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Week 2 - 9th November
Into the second week and we find ourselves reflecting on the first, and realised that we haven't had to do anything for the litter at the moment, Poppy is taking care of everything, it is almost as if we are waiting for 'our time' with the puppies. We just move them around a bit and have the odd cuddle here and there.
The puppies are twice as big as they were last week and they are still sleeping and feeding mostly. This week we have been allowed to handle the puppies a lot more and the mother is much less stressful when we do, she is comfortable enough to spend quite a bit of time out of the box and is spending more time with us. She does keep a check on the puppies and always returns when the puppies sound the dinner bell. Distinguishing features are appearing on all the puppies quite clearly now, so we can easily tell them apart, we have also ordered some whelping collars too which will help to identify the puppies quickly without the need to constantly pick them up.
Poppy has been bathed a couple of times now and we do keep a check on her teats regularly to make sure they are producing enough milk , ensure they are not becoming sore, and don't appear to be blocked. She is looking great, very healthy and happy and all the puppies looking very strong too. It is funny watching the tiny twitching reflex of the puppies, a couple of minutes after they have fed, this simply means they have been over stimulated by drinking too much, which has to be good.
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This weekend was viewing day and all eyes were all on Poppy to see how she would react to the visit of strangers. She had only just come to terms with us handling the puppies so when strangers are entering her house and handling them we needed to keep a close eye on her and keep her as calm as we could.
We did keep a hold of her so that people could spend enough time with her litter to make their decisions, we kept her close by and she was always in slight of puppies. She was panting with anxiety but she did not get too upset. The viewing went very well and it was a big relief to find out that everyone who visited seemed so nice and genuinely excited to make a decision on which puppy to choose.
It had turned in to quite a busy weekend as friends and family had also stopped by to meet the puppies. It was nice to hear everyone calling them by the names we had called them and taking pictures. Melody was the first puppy chosen on Saturday and Otis and Jasper followed on Sunday. We seem to be the most popular house in the village at the moment! Lola and Little Pop are still looking for homes. I wonder if we get to keep one of them. The cuter they get the easier the decision will become!.
Once everyone had left, we started to hear a few little squeals and noticed that Poppy was trying to pick the puppies up with her mouth and move them in to the back utility room, where we keep her and the puppies at night, a quieter place, easier to keep warn and somewhere where she must feel they would be out of sight out of mind. A natural occurrence for animals in the wild, that we have seen a hundred times before, but it was very unusual to see our family pet doing this, simply because we didn't expect it. Wow the natural mothering instinct had kicked in again and she was actually trying to protect her puppies from prying eyes and hands.
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Due to her reactions we have decided that from now on, over the next week or so we will leave the puppies in their own room a place where Poppy feels they will be safer. She can now come through and sit with us without having to worry about them or have one eye on the basket all times, she is much more relaxed now, can have some well deserved sleep away from her litter. When the puppies are moving around I expect she will be less concerned with keeping them all in one place, or indeed have any say in where they roam.
This morning was the first visit to the vets, as there haven't been any complications there has been no need to go before the puppies were ready to start their worming courses. It is common that most puppies are born with some form of worms in their systems and all puppies should be treated for them. Even when the mother has been treated for worms a couple of weeks before the birth, which she always should be, the puppies may still be mildly affected and it is important that they are treated as soon as possible.
It used to be thought that puppies contract the worms from their mothers, but this has been proved to not always be the case, they can also pick them up from their environment too. Luckily it is very easy and safe to protect them. This first visit was to administer the worming tablet, then again in 4 weeks, each puppy will be treated again by the vet once more before they leave. The only other time we will need to take them to visit the vet will be at eight weeks of age when they will receive their first vaccination. The puppies were weighed and they were all good a good size. Lola was 0.6kg, Melody was the heaviest at 0.7kg, Otis was 0.5 kg, Little pop was the smallest at 0.48kg and Jasper was 0.5kg.
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All the puppies have now opened there eyes, the first to do this was Little Pop at twelve days old, and the last was Lola at 13 days old. Shouts of 'quick get the camera' are now common place in our house! Can't believe another week has come and gone already. >>> week 3