Our 13 little prodigies are now 17 days old and, in the process of whelping. They are enjoying their human-based recipe, two or three times a day. Some are keener than others but, all are increasing in weight. They are still very keen to suckle Mummy but, Poppy is less and less inclined to feed them, despite having tons of milk. Not sure if it’s the heat and she doesn’t like lying there for any length of time. She’s still voraciously hungry and will feed when the puppies are noisy enough!
It’s fascinating to watch them attempt to stand on all 4 legs now. They initially move using their front legs only, from birth but, from around 2 weeks old, they start to use their back legs. They are extremely unsteady at first, unable to weight bear. A couple of the bigger puppies have now mastered standing, whilst feeding from a saucer. They need support to learn to walk but, within a few days, I’m sure they will have mastered the art of standing and then, walking. By 4 weeks old, they should all be walking and running – heaven help us! They will start drinking water and gain a bit of control over their toileting habits, by three weeks old. We will add chicken broth to the whelping diet by then also so, they will get less and less dependent on Mum!
Today, for the first time, the little terrors started climbing out of the large plastic storage container, (where some sleep, when not feeding) which is 40cm high! Those in the whelping box also started to clamber over the poles, each other and perch with two legs over the entrance door. Time to transfer those not feeding into a dog crate, with more space to test their legs and, to ensure the door of the whelping box is closed when Poppy is not actively feeding them!
