The pups now have double the space in their new home. They are still so tiny so it is huge to them.
All are putting on weight nicely and it seems to be they have a really good weight gain followed by a small gain but as long as the trajectory is upwards we are not overly concerned like we were right at the beginning. The pups had a visit from a potential new owner (who happens to be a client of ours as we home board dogs) so pleased to say Purdy (Pink Toes) now has a new home which is lovely as we are keeping the other girl Dobby (to be renamed) so they will still see each other into the future! Just the 3 boys to find homes for but not even thinking about advertising yet as they are still so young and want them to continue to grow and develop before thinking about having visitors. They are Crestepoos (did I mention this),, if not, a Chinese Crested Powderpuff is their mum and Bobby (Dazzler) is their dad a 4.4kg toy poodle. They will have long wavy hair (both breeds don't moult) and every day their hair gets longer and curlier especially around their ears. In a week they will be totally different.
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Scout is reluctant to give up feeding so not rushing her. Started to feed her a little less in the hope her milk will reduce as it is all 'supply and demand' with puppies. I mean why would they give up her lovely warm milk in her fluffy belly.. sounds lovely right!
Sound desensitisation continues and nail clipping which they are getting used to (good for new owners). Big day tomorrow as they are changing to larger quarters. The pups will be fed raw and hopefully new owners will keep this up as that is what I have always fed our dogs on. Today I made ground up minced chicken meatballs and fed the pups 2 meals as weight gain was slowing and this has really made a difference. They took to it quite naturally. I didn't feed them collectively as I did yesterday as not all fed and I wanted to know they had all had a good meal but will move to a joint bowl as they get older.
Dobby has put on more but continues to be the lightest but she is probably going to be ours in any case as she is the nervous one out of them all. Did puppy gym exercises and handled paw and ears. Played the Calm Sounds tracsk as per previous post slightly louder today with no reactions. Purdy has the most gorgeous blue eyes now they are clear. Still using puppy pad for a wee and occasional poo but Scout still wants to clean them which is only natural so she is carrying on as soon enough it will all be down to us!
Discovered a great sounds app on Kindle called Calm Sounds Volume 1 (includes fireworks, crowds of people cheering and fireworks, thunder, lightning and heavy rain, car sounds (engines, horns tooting etc), crowds of people, police sirens, traffic noises, aeroplanes, baby crying, other dogs barking, cats, household appliances e.g washing machine, grooming tools, door knocking and bell ringing, (highlighted this section as will be referred to again below). It is my intention to play this daily and build up the puppies threshold to every day sounds to help them in every day life. All handled and ears stroked and feet held. Puppy movements i.e. left, right, bottom up and on their backs. Dobby is the only one that gets a bit upset so working extra with her on this. Decided to start weaning and give 1 meal a day to start with. Made a raw chicken paste with chicken breast and goats milk. Gambit was not interested but Dobby had the biggest feed which is good as she is slowest to put on weight so hopefully this will help. Scout ate with the pups and growled at them when they got too close which I suppose is naturally what she would do in the wild. Arnie was the next best eater and a long sleep was had by all after the excitement. Very messy with the pups walking in their food but they were all cleaned up afterwards. Will start doing a daily log from now on it is the start of lots of new learning experiences to get them ready for their new homes.
Scout is still toileting the pups but we want them to learn to toilet on their own so we have established a toileting area in the whelping box. This is a puppy pad for now but we have ordered alfalfa pellets which will then be used alongside the puppy pad. We witness them going off from the main group to toilet and hopefully Scout will let them become more independent but for now it seems they just do a wee on the pad which is still fab. They still sleep a lot but its time to introduce sounds as even though their hearing is only developing at times they sit and look straight at you and also their ears are reacting if you talk to them so no time like the present. Sound Habituation Today we played other dogs barking and growling, fireworks and people at a bonfire party, running water, door knocking and bell ringing, traffic on roads, cats, baby crying, rain on a roof and thunder/lightning, hammering, sawing, hairdryer and grooming clippers. Nails are getting longer which is noticeable now they are moving around so started clipping. Not easy but found the best way is the do it while they are in a pile fast asleep and just go for an available foot. This week things are moving fast as all eyes have opened which makes them feel like real characters. The order went like this:
Dobby opened 21st November 2021 Arnie opened 23rd November 2021 Purdy and Brodie opened 24th November 2021 Gambit opened 26th November 2021 By the 23rd November, all pups are wobbling about in the whelping box and are improving every day. We are still sleeping downstairs as we have done every day since they were born but we are in the swing of things and so is Scout who will go in the whelping box to feed and toilet them but is happy to leave them and get on with her life. The pups have gained every day apart from Arnie but after a small loss he has a large gain so we think he just isn’t getting on a nipple as he is a very laid back boy. If there are any smaller gains, the individual pup is then encouraged to feed or is taken out with mum and given time to feed on their own and this seems to sort them out as they then have a larger gain the day after. The pups are being handled every day more than once and occasionally taken out of the whelping box which Scout is happy with but not for long. They are getting more and more adventurous with walking around but still wobbly. Their nails are catching so when they are asleep we trim them which they don’t seem to mind. By day 2/3 all of the cords had dried up and dropped off and tummies all looked nice and healthy.
