The changes in the pups this week are huge – they are now little dogs, things you notice are:
- They can hear, and react when I open the pen door, drop things and chat to them, even wagging their tails (that just brings a lump to my throat) – this is one of the reasons it is important to buy a puppy from a breeder who has their pups inside the house amidst the day to day activity, then pups get quickly acclimatised to “normal” day to day sounds, they are so much better at coping with what life throws at them when reared in heart of home.
- They can stand and walk in a fashion, ok so they wobble a lot and fall over – but they are definitely walking rather than “swimming” around the pen, and they are even strong enough to try and feed off Mera standing up if she is busy cleaning up after their lunch.
- Their eye sight is now much better and they are spatially aware and will lick my nose if I hold them up to my face
- They have tried Royal Canin puppy mousse and loved it! This is a great weaning food as it is so palatable it takes only a few licks off your finger to get the idea, and soon they are licking from a raised plate (and standing in it!). When puppies were feeding from my fingers I could also feel their teeth starting to erupt from the gums, so won’t be long before they are little piranhas.
- After feeding they are playful, playing bitey face with each other, nibbling their mum’s paws, and definitely interacting with each other. They even try to illicit regurgitation reflex from their mum, by licking/pawing at her muzzle, but rarely see bitches regurgitate their food these days, I guess she is too fond of her food and knows I will provide. (watch the video below)
- They are vocal, before their ears were open you would only have cries if they were unable to locate the milk bar, now they bark and grumble at each other as they interact.
- The puppy pen is 90% covered in bedding for comfort and mainly to give pups traction as they move about – but it is funny how they migrate to the small area which is bare newspaper, simply because it it coolest, but its not good for their joints to be slipping about as this stage – so I persist with a covering of bedding in the main area.
Close up head shots this week (not great as had to take on my ancient phone with no assistant), click on the small photos to open a bigger image.
