The Fith and Sixth Week

         The pups continue to grow at a rapid pace. The biggest change, physically, is the emergence of their teeth, which seemed to appear almost overnight a couple of weeks ago.

With the emergence of their teeth came the ability to handle crunchy food. Whereas at three weeks the food had to be pre-soaked and then run through the blender, they no longer need it to be homogenized. They can also handle individual pieces of kibble, which we use as a treat to assist with their training.

The largest pups are near 8 pounds, where they were 14 ounces at birth. their personalities are also coming out, as well. Some are alpha dogs, some need more cuddling, some are very playful, and, yes, some like to dig. Some are beginning to have a distinctive bark, replacing the puppy yelp they had at birth. When they bark, Emme thinks it's a strange dog on the property, and it sets her off barking and looking for the interloper.

Having twelve puppies at once is fun, especially as they are taking some training, which makes them more manageable. We can waste all kinds of time watching their antics. We're going to miss these little guys when they are gone!

Between Two and Three Weeks

 

 

 

 The "Peloton" scrambling for position at feeding time:

 

 

 

 

 

     After the first two weeks, the pups became much more active, and their individual personalities started to come out. They have started to bark a little and roughhouse with each other, which is surprising. Except for being a little shaky and uncoordinated, they act just like a grown dog would, such as grabbing things and shaking them violently from side-to-side. We keep seeing more and more examples of how God equips His creatures with the instinct needed to survive in their environment.

     We are trying to get them used to handling, and they are responding. Their eyes started to open at about two weeks old, and every day they seem to focus better. It's now to the point that when they see us they start to move toward us. They are also getting the idea of doing their business "on the papers" instead of on the blanket where they sleep.

 

 

 First Feeding, Homogenized Puppy Kibble and Goat's Milk

     Right at three weeks we started to supplement their diet with a mixture of mushy puppy kibble and goat's milk. Naturally, they like to step in it and get it all over themselves, but they are also learning pretty quickly how to lap it up. It's a good time to start supplementing their diet, because Emme seems to be experiencing a lot of wear-and-tear from 12 hungry mouths, and she is reducing the amount of time she spends nursing her litter. One thing she is still good at, is cleaning up the pups, and cleaning up after them.

 

The pups do 3 things well; eat, sleep, and tussle with each other.

As you can see, their eyes are open now, and their ears are becoming unblocked, as well.

Here are the skills they have developed in less than 4 weeks of age.

Near Disaster

     We haven't had the chance to post lately because we had a near disaster with several of the dogs. Eight days ago, we woke up to find Emme licking one of the puppies repeatedly. Looking into it further, we found his body was rather cold and he was rather listless. It appeared that he had a small injury on one of his shoulders.

I rushed him to the vet to see what was wrong. It turns out this injury broke the skin and had gotten infected. The puppy was severely dehydrated, had lost 20% of his birth weight, and had a very low body temperature. It was going to be touch-and-go whether he would survive the day.

Back at home, we kept him on the heating pad and fed him Pet-lak by eyedropper, as he was too weak to nurse. We had to get up every two hours during the night to make sure he got the care and feeding he needed, including an oral anti-biotic. By the next morning, he had perked up, and it looked like he would make it. It has taken a week to get back to his original birth weight.

Checking the other puppies, we found three others that had severe skin abrasions. What caused them? We had bought small, color-coded Velcro collars to keep track of each dog for weighing purposes, which you can see in some of the pictures. As it turns out, the collars were rather stiff and had an abrasive edge on them, which chaffed against the tender skin of the puppies. Needless to say, we took them right off. After a week, the abrasions still have not healed completely, the hair has not grown back.

                                         The offending collar. Notice the "teeth" on the edge

     In other news, the word is getting around about the puppies, and we are having visitors almost every day. Most say they have never seen puppies so small, and they all get a kick out of holding them. The younger visitors were especially enthralled. One of the puppies barked yesterday, a first. They seem like they are on the verge of walking.



