Main thread: Five months in the life of a breeder

[Bruce H]

12/6/05

Now we have started weighing puppies every day. As mentioned earlier, rule of thumb is double birth weight in 7 to 10 days. I'll just add the current weight in ounces to this every day.

Puppy 1, 8.1 at birth; 9.9
Puppy 2, 6.5 at birth; 7.7
Puppy 3, 7.1 at birth; 8.3
Puppy 4, 7.9 at birth; 9.6
Puppy 5, 7.0 at birth; 7.2

Wow, except puppy 5, nice big weight gains; Anna is doing great! I would like to see more weight gain on #5, but I won't complain too hard, as he did gain. If you recall, he was the one who had such a hard time getting started. So now he gets a little personalized attention: we get him on the best nipple, we make sure he nurses longer, etc. Since Star produces more milk that any girl we have ever had, we put the little guy on her for a while last night. We'll see if Anna can break the current record (which she holds) for all pups doubling birth weight in 5-1/2 days.

Anna is doing great and is such a good mom. We have to literally pull her out of her crate so that she can go outside. Once she is outside, she immediately drops, does her thing, and is back barking at the door to come in. She then races back to the bedroom door where her puppies are. We make her wait til she warms up a bit (about 5 below zero F last night), then let her back in to her puppies.

We found there are no more puppies in Anna (or Star), the ultrasound was just off a bit, so that's good news. It bothers me a little bit that the ultrasound was off by so much with Star, but I guess that's part one of the unknowns we have to deal with.

Finally got about 5 hours sleep last night, thanks to Kris (my angel wife). She was getting up every 2 to 3 hours checking moms and pups, making sure moms were drinking lots of water, making sure pups were OK, and just generally fussing over everyone. If it were not for Kris, I wouldn't be breeding these guys; no way I could do as much as she does.

 

[Bruce H]

12/6/05; evening

Weights:

Puppy 1, 8.1 at birth; 9.9, 10.4
Puppy 2, 7.9 at birth; 9.6, 10.9
Puppy 3, 6.5 at birth; 7.7, 9.1
Puppy 4, 7.1 at birth; 8.3, 9.8
Puppy 5, 7.0 at birth; 7.2, 7.8 (that's better little boy!)

My little boy, #5 is gaining much better now. In fact they are all doing real well. All that extra work for him is paying off. Keeping my fingers crossed that all continues this well. On a side note, Star's litter is doing equally as well, Not quite as much weight gain as Anna's but very close. I am a happy camper thus far.

OK, I'm sure someone will notice that some of the earlier weights have been changed. This morning I copied weight down on a scrap of paper from our weight record sheets and I must have been dreaming, don't know where a couple of those came from. I assure you these are right now. Got to be more careful when I am not sleeping as much as I should.

Finally got the x-pens set up around the crates. It's really tight in our bedroom with two litters to keep separated. The box on the right is Star's and the one on the left is Anna's. The one on the right was one I made using the bottom of a crate & a top made of scrap plywood and the one on the left was just modified with a door on top. That door on top makes access to pups and moms so much easier.

 

[Bruce H]

12/7/05

Weights:

Puppy 1, 8.1 at birth; 9.9, 10.4, 12.3
Puppy 2, 7.9 at birth; 9.6, 10.9, 12.7
Puppy 3, 6.5 at birth; 7.7, 9.1, 10.2
Puppy 4, 7.1 at birth; 8.3, 9.8, 10.9
Puppy 5, 7.0 at birth; 7.2, 7.8, 8.8

My little boy, #5 is gaining like crazy now. I am resting a lot easier. And look at the weight gains on #1 & #2; at the rate they're going, I may have to put them on a diet (just kidding)! I am very pleased with how they are progressing.

We are going to single-handedly boost Wisconsin's economy. We are feeding Anna 6 slices of cheese a day. We are making sure she gets enough calcium in her diet to prevent any chance of eclampsia (doubt I spelled that right). That's a calcium deficiency that is brought on by nursing pups. Rare, but a breeder we know once lost one of her nursing girls to this; started showing signs of distress and died about 5 hours later at the emergency vet. Besides, Anna loves the cheese; what my little girl wants, my little girl gets.

