Busy busy at 41 Days...

We are growing and are busy busy pups. We are good pups though.
We have had several visitors by now. One weekend momma's friend Marianne and her girl Cacy came to visit. We really loved Marianne!

Then we met Momma Julia's friend Janet and some kids! We loved Ellie, Cole and Addie! Quincy just wanted to sit in Ellie's lap the whole time. What a lover. Momma Julia forgot to get photos! Gee....

Then the next week we met a young lady and young man, Karissa and her brother Brian, I believe. Momma Julia forgot to get photos again.

We are getting Socialized...

And we also have started going outside! WOW! What a wondrous place...  so much to explore and mischief to get into. Momma Julia is very happy and shouts "YEA, Good potty" when we potty or poo... we think that is a bit strange, but glad it makes her tell us we are "Good Puppies"!

5 Weeks Old...

 Calloway (reserved show dog)

          Hendrix (reserved pet)

        Quincy (available Show Dog)

          Satchmo (reserved pet)

         Simone (staying here!)

4 Weeks Old...

I have fallen way behind on posts! Shame on me, but the older they get the more busy they make my life! Here is a quick post of their 4 week photos.

26 Days Old...

YES! it is time for a new post. I was so busy working for a living over the weekend, no time to update puppy blog. So what is new? Puppies are now moved to the Dining Room. They had their first visit to the Living Room last night and loved it! I spread out a big "dog" quilt (re-purposed human quilt that has seen better days... i.e. before dogs!) Sabrina was spread all out like" AH..." and they were in nursing heaven. Then they wanted to explore. They noticed the sounds from the TV and I swear Quincy even sat down and stared at it for a bit. Not sure how good his eyes are yet at only 3.5 weeks old, but that boy tuned right in to the TV. :)

They are now in an x-pen with a potty area, a water area and a sleep area. they have more room and are a bit subdued getting used to their new surroundings. The older dogs all have to stop and peer in at them and try to sneak a kiss. Sabrina is fine with this, these are her family dogs.

Snack bar is OPEN!

Quincy nursing (show side),

Satchmo nursing.

Watching these guys toddle around and self-stack is very entertaining. :)

22 Days old... and getting BUSY!

Oh no! They are little dogs... with ideas, needs and desires. Right now they desire to be out of their pool every chance they get. They want to come out and potty, which is a good start to their potty training, but I am not quite ready for that yet. Guess I had better hurry up!
I moved my rug out and put down black trash bags on the floor for now. And I will put down newspaper so they can start getting the idea to potty on that. I will still need to run into town for a heavy duty shower curtain to put down to protect my floor. That holds up very well usually.

Hendrix is the first one to be out all of the time... he knows what he wants, complains about it, and then just does it... too funny. He is full of it! He has decided he does not need a puppy pool and prefers to climb out and sleep next to my bed.

Hendrix sleeping by my bed.

Hendrix, Simone, Quincy, Calloway and T-Bone all wanting out.

Guess who is first? Hendrix!

Yea we are free! to pee! LOL

T-Bone, Simone & Quincy.

Three Weeks Old...

Puppies are 3 weeks (21 days) old today! Oh may are they getting busy. They want to be out and looking around. Mainly looking for Momma Sabrina's dinner bar. LOL. They love toys. Today I definitely will be setting up a bigger play/sleep area, with more toys and puppy sized obstacles and overhead stimulation. All good for their development and growth.

Simone the center of attention like a girl should!

Hendrix, T-Bone and Simone wanting out...

Day 20...

OH my! These guys are so fun already! They are playing, barking, play bowing, wagging tails and howling. They love to snuggle, but most of all they love to nurse. I can feel teeth and Sabrina is not wanting to stay in with them long for nursing. This is really young for them to be biting while nursing and Sabrina is usually so stoic and nurses them even after weaning. These guys may be early weaners... switch over to puppy gruel. I usually don't do that until 4 weeks of age.

Video taken this afternoon. TOO FUN! I love my babies and Momma Sabrina!

Day 20 Photos...

Here are some photos taken yesterday on Day 19. I didn't get a good one of Liver Boy... shoot.

