Tamerrye T Pau “Tora” and “Percy” Minkynips what yer fink.
Born Wednesday 20th August
I fell in love with percy a couple of years ago, his pedigree, his looks and most importantly his tempermant, as he has been brought up on a stud farm with other animals and young children. His pedigree suggests that the pups should have workability, good construction and wonderful temperments as Percy’s half sister is OB.CH.Stillmore Celtic Banner, and his full sister is Minkynips is What (1 breed cc, 3 res ) but most of all his pups should be wonderful family pets. I did get cold feet a few months before breeding from Tora as somebody said that he was a touch small for her, so I then dithered between two other stud dogs and it was not till the very last minute that I decided to go with my own gut instinct and so I phoned Louisa. We only had the one mating, on the Saturday afternoon, but I believe in Kismet. Almost from the start I KNEW Tora was in whelp, she suffered no morning sickness or depression like her mother and Grandmother, but she just seemed to “Bloom” and her body changed shape. I did not bother to get her scanned, but by week five you could see her little pot belly. During her pregnancy we had some very, very hot weather, so lovely long walks were out, although she still had the energy to jump back and forth over the garden wall into next doors garden, until about four days before the pups were born. I started to take her temperature three times a day from 8 weeks and was a little alarmed to see that her temperature had dropped on the Monday night (week 8 +2) from 37.5 to 35.9. I had only just got the whelping box down from the attic, found that the base had rotten away and so had to rig up a cardboard whelping box inside a puppy pen, phew, nearly didn t have a bed for the new babies. Anyway moved my camp bed into the dog room. Tora spent the night panting and tearing newspaper, as if she was in early labour, but no sign of pushing. (not much sleep for either of us) When the bitches temperture drops it normally means pups with in 24 hrs but sometimes it can be a little longer, so I was concerned but not panicking and in fact Tuesday during the day Tora seemed more settled, and Tuesday night started the signs for early labour again. The first pups took a long time, to arrive and then with his nose born and not much elses we waited and waited, I phoned the emergency vet four times in the next hour, they kept saying just wait it sometimes takes over an hour. I do feel a little bitter as I knew something was wrong and the puppy was stuck, sadly the first born pup was born an hour and ten minutes later, dead, although he had been alive. He was huge, a very pretty Chocolate and white, classically marked boy, I tried to get his heart going but with no success. Tora just wanted to lick him and refused to let me take him away, then two hours later she delivered the dark merle pup (Edward), Now he arrived in full sound, Squawking and bellowing, she didn’t like that and tried to muffle his shouts by covering him with her neck. I was relieved that at least labour was now in full swing, but it took two hours for the placenta to arrive and another two hours for the next puppy (Annabell) so I was back on the phone to the vets who said bring her in and we will do a C section she just doesn t have any more energy left. At this point I was not worried about any more pups although I knew that were more to come, I just wanted Tora safe and back home. The vets scanned her and said there were hopefully two or three more viable heart beats, so we left her and came home to a very stressfull afternoon wanting to be told any news. Apparently Tora had very low blood pressure and pale gums, possibly due to an unknown infection, and they nearly lost her on the table but when we went to collect her at 4pm she was bouncing around and pleased to see us, and we were introduced to three more puppies, a tri bitch a tri dog and a very pretty merle dog, all a health weight the vet said, ( all the staff in the surgery and had a coo and apparently the vet said they all thought the dark merle pup was a cracker; loud, bossy and a pig, as he shoved his way to the milkbar) It’s a shame that the pups arrived this way as I would have loved to record who was born in what order at what time and what weight, but just grateful that I had five health puppies and my Tora back.
Wednesday 20th August (Birth Day): We brought Tora and the pups home from the vets at 4.30pm. Tora seemed to be very relaxed, happy and chilled out (most have been the drugs she was on) even Apollo was allowed to look and admiring his new nieces and nephews. the new family were put to bed in the conservatory and we both settled down hoping for a good nights sleep, after no much zzzs in the last 48 hrs. The pups just seemed to feed and suckle non stop and ever now and again Tora would get up to stretch her legs and then settle down on a couple at times she sat on a puppy and I had to launch a rescue mission. But to be fair as the pup (normally Edward) was making such a loud noise I guess he wasn’t being squashed too flat, and may well have extracted himself with out my interference. (This is one of the reasons that breeders will often sleep close to the dam and pup for a few weeks. My poor old David has to put up with a lot when I have puppies, late or forgotten dinners, housework done only downstairs, and even when I do return to bed upstairs I get up twice during the night to check all is well and then warm my cold feet on his back.)
