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| Maxi is giving baths. This also stimulates the puppys’ bowels. |
Our Havanese puppies are one week old now and have almost doubled in size! I love their little pink paws and round bellies. Eyes are still closed…noses still pink. That will soon change!
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| Everyone is gaining nicely. They like to sleep in a clump! |
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| Puppy at the milk counter |
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| Nap buddies |
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| Maxi keeping a watchful eye. |
Puppies are growing so nicely. They are in my bedroom right now and I love to hear their little squeaks and squiggles! They are one week old today. I can’t believe it has flown by so fast. Still, there is not much new to report so I thought I’d just fill in on what development has taken place at one week.
Typically they double their weight the first 8 to 11 days. For about the first two weeks their eyes and ears are closed. They sense light, though, and they find Phoebe by scent. Sometimes they look for her and she is sleeping outside the whelping box which brings on a series of woeful pleading cries to which she responds immediately. She is such a good mother.
As for Phoebe, I am letting her free feed from 6:30 am until 6:30 pm. She is eating about four times what she normally eats! I watch her closely for signs of mastitis…swollen or hardened teats.
Really, at this stage puppies are a very easy proposition. Phoebe does everything from feeding to rounding them up to cleaning their little poops and pees. She constantly licks the puppies’ tummies to stimulate their bowels and bladders and, believe it or not, she benefits nutritionally from what she ingests.
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| Dew in her toy basket |
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| Dew “at work” with her new dad |
She is the best! Loves her basket. Bob is doing a great job with the training. She walks w me like she is at a show. She is loved! Thanks!
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| Lynn Nieto with her boy Pan |
Lynn Nieto, owner of Los Perritos Havanese, brought us some sad news yesterday. Her Havanese boy Pan, CH Los Perritos Wee Pantaloons, passed over the rainbow bridge. Pan is grandfather to both Maxi and our one-year-old, Marli. He is a champion in every sense of the word and has more pups carrying his gene pool than any other Havanese in the country. Lynn, with her huge knowledge bank and equally huge sense of humor, has been a mentor to me.
I will never forget attending my first Havanese National Specialty in Chicago when I sat in a breeding seminar next to a small crate of puppies. They were sired by Pan and caused almost as much commotion as Dr. Huchinson, celebrated reproduction veterinarian, who gave the seminar!
Pan, may you rest in peace.
My days are filled with changing towels, changing newsprint (I use the clean newsprint that U-Haul sells as packing paper), feeding and bathing the grown-ups. I LOVE IT!
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| Daughter Jenny nursing one of our preemies |
All the puppies are growing by leaps and bounds. I am still bottle feeding Maxi’s two little ones and Phoebe’s two smallest ones though they are not nearly the size of Maxi’s preemies. It just gives them an edge since they often lose out to the bigger pups at the teats.
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| Don’t you wonder what is going through his little mind? |
Two of Maxi’s pups eyes have opened partially. They are the largest pup with the full white blaze and the littlest pup with the forked blaze. The rest should be open in the next day or so. Generally their ears open about the same time so the sensory input for these little guys is huge this week.
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| Maxi has pretty much got the hang of this part now. |
Today was manicure day for Maxi’s pups. They are two weeks old now (can you believe it?) and by gently handling their paws and getting them used to the clip-clip-clip…this process will be much less traumatic for them as adults. I use a human baby nail scissors at this stage. Their nails are tiny and they are also very sharp so I know Maxi will be very grateful!
Just think. Next week I get to trim 64 paws! I better keep the whole morning open.
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| Phoebe’s pups at five days old…so much stronger than Maxi’s thanks to their later arrival. |
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| How sweet are these babies? |
