Almost weaned

Both litters are almost weaned. Both Gilda and Keena showed signs of being uncomfortable while pups were nursing and started to snap at them. Most pups have their teeth out so they are ready to make a complete switch! Right now they get 3-4 meals a day, depending on our schedule. They are fed Omas Pride http://www.omaspride.com/ raw turkey and chicken mixes, Canidae or Eagle Pack canned food, and soon we will introduce dry kibble. We also have several bags of frozen chicken necks, and we will start feeding them next week. The necks will be handy when we start crating pups for an hour or two. Pups are familiar with a crate now as there is a crate in each of their pens, and they go there on their own to take naps. But the time is coming to start putting each pup to a crate. With some litters there is no problem with crate training at all, but with others pups take some time to get used to it.

Of course Geico has been most advanced when it comes to diet and sleeping by himself  because we had to handle him separately from other pups and moms. He has been eating on his own for several weeks now, and he has been sleeping by himself in our kitchen. I would have never expected myself to respond to this puppy the way I do. He is so bright and affectionate that it is very hard not to get bonded to him. We still don't know what exactly his problem might be. He continues to weigh around 50% of what his siblings weigh, but differences do not end in the size only. His limbs are quite long, bones are thin, and he seems to lack any fat (no matter how much he eats). He likes to lie next to our fridge, in a warm spot on the tile floor. The other day I saw a program on TV "Born Different", and one of the children showed in the program has a condition called primordial dwarfism. You can see a youtube video on Kenadie here. Well, I can see similarities in Kenadie and Geico's conditions. Next week Jeff Springer, DVM, is coming here to breed Tilly so we'll see what he thinks. I am sure that there are many abnormalities that might manifest themselves in a reduced size. Well, we don't know what future holds for Geico, but we both really enjoy him.