Litter Notes

 

May 23 2024 - I hardly even know this litter is there. All pups nurse well, sleep well, and have no issues to report.  I will hear baby alligotor-like noises every once in a while. Baloo is very careful with them and it is amazing to see her lay down to nurse them; fitting herself smoothly and precisely between the pups so not to crush them. She is RAVENOUSLY hungry the past few days and I bet its Thunder taking most of her resources. Every time I look that little puppy is eating.  Jack is so funny when he finds the sweet spot during nursing you can hear him gulp and sing at the same time. Neonatal puppies will "humm" when they nurse. I call it singing. Sometimes when its a particularly hungry day for them the whelping box sounds like a bee's nest - humming and vibrating the whole area. Thats when you know you've got a good litter.  Sugar is the laziest of them all, moving with intention and not wasting energy on bobbing around aimlessly. Firefly is the most charismatic, already putting his siblings whole nose in his mouth. You will always find lightning sleeping on her back, twitching Colorado Mountain Dog dreams of her goat fortune.

June 10 2024 - This litter has been keeping me a little busier than normal. Through no fault of their own and everyone is A-OK now.  Everything was going GREAT with the pups, momma and all the other dogs that reside around them.  And then one day Sugar came down with a sniffly nose.  I brought her to the vet right away and an xray said lungs were clear. No fever, no diarrhea, just a mucousy nose.   Sent us home with a mild dose of antibiotics. the next morning 6 out of seven pups had the same thing and one by one all the other dogs did too. Back to the vet we go. A culture was done and CANINE coronavirus 2 was the culprit. Basically a doggy cold.  We had them all srtay home from school and they got to watch cartoons in their PJ's on the couch.    All pups are totally clear and acting 100% normal.  The concequent cleaning and uber sanitizing everything has sucked up alot of my time.  Apologies for running behind.

The exception is little Abeliene - or Abby as we've taken to calling her. She always was the smallest and little by little the other pups outgrew her. It didn't take very long and she was having a heck of a time getting a spot at the milk bar. She started to get quite weak so we began feeding her with Baloo separately since June 10th.   Also giving her syringe feeding of puppy milk replacer between Baloo feedings. I'd say she's all caught up and has her strength back, however has remained half the size of the other pups.   

We've had a couple of days where the puppy area has gotten to 88 degrees. Pups were inconsolable until we were able to get the room back down to below 81. Anything above that and they all get visibly uncomfortable.  They have no problem voicing it either.   Firefly is like his dad in that he vocalizes his every thought.  The Lion was rubbed down with cool water a few times, so he now runs over and rubs into our hands.  Lots of personality in Thunder, she doesn't mind sharing it.  She doesn't mind much of anything actually - very accommodating puppy. Jack Straw is always in the middle of everything, curious and engaging. Sugar is as sweet as her name suggests.  Was the first to wag her tail and still wags almost always.  Lazy Lightening is also living up to her name. If I see a white bundle of fluff sleeping its probably lightening. Takes her take with everything, always last to arrive.  Abby is always hungry, becomes almost frantic at feeding time, concentrates very hard on getting as much as she can.  When its over we give her a little sponge bath and she sits in a towel in our laos and falls asleep.  

Three week temperament tests went very well. None of the pups scored below a 6.   Notes to follow on each pups page.