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

The pups are approaching their first milestone – We monitor the puppies weight everyday so we can see if any of the pups are lagging behind a little bit or not getting enough chances at the milk bar.  It is usual for a puppy to “double their birthweight in 7 days”

I am anticipating for one puppy to have doubled their birthweight tomorrow at SIX days.  This of course is great news from my point of view as it is proof that the puppies are thriving! 

and where is the other yellow???….. nobody puts baby in the corner!

Here is a video clip of the puppies at the milk bar – listen to the squeaking!

Click here

A little video clip of the puppies “waving puppy” at the beginning.

Click here

Some of today’s photos :-  they get into all sorts of different positions.  One of their favourite things to do is climb up Maggie (affectionately known as Mount Maggie!) spot the puppy who made it to the top of Mount Maggie! They also like to cuddle up with each other to make little puppy piles!

The puppies are putting on a a steady amount of weight every day.  They are all doing so well.

Here are some pictures of them individually:-

Introducing the puppies of 2016

Mr Blue (first born) 

Miss Yellow (second born)

Miss Pink (third born)

Miss Lilac (fourth born)

Mr Purple (fifth born)

Mr Red (sixth born)

Maggie and pups are in fine form, with the puppies putting on weight daily.  They have become surprisingly very active.  I don’t think I have seen such a speedy set of puppies at this age.

We have been enjoying having lots of puppy cuddles (having six puppies in your lap is simply the best ever – HEAVEN!!)

Im still experiencing a problem with uploading photos to the album.  So here are a few from yesterday.

The pups are little tinkers…. I happened to capture these two pictures of poor Maggie underneath a swarm of puppies (on her head!).  It is utterly staggering the patience that a mothers love gives.

Im so proud of Maggie’s dedication to her pups. She is very maternal and protective towards her fur babies.  Utterly devoted to them, she worries about them when she is in the kitchen having her food, anxious to get back to them as soon as possible.

I am sleeping by the whelping box and have reached that stage already, of poking puppies.  It is one of those habits most breeders will admit to.  (Some mums to children will admit to this also).  When the puppies are asleep it can sometimes be hard to instantly check they are ok, so poking them (gently) is the easiest way to ensure all is well.

I haven’t quite got to the sleep deprived state of thinking the puppies are in my bed yet… this happens every litter I have had – so it is just a question of time before I wake up and panic that the puppies are not actually in the bed, but wondering where they are.

signing off…..listening to little puppy noises of contentment whilst they have their milk.

Hi peeps – just a quick update…Mum and babes are doing well.

Puppies are thriving well and paddling about their little box gaining strength in their limbs.

Maggie has high nutritional needs so a chart is being followed of what to give her.  She is on four meals a day, plus scrambled eggs, cheese, natural yoghurt and various supplements.  Her fluid intake needs are very high, so this needs constant monitoring.

Maggie is a very attentive new mum.  The dynamics of our group of dogs is quite incredible to watch.  Molly (Granny) is not allowed anywhere near the puppies (at this point).  I can only summise this is due to the fact Molly might take over and Maggie is aware that Molly might well start telling her how to look after her own puppies (a bit like the mother inlaw problem some of us face when a certain amount of interfering occurs…hee wee).  The boys have instinctively kept out of the way.  During the labour Charlie and Stanley were upstairs (of their own free choice).

Melvin would love to see the puppies but so far hasn’t been brave enough to take a look, and Archie has used his common sense and only looked in the pen when he knew he could get away with it.

Our lodger doggy, Bunty has taken no interest in the pups whatsoever, so Maggie allows her to sleep on my bed next to the pen!

Cuteness overload – my favourite is of Maggie cuddling her babies (in-between her front legs!).

I will be creating an album for the photos – just experiencing a couple of technical difficulties!

A couple of little video clips…

newborns

arrival of last puppy

on a final note…. this photo made me laugh.  I walked into the kitchen to find this….

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