The puppies have seemed to have turned a little corner with their level of activity, going from 50:50 sleeping and eating, we are now getting periods of time where they are exploring the pen, stretching their legs – practising their new skills.

The puppies ears are starting to open up, the canal becoming more evident as the ear flap grows.

From a breeders point of view, we worry about so many things with our beloved girl being pregnant, to going through labour and how she recovers, how she copes at being a mum to worrying about every little thing about the puppies.    A big part of being a breeder is welfare and this then extends to the new owners.  A good breeder will worry about how to select their new owners from the many enquiries they receive.    It is such a comfort getting to know our new families.  Our new families are being trusted with the care of our special charges!

Today we met two more new families, who are both really lovey.  Our puppies will be very well placed within these homes.  Very exciting times ahead for them, for both “oomans” and the puppies!

Here are a couple of videos from today.

Puppies finding their feet

Wriggle Monsters!

A basket full of gorgeous pupsters!!!!!! (((SWOON!!!)))

The puppies were very active just before Maggie came back in from the garden, so I was able to get a video clip of the puppies moving about!

Getting to the milk bar before closing time

I have given names to four of the puppies now, but obviously will not actually be calling them by their names as they will all respond to “Puppy Puppy Puppy”  They cannot learn individual names when still in a litter, as having six pups means they wont know who you are calling if lots of names are flying about – so they all react to Puppy very well.

Names so far:

Mr Purple is Humphrey
Miss Pink is Milly Mouse
Mr Orange is George
Mr Blue is Albert

Mr Yellow and Mr Red will be named all in good time!

Today we have had two sets of families visit, to view the puppies.  I think our puppies will have very happy homes to go to.  They will be loved and cherished very much.

I have been making a few comparisons with this litter to Molly’s puppies.  Our class of 2015 are doing incredibly well.  At the age of two weeks it is this litter who have had a puppy to break the weight barrier of over 3lbs!  (with two puppies weighing over 3lbs).

When comparing the smallest size puppies…. our Miss Pink has broken the mould!  Usually our smallest puppy, at the age of two weeks is roughly 1lb 15oz – 2lbs.  But Miss Pink has excelled and surpassed all expectations at 2lbs 7.4oz

It is such a joy to see these puppies quite literally growing before our eyes with their development totally on target.  The ears are also starting to open up – as up until now the ear canal has been sealed!

We are already a quarter of the way in on our journey – time is flying by!  We have just 6 weeks left with our pups – then chaos will soon be the theme of our day!

I have added photos to the gallery!

But for now here is the obligatory puppy belly photo!

As the puppies are growing so rapidly – I will tomorrow, take my last photos of the puppies in a basket (we had an escapee from the basket this morning!) so will have to find something else to put them in for cute photos!

My beautiful puppies are doing so well.

I am thoroughly enjoying seeing little dreamy eyes peeping back at me.   Not all of the puppies eyes are open yet.

They are spending their days mainly feeding and sleeping, their periods of activity are rushing to the milkbar before closing time!  This is the time when they grow stronger by the day!

They are all gaining weight very well indeed with some putting on over 4oz a day, the typical weight gain is usually up to 2 ounces.

I am so proud of Maggie – she is a modern day Mum, spending lots of time with her babies, but also knows she needs her own “me” time.  She has been treated to a rather large deer antler (from my friend Louise) and she did spend a good fifteen minutes yomping on that whilst her babies were waiting for their milk.  Maggie learnt very quickly that getting into the whelping box safely had to be a calculated manoeuvre.  She picks her safe place to sit, the pups all graduate in her direction.  Once all puppies are in her “zone” she then goes to the other side of the whelping box, settles down all comfy before her puppies come rushing back!

The pups have all been registered, subject to confirmation of my chosen names.  The paperwork should be received in the next week or so.

Here are a few videos from today.

Mr Yellow Walking

Puppy mayhem

Rush to the bar before closing

Puppies settling down after the milkbar closes

It is always a pleasure to update a dairy with developmental stages being reached.

The eyes are opening up (having kept me waiting a few days, I was convinced they were about to open up within a couple of days!) I can see the little eyes peeping back.  I cant wait to see the pups looking back at me properly.

The puppies are making positive steps in the right direction – they are all making such great efforts at lifting themselves off the ground.

All of the puppies are in their second stage collars now – with Miss Pink completing the set!

12 days old and on the move

The videos are taking such an enormous amount of time to load onto youtube….

Hopefully you will observe how the puppies are now lifting themselves off the floor, even if it is only for a couple of moments, they are getting stronger by the day.  I was staggered o see Miss Pink having a very good attempt at walking – I didn’t get to film her specifically – but she was the first to really give it a good go!

Feeding at 10 days old

Almost walking at 11 days old

Whilst I have been waiting (impatiently) for the puppies eyes to open, I can see it will be any day now…. the pups have been so mobile – that I have seen a few of the pups actually being able to take their very first steps.  They are falling over alot at the moment so by no means can I say they are walking BUT they are lifting themselves off the floor and attempting to co-ordinate all four legs!   Punch drunk on Mothers Milk is all I can possibly say to describe this kind of walking!

I have also put on the second stage collars on all of the puppies, apart from Miss Pink, so you will see some very cute collars in the photos now.

Just need to wait a few more days for Miss Pink to be big enough for her collar.

Hopefully in this time the eyes will be open!  I cant wait!

Our beautiful babies – Maggie is doing a wonderful job of raising her puppies – they are putting on roughly 2-3 oz a day.

Today I had to clip their claws for the first time!  It is amazing how quickly they grow!

The eyes haven’t opened yet, so with care I am taking photos of the puppies, so there are only a few added to the gallery….  Maggie is so relaxed with her puppies!  So sweet!

A small video clip of feeding time and also one of Mr Blue having tickles!

Pupsters

Tummy Tickles

Here are a couple of small video clips so you can see how the puppies are developing.  They are trying to lift themselves off the ground but are not quite strong enough to support their weight yet.  They are doing a sterling effort though.

Puppies at 9 days

Puppies Feeding (week old)

It is exciting to see the puppies eyes are starting to open, so today is likely to be the last day of photos for a short period of time.  It can be seen in the yellow puppies easier that they have what appears to be eyeliner developing, this is where the eyes are starting to open so the gap will widen over the next day or so!

If you look at Mr Orange – there is a little black corner appearing in his eye! (this was taken yesterday and this morning looks like eyeliner!)

(below) Mr Purple having a very sneaky feed from his Mum whilst the others are sleeping.

Mr Orange I believe has had just a little bit too much milk! hee hee!