Thursday 21st August (One day old): Tora’s medication has worn off, and today her brother Apollo was not even allowed in the room and Granny Trio and Great granny Tasha were not allowed to get into the whelping box, where they were desperate to take a turn in baby sitting. Tora, was also more anxious to have me by her side and when I went out in the kitchen to do breakfast, Tora, was torn between staying with her babies or me, specially when the dark merle boy started yelling, I turn round to find she had gone and collected the pup and brought him too...he was a bit soggy where she had carried him in her mouth. So now I am on restricted rest being too frighten to go upstairs in case she insists on bringing a puppy up there to me. What a chore not being able to do housework and having to spend the day dreaming over the whelping box.
I eventually was able to weigh the pups, the vet was right they were a good weight, all weighting in between 11.5 oz to 15 oz’s. The dark merle pup even from the start would push and barge himself to the best teats even if one of the others were already on that teat. We tried to give the two smallest puppies a head start, but there will always be a strong puppy in the litter who is going to be boss and those that are a little more summissive.
Friday 22nd august (Two days old): Tora seems fine in her self although still has very pale gums and needs encouraging to eat & drink. Hopefully the antibiotics will kick in soon and make her feel a lot brighter, she is happy to go and dig holes…in my garden, in her bed and MY CARPET under the clothes horse! Oh well I try to balance the bad with the good and she is being a EXCELLENT mum. Most of the pups now weigh over a pound and even the smallest pup weights more then Tasha did at this age.I must stop picking up and cuddling the boys....I should be bonding with the two girls and deciding which one I like, but fascinated with the boys. The pups are such time wasters and I spend hours just cooing over the sides whilst cuddling Toar and telling her what a good girl she is.
Saturday 23 rd August (Three days old): Phew Tora has just asked for seconds!! For the last week she has been off her food and has only eaten sparsely, tonight she asked for more yoghurt and then ate a few boring biscuits. Must have been the liver that aunty Jo brought to temp her appetite.
Monday 25th August(Five days old) : Pups are doing fine and are already forming characters, they have been christened by Jamie after Characters from Thomas the Tank engine...except the little tri colour with the spot on her head was called Pollyanna cause she looked like polly and now she has been renamed Annabell so I get very confused! And of course in a few weeks time their names will all change to new ones and a new set of fancy names.
Tora is a brilliant mother but has had me worrying, she still has pale gums( although she is on medication the vets think she has a infection going on somewhere, thus the low blood pressure and high white blood cells that made her so poorly) however she seems bonny enough, apart from smelly wind and being a fussy eater. She’s is not called PRINCESS TORA for nothing and refuse to drink water...only (watered down) milk! She has had been turning her nose up at Puppy kibble and only wants the freshly cooked Chicken and rice. But yesterday there was am improvement and she actually asked for more! (aunty Jo brought her some liver which she scoffed in small doses) and the Yoghurt and kibble was accepted at breakfast this morning. Thank goodness cause the other dogs are taking umbrage that princess Tora is getting all the treats!
