Rain and thunderstorms in the forecast so puppies are going to stay inside

Today we had several new developments. In the morning we brought Paika to the kitchen with hope that she would be gentle enough with Geico. For the most part she was, and things went very well. He is so tiny in comparison to her that all the interaction has to be done with us present, under our supervision. But little guy had  a lot of fun playing with Paika, and after 20 minutes he was exhausted.

We had several scattered showers so pups had to come inside a few times. Tonight the forecast calls for thunderstorms so a shed is not a good place for the pups to stay in alone overnight. They are not ready for this kind of stress. So both litters got reunited and they are going to spend the night inside in the pen filled with wood chips. The pen is attached to a big whelping box, which now serves as sleeping and playing area for the pups. When they need to go to bathroom they use the wood chips in the pen. We have used this system for many years and it has been working very well. This way, puppies learn early to be clean and not to soil their bed.

Q-pups spend their night on their own

Keena's puppies turned 5 weeks old today. Last night for the first time they spent a night by themselves, without Keena. Until yesterday they stayed in my office, but it was getting too crowded so we moved them to the fenced pen, which is attached to a shed. This setup is described in this post from 2009. Keena seems to be relieved to have a break from the pups over the night, and they did not seem to be too stressed out about the new situation.

Today there was a drizzle, and it was a good opportunity to get pups out onto the wet grass and the gravel driveway. New experiences are very important at this age. We also sprinkled some deer blood on the grass to see whether the pups would respond to the scent (yes, they did). Puppies also had a chance to meet other dogs - Joeri and Tommy.

Puppies playing with deer legs

Today pups were exposed to deer legs. They liked it very much.

Q-pups go for a walk

Keena's puppies went for a short walk today. The idea is to have them follow me, and when they do, they get awarded with praise. When the weather is good, pups stay outside in one of the pens. As we want them to be flexible - they do not have any routine. Time of feeding varies, and food varies on daily basis. They are moved from one pen to another, and we change their toys often too.

Below are pictures of Quantum, who today was 850 gr. He is an adorable puppy, but he looks very different from other pups. Actually, we decided that he reminds us of gecko from Geico commercials and we are calling him Geico. Today I put him together with his litter mates for about 20 minutes and watched him. He tried to dominate other pups but they were sleepy and they really did not mind.

Gilda's pups at 4 weeks

Tuesday was a difficult day as Gilda was sick. In the morning she was sluggish, and when I took her temperature it was 104.2. She did not want to eat, and she felt really poorly. I gave her several doses of oral calcium and in the afternoon her temperature went down to 102.7. But she still was without energy and would not eat. After talking to our vet, we put her on Clavamox (antibiotic). She improved overnight and today she was much better. Not a 100% yet though. We limited her access to puppies today, and they were fine today eating mainly raw diet.

They turned four weeks old yesterday, and today I took some pics of them.

The first picture is of Roulet, she was 1370 gr, I rated her coat as 4.5, and her teeth are just starting to come out.

Rilla (white collar) is 1320 gr, her coat is 4, and her teeth are starting to come out now.

Ranger (black) is 1440 gr, his coat is 2, and half of his teeth are out.

Remy (yellow) is 1430 gr, his coat is 2, and half of his teeth are out.

Ruger (red) is 1580 gr, his coat is 4 and his teeth are just starting to come out.

Well, it is disappointing to see three coats (out of 5) that will be on a soft and longer side. But this is something typical in wirehaired dachshunds. If a breeder selects for harsh and shorter coats, smooth coats show up. If the pendulum swings in the other direction, softer coats might dominate.

First training session

Yesterday was a very busy day. Good friends of ours, Larry Gohlke and Cheri Faust, spent a day with us while on their way home from NATC events. But first in the morning I went to pick up Quantum (Green Boy). This is a picture of Jeremiah with the puppy. Thank you Jeremiah for everything you have done for Quantum.

The puppy is very different looking from any puppies I have ever seen. He is considerably smaller than his litter mates, his bones seem thinner and he seems to be lacking fat tissue. He has a good appetite, is active and alert, bright and affectionate, but physically he is different. I thought that he might be able to spend some time with other pups, but they are just too large and rough for him. We will try to socialize him with other dogs but this is going to be a challenge because of his size.

Larry and Cheri played with the pups, who had their first training session with a deer hide. In the picture to the left you can see Quantum with other pups. Developmentally he is not lagging behind, but in comparison he looks frail. We will hold on to him for a while to see how he continues to develop before we make any decisions about him. It is good that we did not take reservations for working homes for all our puppies!

