One week, one day

Thursday, Feb. 16

The puppies are weighed regularly to make sure everyone is gaining. At birth, the weights ranged from 11.6 ounces to 15.8 ounces with a surprise female coming out last at 1.5 pounds. Because there are a lot of pups in the litter, the smaller ones may get pushed out so it's important to make sure they get a turn at the milk bar and that they are all gaining.

I'm happy to report that at one week, one day all the pups had doubled their birth weights and 6 of them are over 2 pounds. So far, so good. Here they are with all 9 trying to get a piece of the action.

Maya is doing well also. She likes to watch if anything interesting is going on but most of the time she is doing this......

First nail trim

It's been a few days but now the weekend is here and I have a chance to update on the puppy progress. Raising healthy puppies is a full-time job, mostly for Lindor but I have to do my share as well which is tricky when one is working full-time.

My friend Jen, a fellow NSD Breeder-Caretaker (Equoia) is my right hand woman when it comes to nail trimming. The puppies dig in their paws when nursing and it can scratch Momma's belly. We usually cut nails about once a week. That's 36 sets of feet to trim. The pupppies are placed in a baby bath tub warmed with a heating pad so we know whose turn it is. They get their pedicure, then go back in to the whelping box. I don't handle them much at this age. It is up to Mom to take care of their needs.

                                                   

As long as the puppies aren't squirming, it goes pretty well. Nails were first trimmed on Tues. Feb 14 at 6 days of age.