The umbilical cords have all fallen off leaving nice smooth belly’s and their noses are just starting to go black. They are growing bigger ever day in front of our eyes
Wednesday 27th August (One week old): Tora seems healthy enough and her gums are not so white today, but still very pale, The antibiotics run out tomorrow so will have a chat with the vets. I tend to be a worrier at the best of times and hate my dogs not being one hundred percent. Hopefully its just down to having a rough delivery and a operation. I am thrilled with the puppies and one half of me wants the next three weeks to go fast so I can play with them, the other half of me wants to slow the clock down so I can snuggle them a few more weeks. Love the little noise they make. Thomas coat is a completely different colour to Edwards its almost a pink shade of grey…maybe a lilac coloured tri merle (Percy has thrown lilac puppies, a very rare colour) however looking up the internet I don t think he is a true lilac and they don t have black patches in the colour so I guess they are just both Blue Tri merles, and I am proud of all my puppies. Still most fascinating, these merles to look at, so completely different to my other pups coats. Can’t wait to see the different characters develop more. Little Thomas is very sweet and he often gets knocked off his teat by the bigger pups, however being submissive doesn’t t mean he is going to be a wimp. Edward is our little bruiser, Clarabell is as big as the two big lads and very strong willed, she objects if you take her away from the milkbar, and refuses to be held back. I love strong naughty bitches so she is my favourite girl at the moment, but hubby loves the little girl with the spot on her head (Annabell), so there are six more weeks to make up my mind and to be honest I also feel I should wait and have a pup from a second litter as Tasha is old and Trio's nose is out of sorts so sharing my attention with another dog would be a little unfair. However do I want the stress of another litter from Tora, although she has been a EXCELLENT mum, and maybe their will be no bitches next time...decisions, decisions!
30th August (Ten days old) : The pups are ten days old and they are starting to walk instead of commando crawling. They look a little like dinosaurs with staggered walks and nodding heads. Also several of them have started to open their eyes and you can see them squinting at you through the slits. Edward was the first to start the walking yesterday afternoon and we also noticed his eyes opening first, although the others are not far behind. This afternoon I was delighted to realise that Edward was actually playing with me and he was trying to bite on my finger. James and Thomas are very affectionate and and when cuddled are now licking my hands. They are all holding their heads up and almost sitting. Annabelle is the most laid back and happy to snuggle she is Jamie's favourite where as the big tri girl, clarabell is my favourite, she already appears to be head strong and squeaks and struggles if I try and stop her getting to the milkbar, as you all know I LOVE naughty puppies.
Just weighed them and they have all put on 5 oz in three days and now weigh between 1b 7 oz and 1b 15 oz......huge puppies. Tora is an excellent mum and is now sitting up to feed the pups for the first few minutes of each mealtime, this is to encourage the puppies to stretch and strengthen their necks. After a while she feels their exercise is complete and she lies down to let them finish their meal.
3rd Sept (Two weeks): The pups have changed so much in the few two days. I hate to keep bigging Edward up cause I know that the other four pups will be equally as loveable, but at the moment he is still pick of litter. Tonight he played for a full ten minutes, and I mean real play, chewing and tugging ( no real force yet) at bits of our clothing, chasing our hand around the floor, rolling over and play growling, he was delightfully. Thomas is a real sweetie and I adore him, but he is at the moment quieter and less pushy, James is affectionate and can stand and shout at the puppy pen gate, demanding to be picked up, once picked up he is happy and snuggles. Clarabell does not just look like her brother James but is similar in character at the moment and is equally as demanding for attention and to be let out of the day pen, however is not cuddles shes after but the chance to get out and play, Annabell is more clever then that’s she just positions herself in front of your hand so that you swoop and pick her up for cuddles. She is my grandchildren’s favourite and she will soak up all the cuddles with out scratching or wriggling.
Friday 5th Sept: puppy play time, short, but oh so much fun. Rolling on their backs whilst attacking my trouser leg and chewing on my fingers and each others ears and noses whilst growling like a "ferbie" (you know those toys in the 1990s). They are sitting up like meer cats and all ready trying to climb out of their day pen. and when they want attention they stand and shout at the pen door to come out to play. Edward is still pick of litter at the moment (within the eight weeks, at one point or another each pup will take its turn to shine) but James and clarabell are very strong characters and quiet pushy and demanding attention and affection. James also has another claims for fame....he pees for England, normally all over himself or over who ever is holding him. Annabelle and Thomas are slightly smaller and less aggressive with demanding attention they are very sweet, they do play and interact with us just the other three characters are so " big". Jo puppy sat this evening whilst we were out celebrating Davids 60th birthday, she enjoyed lots of cuddles, but didn’t get to see them play as they were just tired little puppies.
