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Quick links to pages of pictures: 3 weeks faces 4 weeks faces 5 weeks stacked 7 weeks stacked 7 weeks stacked - the same pictures but sized to see all of one gender on one screen Decided I'd better start recording these updates instead of just reporting them to whoever I happen to email with that day. Fri Jan 26 Today they're looking back at me! Usually they start opening their eyes partway, and one by one they'll start peeking out at the world. But these guys did it almost in teamwork. I got up to find one pup with eyes closed, one with them partway open, and 5 with their eyes fully opened. They're walking around fairly well now.. usually a couple steps before they fall, though turns are complicated. They seemed astonished by the influx of new sensations. What is all this light?!? They did start to explore things they saw. I waggled fingers at them and one or two cautiously came over to sniff what was moving. They are still very much babies most of the time though. Mostly they sleep or eat. But they are much more skilled at eating now. When mom goes into the whelping box they aren't quite sure how to locate her yet, but they know she's there, and there erupts a flurry of squeaking and frantic searching. In a day or two they'll focus their eyes well enough to notice that the big yellow thing is where the food comes from, and then they'll just about tackle her. :) The pigment is outstanding on these pups, and they have beautiful heads. Some of the boys look like they will be really stocky & solid. But a couple are more moderate. One girl has been smaller from the start and she is still smaller but she worms her way right in there and makes sure she gets her fair share at the milk bar. Sat Jan 27 This morning I saw the first playing! The first playing puppies do is what I call "face fighting", where they just sort of mouth each other and move their heads around. They look a little like teeny little sea lions or walruses when they do this. Older dogs will sometimes do this as well, usually while laying down. It's gentle and seems to be a very social activity for them. Well I just saw 2 episodes of face fighting. The first one I saw at least, was the little girl but I'm not sure who the other one was. It's pretty hard to recognize from a couple feet away who is who. Each pup has a marking with nail polish in a different spot and I have to check for the nail polish to figure out which is which. Someone else actually looked up to investigate Zip's jaw. still pretty far above them even when Zip is laying down. Standing they're perhaps.. 4" tall? (That's a guess, I didn't measure.) Well the activity period is over now.. it lasted perhaps 5 minutes. One pup is sniffing Zip's tail, and everyone else is asleep. Wed Jan 31 Three weeks old today! They change so fast it's amazing. Just reread the stuff I wrote only a couple days ago and they're so different now. Walking is their usual form of locomotion instead of just a few wobbly steps between crawling. They're exploring their world a little more. Not playing with toys yet but looking at them curiously. Playing a little with each other, and sometimes experimentally chewing on Zip's ear or foot. Well gumming I guess... no teeth yet but they are visible under the gums and will start coming in soon. They had a big day today. I clipped everyone's nails, took their photos, weighed and wormed them. They're pottying on their own now so it was time to add the puppy toilet to their box, and I put more towels in there so they will stay clean while they're learning to use the litterbox, and also added toys. I caught them when they were sound asleep.. puppies sleep so soundly. I'd take each one out and do a few things, and they'd wake up some but zonk right out afterward. Once they woke up and saw their box was different they were most curious to look around. Pictures are here.
Thur Feb 1 Ooops not so good today... Zip has mastitis - a hard infected breast. Poor thing! We're going to the vet this afternoon. Pups haven't eaten anything but milk til now, but they are old enough to be weaned if necessary. Since they don't have any teeth in I'd prefer not to but.. well I'll see what the vet says. Never dealt with mastitis before but that breast seems really sore. Ouch.
