Day Twelve

Today was a very quiet day. Nothing new happened with the puppies. Eyes are opening little by little and they are all looking good. I checked navels and there are no umbilical hernias which happens occasionally. I have noticed that they wake up and travel a few steps away to go to the bathroom, so it is time to give them a place to sleep so they don't sleep in the place they potty. This will be an ongoing thing for a while, but they will eventually learn the difference between the two areas. This is the first step in getting them to use the potty patch. It is one tiny step at a time.

I posted the three unpatched boys a couple days ago but I have a request for the patched boy to get equal time. He is a cuddler and one of the largest right now. So here he is. His name is Chill

At one point I looked in on them and Arctic was sleeping half on the pig rail and half off. How can that be comfortable?

Poor Tiffin has lost her girlish figure and isn't shy about showing off what happened to her. I promised her she would be in shape to chase the plastic bunnies in the spring.

 Day Eleven

I tried to take a couple short videos, but I am a total amateur and I can't figure out how to make them load quickly. I put them on here but it may take a while for them to load.

Today was nail trim day. I don't enjoy this at all because I am always afraid I might snip to close and hurt them. They are very squirmy, and my eyesight isn't great, but I managed to get it done with no blood shed!

Everyone got weighed again and they are still growing. The largest one is still the largest and sweet little Shiver is still the smallest. Of course, she is the sweetest one and I am trying not show favoritism. I try to snuggle them all but she may get a few extras. Here she is sleeping like a little angel.

Tiffin and Bunny are spending quality time resting away from the puppies. She rests in her bed beside the puppy box but as soon as one of the pups so much as whimpers she is checking on them in a flash. 

I finally got a picture of all seven with mom.

Here are the two videos showing that they are on the move. They are only using their sense of smell to navigate at this point.

Day Ten 

Finally, after jumping through hoops the litter is registered! I believe I have everything I need at this point. I have the litter registration number, DNA swabs and microchips (thanks Chris). 

Today was the first day that Tiffin seemed really hungry. This made me very happy because she lost some weight, and her milk production will increase in the next week or so. 

I noticed a tiny slit in the corner of a couple eyes today. The eyes are starting to open. Now is when I will inspect each eye every day to make sure there is no discharge in any eye. If that should occur the eye will need to be washed with a cotton ball and warm water to make sure the eye doesn't get infected. I don't suspect this will happen but better safe than sorry so they will get inspected often.

Today they got to smell patchouli. Most of them gave no response but Tundra was interested in it.

I tried to take some pictures of the three boys Linda wanted to see but the spots are not very visible yet. You can see them better in the picture with mom.

Here are two pictures of each of the three. First is Tundra then Blizzard and last is Avalanche.

 Day Nine

I am looking forward to the eyes opening. That is when they start to get cute. Today they had a visitor. Grammy Chris came bearing gifts for the puppies and the humans also. Tiffin was very happy to see her and to show off her babies. 

The puppies seem to have very soft poop today so, of course, I am constantly watching them to make sure it is nothing to worry about. Normally I wouldn't even see this, but Tiffin is not really into keeping their butts clean. If it is still like this tomorrow, I will get some kaolin/pectin for them. 

The ENS is going well, and they are getting much more comfortable with it. The ESI is still a work in progress. It is hard to tell if they are responding sometimes. Today's scent was almond extract. Most of them seemed interested in it but the best result was from Blizzard. He sniffed then turned away then sniffed again and licked his tiny little lips. Of course, then I had to give him a few kisses because he is so cute.

Yesterday I said that Tundra was not snuggly. Today was a different story. It is fun to see how they react to me each day. Here are a few pictures of them. You can see the spots are coming.

New Toy from Grammy

Day Eight 

Today was uneventful because all they do is eat and sleep. I did the usual ENS and ESI but not much else with them. Yesterday's scent was clove and today they sniffed nutmeg. Most of them just sniff and turn away. A couple sniffed and then went back for a second sniff. 

I have been trying to give them all a little cuddle time and everyone but Tundra will snuggle. He wants nothing to do with it. He is the biggest and seems to have a mind of his own already. It will be interesting to see how that plays out when he can see and hear. The little patch girl Shiver is the one who loves a snuggle. She is so cute I can't stand it!

Poor old great, great grandfather Maks is feeling very neglected. I had to give him a lot of love today because he looks at me so pathetic it wears me down. Only took a couple of pictures today but here they are. Spots are getting more noticeable. 

How can that be comfortable?

 ONE WEEK OLD ALREADY

The first week had some ups and downs but the puppies are strong and healthy, and Tiffin is doing a good job of mothering. I did the ENS and ESI but other than changing their rug and taking pictures the day was uneventful. 

Tiffin had a problem because she couldn't find bunny. I took him and threw him in the washer. She was searching for him. She was happy when he came out of the dryer all clean and as fluffy as he gets anymore. Here she is when she got him back.

A couple pictures of sleeping pups. Left to right: 

Avalanche (m) Tundra (m) Chill (m) Arctic (f) Blizzard (m)

Left to right:

Shiver (f) Polar (f)

I will do a weekly picture of each puppy so here they are in birth order.

Chill male Patch

Tundra male blue collar

Blizzard male red collar

Arctic female yellow collar

Shiver female patch

Polar female green collar

Avalanche male white collar

 DNA

Today was pretty quiet. Tiffin continues to improve and today she wanted to spend time away from the puppies when they were sleeping. She still isn't eating as much as I would like her to so we ordered 100 pounds of raw food. I think this will encourage her to eat more. She will be finished with the antibiotics soon so I think her tummy will feel better then.

Today the puppies had ENS in the morning, weighing in the afternoon and ESI in the evening. Plus some snuggles in between. ENS is going well. They are not struggling as much now. The weight gain is steady.  The reaction to the scents is not dramatic. Only one seemed to be interested in the scent today which was vanilla. Two of them turned away and the rest didn't show any reaction at all. 

Still jumping through hoops with the AKC. They have the information they need but not on the correct form. So now they want the frozen semen collection report which is the same information as the freezing report. After this is sent to them, they will have the information in triplicate. I hope this is sufficient. 

So today the DNA swabs arrived. I use VGL at UC Davis. I believe they are the most reputable and efficient DNA testing lab. For those of you who don't know I DNA the puppies for a genetic mutation that affects the Dalmatian breed.  Most Dalmatians have a genetic mutation called hyperuricosuria. This is a metabolic defect that can in some instances cause a Dal to form bladder stones. It is not a huge problem in the breed but it is a huge problem for the individual dog who is a stone former. Unless one or both of the parents have at least one copy of the normal gene all the puppies will have the mutation. Because Tiffin has one copy of the normal gene she will not be affected with hyperuricosuria. Dogs that have either 1 or 2 copies of the gene are called LUA dals which stands for Low Uric Acid. All other Dals are called HUA, you guessed it, High Uric Acid. I will swab the cheeks of each puppy and send the swabs in and hopefully the results will be favorable for LUA. Now here is the clincher. Although the LUA pups will have this health benefit they may not be quite as pretty. Time will tell. It is recommended that the pups be 3 weeks old before testing.

Here are a few pictures from today.

Blizzard red collar boy and of course bunny

Swabs