On Friday 4/18/08 the puppies turned 4 weeks old. Jammer is not putting out enough milk for the 10 of them. Some of the smaller ones are getting pushed around by the big guys and are not getting enough to eat. So on Thursday we trying to get them to lap some water and it seemed to work, so on Thursday night we gave them puppy chow. We grind the puppy chow up real fine and add hot water so it is real mushie. The results were awesome, it was very messy and they all hade to be washed. They all did very well for the first time. Some walked in the food and others stood outside the dish and ate like they knew what they were doing. The key to there first feeding is to get one of them to eat and the rest will usually follow. In this litter there were 3 that started eating right away so it was easy. We usually don’t start feeding until they are about 4½ weeks old but there are 4 big eaters in this bunch and they were draining Jammer, we started at 4 weeks and as of this post all are happy including Jammer, she gets a break form all of the little teeth and paws all over her. We feed the pups 3 times a day and Jammer feeds them about 4 times for about an hour. “O” by the way we are also using 2 dishes now so they have more area and they are pushing at one and other. I have inserted 2 pictures below, they are doing well but there is still a little mess that will improve each day.

The puppies are now 3 weeks old and play time has come. The puppies are beginning to play with themselves and their littermates. They romp on top of each other, maybe go over and annoy one that might be sleeping, maybe even get in on a group romp. They are aware of their environment, and now are becoming more vocal. You can hear them starting to bark. They are communicating with each other. I put a puppy toy in the pen this morning to see how they would react. It is a teddy bear made of a sheepskin material. They all ran around it. Sniffing, looking, and wondering. What is this thing? Is it one of us? It doesn’t move? It’s fun to watch them explore. It helps stimulate their senses now. The only toys I will give them are pure stuffed animals, no buttons or anything that can be removed. They do not have any teeth, but right now they are touch playing. Soon they will be bite playing. Buying toys for puppies is an experience. If you have children, then you know exactly how it works. Make sure there it is big enough that it can not get lodged in puppy’s throat. Use a lot of caution. And you don’t have to spend a lot of money. We love best, empty soda or water bottles. They roll, and make lots of noise. To this day, Becky and Rider still love a good 2 litter soda bottle with a few snack inside. Makes lots of noise. Now remember,TAKE ALL THE PLASTIC OFF IT, INCLUDING THE RING AND CAP  ON TOP, IT WILL GET LODGED IN THEIR THROATS WHEN THEY GET IT OFF. Never leave a puppy unattended with questionable toys. Check them constantly for rips or sharp edges. A few soft toys with no removable pieces in their crates are fine. I do not leave anything in the pen at this time unless I am nearby. Just like with children, you can’t watch puppies enough.

The puppies are 18 days old. So much is happening now. All of their senses are starting to kick in. All of the sudden you look at the puppies and they are looking back at you. Yes, their eyes are open. The most beautiful blue eyes you ever seen. They sparkle and glitter. Labs, like many other puppies, are born with blue eyes. At around 5-6 weeks old, their eye color will change. They will be brown in black and yellow labs, and brown or hazel in chocolates. They will almost never stay blue. Now they can see each other and us. And when we pick them up, they look at us. We melt. They are so beautiful. They also are starting to hear now. They look toward sounds and noise. We always have music playing in the background from the computer room. So they are accustomed to sound. They know when Jammer is in the area. They can sense her presence. They know its dinner time again. Their little noses are starting to pick up scents. This is where they start to pick up human scents also. With several of our litters we would wear the same cologne and they started to identify us by cologne we were wearing.  It is such a fun time. Things are starting to get busy.

Today our puppies got their first taste of worming medication, the 1 of 4 doses they will receive before they go to their new homes. Deworming puppies is so important. Many puppies have worms that they contact from their mother before they were born. This is true of even the most careful and clean and meticulous breeders, but definite if a puppy comes from a pet shop, back yard breeder, puppy mills etc. There are many different kinds of worms which can affect your puppy’s growth and development. These worms are intestinal parasites; you probably won’t see them in the puppy’s stool unless they have a severe infestation. And they are contagious among the whole litter. If one has them, all the puppies have them. At such an early age, you sometimes do not see any physical signs. There are several types of worms found in young puppies. The most common type is roundworms. Roundworms are spaghetti-like. An infestation is hard to miss. We begin worming our puppies at age 2 weeks, then at 3 weeks old. We skip week 4, and again worm at weeks 5 & 6. We use Pyrantel Palomate. The puppies seem to like the taste and it smells like vanilla flavoring. The worming procedure needs to be done at two week intervals to follow the life-cycle of a parasite. Most eggs will hatch in two weeks. The first medication kills anything that is in its adult stage, the follow up treatment will kill anything that has hatched in the mean time.  All our litters have been worm free at their 6 week check up at the vets. We bring a stool sample for testing to be sure there aren’t any residual eggs left behind. Worms can cause many problems. They feed off the puppy’s nutrition. This prevents the puppies from growing up healthy, exposing them to many diseases and does affect their behavior and training. Most wormers remove roundworms, hookworms, and other kinds.This is a good topic to research on the internet because some worms are transmissible to human, especially children and elderly.  We always say the best prevention is education.

Jammer is a great mom. But right now Jammer also needs some extra attention too. We have increased her food to 4 times a day. She is still being fed a natural diet with human food. Right now we are making doggie casseroles. Using a basic recipe: ground meat, rice, shredded vegetables, a few hard cooked eggs, and a liquid to loosen it all us, I use V-8 juice or chicken or beef broth. We also add some “Malt-O-Meal” hot cereal dry mix to it for extra iron and folic acid. We switch from beef, chicken, venison etc. We cook enough for about 3 days, and then repeat the process. Since her appetite is increasing as the puppies need more milk, we have now started adding a few cups of 26% High Protein dry dog food to the mixture. Fresh water is always available. She has been eating human food since she was 3 weeks pregnant. We also make sure she gets plenty of exercise. Although she spends most of her time in the pen nursing and caring for her puppies, we get her out 4-5 times a day for a nice brisk 15-20 minute walk up the road. This exercise helps increase her circulation, muscular strength, appetite, milk production and reduces boredom. Her Teats get washed with warm water every day to prevent any infections and we take a diaper wipe and go over her face and coat to freshen her up. Lying on the couch after her walk for a little while lets her know we haven’t deserted her. All this pampering allows her to be a better mom and take good care of her babies. And we all know “A happy mom makes for happy babies”! She is more than willing to go back to her babies after an hour away from them. She is a great dog!!