Tues Feb 6 Since everyone is concerned about Zip's mastitis I guess I need to update you. The vet said I caught it really early, so she'd do well. She said if you don't catch them quickly it can be pretty nasty. It never got systemic and just affected one breast. She said it was started from a scratch from a puppy. She put her on antibiotics and I continued to hot pack, massage and express her for about 48 hours. She seemed more comfortable even by the next morning, and now it doesn't seem to bother her. She LOVES her twice daily treat of cheese though! (I have been hiding her pill in a glob of cheese. She gulps it down without one thought to it's odd center. :) There is still hard swelling in the gland, sort of a knot, but it has reduced, and it won't express any more. It continues to shrink down each day. Puppies are doing well and starting to show some personality. They are acting like puppies now, though they still sleep a LOT. They sleep like they're out cold too... it's amazing sometimes what they can sleep through. They play together and mouth on mom. They've suddenly sprouted lots of teeth that weren't there just a few days ago. Some are using the litterbox, some haven't caught on yet, but they will. They are only just starting to be curious about toys. They have figured out there is a world outside the whelping box and are putting their feet up on the edge of the box to look outside for mom Won't be long before they are climbing out to track her down. When I talk to them they still look at me kind of stunned, but most of them are giving kisses now. It really stinks that it's so cold out. Usually I get my pups outside to see the world for the first time at about 4 weeks, but even if it warms up to 32 it's too cold for them at this age, and it's sure nowhere near 32! This bunch will probably be stuck inside until about 6 weeks, and lets hope it warms up for that. They have puppy food and water available now, but they aren't much interested in them yet. Mom is still the center of their universe. Oh yeah one more landmark that happened today - it was the first time I saw them nursing with Zip standing up! I never saw them fumbling at it, it seemed like BAM just all of a sudden they could all do it. They are cute cute puppies, but so far I've just looked at their faces, pigment, bone and coat. I tried standing one a couple days ago and he was just so not ready. I'll try again in a few days. I can't even start evaluating them until 7 weeks, but I like to start teaching them to stack early, so they have the hang of it when it's time. Oh yeah one more thing. Mom is taking breaks from them for longer now. They don't need to be nursing all the time and she doesn't need them pestering her with those needle teeth. Earlier when she left they just all started yelping. Puppies do that. It can be quite deafening, with all of them hollaring at once in their high little voices. Well it's annoying as heck, but I normally ignore it and they stop after a while. But they kept going on and it was just getting to be too much. So I changed my tactic and told them to knock it off. It took a little persistence. A couple of the puppies stopped right off but a couple would slow down but keep going, so I had to follow up with just a teeny tap on their chin for some of them. It WORKED. Within a minute or two they'd all quit hollaring and started to lay down for their nap. Gosh that was nice, I didn't know you could teach "quiet" this young. Lessons learned early are learned well, so I'm really excited to see how this goes. I'll keep reinforcing it over the next couple days. It really makes sense... pups in the wild do NOT hollar when their momma leaves, if they do they'd be eaten. They hunker down in the den and sleep. Somehow I had it in the back of my mind that they should know that instinctively, but when I thought about it consciously I realized that it's learned.. Momma teaches them that with some pretty strict lessons, because the lives of the whole family are at stake. So when I was stern with them, I was just acting like a mom, and they are programmed to listen. Cool.
Wed Feb 7 Four weeks old! This is about the most consistent litter I've seen in terms of development. Wow I just said they were going to start climbing out of the box soon. It does usually start at about 4 weeks. Usually one pup figures it out first, then a couple days later another, etc. This morning pups just poured out of the box like a yellow waterfall. I don't know if they all got it, but it was sure more than one. (I was too busy putting pups back in to take note of which pups. :)
Do we HAVE to take more pictures?? No he wasn't squinting because of the flash, I took them with no flash. Just caught him at the wrong moment, but it's funny.
Feb 16 - The pups' taller jail is all set up now so no more climbing out of the box until they learn to climb 2 feet. :) Their favorite activities now seem to be pooping and trying to rip each others' ears off. The later doesn't cause damage, but enough hollaring to get me there quick. I gave them a couple teal wings tonight to see what they'd do. Miss rightfoot was busy sleeping, but everyone else thought the rings were great! We had their first try at stacking. Not too bad actually. And face shots but those really didn't come out because I forgot to set the closeup setting on the camera. Blah. Here is a pictures of Miss Rightfoot and the clever use she made of the teddy bear. She was absolutely sound asleep laying completely on the teddy bear. She woke up as I was getting the camera ready, and she has a grumpy look on her face because she woke up because her siblings were all tearing around with the wing and kept bumping her while she was trying to sleep. Too bad I didn't get it while she was still sleeping, but this gives you the idea.
Feb 17 Darn near had another great sleeping puppy photo today, but the pup unfortunately moved as I was getting the camera turned on. He was sleeping upright in a corner, with his front paws on the rim of their little water bucket for balance. I've got the stacked photos from yesterday up now.
Feb 21 At 6 weeks old there was a day of nice weather, so the pups got their only visit outside. It was all melty and muddy outside, so I cleaned and hosed the patio and let them visit there. They didn't like it much, but that's the way they usually are the first time out. In spite of my precautions they still wound up muddy, so then they had their first bath. They didn't like that very much either. Other than that they're adoreable, fat and cute, and troublemakers.
Feb 24 The babies are sick. Send them good thoughts! Vomitting and diarrhea. Naturally this happens both on a weekend AND during the biggest snowstorm in years. I've been on the phone with 3 vets tonight. The final advice was to withhold food, give them water and pedialyte, and bring them in in the morning. I wasn't so sure about withholding food but only 2 would eat earlier, and the one of those that ate the best just hurled all over her brother. So withhold food it is. Not going to be much sleeping around here tonight.
They have been learning to jump, which is pretty funny to watch. Yesterday I watched one make a calculated effort to bust out of their jail (which is a 2' high x-pen augmenting their whelping box.) He got up on the litterbox, which is the highest point available, carefully sighted the top of the jail, probably 21" above him, and gave a mighty leap of about 1" up and 3" forward. Then voiced his frustration that it didn't work. They are all sleeping now, but a while ago they were playing and practicing pouncing at each other.