Puppies had a good time chewing on a smelly deer hide.

Keena's pups at four weeks

Today Keena's pups turned four weeks old. I went over them in some detail, and these are my observations:
Queenie Yellow (below) 1260 gr, her teeth are just starting to come out, coat should excellent, not too short or long, on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 very short, smooth and 5 long and soft, I'd give her 2.

Quanta Pink (below)  1500 gr, her incissors and canines are all out, looks like a short coat that I'd score 1

Quella Orange (below) 1475 gr, again incissors and canines are out, short coat with ascore of 1

Questa Lime  1275 gr, no teeth yet, coat quite short on the body, but longer on her face, 3

Quipster White 1680 gr (huge puppy), teeth are just starting to come out, coat score 4
 

 
Quantum Green don't know, we'll pick him up on Monday
 
Quick Red 1215 gr, no teeth, coat score 4

Quentin Light Blue 1470 gr, teeth are just starting to come out, coat score 2.5

Quint Navy 1260 gr, teeth are just starting to come out, coat score 3

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Also today, for the first time pups from both litters spend some time together in a pen. This is a video clip taken during this session:

To see it at a different resolution, click here.

Learning how to drink from a dish

Gilda's puppies turned three weeks old yesterday, and today I offered them some Esbilac. They acted hungry, and Gilda was not too eager to let them nurse. Pups' erupting teeth are very sharp, and now both Keena and Gilda try to stay away from pups for longer stretches of time. I don't think pups got any Esbilac in, but it was a good try. Gilda finished the meal, and pups were learning from mom what to do with the "stuff" on a plate.

Puppies do not spend much time in their whelping boxes anymore. Keena's litter has a basically free run of my office. They are really good about sleeping in one area, where I put a couple of beds for them and trying to go to bathroom away from their nest. Keena still tends to all their needs. Every day they explore a bit further. Now they respond to my voice and come when I talk to them. They also start to play with one another. It is fun to have puppies in the office, but not a lot of work can be done this way.

Finally some good weather for puppies

Finally we had a good day - warm and sunny. Both litters had a chance to spend several hours outside, just in front of our front porch.

Update on Quantum (Green Boy)

I had a nice call from Jeremiah with update on Quantum (Green Boy). He is doing really well, and over the weekend put on 3 ounces. If everything goes well, he will be coming home in a week.

Gilda's pups at 18 days - Friday pictures

We are back to lousy, wet weather so I am glad that on Friday Gilda's pups had a chance to go outside too.

Puppies got their names

Today we decided to give puppies their registered names. It will be easier to refer to puppies by their names instead of colors. Puppies' new owners will be able to use their own call names; the below names will be used on pups' AKC registration papers.

Q-PUPPIES (Joeri/Keena)

Boys:
1. Quantum   Green
2. Quick   Red
3. Quentin   Light Blue
4. Quint   Navy

Girls:
5. Queenie   Yellow
6. Quanta   Pink
7. Quella   Orange
8. Questa   Lime
9. Quipster   White

R-PUPPIES (Joeri/Gilda)

Boys:
1. Ranger   Black
2. Remy   Yellow
3. Ruger   Red

Girls:
4. Rilla   White
5. Roulet   Pink

First time outside for Keena's pups

Finally today we had a very nice day and our first chance to take puppies outside. Puppies were not too stressed out but Keena was a bit concerned. The most adventerous was White Girl, who has a take charge attitude.

Good news from Jeremiah

I heard from Jeremiah, and it was all good news. The Green Collar Boy is doing well. He put on 30 gr (1 oz), but he hates being fed from the bottle. Maybe this is why I was having problems with feeding him this way. So Jeremiah feeds him by tube, and he also has introduced special canned food, which apparently is very much to the pup's liking. Anyway, the puppy sleeps through the night without feeding, and is active during the day. Jeremiah feels that he will be able to come home when he starts to drink on his own. So far so good.

Watching, walking and talking

The first row of pics show Keena's pups, and the second row pics show Gilda's pups. Puppies are getting more active with every day even though they sleep a lot. They can smell, see, hear, walk and bark. They like to be stroked and petted, and now they can even give wet kisses. I take them out of their whelping box several times a day, handle them individually, let them move and walk/crawl on a different surface such as tiles. From my first observations it seems that there might be only one puppy with a short coat. Some pups with have fuller and longer coats, that's for sure.

Tomorrow we should hear from Jeremiah; hopefully Green puppy is making progress.