Puppies weight is being recorded every day and all are gaining weight plus Scout is eating well. Scout seemed very thin so she is having 4 meals a day plus treats to keep up with the constant need for feeding her puppies. After doing some research we discovered Kronche which gives extra nutritional support to nursing mums. Scout doesn’t like the taste but we grated it into her food and she doesn’t notice. She is also having Lactol milk in her food which she loves. Much the same as week 1 as this is a quiet time for pups and mum but Scout is spending more time outside the whelping box with us but instantly responds should her puppies cry. In the first week she would curl up to feed her pups but now she lays flat so everyone has access. She has been digging the bedding which is apparently caused by contractions in her uterus after birth but despite us worrying she would hurt the puppies, with encouragement she will stop and dig her bedding outside the box. When we weigh the puppies, she panics that one is missing because she can smell them on the towel so we have learnt that if we removed the towel this doesn’t happen. Despite being told Scout would pant, there was no panting before contractions started. Scout was nauseous and went out to the toilet about 10 times during the day and as it was day 62 we thought whelping was close.
Despite having a whelping box, Scout decided she was happier giving birth on the sofa and as we didn’t want to upset her, we simply put lots of towels out and let her stay where she was happy. Whelping took 2.5 hours and was pretty straight forward. The order was 3 boys first and then 2 girls. Two of the puppies were breach including the first one and Scout did scream a lot before the first puppy was out but after this one, just like with human mums, once the puppy was born, the pain was forgotten as Scout got into her stride. All puppies suckled after birth with some encouragement from us to stimulate contractions. We had been told 5 or 6 puppies from a scan but after 5 Scout got very tired and feeling her belly, she didn’t feel like there were any puppies left. Once established back in the whelping box, Scout went into a deep sleep with her pups so this was another clear sign that she was finished. We fed Scout calcium after the first puppy and in between each pup. We also made sure she was hydrated by syringing water as she didn’t want to leave her pups. This made her wee in the whelping box which wasn’t hygienic or ideal so we started to lift her out to go outside for the toilet and to clean her up after which she would run back to be with her pups. Scout was allowed to eat 2 placentas but she vomited this very soon afterwards so wasn’t allowed to eat any more. All placentas were delivered and we tied the cords not wanting Scout to chew too close to the babies delicate tummies. We found that if we held the cord we could still let her chew the cord as that is what nature was telling her to do and then we tied it closer to the pups. One pup was born in 2 sacks and only 1 sack burst as the puppy was born so we opened them and rubbed the puppies to help them breathe. A puppy aspirator was used but there wasn’t any real gurgling noises so this was just a precaution. Scout licked the pups as she finished giving birth as they were placed on a heat pad near her head. The final pup was born and the placenta was inside Scout but with some encouragement she pulled the placenta out herself. After about 3 days Scout started to come out of her own accord for a cuddle or to lie on a cool mat as the temperature in the room had to be kept very high for her pups. We did use paracord collars to begin with but they had a tendency to move down around the pups legs so we quickly decided to name the pups and as they were very different, we used identifying marks instead of collars not wanting to damage their delicate bodies inadvertently. The pups had a heat mat and a cover over their whelping box to make them feel safe and this also helped Scout to feel like this was a safe den so there was no need to try and move her babies which mums will do if they don’t feel safe. The pups are handled gently every day being watched carefully by Scout but they are never taken away from the whelping box and never for more than a few seconds. |
AuthorI'm sure Scout would write this herself but as she can't we are doing it for her (Dave and Gill) x ArchivesCategories |