Into the big puppy pen

This morning, I moved the pups into the big pen in the living room and the pups settled in relatively easily.  Juliette is such a pro, she is totally unfazed by these transitions any more.  The last couple of days, the pups had been doing a great job using the litter box in the small pen.  With some encouragement, have already had litter box action from Denver and Teller in the new pen.  The pups also received their first meal from a pan Friday evening, and did well.  A very polite bunch of eaters that take their time.  Juliette will appreciate the help since the pups now have teeth. 

The big puppy pen.  Litter box in the upper left of the pic, and half gate with homemade roller bar on
top in the lower right corner

Pups trying out the new beds

Juliette checking out the new arrangement

The roller bar isn't going to contain these pups for long, then will need to upgrade to the higher gate

Escapee

The pups have been starting to look over the half gate, and I was wondering if we would make it until the weekend before moving the pups out of the small bedroom pen.  When I got home for work on Thursday evening, I heard some distinct puppy crying from the bedroom.  I went in to check, and found Boulder loose in the bedroom.  Not only was he loose, but he looked like a stuffed tick.  Nancy said that she had left at 3:15 pm, but Boulder had been out long enough to take advantage of lots of private nursing.  I put him back in the pen, and he crashed with a very full tummy.  When I went in later to feed the pups some kibble, he still was still very rotund and hardly woke up.  Nor did he wake up for the before bedtime bottle of goat milk.  Friday morning, he was back to normal and none the worse for the experience. 

3 weeks old



Teller

Sorry, just one pic to share.  The pups are doing well, but have been high maintenance the last few days.  Lots of supplimental feeding (bottle and canned food) and lots of laundry.   The pups are still in the small pen in my bedroom, and are clueless about the litter box, although they seem to be favoring the one corner of the pen closest to the litter box as the preferred toileting area.  Thirty plus pounds of rapidly growing puppies makes for lots of bedding changes.  The pups all gained at least 1 lb last week.  Denver is the big boy at 4 lbs 9 oz, he also had the most impressive weekly weight gain (1 lb 9 oz).  Carson is still the small pup at 3 lbs 9 oz and Teller weighed 3 lbs 10 oz.  Most of the pups weigh 4 lbs and a few ounces.  Carson and Teller still require private nursing, especially now that Juliette is encouraging the pups to nurse while she stands.  This really favors the bigger, stronger pups.  Juliette is eating 9 cups of high calorie kibble per day, plus  hard boiled egg and chicken, and is still ravenous.  This weekend, I will move the pups into the big puppy pen and introduce the pups to soaked puppy kibble.  

Puppy pics

New puppy pen, you can see how mobile the pups are getting

Rugby scrum, Summit on top

Teller and Dillon

Carson walking

Denver walking

Dillon looking at the camera

Busy puppies

The pups are coming to life.  Yesterday evening, I moved the pups into a small puppy pen in my bedroom and upgraded their collars to real snap collars.  This time of year, it is easier to keep my bedroom warmer than the main part of the house, so I will keep the pups in there for another week.  The pups easily made the adjustment, the flat pen floor provides a better surface to practice walking, and easier access for people.  Next bedding change, I plan to bump out the pen to include a small litter box area (crate pan with newspapers).  For the last few days, the other dogs have had free access to the puppy pool/pen, and Juliette has been fine with that arrangement.  Auntie Tacara has been interested in the pups and is helping out with clean up duties, but great granddam Yuma is totally indifferent.  Yuma was never all that keen about puppies even when they were her own, she is all about people.  Nancy noted yesterday that she heard the first puppy bark.  This litter has been exceptionally quiet, but this morning before I got up, I also noticed that the pups were more vocal.  So I tested their hearing by clapping, and sure enough, multiple little heads popped up.  Thursday morning, the pups were a bit fussy with empty tummies and decreased weight gains, so I offered them all a bottle of goat milk.  They all accepted the bottle the first time, and happily filled up their tummies.  And then Thursday evening, I introduced canned food, and again, it was a hit.  The pups are quickly catching on to how to prehend solid food.  Summit and Teller are the most enthusiastic eaters.  The pups are currently getting 1 tsp of canned food twice a day, but haven't required any more bottles.  As of this morning, all the pups weight at least 3 lbs -  Carson barely squeaked in at 3 lbs. 

2 week old puppy pics

Carson, eyes open

Dillon practicing walking

Mouth wrestling

Summit

Waldo, eyes open

Waldo, doing his BioSensor exercises

Silly Juliette, curled up in one of the puppy tubs, supervising what is going on with her pups

View from above

2 weeks old

The Colorado gang are doing great.  All the pups have their eyes open, Summit and Dillon finally opened their eyes just today.  It is fun to see them starting to interact with the toys and each other.  They are practicing their walking and already moving away from their resting place to toilet. Weight gains this week were amazingly uniform, most pups gained a little over 1 lb (2-3 oz per day).  The outlier was Teller who lost out on a day of gain last weekend and only gained 13 oz for the week, but he is currently doing fine.   Carson is still the small pup at 2 lbs 8 oz., but it is all relative - little Carson is almost as big as the biggest pup in Juliette's Musical Litter at this age.  Dillon is the big boy at 3 lbs 3 oz.   Carson and Teller are getting most of the private nursing sessions.  Juliette is chowing down on 8 cups of high calorie food per day, but barely keeping up with demand.  We have not done any bottle feeding yet, but probably will be by the end of the week.  Together, the pups weigh almost 27 lbs, and Juliette's normal weight is only around 62 lbs - she is an amazing mama.  Tomorrow, the pups will get their first taste of a bit of canned food.  

Name	Birthweight	10/10/12
Denver	18.4 oz	3 lbs 1 oz
Telluride “Teller”	17.4 oz	2 lbs 10 oz
Waldo	16 oz	2 lbs 15 oz
Estes	13.4 oz	2 lbs 14 oz
Boulder	15.6 oz	3 lbs 1 oz
Carson	12.2 oz	2 lbs 8 oz
Summit	15.8 oz	2 lbs 15 oz
Dillon	17.6 oz	3 lbs 3 oz
Vail	16 oz	2 lbs 14 oz