Week 2 is the "focus on faces" week as the puppies now have their eyes open & you can see their adorable faces taking shape. Charlotte opened her eyes first, followed by Flower, and then Sammy. Their ears are opening as well. They are becoming increasingly mobile as they pull themselves around their whelping box.
These past few days have been difficult for our family and the puppies. Our lives took an unexpected turn this week as we found ourselves rushing Cocoa to the vet with a fever. (Read more of her story on her page.) We knew Cocoa could not take care of her puppies with her high fever and health situation. With our vet's expertise, we had many decisions to make. So, we are currently bottle feeding the puppies. They are learning to drink from the bottle, but it is a difficult process when they were used to Mama. Their lives are fragile at this point, but we are doing everything we can to help them thrive. We appreciate your prayers and understanding through this situation. Thanks for stopping by!
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The first week has come and gone already! And it was a growing week for Sammy, Charlotte, & Flower. All three of them spent the week sleeping and eating - two important activities for newborn puppies. Between 7 and 10 days, we expect them to double their birth weight. Sammy reached that milestone this morning at 10 ounces. Charlotte weighed in at 9 ounces and Flower at 13 ounces. Both of the girls should reach that milestone in the next few days. We spent the first week doing an important job as well - observing. We do our best not to interfere with Cocoa's mothering in the beginning. She typically has things very well under control with the puppies clean, fed, and snuggled in beside her. So, we simply observe. Some of things we look for that indicate happy, healthy puppies are twitching & piling up as they sleep, a pear-shaped abdomen (indicating they are full of Mama's milk), shiny coats, "swimming" movements to get to Mama (see below), and proper weight gain. We also monitor Cocoa's temperature and food intake. She gets so involved in her puppy care that she sometimes forgets to eat. She's also very reluctant to leave her babies to go outside to do business. Photographing newborn puppies looks sweet and idyllic (and it is compared to bouncy 7 week old puppies), but newborn puppies don't just lie still for pictures. When you pick up a puppy and then set it down on a warm blanket for picture, he/she will usually exhibit a swimming motion across the blanket in search of Mama for food and siblings for warmth. Though not convenient for photos, swimming is an important skill for puppies to have to find nourishment and warmth, as well as develop muscles for walking. Below is a picture of Sammy doing the swim. If I'm lucky, the puppies will swim for a bit and then cuddle down to sleep for good photo. Be sure to click on their pictures above to see all my photos of each puppy this week. Sammy & Flower obediently went to sleep for me, but Charlotte was a bit more wiggly.
Thanks for stopping by & watching our puppies grow! We are delighted to introduce to you the 3 newest four-footed members of Russell Homestead - Charlotte, Flower, & Sammy! (More on their names in a moment.) These adorable mini schnauzer puppies made their arrival during the night/early morning on December 1, 2016. We have long been guessing what colors our Cocoa and Cooper might produce. Now we know, and here are their newborn photos in birth order. Sammy - Black AKC male miniature schnauzerCharlotte - Salt & Pepper AKC female miniature schnauzerFlower - Black AKC female miniature schnauzerIt has become our tradition here at Russell Homestead to have our children name (and temporarily claim) a puppy as theirs. One kind blog follower of mine pointed out that our puppy litters are going to have grow in number if we keep adding human kiddoes to the mix around here. For this litter, little one-year-old MJ and two-month-old EJ won't mind not having a puppy as their own.
Having young children name animals is always interesting. We require that they have their names approved by mom and dad. If we wouldn't, this litter would have names such as "nut" and "lion." We also always have one Bible name because we recongize God as the giver of all life. CJ (age 5) has long been set on the name "Flower" for a girl. In the last litter, he almost picked Flower, but then went with Violet. He chose this name because girls like flowers. JJ (age 3) needed lots of guidance with his name. We talked about the book Charlotte's Web that Daddy just finished reading aloud to the them. JJ named his puppy Charlotte in honor of the dear spider in Charlotte's Web. AJ (age 6) wanted the boy puppy, and we needed a Bible name for this one, as it was the last to be named. We went through lots of names - from Asher to Paul to Barnabus - but settled on Samuel, which means "God has heard." We will call him Sammy. There will be weekly updates on this litter of puppies (sign up to receive them via email here). If you are on our waiting list, you will receive an email from us soon. If you want to join our waiting list, do it here. Thanks for stopping by my blog! |
AuthorVanessa from Russell Homestead. Follower of the Lord Jesus, wife of my knight in shining armor, mother of 5 wonderful children, and joint-keeper of the Russell homestead. Thanks for stopping by! Archives
March 2023
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Vanessa Russell
Independent Field Representative ID#20249934. |