Kindness that exceeded all expectations - a big thank you to our vets

I have been worrying about Green boy, who is mothered by Gilda. Developmentally he is not lagging behind, but in the last two days he started to lose weight. He peaked at 550 gr two days ago. I have been trying to bottle feed him but without great results. I could see that he occasionally nursed, and Gilda was cleaning him, but the weight loss was troublesome. Yet, he did not look like a sick puppy at the end of his life.

I knew that I had to do something as watching him deteriorate was not an option. Today I took the pup to our vet. His heart sounds good, and Dr. Baldwin agreed that he does not look like a dying puppy that has to be put down. But the question how we could help him did not have a simple answer. He could be losing in the competition with stronger pups, and most pups in Q and R litters are almost twice his size. He should be able to eat on his own in several days, but he might not make it to reach this milestone if he is getting weaker. Then the solution materialized, and I could not believe my ears. Jeremiah Johnson, who is a vet tech at Cobleskill Veterinary Clinic offered to take the pup home to nurse him back to health. Apparently, this is his passion - saving  puppies and kittens, and he has done it many times. As he said, he likes the challenge. I asked about the compensation, and was told that the only reimbursement Jeremiah wanted was the cost of puppy formula. When I shook my head in disbelief, Dr. Baldwin showed me our folder and said "you have been good to us". Well, we have been clients for 11 years and usually have more than 10 dogs, so I can see his point. Yet, my vets' and especially Jeremiah's kindness exceeded my expectations and certainly warmed my heart. So Green puppy is now in good hands with Jeremiah, and I left the vet without paying a dime. We don't know whether the puppy is going to make it, and I certainly don't believe that puppies with serious problems should be saved. We'll keep you posted about how things develop.

The third week of puppies' lives

Keena's pups turned two weeks old yesterday, and Gilda's pups will do the same this coming Tuesday. This upcoming week will witness more actvity in the whelping boxes and pups will experience many "firsts".

Right now puppies can see and hear some, but their senses are going to improve dramatically. The pups are not steady on their feet yet, but in the upcoming days their mobility will get much better. They will be able to stand and take few steps without falling. They will also start interacting with their siblings and of course, with their moms. Their teeth will start to erupt and interestingly, the timing of the teeth eruption in wires is correlated with the texture of their coats they will have as adults. Pups with shorter, tighter coats will get their teeth first. Pups with longer and softer coats (as adults) will get their teeth a bit later.

In the third week pups are not ready for food supplementation yet, and they will rely on their moms for all the nurishment. And moms will continue to clean their pups' little butts. Keena and Gilda have been eating a lot and their needs for food will increase even further. Since both of them are dealing with large litters, we will be watching for any signs of eclampsia. I have seen this condition just a couple of times, but it was a very scary experience, requiring emergency. We do have oral calcium on hand, just in case. Eclampsia in dogs is different from human eclampsia, and it usually happens when pups are 2-3 weeks old and a bitch has to deal with a large litter. I think it is quite unlikely in Keena and Gilda's case as they have been eating really well, and they do not stay with puppies all the time.  For more info on eclampsia click here.

Keena checks on her pups - video from webcam

I completely forgot hat I have a webcam, which I almost never use. So today I connected it to my computer and aimed it at Keena's whelping box. Even though the box is in my den, it is behind my desk and I don't see it when I work on the computer. I have had a lot of fun with the webcam as now I can watch what is going on inside the box (well... not much...yet). I can also take pics and videos unnoticed. Actually I could do streaming video but I have no idea where to stream to (anybody has nay ideas?). I was surprised with excellent quality of pics and videos, especially in the low light situation. The above video was taken at a low resolution, just to see how it would turn out. As you see Keena made a quick exit after a short checkup on the pups.

The below videoclip was taken at a higher resolution:

Green puppy - first attempts of walking

Keena's puppies have opened their eyes but since they are asleep most of the time this is not easy to show. Also their eyes are very sensitive to bright light so we'll wait with close-ups few more days.

I tend to take more pics of Keena's pups as the lighting in my office is better than in the room where Gilda is with her pups. These are current weights for R-pups:

Females:
White at birth 260 gr, now 580
Pink at birth 300 gr, now 615

Males:
Red at birth 365 gr, now 730
Yellow at birth 280 gr, now 630
Black at birth 335 gr, now 670

Puppies are supposed to double their weight at birth within first ten days so everybody is on target.

Keena's Green male puppy who is mothered by Gilda was today 450 gr and almost doubled his birth weight on day 13. When he gets older we'll take him to a vet to check him out. As far as walking goes, he is the most advance because he is the lightest (everybody else is still crawling). eThe video below shows his first attempts at walking.


To see the clip in other resolutions click here.