Day 25

Puppies had their first solid meal yesterday, canned puppy food.  Three of the puppies took to it right away, only the large bi black needed convincing that it was just as good as mommy's milk.  The other three jumped right in. They climbed in the dish, slid around, got food all over their paws and faces and had a great time.  And Spryte loves it because she gets to clean up whats left at the end.  She lays nearby watching them intently, hoping it is her turn soon.  As soon as they are done and I release her she gets right in there gobbling up whats left.

There is even more exploring going on now. I have a little kennel in the room with no door on it and all the puppies have wandered in and out at some point.  The puppies have also crawled onto the blow up balance disc.  It is wobbly and they pull themselves up and then often tumble off the other side.  They are learning about balance and that a little tumble is no big deal. All of them get back on again at some point during their play sessions.

Oh and the large sable girl now has teeth!  Poor Spryte. The others are very close. I can see the teeth pushing up the gums, but they haven't broken through just yet.  But it will happen any day now.

Here are pics from day 25 and a video of the puppies first meal yesterday.

mom makes a great chew toy

I luv you sister

small bi black on the wobble disc

sable girl

Day 22

I have had the puppies outside of their box several times now.  They are getting very confident and exploring the puppy room inside and out.  They climb on the dog bed, crawl under the chair, flop on the toys and grab at each other.  I even laid down on the floor with them today and had 4 puppies crawling all over me, licking my face, smelling my hair and chewing on my skin.  It was priceless!

A few of the puppies have discovered Spryte's water dish.  They stick their noses in the bowl and stick out their tongue trying to figure out what the cold stuff is.  They lapped a bit of it up too.  The large bi black got a little too confident and stuck her whole front leg in the dish, quickly pulling it back out again.  After that she figured out that just her head is supposed to go in water bowls.

Here are picks and videos from today:

sable boy

large bi black girl

Sable girl and small bi black girl

small bi black girl

large bi black girl and sable boy

sable girl

sable boy

Day 18

Puppies are now in their transitional period where eyes and ears are open.  Today we started playing music to the puppies, specifically classical music.  The many highs and lows of this genre of music help the puppies brains adjust to all different variations of sounds.  In a few days I will also begin adding a noises disc to the daily auditory stimulation.  The CD includes noises like fireworks, children playing, traffic, etc.  This will be played at a low level and increasing in intensity as the weeks progress.  I used to own a dog show noises CD too, I'll have to track that down for the puppies as well.  I'll play the CD's twice a day to give the puppies exposure to all sorts of sounds and noises that they would not normally encounter at this age.

Here are pics and a video from day 18:

Sable girl

Sable boy

small bi black girl

large bi black girl and sable girl

large bi black girl and sable girl

sable boy

large bi black girl

Video of puppies, large girls start playing with each other half way through video. Very cute :)

Day 16

Puppies are now 16 days old.  Both the bi blacks now have their eyes open.  The tiny bi black girl opened her eyes first, yesterday morning, starting with one eye and then the other followed later in the afternoon. The large bi black also opened her eyes yesterday, starting in the afternoon, also with one eye at a time. Both the sables are still in the dark.

The puppies are beginning to get more active too. The large bi black has begun to nibble on her siblings.  She will be sitting in the box and open her big mouth and grab a littermate.  Very cute, the start of play!

Here are some pictures from today.


FEED ME!!!

large bi black

small bi black and sable male

large bi black nibbling on girl

small bi black with siblings

sable male

2 weeks old!

Puppies are two weeks old today!  They are walking more and more. Now most of them can manage a few steps before falling over.  The large bi black female and sable male both really seem to have mastered walking. As soon as Spryte jumps into the box all of them start stumbling around trying to get at the food.  They are getting much more coordinated with the whole process everyday.

Spryte sleeps in the room with the puppies each night, that way she can feed them, keep them warm and she knows they are safe. But every morning between 6-7 am I am woken by a very mournful BAWHOOOOO! BAWHOOOOO!  That would be Spryte in a full out howl! Neck arched right back, head to the sky.  She is letting me know she needs to pee and she is tired of looking after puppies.  After her potty break she jumps into bed with us, takes over our pillows and goes to sleep.  Spryte thinks puppy raising is hard work and she needs her beauty sleep too.

To all the new owners reading this, I apologise now if your future puppy is a howler.  Monkey see, Monkey do!

Pics and videos at 14 days old.  Only two more days of the bio sensor program left and then onto the next phase in puppy rearing.


sable boy sleeping

sable girl sleeping

large bi black girl on the move

boy and large bi black girl sleeping

11 Days old

The past couple of days I have noticed the puppies attempting to walk.  They will try and lift their body weight up onto their front legs and drag themselves a few steps forward.  Or they will attempt to get their back legs underneath themselves and propel forward that way. It never lasts more than a few steps and then they loose their balance and fall over.  A few times today the puppies have even managed to prop themselves up on all four paws! 

It is neat to watch them learn to use their bodies.  I'm sure it will still be a while before they are actually walking, but it's fascinating watching the progression take place.

Here is a short video of the boy trying to walk.

Another video of the litter

Day 9

Wow puppies are already more than a week old!  Here are pictures and videos from Day 9.