Not much else to say, just keeping busy giving Anna and pups more attention than they probably need. Can't seem to help myself!

 

[Bruce H]

12/8/05

Weights:

Puppy 1, 8.1 at birth; 9.9, 10.4, 12.3, 13.2
Puppy 2, 7.9 at birth; 9.6, 10.9, 12.7, 13.6
Puppy 3, 6.5 at birth; 7.7, 9.1, 10.2, 11.0
Puppy 4, 7.1 at birth; 8.3, 9.8, 10.9, 11.6
Puppy 5, 7.0 at birth; 7.2, 7.8, 8.8, 9.6

Puppies continue to gain weight very well. They're looking real good. Looking forward to them doubling their birth weight so I can breath a little bit easier.

For the first time this afternoon, Anna asked to come out of her crate. Up til now she has had to be literally pulled out to go outside. When she came back in, she took a detour through the kitchen where Kris was cooking dinner. She's getting back to her old self.

 

[Bruce H]

12/8/05

Weights:

Puppy 1, 8.1 at birth; 9.9, 10.4, 12.3, 13.2
Puppy 2, 7.9 at birth; 9.6, 10.9, 12.7, 13.6
Puppy 3, 6.5 at birth; 7.7, 9.1, 10.2, 11.0
Puppy 4, 7.1 at birth; 8.3, 9.8, 10.9, 11.6
Puppy 5, 7.0 at birth; 7.2, 7.8, 8.8, 9.6

Puppies continue to gain weight very well. They're looking real good. Looking forward to them doubling their birth weight so I can breath a little bit easier.

For the first time this afternoon, Anna asked to come out of her crate. Up til now she has had to be literally pulled out to go outside. When she came back in, she took a detour through the kitchen where Kris was cooking dinner. She's getting back to her old self.

 

[Bruce H]

12/9/05

Weights:

Puppy 1, 8.1 at birth; 9.9, 10.4, 12.3, 13.2, 14.5
Puppy 2, 7.9 at birth; 9.6, 10.9, 12.7, 13.6, 15.3
Puppy 3, 6.5 at birth; 7.7, 9.1, 10.2, 11.0, 12.4
Puppy 4, 7.1 at birth; 8.3, 9.8, 10.9, 11.6, 12.9
Puppy 5, 7.0 at birth; 7.2, 7.8, 8.8, 9.6, 10.5

Puppies continue to gain weight very well. I am just so happy with their progress. Looks like puppy 2 and 3 should double by tomorrow.

Once they have doubled their birth weight, the next milestone I'll be watching for is the eyes opening. That should start happening around 10 days old.

 

[Bruce H]

12/10/05

Weights:

Puppy 1, 8.1 at birth; 9.9, 10.4, 12.3, 13.2, 14.5, 17.0
Puppy 2, 7.9 at birth; 9.6, 10.9, 12.7, 13.6, 15.3, 16.0
Puppy 3, 6.5 at birth; 7.7, 9.1, 10.2, 11.0, 12.4, 13.1
Puppy 4, 7.1 at birth; 8.3, 9.8, 10.9, 11.6, 12.9, 14.3
Puppy 5, 7.0 at birth; 7.2, 7.8, 8.8, 9.6, 10.5, 11.3

Hooray! Everyone but #6 has doubled, and he should double tomorrow. So glad that milestone has passed. It's not a guarantee by any means, but it does mean that the chances of making it are now very good. I can now breath a little easier.

I saw something I have never seen before. Anna was sleeping outside her crate earlier today. One of the puppies started whining a bit, so Anna got up, went into her crate and laid down. Well, one of the puppies got stranded up near Anna's head and really started to cry, searching for a nipple. The part I have never seen before: Anna actually pushed that pup with her foot and nose down to a nipple! I have heard that the moms will do that, but that is the first time I ever saw it. Very cool.

So now I look forward to them opening their eyes. That's a milestone that's just fun and not as worrisome as the doubling weight. More pictures when they start opening their eyes.

