Home is where the dog is
The puppies are starting to notice their litter mates and beginning to interact. They still sleep most of the time but during a couple of their rare “awake times” I captured a couple videos. They are starting to vocalize and play but then, just as quickly as they woke, they settle back to sleep!
We are excited to announce that Ellie and Brinkley are expecting! Ellie’s due date is March 18, 2021. Their previous litter produced calm and loving puppies in a variety of colours – red, blonde and chocolates. We expect at least 50% flat coats.
Ellie is our beautiful Cafe au Lait Standard Poodle. She is a smart, loving, gentle dog. Her favourite place to be is by my side. Ellie was a wonderful mother to her first litter of puppies. Brinkley is our handsome flat coat goldendoodle from Ruska and Tulo’s litter. He is a calm, gentle dog who is very smart and always willing to please.
The past few weeks, Ellie’s energy and appetite have decreased. Ellie is getting lots of rest as those little ones grow. Brinkley is so sweet. We have found him keeping her company on the sofa while she napped. Over the next week Ellie will begin increasing her food intake and activity level and we will continue to give her lots of attention and the best of care.
Ruska’s puppies are now 18 days old today. All their eyes are now open and over the next few day, their ears will be opening as well. The puppies continue to eat, sleep and grow. I really noticed how much they have grown……they filled the laundry basket that I put them in while I was clean out their whelping box.
The puppies continue to do what newborn puppies do best – eat, sleep, repeat. Eight of our ten puppies now have their eyes opened. I alway think they look so different when they open their eyes! They can only see light and shadows right now but with each passing day and week, their vision will continue to improve.
Our puppies are already two weeks old. We have had a great week! Watching and cuddle puppies are one of my favourite ways to pass time. Some of my grandchildren have helped me with the cuddling this week. Puppies have gained strength in their hind legs and are moving around the whelping box faster. Ruska continues to be a loving and attentive mama. They are gaining weight daily. With all that eating and sleeping they can’t help but grow.
Saturday was an exciting day ….. we saw some of the puppies eyes beginning to open. Over the next few days, all the puppies eyes will be opened. Their vision is not well developed just yet but it will improve over the coming weeks.
Ideally puppies should double their birth weight between ten to fourteen days. We have had four puppies reach this milestone with the rest of our puppies on track to double their weight by day fourteen. Ruska is doing a great job feeding her little ones!
We have a daily routine caring for our puppies. We weight each puppy daily and record their weight in the log. This helps us track each puppy’s growth. Healthy puppies should gain weight every day. At this time, we also check their collars and adjust any that have become snug. Puppies grow so fast, so it is important to check them a few times a day. Then we clean and disinfect their whelping box. Finally, we line the bottom of the whelping box with a clean “Vet Bed”, a product that resembles sheepskin. I love this man-made product because it is easy to clean and keeps the puppies dry, warm, comfortable and provides good traction. A puppy moves forward by pushing its hind legs backwards. When a newborn puppy is placed on a surface with inadequate traction, its feet can slide right out from under it and may cause the legs to extend and adduct. By providing a surface with great traction (Vet Bed) when the puppies are moving around and learning to walk helps reduce the stress on their growing joints.
The next development we look forward to is the puppies eyes opening. If you look closely at the inner corner of the puppy’s eyes, they are beginning to unseal. The opening process happens slowly over a two day period. So exciting!
Last week was a week of new life. In addition to our puppies arrival, Thursday, February 4th we welcomed our ninth grandchild into our family. Robbie,(my forth born son) and his wife Chelsea welcomed their first child, a sweet baby girl. Sadly because of restrictions, we were not able to make our usual excited trip to the hospital to meet her – so, she shall be know as our “Covid Baby” LOL Hopefully before she is too old, this pandemic will be a thing of the past.
Ruska continues to be a wonderful mama and dedicated to caring for her babies. The puppies are gaining weight daily and continue to do what healthy puppies do – Eat, Sleep, and grow!
Wow, our precious puppies are one week old today. We have had a busy week! For the first few weeks of life, a puppy cannot regulate their own body temperature. They need a warm space, their mother, and littermates to help keep them warm. This is a winter litter, and I can’t rely on the sunshine to keep my room extra warm as I do with summer litters. We have added an electric heater to our room to help keep the temperature at a warm 29 degrees C.
Ruska is a wonderful mama. For the first 3 days of the puppies lives she spent all her time in the whelping box with the them, keeping them warm, clean and making sure they nursed often. In the past, I had to encourage her to eat and drink but after this whelp, she had a good appetite and drank plenty of water from the start. For the last few days she has been spending some time away from them. She enjoyed a little exercise in the yard with our other dogs. Ruska looked so happy being able to run again, which is something she wasn’t able to do the last week or so of pregnancy. She even found a large stick in the yard to chew LOL! But as soon as she came in the house again, she ran upstairs check on her babies.
Puppies are born with their eyes and ears sealed shut; they cannot see or hear. They have to rely on “smell” and “touch” to find their mother. Puppies are born with a natural instinct to nurse but as the days pass, they have become more proficient at it. The puppies are now experts at nursing; they can smell when Ruska returns to the whelping box. They wake and make a mad dash to find her and begin their next meal.
The first two weeks of a puppies life they spend 90% of their time sleeping. Now that Ruska’s milk is in they are satisfied for a longer time in-between feedings.
When it comes to matters of the potty, puppies need their mothers help at first. For the first few weeks newborn puppies do not instinctively know how to nor do they possess the ability to eliminate themselves without their mother cleaning them. Ruska has an around the clock job feeding and keeping her babies clean.
The puppies routine today is the same as in previous days…..eat and sleep. They love to cuddle with Ruska after they have full tummies but when mama is not in the whelping box, they huddle together to keep warm.
Group Huddles
Buddy Huddles
Puppies have already changed since they were born. Their fur is already growing, they are bigger and their pigmentation is developing. Notice in this comparison photo the puppy’s nose and pads. When the puppies were born, they had those adorable pink noses. They are now darkening and will soon be black. Ruska’s puppies are growing up!
We have been busy both day and night taking care of Ruska and making sure all is going well with our tiny new arrivals. Puppies can loose up to 10% of their birth weight in the first 24 hour. I am happy to say, all of the puppies have re-gained their birthweight and more.
Ruska is an amazing mama. She is loving and protective and constantly caring for her babies. Because she has 10 puppies, she can not feed everyone at the same time; they have to feed in shifts. We give extra attention making sure all the puppies get their share of milk. I continue to be pleased at our daily weigh in ………. everyone is gaining nicely! Newborn puppies grow and develop so quickly it is no wonder that all they do is eat and sleep.
