Wow! How they grow!

Healthy puppies with a healthy mom grow at an almost amazing rate early in their lives.  Tacie's pups were born a week ago. The 5 pups ranged from 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds each at birth. A short 7 days later they are all over 2 1/4 pounds . . .  each gaining about a pound during the week  (thats a little over 2 ounces per day!)  Tacie is producing an abundance of milk and the little puppy bellies are staying full and round.  Mom is doing a great job of keeping the pups clean and keeping track of them as they've become rather mobile, squirming around and occasionally getting behind her.  Emily keeps close tabs on them by frequent visits into the nursery and monitoring by way of a closed circuit television camera with a microphone that picks of the tell tale sounds of a pup when it's unhappy.  Emily sleeps (or doses off an on) next to the pups each night all through the first week and mostly through the second week too to reduce the risk of a pup getting hurt by getting stuck between mom and the wall.

Regular doses of calcium supplement are a precautionary measure for momma to reduce the chances of her contracting 'milk fever' . . .  a condition caused by low calcium from the tremendous strain of the puppies' requiring nutrients from mom before birth as they developed bone and muscle and now from the demands of nursing and milk production.  The nursing mom gets a carefully balanced high nutrition feed mix eating as much as she wants during this stage and drinks water seemingly by the gallon!  It's no wonder that the pups grow so fast during this stage. 

These pups that were a little over a pound at birth last week and over two pounds today could be between 15-20 pounds by the time they are picked up at 8 weeks old. That means in the next 7 weeks they will average over 2 pounds of growth per week!  They will begin nibbling on puppy food in a couple of weeks and then the puppy food will begin to disappear.  Mom will wean the pups sometime around 5-6 weeks (rarely a mom will nurse steadily until 8 weeks.)

This week we will be watching for eyes to open (Tuesday or Wednesday) although it takes many more days for vision to begin to get clear and focused.  Hearing comes after seeing but the pups develop fast and before we know it we will begin to see little puppy personalities developing.  Each pup will 'come ito it's own.'  This is a fun season but VERY busy for all of us here at the kennel.

Fresh pics are posted regularly on our web site and on our Facebook Fan Page. . .  follow along and watch the puppies grow before your eyes!

Until next time . . . .   Eliot

www.rosehallkennel.com