 

[Bruce H]

12/10/05

Weights:

Puppy 1, 8.1 at birth; 9.9, 10.4, 12.3, 13.2, 14.5, 17.0, 19.2
Puppy 2, 7.9 at birth; 9.6, 10.9, 12.7, 13.6, 15.3, 16.0, 18.4
Puppy 3, 6.5 at birth; 7.7, 9.1, 10.2, 11.0, 12.4, 13.1, 14.4
Puppy 4, 7.1 at birth; 8.3, 9.8, 10.9, 11.6, 12.9, 14.3, 16.4
Puppy 5, 7.0 at birth; 7.2, 7.8, 8.8, 9.6, 10.5, 11.3, 12.4

#5 is taking his time, but gaining very well. The others are growing like weeds. We continue to leave #5 with Star because she has so much more milk. Neither Star nor Anna seem to mind. In fact, yesterday when I left the x-pen to Star's pups open while Star was outside, Anna went in and nursed Star's pups! Nice to know that if something awful happened, the pups would be adopted.

We have been spending about 5 minutes with each puppy during weigh-in's just holding and snuggling them, getting them used to human contact. I also talk to them with my mouth against their body, the theory being that they can't hear, but they may be able to recognize sound from the vibrations. At various times during the day I also enjoy just petting, scratching, tickling and (probably) just generally irritating them LOL.

When I weigh puppies, they go from their crate to the scale, then to a holding box with a heating pad, where they stay til everyone is weighed. They are getting big enough and strong enough that pretty soon I'll have to get a bigger holding box. I was watching today and they are just about to the point that they can work themselves up to the edge by themselves.

Mom and puppies continue to do great. Very pleased with these guys.

 

[Bruce H]

12/12/05

Weights:

Puppy 1, 8.1 at birth; 9.9, 10.4, 12.3, 13.2, 14.5, 17.0, 19.2, 20.5
Puppy 2, 7.9 at birth; 9.6, 10.9, 12.7, 13.6, 15.3, 16.0, 18.4, 20.5
Puppy 3, 6.5 at birth; 7.7, 9.1, 10.2, 11.0, 12.4, 13.1, 14.4, 15.6
Puppy 4, 7.1 at birth; 8.3, 9.8, 10.9, 11.6, 12.9, 14.3, 16.4, 17.6
Puppy 5, 7.0 at birth; 7.2, 7.8, 8.8, 9.6, 10.5, 11.3, 12.4, 14.5

#5 has finally doubled his birth weight with one really big gain, so all have now doubled. The first milestone has passed. Now I'll probably weigh every 2 or 3 days just to be sure everyone is still gaining.

While in his box waiting to be weighed, #5 actually managed to get up on all 4 feet and stand for a couple seconds before tipping over. Has to be a fluke; it's way too early for them to be standing on their own.

I am now watching for eyes to open. There are a couple that look like the eyes might be starting to unglue, but hard to tell. It's a little early yet, doesn't usually start until at least day 10 (this Wednesday).

Anna doesn't seem to be as good a job peeing and pooping her pups as she should. Kris had a couple crying earlier today and they looked a little fat, so she peed and pooped them. She said she thought they'd never stop. So I guess we start doing that a couple times a day just to be sure.

More pictures when eyes start to open.

 

[Bruce H]

12/14/05

Weights after 1 day skipped:

Puppy 1, 8.1 at birth; 9.9, 10.4, 12.3, 13.2, 14.5, 17.0, 19.2, 20.5, 23.6
Puppy 2, 7.9 at birth; 9.6, 10.9, 12.7, 13.6, 15.3, 16.0, 18.4, 20.5, 23.1
Puppy 3, 6.5 at birth; 7.7, 9.1, 10.2, 11.0, 12.4, 13.1, 14.4, 15.6, 17.6
Puppy 4, 7.1 at birth; 8.3, 9.8, 10.9, 11.6, 12.9, 14.3, 16.4, 17.6, 19.7
Puppy 5, 7.0 at birth; 7.2, 7.8, 8.8, 9.6, 10.5, 11.3, 12.4, 14.5, 16.6

Everyone still gaining just fine and healthy as can be. This litter (and Star's too) have been exceptionally easy. Sure wish they were all this easy.

