For a new twist on my puppy litter updates, I decided to do an hour by hour update for one day for the puppies to give you an idea what they are actually doing at this adorable age of almost five weeks.  Most hours I took a picture as well, but not all.  The puppies also did things in between the hours that I did not record.  

The puppies' day begins early as we up early to milk our goats and get ready for work.  At 6:00AM, the puppies had just been fed by Violet.  She was busy finishing feeding them and licking anyone clean who needed it.

At 7:00, Violet was snuggled down resting with the puppies, which is becoming a rarity as they get older and more active.  Please note the ear cocked for trouble and puppy on her back; she's such a good mom!

At 8:00, I was giving the puppies their first nail trim.  Their little nails become sharp and tend to get hooked on their bedding.  CJ was helping me keep track of who was done and who wasn't while he played with the puppies.

At 9:00, the puppies were sleeping, but we woke them up to take them outside and feed them.  They had their first foray outside over the weekend.  Now, they are warming up to the outdoors and enjoying the extra freedom to romp and play, as well as being socialized to all kinds of outdoor sounds.  Food is also a new development in their lives.  We introduced goat milk to them early this week to teach them how to lap.  (For those of you who are new around here, we have our own dairy goats, and therefore, fresh milk to aid in weaning the puppies.  Goat milk enjoys a reputation of being gentle on stomach and highly nutritious.)  After they learned to lap, we are now adding softened Life's Abundance Small & Medium Breed puppy food to the milk.  It makes an Oliver-Twist like gruel that they find so appetizing!

At 10:00, the puppies were sleeping.  Ditto at 11:00.

At 12:00, the puppies were just waking up.  Usually upon waking, they will wander away from the bedding area to go to the bathroom.  Many times, they go in the potty box, where we just keep layering clean newspaper to keep it clean while preserving the scent.  If they do in the "play area," then we quickly wipe it up with Life's Abundance Biodeodorizer, which not only cleans, but helps destroy the scent.

At 1:00, they were playing in their play area.  We are giving them various toys to explore.  2:00 and 3:00 found them snoozing away again.

At 4:00, we took them outside again for another meal.  We are feeding them twice a day right now, as Violet still feeds them as well.  We will be increasing to three times a day soon.

At 5:00, they were settling in for nap, but not all asleep yet.  Notice how they still sleep all in a pile.  At 6:00, some were still sleeping and some were playing.

And I'll close this week again with snapshots from the week; thanks for stopping by!

Sitting here to type up this post, I kept coming back to one picture that sums up where the puppies are right now...

Notice Cole is alert and tuned into what's going around him, and he's resting comfortably observing it all while learning to enjoy human interaction.  The puppies are very aware of their surroundings now.  However, they lack the ability to sit and walk with much dexterity, which is quite age appropriate for one month old puppies.  They are starting to take wobbly steps - mostly to try to get to Violet or to tussle with a sibling.  They can sit for a short period of time if we prop them up, but they prefer this reclining position you see Cole in above.  So, let's take a look at the crew!  (Note: Each puppy has his/her own page - click on their names to access their individual pages.)

At one month old, the puppies still receive one hundred percent of their nutrition from Violet.  Their weights as of one month old are as follows: Ethel & Cole - 2lbs, 5oz; Anita - 2lbs, 3oz; Anne - 2lbs, 2oz; Naomi - 2lbs, 1oz; and Starla 1lb, 13oz.  They don’t have teeth yet; though one of my children thought they felt one erupting this week.  Water is not necessary for the puppies yet as Violet faithfully provides all they need (and we faithfully make sure she has her food, water, and vitamins).  We chose Life’s Abundance for Violet's fare because it is packed with nutrition rather than corn and wheat fillers.  It’s made here in the USA, and there’s never been a recall on their food.  We like and use Life's Abundance products so much that we are representatives for the company, and you can buy their products through us (ID 20249934).

We introduced a “potty area” to them this week as they are now somewhat mobile.  As I said, they can take tottery steps, which means it is house training time!  At this age, we put the potty area right outside their whelping box.  Puppies will naturally seek to be away from the pack to relieve themselves; we give them no option of anywhere else to go except the potty area.  As they learn to use it, we then open up their living space to add a play area.  (You can read more about our house training process here and here.  Also, read about the Misty Method.)

Let's wrap up this week again with candid shots from around the house - these puppies are getting plenty of early socialization!

Puppies change so much in the first two weeks of life!  Mini schnauzers are born weighing around 6-8 ounces.  Their eyes and ears are closed.  Like most babies, they primarily eat and sleep.  After two weeks, they are about triple their birth weight, they can see and hear, and they can almost walk.  The puppies' weights as of today are Cole - 1lb, 10oz, Anita & Ethel - 1lb, 9oz, Naomi - 1lb, 6oz, and Starla & Anne - 1lb, 5oz.  Every day they are more alert to their surroundings.  Their chief concerns remain eating and sleeping even at two weeks old, but they are definitely waking up to the world outside their cozy whelping box.  So, here are the adorable little chaps...
*Click on their names to go to their individual pages.*

The puppies are very fun to cuddle at this age because if you get them feeling warm and safe, they drift off to sleep.  We are just beginning to hold them for short periods of time since they prefer the warmth and safety of their mom and siblings at this age.  In the first week of life, Violet spent all her time with them.  Now at two weeks old, she leaves them for an hour or two throughout the day to play outside and go about her normal life.  She never has to be reminded to go back to them; she's always there to feed and clean them.

Our care for the puppies at this age is focused on taking good care of Violet.  We feed her a high quality diet, and she may "free feed" while she is nursing puppies.  We keep our schnauzers on a strict diet of only being fed twice a day, but a nursing mama needs to be able to consume a lot of calories to support feeding six puppies.  Therefore, Violet may eat as much as she wants (i.e. "free feed").  Hydration is very important as well.  We keep things very clean in the whelping box changing the bedding several times a day.  This is the beginning of teaching the puppies that where they eat, sleep, and play is a clean space.  Starting at three to four weeks old, we will begin their official house training using the Misty Method.  At this age, we do not need to bathe or clean the puppies because Violet takes care of that; and let me tell you - she takes the job seriously and these puppies' coats gleam!

I'll close with a few photos of our interactions with the puppies.  As I mentioned, we keep our interactions with them short, but we also want to give them early introductions to all kinds of life experiences.  The good news is that since they are in main living area of home much of their early socialization comes without any effort from us.  Simply us living life gives them introduction to all kinds of sights, sounds, and smells.  Just in the last few days, they've heard a blender and vacuum cleaner, heard voices of our guests, heard a washing machine, and so much more!  We treasure these little guys, and they are so much fun to snuggle!  And those piles of puppies - aren't they adorable?