It’s been one week since Poppy’s puppies were born, and what a time it’s been! At first, Poppy was content to lay with her puppies in the room we set up for her, but as the fatigue of giving birth started to wear off, her separation anxiety started coming back, so it’s sometimes been a challenge to get her to tend to her babies because she just wants to be around people. A note here: We are keeping the room at a warm 80 degrees for the puppies, so we can’t move them to a more populated area of the house. Though we don’t know her exact age, we think Poppy is quite young, really still a little bit of a puppy herself, bursting with energy and experiencing the newness of everything, especially the newness of having a family and being loved. Poppy is a good mama!
We are weighing the puppies twice daily to make sure they are progressing as they should, and they are all making regular gains, though with any litter of puppies, sizes may vary. Joyce was the biggest at birth, with Hopper coming in second. They’ve both received the nicknames “fatty” and “chonker.” Little El, on the other hand, is the runt of the litter and has finally reached the weight Joyce was at birth! The rest are all staying somewhere in between.
Some little personalities are starting to come out as well. Joyce knows that mommy’s back teats have the most and best milk, so she literally “bulldozes” her way to the back even though we purposely put El in the back for her to get more milk. Joyce is also a very “committed” eater. It’s kind of funny to watch how much effort she puts into nursing. El, on the other hand, is a lazy eater, often falling asleep before she can get a full meal in.
We’ve dubbed Robin the singer because she’s the most vocal. Dwight recorded one of her “performances” and played it downstairs one time, which had Poppy looking all over the place for her baby. Robin has also become known for fighting for her food. Hmmm… Maybe she could teach El a thing or two.
Part of our job as puppy fosters is puppy stimulation exercises, most of which are quite fun. We have to tickle the little puppies’ toes and roll them over on their backs for five seconds. One part that is not much fun for the puppies is sitting on a cold, wet washcloth for three seconds.
Finally, for those of you who haven’t noticed yet, the Puppy Cam is back! Just go to the Puppy Cam page, and you can see the puppies anytime. Of course, you might have to look at some humans from time to time too. 😁
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