Tag puppy

Munchie and Swagger’s Pups at Four Weeks Old

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Time flies and puppies grow up SO fast!

The tree litter is four weeks old now. They are very mobile and adventurous. We just moved them to the puppy room so they can have more room to play and grow. Here they are introduced to the litter box, which will make keeping them clean easier for both us and mom. They are having a great time checking everything out. They are old enough to start playing with toys and experiencing their world a bit. If we can get some warm weather they’ll get to start venturing outdoors a little bit.

Moving in and settling in for a nap!

Munchie’s Puppies Learning to Lap

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Munchie’s pups’ eyes are open now and since we’ve been bottle feeding to supplement them all this time, we are now transitioning them to lapping milk. It gets everywhere at this stage! They walk in it, lay in it, walk on each other after walking in it…. They suck it off the side of the dish, their own feet, and each other’s faces! It looks like the aftermath of a milk hurricane! Thankfully, Munchie is happy to clean up every one after.

Tonight we will start soaking some kibble in the milk and make a gruel. Munch will have a hard time keeping up with the puppies growing nutritional needs, so the sooner we can get them eating, the better. With smaller litters, we simply wait until the pups join mom at the food dish and start eating on their own.

From bottle to pan – what a mess!

Tube Feeding little Specs

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Little Specs is doing well. Here’s some pictures of her getting pottied (in case you didn’t know, very young puppies can’t do that on their own!) and tube fed. She doesn’t have good “suck” which means she can’t latch onto mom’s teat and get milk out very well. We help her along with the stomach tube which is safer than a baby bottle for puppies in her condition. She is currently spending most of her time in the incubator, but we put her in with her litter mates periodically for the comfort and socialization that provides.

Her legs are already improving! She pulls them both forward and is walking on her knees. This shows us her hip muscling and joints are in good shape and is certainly encouraging!

Not up to Spec

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Yesterday we had a litter born and for the first time ever, there was a puppy with a deformity. We were devastated, especially when the vet’s initial assessment was that there was nothing we could do. Her back feet point the wrong way and are bowed. This usually happens as a result of crowding in the uterus and is not genetic.

We gave her the baby name of Spunky Specs because she wants to live and she’s not quite up to spec! She started physical therapy immediately. We are stretching and moving her legs very gently and pulling them as close as possible to the proper position. She can move them and does pull one leg forward on her own, so we are hopeful that the legs will straighten out and normalize with time.

For now she has a hard time getting into mom’s milk with her brothers and sisters and tends to get cold, so we’ve moved her to the incubator and will tube feed her as needed. She needs the colostrum from mom, so will be spending some supervised nursing time with Skyla. We will try hard to keep you updated on her progress. She is not our first “hopeless case” so send her good energy and we will work our best magic on her!