Hello, world; you are beginning to come into focus! Here are the puppies at 2 weeks old. (Remember to click on their pictures for more pictures.) As you can see from the pictures, some of the puppies have their eyes open. Some do not, and some do, but fell asleep during the photo shoot! Week #2 for the puppies is spent pretty much in a sleepy dreamland with lots of food and growing involved. The puppies are in a main area of our house with lots of activity and noise. Yet, during the second week of their life they remained somewhat clueless to the outside world. A door slam, a radio playing, children being children – they slept through them all! However, as soon as I touched them to change their bedding, they came to life searching for food. In the coming week, they will gradually become more aware of their surroundings. The puppies are growing beautifully. Everyone, including Theodore, doubled their birthweights by 10 days old – a sign they are healthy and growing well. Their weights are: Gordon 1lb, 10oz; James 1lb, 8oz; Eddie & Peace - 1lb, 7oz; Benny - 1lb, 5oz; Mercy & Grace - 1lb, 4oz; and Theodore - 14oz. Tachi is once again making mothering a litter look easy! We continue to monitor her, making sure she gets time outside playing in the sunshine, being certain she eats plenty of nutritious food, and making sure she always has fresh, clean water. She’s a real supermom – caring for of all their needs from eating to staying clean. Another aspect of our care for the puppies continues to be keeping their whelping area clean. We change their bedding several times a day and clean the whelping area with Life's Abundance Biodeodorizer, a safe, deep-cleaning spray that helps keep odors away. In the next week, we will be rearranging the puppies' whelping area as they become mobile. Some of them are taking tottering steps, but their little bellies barely get off the ground at this age. That changes quickly, though, and we want to take every opportunity as they grow to begin laying the groundwork of house training. In an effort to do so (and as we follow the Misty Method), we will add a potty box to their whelping area as they become mobile. They learn quickly to keep their bedding area clean (because we've kept it clean all along). We've found the Misty Method to provide great results when our puppies go home in preparing them for crate training. I want to shed some light on a common question we receive, "What's the difference between a black & silver (B&S) puppy and a salt & pepper (S&P) puppy?" Before answering, I want to point out that schnauzer genetics vary widely; I'm going to answer based on the genetics we've seen here at Russell Homestead with Cooper (B&S), Sheerah (B&S), and Tachi (S&P). Both B&S and S&P have silver highlights on their faces (eyebrows & beards), paws, and (for lack of better way to say it) behinds under their tails. The S&P have speckled hairs in their silver highlights, while the B&S have no speckling. When newborn, you can tell the difference by looking at the ears. S&Ps have brown speckled hair on/behind their ears, while the B&S have all black ears. The S&Ps also have speckling down their sides as puppies. For our puppies, as they grow, the brown/silver on the ears and sides becomes less noticeable (in general). Tachi is a somewhat dark S&P because her speckling is contained to her silver highlights. From a distance, she looks very similar to Sheerah, our B&S girl. In general, with our genetics, our S&Ps don’t necessarily look that much different than our B&Ss, except for the speckled hair in the highlights. To see what I mean, look at our puppy update photo page and look for the heading “Special Features” and find Tachi & Cooper’s first litter at one year old. Ada & Henry are S&P; the rest are B&Ss. I'll close this week with a few snapshots of the children holding the puppies for the first time. Early, gentle socialization is best! Notice how the puppies like to snuggle in the crooks of arms. Puppies at this age naturally look for a warm place to burrow into, which is why they sleep in a pile. We keep the holding sessions very short, usually only a few minutes, because the puppies really only want food and sleep at this age. And, don't miss the last photo - it was very cute watching how still Tachi was being in order not to disturb her little one. Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed week!
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These cute little ones now have week one under their belts - that's a lot of eating and sleeping checked off their to-do list! Though these little ones may look similar to their introductory photos, they are nearly double their birth weight. (Kudos to Tachi on that achievement!) Below are their photos at one week. Click on their pictures to go to their individual pages. At the bottom of their pages, I add new pictures each week. So, what did their first week of life look like? Puppies are born with fur and nails, but no teeth. Though they cannot walk, see, or hear, they can propel themselves quite purposefully on their little bellies. They instinctively propel towards warmth and food. Usually within a few minutes of birth, they are nursing from their mother. When they are not eating during the first week, they are piled up with their siblings sleeping. As they sleep, they do an adorable twitching motion. When we had our first litter of puppies many years ago, we were a bit alarmed by the twitching. After a quick online search, we were delighted and relieved to find twitching is a sign of healthy puppies. 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. The photos at the very beginning of this post look deceivingly peaceful and sleepy. However, when I wake them up to take their photos, they instantly start searching for food and warmth. They are on the GO! I have to make them feel warm and comfortable to lull them still enough to capture their cuteness! So, though they are somewhat helpless at this age, God has given them strong instincts to help them survive. For a bit of size perspective, I took pictures of Gordon and Theodore by an 8 ounce stick of butter. Puppies should double their birthweight within 7-10 days after birth. All the puppies, except Theodore, were 8oz at birth. James has reached the doubling milestone today at 1lb. Eddie (15oz), Gordon (14oz), and Peace (14oz) are quite close to the doubling mark as well. Grace, Mercy, and Benny are 13oz and Theodore is 9oz. Theodore, though small, is vigorous and healthy! We knew from the get-go that it would be best for Theodore and Tachi if he could nurse with everyone else. I'm pleased to report he has done that in his first week and gained 3 ounces! He only has to reach 12oz to double his birthweight at 10 days, and I predict he will do it with his drive to wiggle in the pile and get his fair share.
Our care for the puppies during the first week is making sure they have a clean, comfortable place to rest and making sure their mama is properly cared for. Tachi, as well as all our dogs, has constant access to fresh water. She also has Life's Abundance food available at all times. Free-feeding (leaving food out all the time) is something we only do during the end of pregnancy and lactation. Otherwise, our dogs are fed on schedule. In addition to her food, we supplement her with a Life's Abundance vitamin, Life's Abundance Pork & Venison canned food, and goat milk from our goats. Tachi spends nearly one hundred percent of her time with her puppies feeding and cleaning them. At the one week mark, she does leave them for periods of time to rest and to play outside, but she's always eager to go back and check on them. The puppies are handled several times a day by me. The children are only allowed to handle them when their eyes open up. I handle them to weigh them and change their bedding. You may be wondering why all this focus on weight. Someone once asked me as she was peering into the whelping box watching them competing for a spot to latch, "How in the world do you know if they all nursed?" The answer - by weighing them. You cannot know just by watching because it's hard to tell them apart when they are in a pile and it's hard to know how much they are getting. Weight gain is an overall good indicator that all is well. Since sleeping and eating are the main events of week one, here's some sleeping and eating pictures. Notice in the photo of the puppies' entire area how Tachi has a "nest" to take care of her puppies, a place to rest away from them, and food and water available at all times. She's a busy, but contented Mama! |
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
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