Monday 8th Sept: Will start weaning them over the next few days, but Tora is doing such a grand job, have had no need to take over. They did have a spoonful of yoghurt yesterday and it was so funny to watch them washing each others faces and feet as they wore more of it then they had eaten. Each day a new adventure.
Tuesday 9th Sept: The pups had their first meal this morning and I made some ready break with half a pint of warm puppy milk, they certainly enjoyed breakfast and their was not much plate washing to do for the bigger dogs when they were allowed back into the room, however the pups were all plastered so granny and great granny were allowed to help Tora in the roll of puppy washing, and as I type this they are now all snuggled up contented and sleepy.
Edward has been climbing onto the lower shelf of my coffee table, he also found a Jay cloth drying on the clothes horse and pulled it off and tried to play tuggy with it. He is still " pick" at the moment, the boldest, biggest and loudest, and I love the way he STRUTS cause he throw a his legs in the air, hopefully very stylish heelwork! He uses his feet a lot in play and pats you with his feet for attention. He also did a puppy bow then threw himself at the cat in play, Bella the Cat was a bit disdainful and walked away, with Edward trying to stalk after her, so funny to watch. Annabell has had to be retrieved from the water bowl on several occasions as she tries
Wednesday 10th Sept (Three weeks): The pups knew what breakfast was about this morning and rushed to the plate licking it clean in minutes, I might even have to think about making a pint of porridge tomorrow instead of half a pint. This afternoon I introduced the second new meal, some lamb kibble soaked in milk, they were less excited about this meal but all tried and had a few biscuits, tomorrow I will stop being lazy and remember to mince the steak I have brought. (Hubby though it was for him!) I do feed kibble but I also prefer to bring my puppies up the old fashion way with Milky breakfast and suppers (or scrabbled egg) and various different minced meats and fish for lunch and dinner sometimes on their own but often mixed with the kibble. I weighed the pups at Lunchtime after their huge breakfast had settled. Edward weights a whopping 3lb 5oz , James 3lb 2oz, Clarabell 3lb, Annabell 2lb 14oz and Thomas the smallest weights 2lb 7oz. The pups get taken next door (my daughter and son in law are my neighbours) to play in the evening and they use to all fit in a yellow plastic crate for the short journey but now with a combined weight of 15lb it is getting a bit too heavy to carry in one go. My granddaughter gets her toy box out and she and the puppies investigate all the toys, especially the toys that move and make different noises. In my lounge the latest BEST toy is my clothes horse, they like to dive in and out of the trailing washing, chewing and tuggy, or just playing hide and seek. Edward was the first to discover this game and snatched a jay cloth and started playing tuggy with it, the others have now followed his lead and make a beeline to it. Annabell has been a little star today I said she was a thinker, she tends to sit and analyse but is not a mouse, she is the first to wonder out of he room and made it to the hall stairs where I found her thinking about attempting the first step. She also climbed into the toy box so she was taller and could latch on to the milkbar as her mother stood having a drink from the water bowl, she is also the pup who climbed into the big dogs water bowl to join her mother in having a drink, and she has had to be rescued from the feed bucket (feeding Tora adlib at the moment so her dried food is left within reach at all times and she is consuming four or five times her normal meals due to providing the “Gold top”) when she had tumbled in after climbing the sides to see what mum had. Annabell also is happy to wonder off and find her own amusements and not just stay with in the safe rage of her siblings. She is also my TEA drinker and likes to up end my teacup and slurp the dregs. The only think is I have to remember not to put full cups down on the floor, or she may well have them over in her eagerness to have her daily tipple. They are now barking instead of the seagull sounds they make and the little growlie sounds. But they still squawk when they want OUT of the day pen or whelping box. Put the pups to bed last night and Edward properly climbed out of the whelping box (about a ten inch step!) put him back a few times and just hoped he would get fed up with this game and would settle in his warm bed with the siblings, relieved to say this morning he was still there and no running amok in the conservatory, but I now know he can escape when he wants to and so will either have to find a way to raise the side with the gateway or just allow them free range of the whole conservatory, which I have to do eventually. Only once they have full access to the room and poop and piddle everywhere it is a major job with the mop and bucket and we get through reams of news paper.
