Really pleased to see the sun shining today after the horrendous weather of yesterday. Puppies are all snuggled up together, are getting quite noisy so we are concerned they are receiving enough milk from their Mum, not all nipples seem to be producing and when there are ten hungry mouths to feed you have to make sure all is well. We are checking with the Vet that all is well with Mum. Flame is being fed very well and is also having two gruel meals a day which are full of energy boosts as well as her Arden Grange Prestige dry food with extras added. We may have to supplement by assisting in feeding the pups but we will see what the Vets opinion is. The good and essential thing about recording the pups weight on a daily basis is to ensure all pups are gaining the correct amount of weight and that none are being left behind especially as this is a large litter for a maiden bitch.
It seems all is well with Flame but she is probably not producing enough milk to provide enough to satisfy ten pups so we will supplement for now and see how things go
Wow what a night and day of gale force winds, trees down, fences broken and tiles cracked yet our babies sleep peacefully through it all blissfully unaware of the chaos outside.
Thoughts go to the poor dogs and puppies who only know the outside life and who have to survive outdoors despite the weather.
Our babies are now nine days old and very soon a whole new world will open up for them, when their eyes and ears see and hear for the first time. What a wonderful moment to share with them in their on going development as puppies. We do know however, regardless of whatever the weather throws at us the puppies first experience of seeing and hearing will be full of love, gentleness and calm.
They are all growing well, some more than others, Miss Lime is the biggest and most noisy at nearly a kilo whereas her little sister weighs in today at 600 grams so we have been giving her extra time with Mum so she can catch up with her siblings. She is eager to catch up and feeds with vigour and determination.
The 12th of May 2014 was the day 10 beautiful puppies were born to our lovely girl Flame, nine of the puppies were born within 2 hours which was amazing, the 10th born one hour later. Six girls and four boys. All healthy and good weights. This litter was Flame’s first, she is 3 1/2 years old and at the peak of fitness. We were there to assist her breathing, pushing and sharing the delight of each birth. Needless to say we were very proud and Flame is proving to be a fantastic Mum.
We spent a lot of time choosing the stud dog for Flame, studying pedigrees, checking health records and ensuring that the dog we chose had a loving and gentle temperament. We were delighted to be able to use Thevenet Lord of the Rings ‘Hippito’, an International Show Champion. When we visited him in Spain he proved to be everything we were looking for in a mate for Flame. He was very good looking with a strong head and a fantastic loving nature , great bone and superb coat. Apart from having great health records he had also been the top stud dog in Spain in previous years.
The puppies were born indoors and we monitor their weight on a daily basis ensuring that each puppy is gaining the correct weight; all the information is recorded on a spread sheet to enable us to work out the percentage weight gain of each pup and to keep an eye on their development.
At night we take it in turns to sleep with Flame and her pups because so often puppies are lost in the early days when the mother inadvertently lies on them. Although it means we have sleepless nights we are confident that all the puppies will get to the size where they can be left on their own at night, only 2 weeks to go!!!!!!!!
Today the puppies are 8 days old and it was nail cutting day, what a job…. 180 nails to be cut and ten very lively bundles to control. It always amazes us just how fast the nails grow but it is a job that must be done to ease the clawing of Flame’s very large nipples.
In a week we have experienced the joy and birth of ten wonderful little creations, slept and lived with them 24/7, provided their Mum with support, love and total commitment and we loved every moment.
