Hope's Puppies 2010

At 3 weeks of age all of the puppies eyes are open. Their sense of smell is still the strongest for them and that is the way they identify each other, and us. Hope is a bit short on her milk supply, so we've started supplementing with a bottle. It is quite popular and they do a high-speed wobble to get over to me (you'll see in one of the pictures how eager they are). Next week they will start eating puppy mash (dog food that is soaked in water to soften with goat's milk added).

The puppies are growing! All of the puppies are well over a pound now, and some closer to 2 pounds. I'm seeing signs of their eyes starting to open, which should happen over the next week. Both eyes and ears open pretty close to the same time.

Here is the litter of puppies at 1 week of age. They're all filling out and gaining weight. It's fun to watch them grow and change!

I couldn't resist posting this 3 day picture. These puppies are "in the zone" doing what they like best at this age. They sure do grow fast.

Here's the litter - 9 total puppies with 5 males and 4 females.

My comment earlier about being done before midnight... well we didn't make it! Puppy number 9 arrived at 12:15 and weighed in at 7 1/4 - a female.

Puppy number 8 is a male, weighing in at 9 1/4 and born at 7:21 p.m.

Here's the litter so far - 7 total. We're all getting a little rest at the moment.

Here's number 7, a male, weighing in at 8 7/8 and born at 5:06. These puppies are keeping Gene and I hopping!

Here's number 6, a female weighing in at 7 1/2 oz, born at 5:00 p.m.

These two puppies came out within 5 minutes of each other! The green collar is a male - number 4 weighing, 7 1/4 oz and the pink collar is a female - number 5 weighing 7 1/2 oz.

The first 3 puppies nursing. This stimulates contractions and milk production.

The third puppy is a female, born at 3:58 - 8 1/8 oz - I'm barely keeping up with delivering and blogging! So far, so good :-) Maybe we will be done before midnight!

The second puppy is a male, born at 3:49, weighed 10 1/2 oz. Here are both boys:

Here we go with puppy number one, born at 3:04 p.m. - a male, 11 3/4 oz

Update 6/29/10: You know what they say about the "watched pot never boils". Well that's how we feel with Hope at the moment. She's showing signs of labor, but has not quite started delivering her puppies yet. All is well and they will come out when they're ready!

Hope is bathed, shaved and ready to have her puppies any day. I took her to the vet today for an x-ray and we counted 9 or 10 puppies!

Promise's Puppies with their new families

Promise's Puppies at 7 weeks

The puppies had a fun time playing today. They scouted out the tunnel, which is always a favorite. Once they were done playing in the yard and pen, they all layed down for a snooze.

Promise's Puppies at 6 weeks

Here are the 6 week pictures of Promise and Legend's puppies. They are quite playful now and have just been weaned. This week they will be exploring our larger dog yard and socializing with our other adult dogs.

Promise's Puppies at 5 weeks

Here are the puppies at 5 weeks of age. They went on their first big car ride this weekend and all of them did very well. They will be able to go outside later this week as the weather is supposed to warm up. It's always fun to watch them explore a new area.

Promise's Puppies at 4 weeks

Here are this week's photos of the puppies - some with Allison (my great niece). She's the new upcoming Dog Whisperer :-) The puppies are at one of my favorite stages right now - walking at a high-speed wobble, still slightly unbalanced, but progressing daily in their coordination. They will start eating puppy mash today, which is always fun as they tend to get it all over their faces and paws, then they like to clean it off each other.