Nursing and Character
Phoebe is 8 3/8 ounces now. She seems so small and delicate but she is so vigorous. Opinionated too. Twenty-seven hours old and she has her preferences.
Tutti is attentive to Phoebe’s grunts, smacks, and squeaks and is cleaning the puppy regularly now. Phoebe protests. But it all just ends up with an even more thorough cleaning which makes the puppy protest all the louder. If you squeak, you must be cleaned. If you squeak a lot, you must be cleaned a lot. If you are too quiet, you must be cleaned. Phoebe cannot win this one so she finally stops squirming, furrows her microscopic brow, and produces the puppy poo as directed.
Tutti’s panting has not stopped altogether but it is not convulsing her body. Her eyes are soft and calm. Her temperature is 102 degrees. She drinks copious amounts of water. I feed her small handfuls of kibble at a time and nice squeezes of NutriCal. She belches like a sailor.
Watching this puppy reminds me of the other whelps. She seems so small but she is in the middle of the weight range.
Litter one
Puppy Weight 8/25/2003
Luna, female 5 1/4
Keltie, female 5 5/8
Bruiser, male 8 7/8
Litter two
Puppy Weight 3/8/2006
Cigar, male 8 3/8
Gryffindor, male 7
Andrew, male 10 3/8
Angel, female 7 1/2
Jazzy, female 9
I remember each and every one of them. They all come out with a little personality and although they mature and develop, still I see that continuity of character.
Puppy weight at birth does not always correspond to their development in the litter. The best indicator of that is attachment to the teat. Jazzy is the example. From the moment she was placed on her mother, she attached and hung on like a parasite. Even when she was not sipping the nectar of life, she hung on. Asleep? Attached! She actually popped when you pulled her off the teat. If you put her little mouth close to a teat, she snapped on like a magnet. I was actually concerned that she might develop a malformed mouth.
Jazzy’s littermate Cigar was the opposite. He was my lost puppy. He regularly got lost in the whelping box and then screamed and threw his head around like a blind horse. I had to put him close to a teat and warm him up in cupped hands to get him to settle and attach. Even then he would mumble complaints on the teat as he nursed. I did finally lose him after 10 days. He was a pretty boy, a brown brindle with gold tipped hairs.
Tutti is attentive to Phoebe’s grunts, smacks, and squeaks and is cleaning the puppy regularly now. Phoebe protests. But it all just ends up with an even more thorough cleaning which makes the puppy protest all the louder. If you squeak, you must be cleaned. If you squeak a lot, you must be cleaned a lot. If you are too quiet, you must be cleaned. Phoebe cannot win this one so she finally stops squirming, furrows her microscopic brow, and produces the puppy poo as directed.
Tutti’s panting has not stopped altogether but it is not convulsing her body. Her eyes are soft and calm. Her temperature is 102 degrees. She drinks copious amounts of water. I feed her small handfuls of kibble at a time and nice squeezes of NutriCal. She belches like a sailor.
Watching this puppy reminds me of the other whelps. She seems so small but she is in the middle of the weight range.
Litter one
Puppy Weight 8/25/2003
Luna, female 5 1/4
Keltie, female 5 5/8
Bruiser, male 8 7/8
Litter two
Puppy Weight 3/8/2006
Cigar, male 8 3/8
Gryffindor, male 7
Andrew, male 10 3/8
Angel, female 7 1/2
Jazzy, female 9
I remember each and every one of them. They all come out with a little personality and although they mature and develop, still I see that continuity of character.
Puppy weight at birth does not always correspond to their development in the litter. The best indicator of that is attachment to the teat. Jazzy is the example. From the moment she was placed on her mother, she attached and hung on like a parasite. Even when she was not sipping the nectar of life, she hung on. Asleep? Attached! She actually popped when you pulled her off the teat. If you put her little mouth close to a teat, she snapped on like a magnet. I was actually concerned that she might develop a malformed mouth.
Jazzy’s littermate Cigar was the opposite. He was my lost puppy. He regularly got lost in the whelping box and then screamed and threw his head around like a blind horse. I had to put him close to a teat and warm him up in cupped hands to get him to settle and attach. Even then he would mumble complaints on the teat as he nursed. I did finally lose him after 10 days. He was a pretty boy, a brown brindle with gold tipped hairs.
posted by PajamaGirl at
9:51 PM
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