I am in love with the little pip-squeaks.  They are a lovely litter, not very noisy at all.  (early days though! they perhaps are saving it for maximum effect!!).

Yesterdays diary entry was entered early in the morning, since the post the boys also opened their eyes yesterday.  With this in mind I still need to be careful with taking photographs to protect their eyes.

The pups are being weighed daily – which will continue until they are three weeks old.  Usually in a litter you have some variation but this litter is quite balanced with the exception of Mr Purple (who is noticeably larger).

Here are a few videos.

Just trying to get comfy – Mr Red has finally got his spot

A pile of puppies – the very definition of cute

Puppies at two weeks with eyes open

Time with Mum

The pups have reached the next level of activity so the cuteness score increases.  Watch out for the next videos!

Exciting times….at just two weeks old!

The little pupsters are really giving walking a good go – they are wobbly and fall over but they are giving it a go.  Clever puppies!

So sweet… I will get some better quality videos – these were taken last night so they are a bit dark!

The girls eyes are open, Im just waiting on the boys now.

The ear flaps are also getting larger with the ear canal opening up too.

I feel so excited to see this phase of development as it is all starting to happen.  I really cannot explain the feeling of joy I have when the pups are able to look back at me and the sense of pride I have when I see them taking their first unsteady steps.  I am the typical mum who thinks her little fur babies are perfect!

A few videos for you :

Cuties beauties

Mumma Milk!

Mr Blue Walks!

The photo gallery also has a couple of additional photos (carefully taken so as not to cause any problems to the puppies eyes.).

So exciting- the Yellow bitch (now wearing a pink collar, was Miss Lilac) her eyes have opened! Smashing!

This will mean no photographs until all eyes are open and the pups have had time to adjust to their new world!

(There will be videos instead).

Today I had to clip the puppies claws – I was hoping to wait until Katherine was home to help me however I managed to do it without to much of a problem.  I waited for them to be fast asleep then I snuck in!    It all went well.  As they grow bigger it will be important to ensure that claw clipping is always a positive experience – so they will be used to having their paws handled regularly.  When clipping the claws we only ever trim the tip as at this stage it would be relatively easy to cut the quick.

It is important for Maggie’s sake to keep the claws nice and trim so they don’t claw her tummy.  The puppies claws had started to hook over as they had grown so much. (they were not hooked yesterday).  The fact they are growing so well is a good indication that everything is going well with the puppies!

One of the best things about puppies?……..

Puppy bellies needing raspberries blown on them!!

Mr Blue – climbing Mount Maggie!

Miss Pink adoring her Mummy!

Photos will be added to the photo gallery

The pups are progressing well, all of them are putting on weight nicely.  The pups don’t feel so fragile when I cuddle them.  They are getting stronger day by day, the muscles getting stronger to support their body weight.  I love watching them getting about the pen.

It won’t be long before I need to clip their claws so they don’t scratch Maggie’s tummy. Im hoping I can hold off clipping their claws until Katherine is home so I have a little bit of help!

The collars are still slightly too big, so the extra twists are remaining in place for now.  This is purely to prevent the pups getting caught up in the slack of the collar.

Puppies waking up for milk time!

Here is a video of the puppies waking up and finding the milk bar! click “here”

Puppies having their milk – check out their tails!

When puppies have their milk their little tails stand out and they make little noises when they are having their milk.  (awww – sweet).. play video with sound!

Maggie is the modern day mum, very attentive to their needs but also understands the importance of having time of, time out to herself to recharge.  With her needs in mind – Maggie has been having walks every day since the puppies were two days old.  The puppies have a heat mat should they need to keep warm or failing that they snuggle up to each other to keep cosy.

awww puppy belly at the milk bar!

If you look carefully at the yellow puppies eyes…. you will see a chink of black appearing, a little bit like eyeliner…. this is the start of the puppies eyes beginning to open.  With the black puppies it is all but impossible to view this precursor to the eyes opening.  I just can’t wait to see their little eyes peering back at me.  It will be a little while yet.

I have updated the puppy photo gallery.

Here are a few videos from today…

Melvin and Archie pop in to see the pups!

Sleeping puppies

The wigglers getting their fix at the milkbar!

I am finding it hard to think they are only just over a week old.  The puppies are doing so well, they have taken me by surprise today – that they are trying really hard to actually lift their bodies off the ground and attempting to walk.  Clearly they have some way to go – but it was staggering to see this so soon. I have attempted to get it on a video clip – but haven’t managed to get a clear view of the puppies lifting their bodies up!

The pups have all got the ribbon collars on – however – we have had to add a few twists to some of the colours to ensure they fit properly.  You may have already spotted the twists – they are like this to gain the correct size, so don’t worry!! Collars are checked regularly (more than twice daily) to ensure the fit is correct, this is so important, particularly at this age when they grow so quickly.

A few pictures from today:-

Below photos – two groups of puppies…a group of 3 boys and a group of 3 girls (the girls are at the back of the picture)

Cute  Cute Cute!

Here are a few video clips from today also!

a close up of the milkbar

sleeping puppy

the race is on – who gets to the milk bar first?

I have spent the evening sitting in the whelping box, we often refer to the whelping box as the puppy pot (so don’t panic… it is referring to the box with affection, for years now, it has been known as the puppy pot!).

puppies cannot see and have no hearing until the eye and ear canals open…. they have to rely on their very keen sense of smell. When Maggie is in the pot, they usually wake up almost immediately and gravitate towards her looking for the milk. They instinctively know the best route to the milk bar. Quite often using Maggie’s front legs as a means of navigating their way to the best teats.

When I was in the “pot”, the puppies all came towards me and snuggled in – pure heaven. I cannot describe how lovely it is to have the puppies snuggle in to you. They will crawl wherever they want to go, climbing over or crawling under anything that may be in their way. Blindly going forth! At this stage they have utterly no sense of preservation.

They are gaining strength in their legs every single day. The paddling they are doing is enabling them to build up their muscles ready for the time when they take their first steps (I love watching them learn to walk!)

Milky Bar Pups

Paddling Pups

Yesterday marked the puppies being a week old!  They are growing so quickly that now they don’t feel so small when I pick them up and they feel like little chunky monkeys!

At 6 days 3 of the puppies had reached double their birthweight – at 7 days the remaining 3 puppies hit their target weights too!

At this age all they do is sleep and visit the milk bar!

This is them just after their weighing!

Crawling all over Mum!

Sleep time….

Keep an eye on the puppy album for new photos.

Today marks the first milestone being reached.  That is their birthweight being doubled in less than a week.  Three of the puppies have reached double their birth weight at 6 days.  When it is considered good for a puppy to reach double its birthweight by 7 days.

Another of the milestones we have reached is with Mr Purple.  His little collar had snapped and I have replaced it with a cute ribbon collar. (paler purple with white spots.)

At this stage the puppies eyes and ears are still closed.  I am looking forward to when the eyes open, to have their little eyes looking back at you.

This is Miss Yellow – she is looking a darker yellow than she actually is.  There is no denying how incredibly cute the puppies are 🙂

The other good news is that I have been able to put photos into the album, with a lot of help from my web lady Gill.  So now you can see all the photos I take rather than just a select few.

Please take a look at the album Maggies Puppies 2016