Litter K
Jack & Holly
The weekend of March 24th & 25th found me busy handling the trial secretary work at our local agility trial. I had hoped that Holly would wait until the following week before she delivered her second litter, but early on Sunday morning, the 25th, I awoke to the sounds of the first puppy being born! Holly gave birth to five beautiful puppies, 3 males and 2 females. All have been doing well this first week of life - just eating, growing and sleeping the days away. Holly has once again proven herself to be an attentive mother and is taking care of all the pups.
This is the "K" litter & once again we are back using names that located mainly within NC.
Further information on the parents may be seen here.
Week 2: At 8 days of age, both Kip's & Kelly's eyes were beginning to open. Kimball, King & Kure saw their first light the following day. This is earlier than I am used to seeing little eyes. 😉 At the end of Week 2, ears are almost open, pups are beginning to stand and "wobble" walk around, and I can feel the teeth just below the gum lines, waiting to come in. There have been a few barks in the pen. All pups are eating very well with the largest already weighing in at over 3 pounds and the smallest one being just under 3 pounds. Pups are held everyday (in our arms, in a vertical position, on their backs), nails have been clipped, toes are messed with each day, along with stroking and touching pups all over. I am expecting the week to come to bring interaction between the pups in the way of first play and beginning to explore the world outside of the whelping box.
Week 3: Everybody has ears! 😉 All ears are open & they are all responding appropriately to sounds. Since they can now hear, we are trying to introduce not only the everyday household sounds, but things like Brian playing his banjo, Brian & Laura playing the guitar & fiddle, TV, vacuum cleaner, Holly barking (and she does have a really deep voice), etc. The pups are getting around very well now & have started some play between themselves and/or with Holly. Pups have been out on the rug and on the wood flooring a little bit this week. If I sit in the pen, they will come crawl over me & climb up in my lap. Most of the big dogs have met the pups on a one on one situation with the pup in our hands. In general, they were content to sniff the pup and go on their merry way. 😉 My boys usually make themselves scarce once the pups are out and about within the house. This next week will bring more interaction & play time as the pups stay awake longer periods of time. Holly is currently nursing the pups with no additional food being provided for them. Sometime this week the pups will get their first introduction to solid food. They have all gained at least 1 pound over the past week, so Mom's food has been good for them! Next week I will begin to talk about the individual pups & what I am seeing with them. Right now they are pretty much "even" in the temperament department and are content to be held in all sorts of positions, including on their backs in my arms.
Week 4: This past week has taken us from the smaller whelping pen to the larger X-Pens set up in the den. This was made necessary when two of the pups escaped from the whelping pen at 1:30 one night. Pups get to observe quite a bit of the regular day to day activity within the house of people & dogs. They have been introduced (one at a time) to both Kira (grandma) & Bec (great granny). Of course my boys tend to give them a wide berth. 😉 Holly is still nursing, but the pups are receiving some solid food now. They took to it like ducks to water. They also went walking on the wood floor this past week. I don't know that I have ever seen such a confident litter the first time out on the wood! Pups are quick to respond to me, coming, climbing up in my lap. I have been working to make sure that I do a lot of head stroking with them. Rarely do they shy away from an approaching hand. All pups are still fine with being held in my arms on their backs. I am beginning to see some personalities emerge. Currently all the boys are fairly laid back. I haven't seen a leader burst forth there. Kelly seems to be the one most in charge of all the pups. Kimball is probably a near second. Play is becoming more organized among the pups. I see them also playing with toys now.
Week 5: This week has brought a lot of changes to the pups' everyday schedule. They do get to run around within the confines of the den, dining room & kitchen. First time out on the kitchen's vinyl flooring early in the week really didn't stop them. They have transitioned to softened puppy kibble, but are also able to break up hard small puppy treats without any problems. We didn't get to the outside life until this past weekend. It had been an extremely busy week, so it was easier to just deal with things inside the house. I was amazed at our first trip outside. Normally, we have a learning curve about going up the front steps. Not so with these pups. I don't think they even considered it much of a challenge. 😉 We will be spending a great deal of time outside in the coming week. Holly is still doing some supplemental nursing, but for the most part, their meals are kibble. We are working on using a softer mouth with people. They can be tough, especially with each other. Holly also corrects them in this area. Brian & I agree that this is an especially nice litter. I am finding it hard to pick a favorite based on personality or temperament. They are fairly even across the board at the current time.
Week 6: The pups continue to master new tasks with ease this past week. Steps are merely a stepping stone to get to places, or to launch onto another pup's back from above. They are being fed 3 times a day now, still doing some nursing, but not much. Pups had some visitors this week & did well with them. With temperatures hovering around 90 most of the week, they have learned to identify where the AC vents are within the house & make use of them upon entering the house. They have been digging, stick hunting, grass & clover pulling, playing outside most of the day, and sacking out on vents or the bricks near the woodstove when inside. Temperaments still are fairly even across the litter. I have not identified a leader of the pack in the boys. Kelly seems to be the only one that I can easily see filling that role at the current time. This coming week will bring our car trips to visit with my agility trainer and herding trainer. It's going to be a busy week!
Week 7: As promised, this has been a very busy week for all of us! On Tuesday we headed to Claire Apple's place for puppy herding instinct testing. All pups showed interest in the ducks, with Kimball taking the star pupil spot during that time. This was also their first experience in riding in the van. In general, they did well & settled down without too much fussing. They were happy to get back home though. 😉 On Thursday, we went to Jan Santel's place for some exposure to new things, people & experiences. The A-frame is always a challenge for any pup, along with going through a short tunnel. All pups seemed to be food motivated and were willing to work with either Jan or Kay, who stayed after her class & helped with the little ones. They are pretty much sleeping through the night now. I am sure they are playing some before calling me to let them out of the pen around 6:30 am. We are spending a lot of time outside & they seem to understand that once they are outside, they need to potty. They are not housebroke yet, but do have a good foundation for that to build on once they get to their new homes. Pups are around 10 pounds now, very active and a lot of fun!
Week 8: It is always with some sadness that we approach the 8 week mark. This means that pups will be leaving and making their home elsewhere. This is the start to their new lives. Kelly left on Sunday, May 20th after traveling with Kira & me to Denton for the Linda Rorem herding clinic. Her new owner met us there. Kure left on Monday, followed by King on Tuesday. Kip & Kimball hung around until Friday. Holly did go looking for the pups after Kip left & will occasionally look for them still.
