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