Feb 26 The pups were sicker again today. We had 29.5 inches of snow here in the storm, but I dug out my truck and took them to the vet. It is NOT parvovirus, which is VERY good news. It's just a matter of keeping them hydrated and seeing if we can find an antibiotic that will help. 2 of the pups are staying the night at the vet. She is trying one antibiotic on them and I am trying a different one on the other 5.
Feb 27 All pups on both antibiotics were lots better. My starter went out on my pickup yesterday so I dug out the van, and went and got the 2 that had stayed in the hospital. They are on special food, which is easier on the stomach while it recovers from being sick. One girl that stayed with me doesn't seem quite as good as the others, she doesn't want to eat though she will drink and she isn't vomiting.
Feb 28 I figured out the problem with the one girl.. she just doesn't like the food the vet wanted them eating. I managed to tempt her by mixing it with yogurt and chicken broth. (Num.. chicken yogurt! LOL) and she is looking better too. Pups are rowdy. My van had a problem too and I spent the afternoon at the mechanic spending money. I have been transitioning the pups back to their normal food.
Mar 1 Pups are eating their regular kibble, though I am mixing a little yogurt in their water to help their digestion recover. They sure like that! Dogs love yogurt. They are all fine today. We are having a lovely ice storm to followup the weekend's blizzard. Oh the good news is it's now quit icing and gone back to blizzarding. Stay warm. I have an appointment for the pups' eye exam at the vet school in St Paul, Wed Mar 7 at 3pm. I am still watching to see whether the weather will interfere with that plan, and whether I will need to delay at all because the pups were sick. But so far so good. I just saw the long range forecast and it looks promising. I would like the Twin Cities families to pick up their pups from me that day. We can meet there at the U. If you can come a little before 3 and help bring puppies in for their eye exam it would be SOO helpful, but if you aren't available that early it's ok, it will take a bit. Please let me know the time to expect you though. I will have Gideon and Zip with me as well, so you will be able to meet them. For those who I haven't already emailed, please note that carrying and nursing septuplets takes a lot out of a girl, and Zip does NOT look her best right now. Like all moms of 8 week old pups, she is skinny, saggy and bald. She will look the best ever in 2.5 months, but right now I'm sure she'd appreciate your respecting her hard work. Gideon of course only had to smile, so he looks fine. :) For Madison adopters, I think my family weekend plans might be jeopardized between the pups illness, the snow and the car repairs. I will try to meet you on the 9th but what time and where is a bit uncertain as yet. If I'm not going to Milwaukee I'll come to LaCrosse for sure, or maybe as far as Tomah, but not all the way to Madison. Or it's possible I might go to Milwaukee on Saturday the 10th.. if that happens I will meet you at Madison but on the 10th instead of the 9th. I've got stacked pictures from today up now. They're old enough now to take a first look at their conformation.
Mar 4 Thank goodness it finally quit snowing! The poor babies have only been able to be outside once. If I put them out now I'd never see them again - the snow is deeper than their momma! Just be aware that when you let them outside it will be all new to them. Keep it fun and positive. Let them explore. They will come to you for reassurance; pet or cuddle them to let them know they are safe, and then they'll go explore more. Sometimes (when there's not 2-3 feet of snow on the ground) I just sit on the ground and let them explore and come back to me as sort of the home base. My van was fixed, but it's still making the funny noise that was the problem in the first place. I don't know what is wrong with it, and am not able to make a trip until it is fixed or at least diagnosed as something not dangerous. I am going to call the mechanic Monday morning and I hope they will get it in and taken care of on the same day, especially since they fixed it once without fixing it. Unless you hear from me otherwise we are still on for Wednesday in the Twin Cities and Friday or Saturday somewhere toward Madison... but I wanted to let you know that a delay is *possible* because of the mechanical issue. Right now the long term forecast for here for Wednesday is Partly cloudy with a high near 31. A chance for snow on Tuesday and Friday. The same for the Twin Cities. The road I take to the Cities is narrow, curvy and in some places runs along a cliff over the river, so I do NOT take it in slippery conditions. I will reschedule if the driving is not safe so continue to hope for clear skies and clean roads for Wednesday. One more little glitch has occurred. The vaccines I ordered were NOT sent. I figured the snow delayed UPS but when I quit being patient and called to check, it turned out they had been processed but never shipped. I will have the vaccines Tuesday, so that is when the pups will be vaccinated. I would have preferred it to be just a little earlier, I like to allow 3-7 days before they go home for maximum immunity to develop. We will need to be sure to NOT put them on the ground at the vet school, where sick animals go. They will stay either in the van or in our arms. I always recommend being really careful about exposing pups under 20 weeks to any opportunity for parvo or other contagious diseases. This is no different. They should not be around any dog whose vaccination status you aren't certain of, until after they have had their last combo shot, after 20 weeks old. And don't take them out in places where unknown dogs potty. For example, DON'T take them to a dog park. Puppy kindergarten is great because they always make sure all the pups are vaccinated, but I would prefer you wait until they have had their second vaccination, at about 10 weeks old. Meeting your own or family dogs that you know are vaccinated is GREAT socialization. (Just be careful the other dogs like and are gentle with puppies.) Do NOT take the pup to the pet supply store and let them walk around or meet other dogs. There is no guarantee that those dogs are vaccinated or even healthy, or that the owners have a clue. I can't tell you how many times I've petted a dog in one of those places just to have the owner tell me something like, "We came to get a sensitive stomach food because he's been throwing up." This is a great place to socialize and train older dogs, but it is no place for a puppy who hasn't finished its vaccination series. The babies are well and rowdy. Eager to get out and explore the world, and their development is right on schedule to go home. The sick tummies don't seem to have delayed them a bit. Getting nicely fat again. People have asked me for directions to the vet school. They can be found here.
