Our Opal x Laddie pups turned 21 days old Sunday. And they are getting so cute! <3
One of our sons was over for a visit on Friday. He held a couple of pups and captured a funny video of them. <3 **All green underlined words are links. With all videos, click on the link, then click on the thumbnail to open fully**
Opal is being a good mama. However, with 10 pups to feed, we've been supplementing several of them twice a day just to help take the strain off. Some, like li'l Bronze, struggle a bit with the bottle. I think with Bronze it's not so much nipple confusion but ecstasy that there's food in front of him, lol. He gets sooo excited by the smell that he just can't take it all in or settle down to the business of latching on right away, but eventually does. Other pups are naturals at switching between bottle and dam. Here is Silver taking to the bottle like a pro.
We've also noticed a logical but interesting difference between the pups that have received bottles and the pups that haven't in regards to how they react when held. What we've found is that pups that are bottle fed start to squirm and root trying to find the bottle when they're picked up whereas the ones that haven't just relax and / or sleep since they don't expect anything different when handled. This is something we'll need to take into account as we're evaluating them for energy level and calmness - at least until bottle feeding is far enough behind that it's a distant memory. (Please excuse the backdrop! When there's puppies, livestock, extra summer chores like gardening and hauling hay, plus an ill hubby, something's gotta give... and in this case, it's the bananas. Ah well, the pigs should love them, lol).
Mama Opal is still learning & adapting as she experiences the gamut of motherhood for the first time. Here she is sitting to feed pups.
She took a few breaks this week to help keep poultry away from the tractor and meet the pigs. (checked my records and the last time we had pigs was early 2018, so Opal would have been a baby when we sold them).
July 23rd we had our first nest escapee; Peach circumnavigated the nest to find his mama. So we had to revamp the nest a bit to prevent that. And, pups started to work on overcoming the laundry basket obstacle, so replacing that was added to my list.
Every day with pups is busy, but Sunday was particularly so. Nest cleaning was the first time puppies were in a crate (which, thanks to my procrastination, lol, meant scrubbing and disinfecting one). And then I deep-cleaned and expanded the pen area, adding the litter box to start introducing them to the idea of a potty area.
I didn't expect them to use it much the first week without being placed into it intentionally - and even then, don't anticipate much cooperation at first - but typically by 4.5 weeks or so they have a pretty good idea of the concept. However, all pups have voluntarily availed themselves of it for #2, while several of them have even occasionally chosen to use it for tinkling. Sable was the first to spontaneously use it, followed in short order by Diamond. Lots of near misses and wet spots in the nest yet, but I was thrilled to see they are already attempting to utilize it, albeit inconsistently.
As I placed pups in the potty area for the first time, it was interesting to watch them problem solve how to get from there to where their mama was awaiting them. Problem solving 2, and 3.
Finally, after the revamp of the nest zone, I soaked some kibble, blended it into a mash, then added warm goat milk puppy formula to make a very runny slurry. I usually introduce a slurry to pups at 4 weeks of age, but this litter is indicating that they could adapt to food earlier, so I decided to attempt to offer it in feeding pans. They figured out how to access the savory mixture surprisingly quickly.
Bronze, Sable, and Silver first intro to slurry
Red, Diamond, and Blue intro I often find pups get confused by the lip of the feeder when first experiencing it.
Silver - a face only a mama could love, lol
In addition to handling, all puppies got weighed daily & their nails trimmed and collars changed as needed.
Puppy weights Jul 20, 2021:
VS
Puppy weights Jul 25, 2021: *Note - only 5 days difference
Top of the charts is Pearl this week at 3 lbs, 12.9 oz, followed closely by Blue at 3 lbs 11.4 oz. Bronze is the runt, so will likely be the smallest throughout, but he's feisty, so we'll see!
Last week we got peepers... This week we got hearing :) Red startled on Jul 20th when I clunked a glass against the tub. However, others have reacted to various noises since. Silver even sat up with a startled wuf and grrrllrd at me when I first walked into the room one morning. That little puppy growl is sooo cute! lol
Since we've got hearing - and even a bit before to help mom get used to the various noises we'd be playing as well, since it's been a very long time since she's been exposed to fireworks, and crowd sounds... (nothin' like lockdowns...) - I've started introducing the pups to this desensitization playlist by Calmsounds. I don't play it ALL the time because I want them to hear it when they're relaxed or happy... NOT when they're stuck in laundry baskets during nest changes, or when they're hungry. The radio or Spotify® play various music and talk shows / ads all day long to help acclimate pups to a variety of voices. We turn lights and sounds off at night to help differentiate human wake and sleep cycles for the pups.
Pics & vids of individual pups. Some of the tri colors are highly likely to become saddleback sables like Opal as they get older.
PLEASE NOTE: Any temperament observations are EXTREMELY preliminary and fluid at this young age.
Also, please excuse the puppies crying in the background for the majority of the individual videos this week; they were in the crate for the first time and telling me their woes.
1) Pink (f) Tri color - This girl is pretty relaxed about being handled and has given me some eye contact this week as well; a personable puppy.
Please excuse the Tag / Search text overtop of Pink's pics. It only shows up on the published post; it does NOT show up on my editor, so still researching how to remove it.
2) Purple (f) Shaded sable This girl reminds me somewhat of her 1/2 sister from last year; she has barked at me a couple of times to try to get my attention when I'm petting her siblings, lol. She's also fairly relaxed about being handled. Video clip
3) Red (m) Tri color
Startled a bit Jul 20 when I clunked a spice jar against the cast iron tub. So... was the first pup with hearing. This boy used to try to escape the weigh scale, but has settled down this week.
Video clip (Ooops, that was a down, not a sit, lol... )
4) Pearl (f) Saddleback sable This girl is fairly middle of the road thus far.
5) Peach (m) Tri color. He's got slightly longer fur than some at this stage.
Video clip (lol... my 'good sit' was ridiculously delayed response. oh my 😳)
6) Sable (f) Sable color with some shading. Smart girl; she gives me eye contact, is a bit of an escape artist, has demonstrated some persistence, and was first to voluntarily utilize the litter box.
7) Diamond (f) Tri color - probably going to be saddleback; sweet, laid back pup so far.
8) Bronze (m) Tri color - He is the smallest pup in the litter, and naturally has a 3/4 tail. He's feisty and currently the most vocal - likely due to often being at a disadvantage for feeding, especially now that his dam frequently chooses to feed the litter standing up. We'll see how he goes once I've got them more steadily on a mush diet (have to introduce slowly this young). Video Clip
9) Blue (m) Tri color This chunk is still reminding me a LOT of his dam at this age - she was a laid back, fat sausage, lol
10) Silver (m) Either a saddleback sable or very dark shaded sable. Pretty laid back boy at this stage.
We currently have 4 puppy spots left available. Anyone interested in reserving a spot for this litter, or being on our wait list for future litters, please contact us & fill out our application form.
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