4 Days Old

The top picture is of all the handsome little boys, and the bottom picture is of all the sweet little girls.  I'm just finishing up our first video of the new babies so that should be on YouTube before I call it a day which will probably mean it's tomorrow already.  The days are long and the nights too short but experience tells me that the 8 weeks after pups are born pass all too quickly so we will enjoy this time, sleep deprived or not!

Treasure continues to do very well.  She has settled into a routine and so have we.  I like that she chooses to remain nursing her pups when I approach her rather than greet me with great exuberance.  She's really a calm mother compared to some.  Her appetite is great and she continues to eat well, so important for her and for her babies.  She's happy to run around the yard for a few minutes, but always races back to where her pups are safely waiting for her return.  Today she was a little more antsy than usual, and kept trying to find dark places to lay down again, as she did when she was going into labor.  But she kept going back to check where the pups where and would nurse and lick them before going back to the dark places again.  I love to watch her interact with the pups, they do the most amazing things together. To the untrained eye it would look as if all the pups do at this age is eat and sleep and eliminate.  Well basically that is true of course, but to sit and study their movements quietly is to understand they are active all the time, even when they appear to be sound asleep.   They change position, crawl around, shift, and seek out their mother and each other.  Technically they are not intellectually aware of their surroundings but they do learn to navigate around the whelping box, determine when to move closer to their heat source or away from it, and they sure know whem momma has stepped back into the box with them!  We're happy with the consistent weight gain of each of the pups.  The smallest one actually gained the most in the past 24 hours - we were so encouraged about that!  They are also beginning to 'snuggle' up to my hand when I rest it on the floor of the whelping box.  Some muzzle right into it and I gently caress their teeny bodies.  All of this is to prepare them to be handled by humans as they grow older of course.  I actually slept in the house last night although did make several trips down to check on Treasure and pups.  The cot that John brought down for me is actually very comfortable along with the pellet stove running.  I like the quietness of being with Treasure and the pups and the other dogs are nearby in the other part as well.  The heat lamp and the pellets burning give a warm glow and makes for a very restful environment.  John and I have had some good jokes about me coming up from the dog house in the morning in the early hours of dawn! Well, it is hard to believe October is half over and another weekend is upon us.  This will be a special one - Pam and Sam are going to come and meet Gibby and Treasure's pups!  I can't wait.

Take care and God Bless - and as always - thank you so much for your interest in our little corner of the world here at All Things Brittany!  John, Ann, Treasure, pups and our wonderful canine crew