People have asked me what to bring when you pick up the pup. Here are my suggestions:
I have answered this a lot on emails but in case there are still questions, here is some info on what to buy, and what not to buy for your pup. The best place to buy stuff is mail order.
Ok... what did I forget? :)
Mar 6: The truck is fixed. The funny noise is gone and they have pronounced it all cured. :) In addition to ball joints it turned out the front wheel bearings were worn out. The weather forecast for tomorrow is good. The only continuing concern with the weather is a possibility of light ice rain today. If that doesn't cause road problems, we should be all "go" for tomorrow. So, for Twin Cities area adopters, meet me at the University Small Animal Clinic a little before 3. We'll fill out the forms, put drops in all the eyes, and take the dogs in to get their eyes checked. The more hands the better, to help fill out the forms and to haul pups in and out of the clinic. Please confirm that you will be there. Also send me your cell phone number if you haven't already. The vaccines haven't arrived yet but I SURE HOPE they sent them this time and they will be here yet this afternoon. Here is the health history. You will want to share this info with your vet: Pups have not been vaccinated yet. HOPEFULLY they will be vaccinated today. The vaccine I use is Duramune Max 5. They were wormed 3 times - at 3 weeks with Panacur for 2 days, at 5 weeks with Panacur for 3 days, and again just last night with Strongid. They did have roundworms on the first 2 wormings. No that's nothing horrible, it's NORMAL for puppies to have roundworms, because of the life cycle of the darn thing. I haven't seen any from this worming but they still could pass some for a day or two, if any were still left in them. So if you do see any dead roundworms in the stool, don't freak out. Your vet will do a routine fecal floatation test, probably on your 2nd visit, to check if there are any remaining parasites. There really isn't any point in doing one on your first visit because they were just wormed, but on the 2nd visit it would be a good thing to do. For their sick tummies, the pups had treatments/meds as follows - Miss Foot, Mr Hip - 2 days of erythromycin (antibiotic) 1 dose of subq fluids (for hydration.) Miss Shoulder - 2 doses of cephalexin, 1 day of erythromycin, 1 dose of subq fluids. Mr Hip - 1 dose of cephalexin, subq fluids. Mr Shoulder, Mr Tail, Miss Hip - 1 dose of cephalexin. There wasn't really a discernable difference in sickness to account for the different treatments. We tried 2 different antibiotics at once, so if one worked and one didn't, we'd know what to use for the still sick pups. Miss Shoulder had both because she seemed to be still sick the next day because she wouldn't eat. It was just because she didn't like the special food the vet prescribed. When I tried a different food she ate with vigor. The subq fluids is just supportive therapy. None of them was dehydrated enough to NEED it, but it can make it easier for them to recover. The ones who had it were more or less selected at random. All these treatments commenced Feb 26. They were eating I/D which is a special prescription food for sick tummies. They were back on their regular food 100% within 36 hours and off antibiotics within 48 hours.
DARN IT. I have been trying and trying to take a photo of their favorite sleeping position but just haven't been able to catch it. For food and water, they have little 2-quart stainless steel buckets that are clipped to the sides of their "jail". These work better than dishes because they don't (usually) :) step in them. Noone really appreciates drinking water someone has walked through. The PRIME sleeping position is to lay down with their head in a food bucket. It is SOOO funny. I have tried to snap a picture of it so many times but every time I get the camera the pups wake up and move. Well now I kept the camera RIGHT on the desk where I could reach it without even leaning forward. Just caught someone sleeping with his head in the bucket again and tried to snap a picture, but still when I moved he woke up and moved. DARN IT.
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