Born Wednesday 20th August
I fell in love with percy a couple of years ago, his pedigree, his looks and most importantly his tempermant, as he has been brought up on a stud farm with other animals and young children. His pedigree suggests that the pups should have workability, good construction and wonderful temperments as Percy’s half sister is OB.CH.Stillmore Celtic Banner, and his full sister is Minkynips is What (1 breed cc, 3 res ) but most of all his pups should be wonderful family pets. I did get cold feet a few months before breeding from Tora as somebody said that he was a touch small for her, so I then dithered between two other stud dogs and it was not till the very last minute that I decided to go with my own gut instinct and so I phoned Louisa. We only had the one mating, on the Saturday afternoon, but I believe in Kismet. Almost from the start I KNEW Tora was in whelp, she suffered no morning sickness or depression like her mother and Grandmother, but she just seemed to “Bloom” and her body changed shape. I did not bother to get her scanned, but by week five you could see her little pot belly. During her pregnancy we had some very, very hot weather, so lovely long walks were out, although she still had the energy to jump back and forth over the garden wall into next doors garden, until about four days before the pups were born. I started to take her temperature three times a day from 8 weeks and was a little alarmed to see that her temperature had dropped on the Monday night (week 8 +2) from 37.5 to 35.9. I had only just got the whelping box down from the attic, found that the base had rotten away and so had to rig up a cardboard whelping box inside a puppy pen, phew, nearly didn t have a bed for the new babies. Anyway moved my camp bed into the dog room. Tora spent the night panting and tearing newspaper, as if she was in early labour, but no sign of pushing. (not much sleep for either of us) When the bitches temperture drops it normally means pups with in 24 hrs but sometimes it can be a little longer, so I was concerned but not panicking and in fact Tuesday during the day Tora seemed more settled, and Tuesday night started the signs for early labour again. The first pups took a long time, to arrive and then with his nose born and not much elses we waited and waited, I phoned the emergency vet four times in the next hour, they kept saying just wait it sometimes takes over an hour. I do feel a little bitter as I knew something was wrong and the puppy was stuck, sadly the first born pup was born an hour and ten minutes later, dead, although he had been alive. He was huge, a very pretty Chocolate and white, classically marked boy, I tried to get his heart going but with no success. Tora just wanted to lick him and refused to let me take him away, then two hours later she delivered the dark merle pup (Edward), Now he arrived in full sound, Squawking and bellowing, she didn’t like that and tried to muffle his shouts by covering him with her neck. I was relieved that at least labour was now in full swing, but it took two hours for the placenta to arrive and another two hours for the next puppy (Annabell) so I was back on the phone to the vets who said bring her in and we will do a C section she just doesn t have any more energy left. At this point I was not worried about any more pups although I knew that were more to come, I just wanted Tora safe and back home. The vets scanned her and said there were hopefully two or three more viable heart beats, so we left her and came home to a very stressfull afternoon wanting to be told any news. Apparently Tora had very low blood pressure and pale gums, possibly due to an unknown infection, and they nearly lost her on the table but when we went to collect her at 4pm she was bouncing around and pleased to see us, and we were introduced to three more puppies, a tri bitch a tri dog and a very pretty merle dog, all a health weight the vet said, ( all the staff in the surgery and had a coo and apparently the vet said they all thought the dark merle pup was a cracker; loud, bossy and a pig, as he shoved his way to the milkbar) It’s a shame that the pups arrived this way as I would have loved to record who was born in what order at what time and what weight, but just grateful that I had five health puppies and my Tora back.
Wednesday 20th August (Birth Day): We brought Tora and the pups home from the vets at 4.30pm. Tora seemed to be very relaxed, happy and chilled out (most have been the drugs she was on) even Apollo was allowed to look and admiring his new nieces and nephews. the new family were put to bed in the conservatory and we both settled down hoping for a good nights sleep, after no much zzzs in the last 48 hrs. The pups just seemed to feed and suckle non stop and ever now and again Tora would get up to stretch her legs and then settle down on a couple at times she sat on a puppy and I had to launch a rescue mission. But to be fair as the pup (normally Edward) was making such a loud noise I guess he wasn’t being squashed too flat, and may well have extracted himself with out my interference. (This is one of the reasons that breeders will often sleep close to the dam and pup for a few weeks. My poor old David has to put up with a lot when I have puppies, late or forgotten dinners, housework done only downstairs, and even when I do return to bed upstairs I get up twice during the night to check all is well and then warm my cold feet on his back.)