As I mentioned last time, Anna isn't doing as good of a job as we would like to see peeing and pooping her pups. They are doing it on their own after a bit because the bedding is getting dirty, but they make a lot of noise in the process. So we are peeing and pooping them in the AM, a couple times during the day, and at night before we go to bed. Lot less noise doing this.

Other than that, everything is going great. Almost boring. Boring is good! More pictures when eyes start to open.

 

[Bruce H]

12/16/05

Puppies are 12 days old and WE HAVE EYES! They aren't completely open yet, about 50% open, but I expect they will be completely open by tomorrow morning. Right now the eyes are kind of a bluish color, completely normal. It's my understanding that they cannot see anything other than light and shadows at this age. I had to really look hard to notice the eyes opening because the fur around they eyes is black. Star's puppies eyes are also opening, in fact I noticed them first, then started looking at Anna's pups. We will be taking pictures tomorrow and posting.

Kris and I still are getting up a couple times in the middle of the night to pee a puppy that is crying; only takes about a minute, but it still means getting out of bed. Don't know why Anna isn't doing a good job this time. But if that's our biggest problem, I will be a happy camper.

Everything else continuing to go well. As stated before, boring is good!

 

[Bruce H]

12/17/05

Kris clipped nails on the puppies today. Their first nail clipping. They were really squirmy and a couple really didn't want to be on their back. All the other adult dogs were just fascinated with the puppies; took them a while before they would leave us alone and Kris could clip nails. That's Eva (above) and Dottie watching.

I posted some more pictures of Anna and Star's litters in the puppy picture area. The eyes are opening and they look so cute. The noses are also starting to get a little black on them. Puppies are starting to try to stand for a very short amount of time; mostly they just tip over.

Anna is starting to spend more time away from the puppies. She spends most of the night in the crate, but is away from them a total of maybe 2 hours every day now. A far cry from the first few days when we had to literally drag her out of the crate to go outside.

And the best thing is, Kris and I are getting some sleep!

 

[Bruce H]

Puppies are continuing to do very well. As said earlier, this has been a very easy litter.

Puppies still don't do much more than eat and sleep. They must be doing more eating than sleeping, because they are really growing. I was at my parents house for a couple days and couldn't believe I could actually see a difference in size when I got back. We have quit weighing them now, as they are doing so well. The smallest one (the one that we fussed over the first couple days) is now close to the same size as his siblings. They are also getting much better at moving around. I have a feeling it won't be much longer and they will be crawling over the board at the front of the crate. When that happens, then they graduate to a larger pen in the living room; and we get our bedroom back!

One of the fun things right now is playing with the puppies. At least once a day we take them out of the pen and play with them to get them used to a lot of human contact. Basically they can't do much, but we scratch them, tickle them, roll them around a bit, and so on. When the grandchildren come over, we also put them to "work" playing with the puppies; they love it!

 

[Bruce H]

12/22/05

They've graduated!!

The puppies were close to climbing over the board at the front of the crate, but not quite there yet. However, they are getting so big that Anna was having a hard time laying down without laying on top of them, so we decided to move them to the new pens in the living room. The pens are set up so that the wire bottom can be raised and lowered. On top of the wire is a metal pan that we cover with old towels. There is a front door that can be opened to let the moms out and the wire top is hinged so the pen can be completely secured at night. One is 36" square and the other is 48" square. They'll stay in here till they get a lot bigger, then they'll graduate one last time to an x-pen set on a piece of sheet vinyl. Now puppies can start getting used to a lot of things going on rather than the relative quiet of our bedroom.

The other dogs were just fascinated with the puppies in their new home; for about 2 minutes LOL! Now they pretty much ignore the puppies. All except Kate; she is the ultimate mom. She is standing guard outside the pen and growling at any of the dogs she thinks is getting too close. Kate is the blenheim touching noses with one of Star's puppies.

