Chicken necks mmmmmmm

I bought a big bag of chicken necks yesterday and put some down with the adult dogs' breakfast this morning.  Topaz isn't all that thrilled about them for some reason (they are from a different source since his favorite Urban Carnivore was sold out.)  Normally he mows them down first before he can even see what else is in the bowl, but today he sniffed the bowl contents and backed away.  I removed the chicken necks and he finished his meal.

This led me to thinking if it might be a good time to get the interest going in the tots.  After reading the owners of Mountain Dog Foods take on weaning, I opted to give it a try.

19 days old

We now have curled sleeping from most of them, and some are doing ear-scratching with the hind leg.  This ear-scratching takes a lot of balance, so they kind of hunker down and then slowly bring the rear leg forward and then move it up and down around the ear, or neck to get that itch!

When I am cleaning the larger puppy nest I have been putting them in their small one that they were born in.  With 8, nothing is quick and easy.  It's 4 handfulls of puppies to move them from one to the other and then back again.  Tonight when I changed the bedding and papers, 5 of them excaped over the edge of the smaller playpen and started wandering around the living room.  Agile little monkeys.  Their vision is still mostly dark and shadow, they have no interest in toys or anything that moves at this point, but we're not far off.

In their own regular nest, I have beguun to raise the bed with foam squares to create some physical challenge and separate the peepee from the sleepee even more.  Their little back feet and nails really frantically scratch the top layer of the fleece doggie bed so I have switched to a soft cotton ikea bathmat.  Seems to be holding up better.

Every 5 days, I take the puppies one by one and weigh them, change their ribbon, and then clip all their nails front and back.  As I am sure you can imagine, this is quite a task and sometimes stretches into 2 sittings.  The puppies do not like having their nails cut, but if I don't get them used to it, this will be more than a nightmare when then are older.  Momma also appreciates it as it will save the skin on her belly from severe scratching during the frantic nursing!

Tiny little teeth are becoming visible through the gums on the top and bottom in all of the dogs.  When the teeth appear, this is when Momma becomes less enthused about going in to nurse and I will begin the introduction of real food!

Disaster Averted & Happenings of Late!

As usual, Mommy knows best.  Although it was hard for me to understand her not running to her kids every time they holler, it makes perfect sense not to.  She now has them on a 6-hour feeding schedule not a 4-hour.  Smart cookie.  This way, I think she must be preparing them for independence and eventual weaning.  She will lie on a doggie bed right next to the puppy nest, so she can hear them perfectly if and when they begin to sound off.  She just decides when she wants to and when she doesn't.

Splash, the great-great grandmother has been very interested in the puppies pretty much since the beginning.  A retired breeding bitch herself, she seems to naturally want to care for the little ones and they don't mind a bit- they love their grammie!  Curry presents a watchful eye over the interactions, but Splash is happy to potty the little ones and even tried to get Bombay to play with her last night!  (Curry then growled, so Splash skulked off.)

Daddy still believes the whelping nest is a big bowl of crazy and wants nothing to do with it, not even when one of the puppies gets put down beside him.  I tried that with Bombay, who is the resident guinea pig for most of the new experiences.

Tandoori seems to be the most cognizant so far, coming straight over to my hand when I sit beside the puppy pool, and soliciting pets and back scratches.

The whole group have begun to walk more, as opposed to dragging their back legs around, although their legs seem to be made of jellly and not very sturdy, as all of a sudden they will fall over.  There is now some play between the puppies, pushing into each other, mouthing, and then some defensive growling.  As I type this, Tikka is 'biting' Bhindi in the ear and eye while squealing with delight.  Mango and Tandoori are both gnawing on Rogan Josh too- one on each ear.  RJ is just trying to get some sleep despite the ambush.  And now Tikka has moved on to Chai.

I have divided the nest into one half newspaper and one half sleeping area (heating blanket with disposable hospital drape and fuzzy sleepy-bed.)  The puppies are (for the most part) sleeping on the bed part and peeing on the newspapers!  Mom is still pottying them for their bowel movements, but they have begun to have urges to pee (especially upon waking) and seem to know that peepee doesn't go where snoozing goes.  So cool.

Now Tikka is beginning to chew on the hospital drape.  lol