Two Weeks Old

Here are a couple of photos of the puppies at two weeks. It's hard to believe that they are almost 2 1/2 times their birth weight. Their spots are really popping through and they are actually beginning to walk around the whelping box like little drunken sailors. They stagger a few steps and then fall down, and then get up again. Their tails are starting to wag, too, as they move around. I think we are beginning to see their personalities showing through. The easiest going pup seems to be the biggest, which is also the lightest marked puppy- the patched boy. He seems to have a labrador retriever personality. But, we shall see how that develops. The other three pups are a bit more compact and are probably going to have a bit higher drive. They all still spend most of their time sleeping.

Here is a closeup of one of the girls. Except for her tummy, she is not as dark as she looks. Her eyes and nose are filling in nicely. If you look closely, you can see that her eyes are just starting to open. Hopefully by next week, all puppy's eyes will be open and they may be hearing as well.

Puppies First Week

We have approached the end of the first week of puppies! They have doubled in size already and are doing well. As is evident from the photo, their spots are starting to show through the white fur. At day 3, we took them to the vet and had their dew claws removed. There is some controversy among performance folks about the desirability of dew claws, but having dealt with ripped and torn dew claws on prior dogs, I think this will make it easier for both the dog and future owner. My vet used lidocaine and a soft dissolvable thread instead of glue this time. The thread feels like soft fur and the mom is less likely to rip it out. On the negative side, we lost the little tiny patched boy, so we have only four puppies remaining.

On day 4, I started early neurological stimulation exercises which involve such things as tickling their toes and holding them in different positions. These exercises were developed by the Military for their Super Dog Program, and should give the pups a head start in their cardio vascular performance, stress tolerance, and greater resistance to disease as they age. I did these with mom Skookum and I'd say they have had a positive impact. Few things bother Skookum. Lastly, today the pups got their first toe nail trim, done with regular human nail clippers.

Mom and Pups photo

This is a photo of Skookum and her puppies. Notice that Skookum has solid dark, double patched ears. Two of the male puppies have patched ears, also, but only one ear each. The remaining puppies have normal dalmatian spotting. As the puppies mature, we will be able to see if they have as many spots as their mom. The spots will emerge through the white coats as they get older.

The Puppies Are Here!

It was a long couple of days, but the puppies arrived on May 14th. The first delivery was just after noon and the last one about 5:30 p.m. on a beautiful sunny day. Born were 3 males and 3 females, all black spotted. The last girl puppy did not make it and the third male is very small, but right now we think he is going to be OK. He has gained weight overnight. Out of the litter of six, two are patches, both males, and both patched near or on one ear. Skookum is being a great mom.

Skookum looks a bit more rotund than a few days ago. It is possible to feel the puppies move when she is lying at rest. I started taking her temperature this evening so there is at least some advance notice of her whelping time. The temperature will drop 24 hours or so before the puppies come.

Expectant Mom

This is Skookum out in the yard with only nine days to go before her litter is due. It's amazing that only a couple of weeks ago it was hard to tell if she was pregnant or not. The ultrasound we had done indicates at least 5 puppies can be expected.