Silver Litter diary page week 6

The Silver Litter

Our 6th week.......

March 18, 2004

The pups are now 5 weeks old

All the pups continue to make expected gains at their
5 week weigh in. My scale weighs at .25 so it can weigh light.
EVERYONE is up at least .75 Green, Xmas, Red and
Purple. Up 1 pound Black, Pink, Silver and Blue.
Up 1.25 one of the smaller pups GOLD boy!
All the pups have closed the gap on weight, weighing
between 5.25-6 pounds

They are still NURSING FULL TIME! NO OTHER FOOD!
I just may make it to my goal of 6 weeks but I
will take it ONE day at a time. If you wonder WHY
I have not supplemented these pups, why I have not
helped mom out up to this point? It has to do with research
on a pup's digestive system. Pups this age are best designed
for nursing or eating partially pre digested food that their
mom may offer them. Prior to 6 weeks pups are best
designed to nurse. ( information from
Donald R. Strombeck, DVM, PhD Home prepared Dog and Cat Diets)
I will not pursue this goal at the expense of Rave, but
the pups and Rave seem to be doing exceptionally well.
My goal is to set the pups up for the most healthy digestive
and immune system possible. Rave's is producing a lot of
milk, the pups are making excellent gains.

The pups moved to the garage this afternoon.
This is a bigger and better set up, they have a larger potty
area (small kiddy pool with sod and pine shavings).
I will still use the indoor pen to bring a few pups in at a time,
but no more pups sleeping inside! I hear good sleep
coming my way tonight!

March 20, 2004

The Silver pups had a big day!

Early Sat morning they loaded up for their first car ride.
We drove the 45 min up to my parents house for their
first visit and socializing “off campus” (smile) They did well,
a bit of fussing that had stopped by the time we got to the
freeway – by then the pups were all sacked out sleeping.
We arrived at my folk’s house with a dry clean crate!
The pups then spent about a half hour exploring their back
yard and playing with my folks before they sacked out.
The pups also got a visit with the Chiropractor I use with
my dogs. She did a very light exam and checked everyone out.
Some very minor adjusting on a few of the pups (turns out
that perhaps BIRTH puts some pressure on a body (grin)
all that PUSHING by mom. But the pups were in good shape,
I’m really glad I had them checked out. After about 2.5
hours at my folk’s house we headed for home.
Again very minimal fussing and the pups were sound asleep
with in a few min. We again arrived home with
a clean dry crate.

An interesting development on the feeding front.
1 of 2 things happened this morning. Rave either
offered some of her food to the pups?
Or she regurgitated food for them. I’m pretty sure
she regurgitated for them but I was not there to see
the event (smile) just some of the aftermath! I will
watch Rave and the pups closely and expect I will be
feeding the pups by the end of this coming week.
It has been an amazing event to watch nature work.
Rave is teaching her pups to be more respectful of her
and it is great to watch the social interaction.
I can’t say for sure it is because of how I’m feeding her
but she is different with these pups than her first litter.
Better weather (more time outside) and some experience
under Rave’s belt would also have influence with how
she behaves with her pups. The pups are still in the
garage at night, they have been 99% perfect with using
their potty box. It is great to see them head over to their
box to go potty and has made clean up SO much easier
than dealing with news papers.
Silver pups on their sleeping porch March 20th

March 21, 2004

Today I watched Rave take a turkey neck and
GIVE it to her pups. It was interesting to watch,
she made them behave and not be so pushy before
she gave it up! This is a good cue,
time to start feeding!
So tonight as I was bringing the pups in from their
outdoor pen I had 2 cups of kibble waiting for
them in a big puppy pan.

The pups were good – I don’t carry them in they follow
me. They all stopped to go potty and followed me into
the garage to discover! FOOD! Yup they ate it all up!
Not a kibble to spare! (They are eating
California Natural Lamb Rice)

Rave will still sleep out with the pups for awhile longer.
She can “choose” to nurse them if she wants to.

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