Black girl

Nursing

Black Girl head

Boy 1

Boy 4

Boy 2

Boy 4 head

Girl

Day 18...

Puppies are doing well. Growing, chubby healthy, hearing, toddling around and getting out of the whelping pool. Time to move them to an xpen with a sleep area and a potty area. These guys are doing great. I trimmed their toenails today, they were getting sharp. All are still hearing at Day 18, some were hearing on Day 12, and all by Day 14! I looked again this morning and still do not see any blue eyes!

Sleeping out while I clean their quarters on Day 18 (2 Weeks, 4 days old).

2 Weeks, 1 day Old (15 days old)

Puppies are doing great! Sabrina is doing great. I am doing pretty good. Still dragging around, but coffee helps alot. I get sleep on and off all night long. I have lost track. I think last night was a pretty good night for sleep except for getting woken up at 4 a.m. and being wide awake for awhile. 

Here is what you have been waiting for! Head shots!

WARNING.... Precious! These photos may just give you "puppy fever"! 

We are 2 Weeks Old...

Too much cuteness, Momma Julia just can't stand it! My heart overflows looking at these sweeties! They are crawling around, eyes and ears almost all open, spotting is starting to come into the fur, and they HOWL! On a two week old puppy it is adorable!

Day 13

Eyes are cracking open but none open all the way yet. After completely open it will still take them a day or two to be able to focus. I always wonder what they are thinking when they finally see me. LOL.  Ears continue to open up. Not sure you know, but all pups are born with their ear canals closed. Around 12 to 20 days they open up and are able to hear. It is so cute to see them scratch at their ear. This is a good sign that they have begun hearing.

AND... ta da! Boy 1 now has a small dot of color on his nose! Keep on coming baby! :)

I apologize for not posting more, but this is a crazy busy week for me and I am once again wearing too many hats... when I normally would sit down and post in the evening, I have fallen asleep on the couch. Last night I got more sleep than the other night, so this should be an okay day. :)

Photos coming... have I said it? They are SO DARN CUTE!

Day 12...

Sabrina had me up and down all night long... this is going to be some day. :(
Of course now she is sleeping... brat!

Day 11 and Just Adorable...

Puppies are toddling around and trying to get up on their feet. They are howling a bit, when they want their Momma or maybe if they want me. Shoot, I may have them spoiled already! LOL When cleaning their quarters I can't help but pick them up and hug and cuddle them close and tell them I love them! They are just so precious right now. We have some ears opening up today, a bit early, but they generally start scratching their ear when they hear a noise... like "OH! That bugs my ear, what in the heck is that noise?"

Pigment is coming in well on all except for Boy One. He has a big pink nose! That is a first in 24 years! I never have missing pigment! Ha ha think again... a wise breeder never says never! LOL. If you stick with it long enough, things can happen once in awhile. Surprise! I am hoping some color will come in but I usually have nose and eyes almost all in at birth, so we shall see. While a pink nose can be cute on a pet, it is a major fault for showing. Boo Hiss, he is a pretty open marked pup with nice bone and strong rear and a straight crawler.

All is well. They are going to be up and crawling out of their pool soon... oh my! Eyes and ears should be opening soon. Then the fun really begins. Well... I take that back, the real "fun" begins when they start on weaning and eat their first puppy gruel and then puppy food. You know what happens when they eat... what goes in must come out. And unfortunately Momma dogs don't help keep it clean at that point.

10 Days old...

Sabrina had me a bit worried with soft stinky stools and not wanting to drink as much for a day and a half, no temperature and we are back on track, so that is very good. Puppies are chubby, happy and healthy. All is good. :)

These guys are so cuddly I can hardly stand it! I took this video yesterday. They are so CUTE and loveable! Oh my! Sabrina is such a happy mom, but that tail is dangerous.

I get some sleep some nights and some not so much. Can't blame Sabrina, she has to go out and potty alot since she is drinking buckets of water to keep her milk coming in good. She is a very good Momma Dog! I just can't always go right back to sleep.