Thursday 21st August (One day old): Tora’s medication has worn off, and today her brother Apollo was not even allowed in the room and Granny Trio and Great granny Tasha were not allowed to get into the whelping box, where they were desperate to take a turn in baby sitting. Tora, was also more anxious to have me by her side and when I went out in the kitchen to do breakfast, Tora, was torn between staying with her babies or me, specially when the dark merle boy started yelling, I turn round to find she had gone and collected the pup and brought him too...he was a bit soggy where she had carried him in her mouth. So now I am on restricted rest being too frighten to go upstairs in case she insists on bringing a puppy up there to me. What a chore not being able to do housework and having to spend the day dreaming over the whelping box.
I eventually was able to weigh the pups, the vet was right they were a good weight, all weighting in between 11.5 oz to 15 oz’s. The dark merle pup even from the start would push and barge himself to the best teats even if one of the others were already on that teat. We tried to give the two smallest puppies a head start, but there will always be a strong puppy in the litter who is going to be boss and those that are a little more summissive.
Friday 22nd august (Two days old): Tora seems fine in her self although still has very pale gums and needs encouraging to eat & drink. Hopefully the antibiotics will kick in soon and make her feel a lot brighter, she is happy to go and dig holes…in my garden, in her bed and MY CARPET under the clothes horse! Oh well I try to balance the bad with the good and she is being a EXCELLENT mum. Most of the pups now weigh over a pound and even the smallest pup weights more then Tasha did at this age.I must stop picking up and cuddling the boys....I should be bonding with the two girls and deciding which one I like, but fascinated with the boys. The pups are such time wasters and I spend hours just cooing over the sides whilst cuddling Toar and telling her what a good girl she is.
Saturday 23 rd August (Three days old): Phew Tora has just asked for seconds!! For the last week she has been off her food and has only eaten sparsely, tonight she asked for more yoghurt and then ate a few boring biscuits. Must have been the liver that aunty Jo brought to temp her appetite.
Monday 25th August(Five days old) : Pups are doing fine and are already forming characters, they have been christened by Jamie after Characters from Thomas the Tank engine...except the little tri colour with the spot on her head was called Pollyanna cause she looked like polly and now she has been renamed Annabell so I get very confused! And of course in a few weeks time their names will all change to new ones and a new set of fancy names.
Tora is a brilliant mother but has had me worrying, she still has pale gums( although she is on medication the vets think she has a infection going on somewhere, thus the low blood pressure and high white blood cells that made her so poorly) however she seems bonny enough, apart from smelly wind and being a fussy eater. She’s is not called PRINCESS TORA for nothing and refuse to drink water...only (watered down) milk! She has had been turning her nose up at Puppy kibble and only wants the freshly cooked Chicken and rice. But yesterday there was am improvement and she actually asked for more! (aunty Jo brought her some liver which she scoffed in small doses) and the Yoghurt and kibble was accepted at breakfast this morning. Thank goodness cause the other dogs are taking umbrage that princess Tora is getting all the treats!
