Day 18 (Sept 15th 2008)

The puppies continue to grow, one had his first little bark yesterday, - he was so surprised he fell over. Sleep is still the big thing for them, they are rarely awake for more than five minutes then they all crawl on top of each other and fall asleep again. Here on the left is one sleepy little guy.
At present they are on a large dog pillow covered by an old bed sheet, but they are beginning to wet quite a lot now they are bigger so on Saturday we bought a pink (the only colour they had) plastic dog bed for them. We will line this with newspapers - (we have been saving them in anticipation) and then change their bedding several times a day.

Socks is now allowing the other dogs to sniff her puppies and Connie our fourteen year old Jack Russell cross is taking a keen interest. She is great with puppies and we regret having her spayed before she could have a litter. - But it is very difficult when you have a brother and a sister together as the rules regarding incest don't apply in the dog world.

Here is Connie and I on the beach a couple of years ago. She's a little fatty but a great dog.
This morning I tried one of the pups will a little milk and cereal off my finger and he seemed to like it so maybe we will be able to start weaning them this coming weekend. - Although it may be a little early, four weeks is the norm.

Day 14 (Sept 11)

The one on the left is Skye and the little one is Socks. Socks had a litter of six puppies (four boys and two girls) on August 28th and today some of them opened their eyes for the first time. She is very protective of her babies and so far has not even let her own mother anywhere near them. We keep Socks and the whelping box in our bedroom upstairs and Margaret and I take turns sleeping in that room. The other sleeps downstairs in another bedroom with Skye and our fourteen year old Jack Russell cross, Connie.
Why do we do his I hear you asking. - Well, at this early stage it is nice to be at hand if Socks rolls onto the little ones or if she needs out. Also the other dogs MUST be kept from her as she could kill the liter if stressed or panicked.
We do have a dog flap in the kitchen but daren't leave the bedroom door open in case either of the cats get in. There are two equally horrendous scenarios if that were to happen. Firstly, Socks would kill the cat if it went near her pups and secondly if the cats were able to sneak in they would probably kill the puppies as they are completely defenceless at this stage.

This is what they look like:

Note that one is a wheaten, coincidentally when Socks was born to Skye one puppy was wheaten in that litter. His name is Jock and he lives near us in the Laurencekirk.

Here is Socks being a good mother