Kris has informed me that she is officially tired of doing puppy laundry. She does one large load every other day of puppy bedding. One complete cycle with soap and lots of bleach, then another cycle of no bleach or soap to be sure they are completely rinsed. I think that was a hint for me to help out a bit. A husband's job is never done. Sigh.

Below are two pictures of Anna and Stars litters in their new pens.

 

[Bruce H]

12/24/05

The puppies continue to do very well. I could not have asked for a better litter. It's so nice to have them out in the living room where we can watch them. They are moving around a lot more now. If Anna moves, it just takes a minute for them all to get up against her. They seem to follow her where ever she goes. Usually it's to nurse, but many times they just want to be next to her. I suspect it's the warmth, because when Anna is not in the pen with them, they are always mushed together in a huge puppy pile. Not very often I see one of them off by themselves.

We had a bit of an issue the first night with Anna. She was not happy about her new pen and being in the living room without us. Anna would get up about every 2 hours and whine or bark. This would get the puppies up, who would cry because they couldn't keep up with Anna moving around all the time. This would force Kris and I to get up to be sure everything was OK. Fortunately Anna is fine now and Kris and I can get some sleep.

Puppies are now starting to show signs of playing; is that ever cute! There are two in particular that will half walk and half crawl to one of the others and paw at them; even watched one lunge at another puppy 2 or 3 times. On a side note, I think one of Stars litter is going to be a trouble maker! Last night I watched one of the girls sit a few inches from the puppy pile and let out 6 to 8 tiny little barks. Cute now, but later on…………

Puppies will be 3 weeks old tomorrow. Won't be much longer and we will be starting them on a mixture of canned goats milk Esbilac and powdered Esbilac 2nd Step. We usually start this around weeks 3 to 4. Right now the 5 puppies can nurse Anna dry in less than 10 minutes. Once we start feeding them ourselves, the time we spend goes up significantly.

I will be out of town with my family tomorrow and Kris will be here at home with her family and the puppies, one of the down sides of puppies over a holiday. Kris and I, Anna and the puppies would like to wish everyone Season's Greetings. Have an enjoyable and safe holiday.

 

[Bruce H]

12/27/05

We have started the puppies on just liquid goats milk Esbilac once a day as a supplement to Anna's milk. We warm up the Esbilac to about 98 degrees F, Anna's approx. body temperature, in the microwave. It's a little hard to do because you don't want it too hot or too cold. It's heated in a measuring cup, then transferred to a very small, shallow bowl. We hold the bowl up to puppy's nose and away they go, lapping like a pro! Sometimes we have to start by dipping a finger in the bowl and letting the puppy suck on our finger (called finger feeding), but all of these puppies started lapping right away.

Right now we are only feeding them the liquid Esbilac once a day. We want to start them on other food gradually to try to avoid any issues with diarrhea or constipation. After a few days we'll add a little powdered 2nd Step to the liquid Esbilac. A few days of that and we start increasing the amount of 2nd Step and the number of meals.

This period of time feeding them is really time intensive because its one puppy at a time for maybe 5 minutes each, with time in between for re-warming the Esbilac. It will get even more time consuming when they go on 2 times a day. And I love every minute of it!!!

Here's one of the pups enjoying her meal.

 

[Bruce H]

12/30/05

Puppies are 4 weeks old this Sunday. They are really starting to get active, but only for short periods of time, on the order of 10 to 15 minutes, then back to sleep. They are exploring their pen, checking Anna for milk, and starting to play with each other. Early this evening one of them just couldn't resist the tail of her brother, so she staggered up and grabbed a mouthful of brothers tail!!! That poor little boy let out a small yip and she let go. They then proceeded to spend the next couple minutes mouthing each other. I tell you, I would watch these puppies play for hours if I could.

The puppies are now getting two meals a day. It's now liquid Esbilac, with just a small amount of powdered 2nd Step mixed in. They all like it and want to eat more and more. They're getting pretty big now and are getting to the point where it doesn't take them long to drain Anna dry. In fact, Star has a lot more milk than Anna, so we have been putting Star in with all 9 puppies once in a while. Star is a really good mom and just goes to work nursing and cleaning all 9 like they were her own.