The umbilical cords have all fallen off leaving nice smooth belly’s and their noses are just starting to go black. They are growing bigger ever day in front of our eyes
Wednesday 27th August (One week old): Tora seems healthy enough and her gums are not so white today, but still very pale, The antibiotics run out tomorrow so will have a chat with the vets. I tend to be a worrier at the best of times and hate my dogs not being one hundred percent. Hopefully its just down to having a rough delivery and a operation. I am thrilled with the puppies and one half of me wants the next three weeks to go fast so I can play with them, the other half of me wants to slow the clock down so I can snuggle them a few more weeks. Love the little noise they make. Thomas coat is a completely different colour to Edwards its almost a pink shade of grey…maybe a lilac coloured tri merle (Percy has thrown lilac puppies, a very rare colour) however looking up the internet I don t think he is a true lilac and they don t have black patches in the colour so I guess they are just both Blue Tri merles, and I am proud of all my puppies. Still most fascinating, these merles to look at, so completely different to my other pups coats. Can’t wait to see the different characters develop more. Little Thomas is very sweet and he often gets knocked off his teat by the bigger pups, however being submissive doesn’t t mean he is going to be a wimp. Edward is our little bruiser, Clarabell is as big as the two big lads and very strong willed, she objects if you take her away from the milkbar, and refuses to be held back. I love strong naughty bitches so she is my favourite girl at the moment, but hubby loves the little girl with the spot on her head (Annabell), so there are six more weeks to make up my mind and to be honest I also feel I should wait and have a pup from a second litter as Tasha is old and Trio's nose is out of sorts so sharing my attention with another dog would be a little unfair. However do I want the stress of another litter from Tora, although she has been a EXCELLENT mum, and maybe their will be no bitches next time...decisions, decisions!
30th August (Ten days old) : The pups are ten days old and they are starting to walk instead of commando crawling. They look a little like dinosaurs with staggered walks and nodding heads. Also several of them have started to open their eyes and you can see them squinting at you through the slits. Edward was the first to start the walking yesterday afternoon and we also noticed his eyes opening first, although the others are not far behind. This afternoon I was delighted to realise that Edward was actually playing with me and he was trying to bite on my finger. James and Thomas are very affectionate and and when cuddled are now licking my hands. They are all holding their heads up and almost sitting. Annabelle is the most laid back and happy to snuggle she is Jamie's favourite where as the big tri girl, clarabell is my favourite, she already appears to be head strong and squeaks and struggles if I try and stop her getting to the milkbar, as you all know I LOVE naughty puppies.
Just weighed them and they have all put on 5 oz in three days and now weigh between 1b 7 oz and 1b 15 oz......huge puppies. Tora is an excellent mum and is now sitting up to feed the pups for the first few minutes of each mealtime, this is to encourage the puppies to stretch and strengthen their necks. After a while she feels their exercise is complete and she lies down to let them finish their meal.
3rd Sept (Two weeks): The pups have changed so much in the few two days. I hate to keep bigging Edward up cause I know that the other four pups will be equally as loveable, but at the moment he is still pick of litter. Tonight he played for a full ten minutes, and I mean real play, chewing and tugging ( no real force yet) at bits of our clothing, chasing our hand around the floor, rolling over and play growling, he was delightfully. Thomas is a real sweetie and I adore him, but he is at the moment quieter and less pushy, James is affectionate and can stand and shout at the puppy pen gate, demanding to be picked up, once picked up he is happy and snuggles. Clarabell does not just look like her brother James but is similar in character at the moment and is equally as demanding for attention and to be let out of the day pen, however is not cuddles shes after but the chance to get out and play, Annabell is more clever then that’s she just positions herself in front of your hand so that you swoop and pick her up for cuddles. She is my grandchildren’s favourite and she will soak up all the cuddles with out scratching or wriggling.
Friday 5th Sept: puppy play time, short, but oh so much fun. Rolling on their backs whilst attacking my trouser leg and chewing on my fingers and each others ears and noses whilst growling like a "ferbie" (you know those toys in the 1990s). They are sitting up like meer cats and all ready trying to climb out of their day pen. and when they want attention they stand and shout at the pen door to come out to play. Edward is still pick of litter at the moment (within the eight weeks, at one point or another each pup will take its turn to shine) but James and clarabell are very strong characters and quiet pushy and demanding attention and affection. James also has another claims for fame....he pees for England, normally all over himself or over who ever is holding him. Annabelle and Thomas are slightly smaller and less aggressive with demanding attention they are very sweet, they do play and interact with us just the other three characters are so " big". Jo puppy sat this evening whilst we were out celebrating Davids 60th birthday, she enjoyed lots of cuddles, but didn’t get to see them play as they were just tired little puppies.