1 Week Old Yesterday...

I had a really busy day yesterday. I meant to post this last night before I drifted off the sleep, but it was not a drift into sleep. It was like lay my head down and out like a light!

Pups are doing well. Getting cuter and cuter and fatter and fatter every day. Here are their weights from last night.

Six Days Old Today...

I started to take puppy head shots yesterday, but they didn't turn out so great in the lighting I had. Here are some head shots from today, Day 6!

Puppies 6 days old in the warming basket as I clean their quarters.

Everyone is chubby and happy and doing great. I started doing the puppy Early Neurological Stimulation exercises as outlined in this article: http://breedingbetterdogs.com/pdfFiles/articles/early_neurological_stimulation_en.pdf

Puppies are gaining by leaps and bounds...

Dew Claw Day...

Momma Julia got some sleep last night! TRIUMPH! I love ya Sabrina, but you just work me to the bone. So I decided to go sleep on the couch. Sabrina only got me up once during the night to potty so I did get a few consecutive hours of much needed rest. I was groggy this morning, but actually felt human again. vs... feeling like a zombie.

Sabrina watching over babies as I drive.

This morning we made a trip to the Vet to have our dew claws removed. Momma Sabrina took it all in stride and came along for the ride. Pups did well and it was all done quickly. Thank you to my vet!

We were a bit fussy and just wanted to nurse all the way there.

Babies sleeping in warming basket as we wait for the vet.

Black Boy 2.

In my zombie haze I missed the nightly weighing on Day 2 but weighed them first thing in the morning, so that was 2.5. I did not weigh them that evening, so no Day 3. That was my BIG ZOMBIE day. Sorry. 

Where did Yesterday Go?

I was truly a zombie yesterday. Lack of sleep is so hard. The good news is Sabrina and pups are doing Fantastic! Still all gaining weight and lots of milk available. Sabrina is an excellent mother. Here's a story on how tired I was... I was letting Sabrina out in the early hours of the morning. I had closed the back door and was leaning on it watching her though the window in the door. All of a sudden I am jolted awake by a pain in my arm. I had nodded off standing there and scraped my arm on the door somehow! Gee that is TIRED! LOL.

I did update the puppy weight chart this morning.

All pups are black except for Pup #3 is a Liver Boy.

Above is a video of the puppies trying to find Sabrina so they could nurse. They had been sleeping and she had been outside the whelping box and then she got in and was getting a drink of water. I found it cool that although their ear canals have not opened yet, nor their eyes, they KNEW she was there somewhere. We are HUNGRY... they are always hungry or sleeping.

It's going to be a LONG.... day!

Everything is going great, except for sleep. Sabrina was restless ALL night long. She had to go potty alot, was panting and up and down. I am so tired from lack of sleep and running up and down the stairs all day and all night. Part of the problem is Newt kept on standing by the baby gate on the entrance to the stairs and moofing and then barking at me. He wanted to come up to bed! This made Sabrina run to see Newt. She ADORES Newt. And then they both would go outside to potty together. She probably wouldn't have minded if he came up and slept in bed but it is a bit soon, IMO. I did take Sabrina's temperature again at 2:40 a.m. to see if perhaps she was running a fever to make her so restless. She was 102.0. A tad high, but it is normal for a new nursing mother to run just little hotter. Anything over 102 would need veterinary attention.

It is very important that pups get weighed every day for at least the first two weeks. The first two weeks are a very fragile and critical time. It would be very difficult for even the most astute breeder to notice a weight loss in newborn puppies until it was significant and possibly too late to save them. I use a digital kitchen scale. It is common for puppies to drop slightly from their birth weight the first day, but should start gaining every day after that. By a week of age puppies should have just about doubled their birth weight. Puppies that are not thriving and gaining weight will need some special attention. They may to be supplemented, or maybe just an extra hand at nursing where the breeder makes sure that pup gets on a nice full teat every time until he/she catches up. With only 5 puppies and all being strong with good nursing ability, the Sabreagle's all gained weight on Day 1! Good job puppers and Momma Sabrina for having lots of milk!

Video of puppies 2 days old.