DAY 15

ATTACK

OF THE

POD PUPPIES

Day 14 2 WEEKS OLD!

Wow are the spuds moving! We must be moving from the prehistoric era into the age of the Mastodon.

Puppies' eyes are open but their eyesight isn't fully developed yet. The pups are definitely moving with more purpose as they pick out paths rather than toddle in a straight line.

I've lined the walls of the whelping box with all kinds of objects to stimulate their minds. My friend Lavena suggested getting things to hang from above in order to help them 'look up.' For TinTin's litter I just had drawings on the whelping box wall.. this time I've added dangling things that the puppies can bump into. There are several International Dog Show Medallions, several baby toys (I got from the thrift store) and a small blanket with patterns. The blanket is draped down one side and the puppies love crawling behind it. You can see the blanket moving and hear the jingle jangle of the medallions behind it. Of course there's no scientific evidence that this helps the puppy's development.. but it certainly can’t hurt. I hope that different textures rubbing on them and different objects casually banging into will will help stimulate their nervous system and get them used to all kinds of 'touch.' I've already been adding different textures for them to walk on and started routinely providing a variety of noises.

The puppies are starting to poop and pee on their own. Ico is still keeping everything very clean so no work for me yet on that account. I've divided the whelping box into two sections now; one for living and one for potting. I made the whelping box bigger than normal just for this purpose (oh.... and so I can sit in it comfortably with the puppies :)

Here's a little tour of the puppy room:

Day 13

HEY

THEM TATERS

GOT

EYES

Pink/D'Lay

Greenie

Greenie wins the prize for first eyes open and D'Lay gets second place. The rest have cracks showing some light but not quite open. I expect by the end of the day they will all be fully open. Their eyesight is very limited at this point but it's clear that they have a new perspective of the world . They've all been bopping around the whelping box like bumper cars this morning.

Day 12 continued....

Thought it would be fun to see a comparison of puppy growth

(stopped weighing them... couldn't fit them on the scale as of a few days ago)

Day 12 (Thursday)

Eyes are openning!

This morning you could see tiny glints of light reflecting back from the puppies eyes. They are still small slits but even their behavior is starting to change. There seems to be more purpose in their walking (tumbling) and less dependancy on their noses. It'll be several weeks before their eyesight is completely developed, but they are now ambulatory! We're at a stage where the puppies will begin to gain independance.

Here's the previous chart: 3days to 12 days. We're now onto the next stage of puppy development: The transitional stage (3rd chart). For those of you who've tolerated the weeks of puppy blobs.... we're now entering into a more dynamic phase of development!

Here is the developmental chart illustrating our puppy development starting day 12:

BOttomS UP

Greenie

Blue/Lizzy

Day 11

Serious puppy breath today!

up until now it hasn't been that apparent. Ico seems to be focusing more attention to cleaning their heads, ears and eyes now too. Maybe she's just trying to drink in more of that sweet breath.

as per Anne's request here are some pictures of Orange Poppy. For a little girl who is the stillest of the bunch it's almost impossible to get one of her without her moving!

Day 10 continued....... DINOSAUR DAYS....

Behold...... The prehistoric potatoes with legs.........