Today we have had a lovely experience with the puppies today as we they have spent time playing in the garden.    The feel of the grass did have them squeeking for a bit but after a couple of minutes they were soon starting to explore their surroundings.  Melvin in particular was very keen to get himself known to the puppies!  Bless him he just wanted to give them lots of kisses!

A Happy Family, Molly with her pups, the boys: Charlie, Archie, Stanley and Melvin

Gorgeous little ones!

(album updated)!!

I have added a few photos into the gallery.

Here is a favourite of mine

WOW what a cuddle !!!!! (makes me melt!)

I also have a lovely little video clip of them playing.

Regarding milestones – they are already making little woof noises, one of them already has deciduous teeth (baby teeth) and they are also weeing and poo’ing without the stimulation of their mum.  Their ears are open and they do seem to respond to being called over in the pen.  All of these small achivements are ahead of what is perceived the normal targets.  Good little pupsters!

agghh… This will be so hard in 6 weeks time!..This is the downside of having my gorgeous puppies – I love them so much already… It would take someone with a heart of stone to not fall in love with these little cuties.

Today, they are 17 days old.  They are making little play moves (mouthing each other and pawing at each other!).  I have added photos to the gallery.  I have also got a couple of video clips to download.  (I hope to do this later).

video clip of Little Red trying to play with his littermates!

gorgeous 17 day old puppies

Peaches

Mr Blue

Mr White

Just a couple of clips for you

Mummy kisses

16 days old – sweet little ones!

They are just lovely and squidgey – great for “wasting time” by simply watching them!

A beautiful photo of my lovely puppy assistant with two squidgey bears! (a few photos have been added to the gallery).

Mr Blue and Mr White with my puppy assistant Katherine!

Today my little gorgeous pups have been tottering about and are becoming more and more steady on their pins.  Tonight we witnessed something magical….the pups were all making tentative play movements.  This is all part of them reaching their developmental stages.  I just love seeing the gestures of them mouthing each other and hooking their paws up towards each other.  I could watch them for hours.    This litter seem to be ahead of Molly’s two previous litters.

The little white boy got up from a nap, looked directly at me and walked over towards me.  Any parent feels proud when their child takes their first steps, the feeling is exactley the same to see the puppies walking!!!  What a boy – only 15 days old and very steady.

Molly is progressing very well.  She had been a little bit lame – partly habitual and partly down to muscle wastage (because of the splint).  We have now started to give her some very gentle walks.  Which is the start of her recovery period in building up strength in her leg.  I have also started giving her green lipped mussel tablets which I have been told are safe to give whilst she is feeding her puppies.

Molly is being a fabulous mum to her pups.  I feel emotional watching her “be” a mum.  She sits with her pups even when they are asleep.  What a wonderful Mum she is.  Very tender and attentive.  If we cuddle a puppy she will give us a Motherly look as if to say “it is time to give me my pup now”!..then she will give you another look as if to say “come on then” (bless her).

Today has been full of touching experiences. (or maybe I am just an emotional soul!).  When looking into the puppies eyes and they are looking back and lick your nose – you cant help but melt!  (they certainly have me sold!).

Sitting and observing the puppies is lovely.  Just lovely.

The little ones are very clever at catching my heart….agh I think there may well be tears when they leave for their new homes in a mere 6 weeks time.

A video clip of the kids!

A couple of photos taken today, I will be resuming normal photography from tomorrow hopefully.

this photo is the definition of content. Peaches asleep after a feed!

hey guys, we just wanna cuddle ok?!!

Like any proud parent we always like to show off our littluns achievements – no matter how big or small!

Here are two videos, the first is of Blue walking, the second is of red and blue walking, then the last is of all of them waking up and walking towards Molly for their morning milk.  These clips were taken early this morning.

Blue Walking Clip

Red and Blue Walking clip

The Fab Four!

I am happy to report they are all tottering about with learning to walk, they are still very wobbily though (very cute).

Their eyes are opened and their ear flaps are almost open.  The ears are born closed and slowly the ear canal becomes open and this is when they start to hear.

Please come back to this entry for a video later.

(I hope you didnt miss the video wen they were ll days old!!!)

I have known for years that the drug Rimadyl could cause problems in dogs resulting in liver failure with longterm use, so I have always been hesitant about its use.  However I have read quite a disturbing article that this drug has caused a large number of deaths, not just from long term use but more as an immediate side effect.

Rimadyl is also known as Carprofen (injectable form).  It is used for the treatment of joint pain – it is an anti-inflammatory.

The problem is not aided by the fact reporting of side effects of drugs in animals is not as stringent in this country as it is in America.

Be aware and ask your vets questions if you are concerned.

The puppies are reaching one of their first milestones – with their eyes opening!!  Based on this stage, I wont be adding photos to the gallery for a few days.

Little Red has such gorgeous eyes, Peaches eyes are almost open and Little Boy Blue and Mr White have little chinks forming in the corners of the eye.

It is fascinating to see the development of the eyes opening – which is easier to see in the yellow pup.  (I didnt get to see this so easily in my first litter as they were all black!).

So on the basis of protecting the pups eyes from the flash of the camera I will not be taking any pictures until I am happy it is safe to do so.  I will however try and put on video clips instead.  So please keep checking to see what updates I have managed to do!

The puppies weight gain is doing very well indeed – with one of them reaching 3lbs already – this wasnt achieved until day 15 in our first litter and day 17 in the second litter, obviously they have more milk available to them which explains why they are ahead.  To note: this does not mean they are going to be overweight puppies.  I do not believe in any animal being encouraged to grow too quickly or to become overweight.

(notes on feeding can be found here)

(notes on assessing weight can be found here)

Dogs these days all seem to be overweight and seemingly the owners are unaware of it.

pudding pups video