other fun physical challenges for them.

The new and improved indoor pen does hog the whole kitchen though. Ai yi yi yi yi. The things we do for our canine kids, eh?! But it's only for a few weeks, and it's critical for the pups' development. We'll gladly make do.

And since the pups will have more room to exercise, they're of course going to need continual access to drinking water. Today they met the water bowl. :o)

What follows are two brief videos taken today of the little squirts first exploring their water bowl (they all figured it out) and then stretching their wings a bit romping in the new pen.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, no we didn't put in a new floor. We bought a small roll of linoleum to lay beneath the puppy pen to protect our kitchen flooring from puppy piddles and water spills. It's not pretty but it works, and we can roll it back up and store it for the next litter.

Regarding the second dilemma (exposure and acclimation to outdoor sounds): well, the pups are still getting exposure to all kinds of indoor sounds (vaccuum, blender, coffee grinder, table saw, hammering, pots and pans banging, telephones ringing, smoke detectors, TVs, radios, etc...). And I've carried them outside to hear birds and airplanes and wind chimes and big dog barks (and will continue to). People in Pennsylvania, however, don't weed-whack and mow their lawns February.

The only thing I can think of to give them at least some exposure to outdoor noises they'll eventually encounter is to find recordings of lawn mowers and chain saws and weed whackers and such on-line and then play them for the pups. I don't have a clue what else to do. Any thoughts out there anyone?

In the meantime, we'll keep at it. I'll try to get a more detailed developmental update on the blog by the end of the week. Next up? Solid food!

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Puppy Two Weeks Old

Well, the plumpty dumpties turn two weeks old over the next twelve hours. And it continues to amaze me how quickly they develop. Just look how far they've come in just fourteen days:

They've quadrupled their weights!

Master Blue, 15.5 ounces at birth, now weighs 4 lbs 1 oz.
Master Red, 16.5 ounces at birth, now weighs 4 lbs. 11 oz.
Master Green, 17 ounces at birth, now weighs 4 lbs. 6 oz.

Once only able to suckle (a natural reflex in newborns), they can now lick, yawn, and are just starting to gnaw on each other.
At first, they're only aware of their dams. Now they're beginning to discover themselves ("oh.. I have a paw and I can gnaw at it") and their littermates ("oh...he has a paw and I can chew on it").
For the first week to ten days, pups are unable to void or eliminate without their dam stimulating them. Now they're just starting (only just starting) to piddle and poo on their own. For now peeing usually happens as they pull themselves along on their tummies (and the gliding along the towel stimulates them to "go"), but occasionally, they're pooing on their own (not standing yet to do so, but eliminating all the same).
They've also begun to push themselves up onto four legs (quite wobbly, and not really standing yet, but up on all fours before toppling over).
They can move backward and forward (before they could only move in circles).
They can lift and move their heads left and right and up and down at will (before they could only "bob" their heads).
They're consciously sniffing (putting their noses down to investigate).
They can just barely sit. This usually occurs when the pups move backward. They push themselves back with their front legs and end up on their bottoms.
Heehee... they can "bark" (though it isn't a controlled vocalization yet -- more a reflex). I'm hoping to get a little bark on video -- it's too cute.
They can find the puppy pile, and enjoy piling together (part of a growing awareness of littermates)
AND they're eyes have unsealed (happened yesterday on Day 13, right on time!).

All of their eyes are blue (as they always are in newborns). They will turn brown later on as part of their normal development. They do not, however, have functional eyesight yet (that will come in time). I call them little Mr. Magoos (does anyone remember the Mr. Magoo cartoons?),

They've also experienced other adventures as preparation for their life with humans (but only a teeny bit as too much stimulation during the first 10 days to two weeks can be detrimental).

They've had their front nails trimmed twice (poor Kenya would be scratched to death otherwise)
They've had their rear claws trimmed once (just today for the first time as we wanted them to be able to "grip" or get traction with their back claws to aid in strengthening those hind legs).
They've been put on a scale regularly (twice a day for the first three days, once a day for the next week, now every couple of days as long as they look like they're thriving).
They've almost completed Early Neurological Stimulation (something the military developed to increase stamina, focus, and disease resistance in their working canines). We done the following exercises with them daily since the day after their dew-claw removal, and will do so for another 2 days (until they're 16 days old). We do each exercise for only 3-5 seconds:

tickling their toes (all four paws) with a q-tip
holding them head-up perpendicular to the ground
holding them head down
holding them on their backs in the palms of our hands (so they're fully supported)
placing them on a cold damp cloth (usually when we weigh them).

They've been people handled and snuggled daily (apart from ENS exercises).
They've had their color collars changed four times (for growth).

Here are a few photos taken today. Aren't they starting to look like puppies now???

Nursing is still our favorite activity.

But Momma Kenya is taking more breaks from us. We're quite content to sleep without her.

We stretch a lot (and we can still look like little black bears).

We can sit for a couple seconds before we topple over.

Look, we have eyes! Master Red was the first to have his eyes all the way open. But Green and Blue followed closely.

"YHmm... I think I see you over there...maybe...."

As the pups have grown and gotten more agile, Momma Kenya has changed her nursing style. She sits often to nurse them now. Later on, she will move to standing.

"Like my baby blue eyes? *wink wink* Aren't I handsome?!"

In this picture, you can see that their eyes are quite "cloudy" still. Functional eyesight will develop over the next couple of weeks.

Master Blue has blue eyes, too. :)

Puppy pile!

Big yawn!

Three heads...? The chew chain?

Master Blue: "Ooooo... Red has a paw and a tail that I can gnaw on!"

We may have made lots of progress but we're still just little squirts (still helpless and completely dependent on Kenya).

We like to snooze and snuggle together (provides warmth and security). Sometimes we sleep on our backs, sometimes on our tummies, and sometimes on our sides.

Snuggle buddies (we still sleep 90% of the time).

So, there they are! A whopping two weeks old.

And they are officially no longer neonates!

Now they begin what's called the Transitional Period (roughly 14 to 21 days). This period begins when the pups eyes open and ends when they first startle to noise (meaning their ears unseal). Much happens in this brief window of development; it lasts only one week. I'll write more on that another day.