Well, the most notable accomplishment is that early Saturday evening, all 11 pups scaled the side of the whelping box, escaped into their mother's small rest area, and eventually most of them also ventured out of the pen itself - much to Treasure's chagrin! She took it all in stride however, simply rolled over and they all made their way over to Momma who happily fed her sweet little babies. This of course meant moving up the transitioning from whelping 'box' to puppy pen! While pictures will soon be following to mark their 3rd week growth, suffice to say we are spending the morning (we as in John) doing some construction work! Just went down and saw what John has done, it is very nice - he's of course added another board to the top of the sides of the whelping box to contain the puppies until the next escape is possible, opened up the entire pen where Treasure is giving her even more room to herself, and preparing for when the pups will need a safe, contained area to play an explore. For the time being I will use shredded paper now in the whelping box, along with the indoor/outdoor carpet which we change regulary, and eventually the entire inside puppy pen will be filled with shavings. This pen will open into the outdoor pen when it is appropriate, and we'll add the balls, culverts, and other fun things that all Brittany pups enjoy. As they get older, they will spend more time in the house, in an exercise pen set up in the kitchen. Today there are a few pups who are protesting loudly about the new changes - they are so aware of their surroundings now and notice when someone comes in the room where they are. Treasure spent about an hour up in the house with me but could hear the pups over the intercom. She let me know when it was time for her return. She's such a great mom.
The pups have had a few visitors recently and responded very well. All of our grandchildren have had supervised visits with the puppies, something enjoyed by all! Pam and Sam had the pleasure of meeting Gibsons pups on Friday and are as much in love with them as we are. They are very pleased with the entire litter. Saturday we met "Sarah", who came with some of her family from Canada. What a nice time we had together. She and her husband will be one of the new puppy owners. As the pups continue to get older more visits will be upcoming and we just can't wait.
Today I will deworm the pups for the first time and on Monday or Tuesday they will be introduced to Gerber Rice Cereal as we begin the weaning process. This litter of pups is advanced by about 1 week in their development all the way around so we have our work cut out for us - but it is all a labor of love.
The pups are all now quite recognizable as Brittany puppies, they do stand and sit quite intentionally and their movements are much more confident and sure. Daily we increase the amount of handling they are getting. The other day we gave them their first sponge bath as they do tend to get poop on them for obvious reasons and I hate to have smelly, soiled puppies. They didn't seem to mind the experience too much, and we also cleaned their ears and trimmed their nails again. They have had nails clipped 3 times now, and getting use to the experience. We are mindful of Treasures tummy and the eagerness in which her babies nurse. Soon little teeth will emerge, and she will be less tolerant of their nursing as weaning progressing. One thing I noticed last week which was in my opinion very early is that some of the pups would actually try to nurse from her while standing up. You see this in older pups but not so much with younger ones at 2 weeks old.
I'm trying to keep tabs on which pup does what and when because that's all important to us as the breeder in the overall scheme of things. What is interesting is this litter is fairly consistent in their development. There are a couple of leaders - but what they do one day, the others will do the next and vice versa. I am mesmerized in watching their development.
And sweet beautiful Treasure is doing just great! Could not ask for a better first time mother. There will be some more pictures soon, I have so many and just need to go through them to see which ones to post. We have received several awesome hunting photos from other owners of J & A's Brittanys most notably the recent ones from Bailey's first hunting trip (Jack/Chris pup) and also the ones from Woody (Molly/Smoke pup). Our Brittanys with hunting families are all enjoying the season and having great success - and that's the way we like it!
Well, I've taken long enough to write this and must run back to the kennel. Look forward to more updates and if you're on Facebook I'll send pictures there too. Just use our email address to look me up there, it's a lot easier. Take care and God Bless, Happy November! John, Ann, and All Things Brittany
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