Puppy Shenanigans

     I just had to show this picture of what Emme did yesterday; she went around the house and collected all the dog toys she could find and put them into the whelping box! I guess she wants to be ready for when they start opening their eyes and moving around.

 

I took her to the Vet yesterday for a checkup, the doctor said everything is normal although she had a slightly elevated temperature, and she has lost about 5 lb. off her normal weight. The puppies lost almost 10% of their birth weight after the first day, but this morning's weigh-in shows they are putting it right back on again.

Emme seems to be showing some discomfort or soreness, not surprising considering the working over she is getting.

 



 

Hungry, Hungry Puppies

 

 

 

 



The Puppies Arrive!

     Since Emme's due date was February 11 (today), we had several weeks to get ready. We needed lots of old towels, a small scale, some colored collars to identify each pup, and, of course, a whelping box. The whelping box was fairly simple in construction; one sheet of 3/4" plywood, a 2 x 4, two hinges, and some 2" PVC pipe to form a puppy guard against the wall.

 



 

Emme tries out the whelping box

 

 





"This is going to be a breeze....."

    Last night at 7:30 the puppies started to arrive, right on schedule. Emme spent 5 hours in labor because it was such a large litter; 12 puppies! We were up until the wee hours of the morning cleaning and drying the new arrivals and helping them get started with nursing. They all appear to be healthy, and they were definitely hungry.

 

 

 

 

 

     They look so helpless and vulnerable right now, but I know they will grow up in the blink of an eye. Fortunately Emme is a great mother, making sure they are well fed and clean, and catering to their every whim. Eight of the puppies have Emme's coloring (she was black when born then turned silver) and four are chocolate-colored, which are the first ones we have seen that are that color because it is rather rare.

 

     The first order of business with each newborn was to make sure the had no liquid in their lungs and to stimulate them. Some were a little more lethargic than others but they all responded normally. Next, we put colored collars on each pup to identify each one. There were exactly twelve in the package!

 

     We are keeping track of weight gain for each one to make sure they are feeding adequately. We had trouble weighing them at first, because they would not stay put long enough to get a good reading. The answer was to put them into a small cereal bowl to confine them long enough for the scale to stabilize. This worked great.

 

 





Small enough to fit in the palm of your hand!

 





Nighty-night for now!





Meet the Parents

    High Tide Goldendoodles is pleased to announce that a new litter of Goldendoodle puppies are on the way! What's a Goldendoodle, you ask? They are part Golden Retriever and part Poodle, which makes them the sweetest, smartest, and most lovable dogs around.
    Wikipedia writes: " Goldendoodles have been used as pets, agility dogs, guide dogs, therapy dogs, diabetic dogs, search dogs and rescue dogs, as they have inherited the poodle's intelligence and the golden retriever's ease of training. Goldendoodles have also become increasingly used as domestic pets due to their affection towards families, as well as their friendliness and patience with children and strangers.^"
    And the best part is; no shedding, and no dog hair or dander around the house to trigger allergic reactions, which is especially important if you have a family member with asthma (we know!).


'Doodles are a family affair-

Here are the grandkids posing with their 'Doodles, Miller and Stella.

And here is Sugar going through her paces.....

As you can see, we love our 'Doodles!

The little ones aren't here yet (the due date is less than a week away), but we'd like to let you know a little bit about the parents before they arrive.

 The Dam: Emme of High Tide

 

Emme is 3 1/2 years old and a 45 lb. bundle of energy. She loves to;

 

Explore the local islands.... 

 

Watch the Dog Show on TV and provide her input.....

 

Go to the Groomer....

 

 

Climb the rocks at Pemaquid Point

 

 Be the official Boat Dog

 

 

 

 

Take part in Agility training on Wednesday nights

And just hang out with the gang after a hard day.

 

 Emme has been genetically tested and has been screened for hip dysplasia, a common problem with Golden Retrievers.

 



The Sire: Stoneybrook Joey

 

Joey is a little smaller than Emme, about 30 pounds.

He also likes to go to the groomer.....

 

And of course he loves the outdoors.

 

 

Joey has also been genetically tested and screened for hip dysplasia.