Monday 8th Sept: Will start weaning them over the next few days, but Tora is doing such a grand job, have had no need to take over. They did have a spoonful of yoghurt yesterday and it was so funny to watch them washing each others faces and feet as they wore more of it then they had eaten. Each day a new adventure.
Tuesday 9th Sept: The pups had their first meal this morning and I made some ready break with half a pint of warm puppy milk, they certainly enjoyed breakfast and their was not much plate washing to do for the bigger dogs when they were allowed back into the room, however the pups were all plastered so granny and great granny were allowed to help Tora in the roll of puppy washing, and as I type this they are now all snuggled up contented and sleepy.
Edward has been climbing onto the lower shelf of my coffee table, he also found a Jay cloth drying on the clothes horse and pulled it off and tried to play tuggy with it. He is still " pick" at the moment, the boldest, biggest and loudest, and I love the way he STRUTS cause he throw a his legs in the air, hopefully very stylish heelwork! He uses his feet a lot in play and pats you with his feet for attention. He also did a puppy bow then threw himself at the cat in play, Bella the Cat was a bit disdainful and walked away, with Edward trying to stalk after her, so funny to watch. Annabell has had to be retrieved from the water bowl on several occasions as she tries
Wednesday 10th Sept (Three weeks): The pups knew what breakfast was about this morning and rushed to the plate licking it clean in minutes, I might even have to think about making a pint of porridge tomorrow instead of half a pint. This afternoon I introduced the second new meal, some lamb kibble soaked in milk, they were less excited about this meal but all tried and had a few biscuits, tomorrow I will stop being lazy and remember to mince the steak I have brought. (Hubby though it was for him!) I do feed kibble but I also prefer to bring my puppies up the old fashion way with Milky breakfast and suppers (or scrabbled egg) and various different minced meats and fish for lunch and dinner sometimes on their own but often mixed with the kibble. I weighed the pups at Lunchtime after their huge breakfast had settled. Edward weights a whopping 3lb 5oz , James 3lb 2oz, Clarabell 3lb, Annabell 2lb 14oz and Thomas the smallest weights 2lb 7oz. The pups get taken next door (my daughter and son in law are my neighbours) to play in the evening and they use to all fit in a yellow plastic crate for the short journey but now with a combined weight of 15lb it is getting a bit too heavy to carry in one go. My granddaughter gets her toy box out and she and the puppies investigate all the toys, especially the toys that move and make different noises. In my lounge the latest BEST toy is my clothes horse, they like to dive in and out of the trailing washing, chewing and tuggy, or just playing hide and seek. Edward was the first to discover this game and snatched a jay cloth and started playing tuggy with it, the others have now followed his lead and make a beeline to it. Annabell has been a little star today I said she was a thinker, she tends to sit and analyse but is not a mouse, she is the first to wonder out of he room and made it to the hall stairs where I found her thinking about attempting the first step. She also climbed into the toy box so she was taller and could latch on to the milkbar as her mother stood having a drink from the water bowl, she is also the pup who climbed into the big dogs water bowl to join her mother in having a drink, and she has had to be rescued from the feed bucket (feeding Tora adlib at the moment so her dried food is left within reach at all times and she is consuming four or five times her normal meals due to providing the “Gold top”) when she had tumbled in after climbing the sides to see what mum had. Annabell also is happy to wonder off and find her own amusements and not just stay with in the safe rage of her siblings. She is also my TEA drinker and likes to up end my teacup and slurp the dregs. The only think is I have to remember not to put full cups down on the floor, or she may well have them over in her eagerness to have her daily tipple. They are now barking instead of the seagull sounds they make and the little growlie sounds. But they still squawk when they want OUT of the day pen or whelping box. Put the pups to bed last night and Edward properly climbed out of the whelping box (about a ten inch step!) put him back a few times and just hoped he would get fed up with this game and would settle in his warm bed with the siblings, relieved to say this morning he was still there and no running amok in the conservatory, but I now know he can escape when he wants to and so will either have to find a way to raise the side with the gateway or just allow them free range of the whole conservatory, which I have to do eventually. Only once they have full access to the room and poop and piddle everywhere it is a major job with the mop and bucket and we get through reams of news paper.