Our little pumpkins...

Click on the puppies' pictures above for more photos!

​Sheerah and the puppies are doing fabulous.  Sheerah, a first-time Mama, is mothering them well – feeding them, cleaning them, and keeping them snuggled together.  Though the puppies may look helpless with their eyes and ears closed and their lack of ability to walk, they are born with several instincts that help them thrive.  They are driven to food and warmth.  Healthy, happy puppies sleep in a twitching pile.  Yes, twitching!  Researchers think healthy puppies twitch due to activated sleep that helps with their muscle tone and brain connections.  Whatever the reason, we know that twitching while sleeping is a good sign.

These two photos (above) sum up the puppies' lives at this stage - eating and sleeping!  It is literally all they do.  ​They don’t play with each other or people.  My husband and I handle the puppies to weigh them twice a day, but we don’t allow our children to hold them until their eyes open up.  This is due to how fragile they are at this age and their need for sleeping and eating.

The puppies are weighed in the morning and evening.  We do this to ensure that each puppy is thriving and getting enough nourishment.  Sheerah's been feeding them well!  Their weights at one week are as follows: Thomas, Annie, and Shadow - 1lb, 1oz; Rex - 1lb; Elsa - 15oz; and Clarabelle - 14oz.  They have all met (or are on track to meet) our goal of having them double their birth weight in 7-10 days.

Our care for the puppies at this stage focuses on care for Sheerah.  We feed her as much as she’ll eat of Life’s Abundance All Stage food and add Life’s Abundance Wellness supplement for an extra boost while her system is working hard to provide food for her babies.  We keep her and the whelping area as clean as possible.  We change the bedding in the puppies’ area several times daily.

A big event in the puppies’ lives this week was a routine trip to the vet for tail docks and dew claw removals.  Here they are below in a basket for easy transport.

As I mentioned earlier, the puppies are fragile, but not helpless.  Below are some photos show-casing their God-given abilities as newborn puppies.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a blessed week!

Sheerah and Cooper have blessed us with six precious black & silver mini schnauzer puppies!  Sheerah delivered 3 boys and 3 girls on October 10th - all black & silver like herself and the sire, Cooper.  During her pregnancy, Sheerah had an ultrasound and our vet predicted 5, possibly 6, puppies.  We are delighted that her labor and delivery went well and the puppies are thriving thus far.  They were all 7 or 8 oz at birth.  They visited the vet today for tail docks and dew claw removals.

As is our tradition, our children "name and claim" a puppy for the 8 weeks we get to enjoy them.  AJ, age 9, named Annie in honor of Annie in the Magic Tree House ​series and Thomas the train's coach.  CJ, age 8, named Shadow in honor of the dog in the movie Homeward Bound.  We read the story (The Incredible Journey) and watched the movie as a family recently.  JJ, age 6, named Rex in honor of his great-grandpa's German shepherd - a dog that has a legacy of intelligence and faithfulness in our family history.  MJ, age 4 (and incidentally the only girl in our crew), named Clarabelle in honor of Thomas the train's other coach.  She also thought it sound "princessy."  EJ, age 3, named Thomas in honor of (you should be able to guess by now) Thomas the train.  Elsa was a name suggestion given by someone on our waiting list.  We always choose one Bible name each litter to honor God as the Creator of life.  Elsa is a shortened or pet form of Elizabeth.  I also felt it fit with Clarabelle and Annie, so I named and claimed Elsa as my puppy.  Or, as my children say, my puppy to share with my husband.

It is hard to describe how tiny and precious these puppies are.  I tried to give a visual below with Thomas and an egg carton.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoying our new little blessings!