Anna is starting to want to spend less time with her puppies. Guess I can't blame her, as the puppies teeth are starting to come in. She is in the pen with them maybe 4 to 6 hours during the day and just a couple hours in the evening. She now wants to sleep in the bedroom with us and we have let her the last two nights. In fact, Star is sleeping in the bedroom with us too. We put all the puppies together in one pen at night and close the top so Buck the cat can't get in. As sweet as Buck has been with puppies over the years, I still don't completely trust him.

Here is a picture of the puppies taken tonight together in 1 pen. Notice that there is one awake; someone must have been snoring LOL!

 

[Bruce H]

1/2/06

Happy new year to everyone from Kris and I and the "Gang". Hope everyone has a great year.

Yesterday evening we had all 9 puppies out of their pen and on a large rug on the floor. It was new to them (first time out of the pen without us holding them), so it took a bit for them to get comfortable with a new experience, but they had a ball! Just running all over the place, growling and barking at each other, chewing on each other, and so on. Hard to believe just a week ago they were just starting to walk. They did great on the rug, but if they got off the rug and on to the hardwood floor, it was all over; their feet went in 4 different directions. Not one of them was able to navigate on the hardwood.

While the puppies were out, we kept all the dogs but the 2 moms crated. Didn't want to stress out puppies too much. We will gradually start letting the adults out as the puppies get used to being out of their pen. BTW, both Anna and Star's litter are always together now, except for nursing.

Anna has just started to really blow her coat. There is hair everywhere when I hold her. If it's like last time, it will be a couple more weeks and we will be able to see her skin through her coat. This is just a very normal thing for the moms and gives you an idea of just how hard all this is on the moms; and also explains the CKCSC Code of Ethics limits on how much and how often a girl can be bred. She will have this year off, so she has time to get her coat back. I just feel so sorry for her when she looses her coat; makes me want to look for a doggie wig!

 

[Bruce H]

1/4/06

Puppies starting to get 3 meals a day in addition to nursing on Anna. In the morning they get straight liquid goats milk Esbilac, at noon they get a mixture of Esbilac and powdered 2nd Step, and in the evening they get puppy kibble that has been soaked in Esbilac til soft and mushy. The food is put in a shallow dish in the pen and the puppies eat by themselves now. After they are through eating, we put Anna in the pen with them and they nurse off her til she is dry.

As I mentioned before, both Anna and Star's litters are being kept together. As you would expect, they all are still getting along just great. What has really surprised us is that we tried an experiment and put both Anna and Star in the puppy pen at the same time with the puppies. Those two moms just laid down side by side and let whichever puppy wanted to nurse do so. Color didn't matter at all! We keep a close eye on everything, but there hasn't been a sign of a problem in probably 4 or 5 feedings this way.

We're still taking the pups out of their pen to play on the floor about once a day. So far it's been just them and the moms, with a occasional adult. We are going to gradually let more adults out to play and interact with them. Just don't want to do too much too soon.

Here is a picture of the two litters at 4-1/2 weeks old. Have we made a mess of our pen again?

 

[Bruce H]

1/8/06

Puppies are 5 weeks old today. They are getting more solid food now and nursing less from Anna. That means Kris and I are getting more laundry to do and a lot more pen cleaning. We (or more correctly, Kris) are now doing between 1 and 2 loads of bedding a day. I'm scared to death to look at my gas and water bill.

My poor babies got their first shots today after we got back from the St. Paul dog show. My job is to hold them; I just hate shot day, as I have an irrational fear of needles. To try to distract them, we give them a little shredded turkey to chew on. Don't know if it makes them feel better, but it makes me feel a little better for being involved in stabbing them. All but one let out a little yip.

They were vaccinated for distemper (MLV [modified live vaccine]), parvo(MLV, adenovirus-2, and parainfluenza. The second set of shots will come at 9 weeks old; maybe I can arrange to be sick that day so they won't hate me! The second set of vaccinations is basically a booster with a slightly different formulation.


"What's that you're have? It looks awfully big. Really, what's it for? OUCH!!!! THAT HURT!"