The puppies are four weeks old today and up until a few days ago Riska was doing all the work of rearing them, while I provided a waitress service to ensure that all her needs were met. This all changed when I started the puppies on solid food, using a deep muffin pan to prevent them becoming caked in their dinner.
I gave the puppies access to a separate toilet area outside the whelping box and they cottoned on to what it was for within a couple of hours, thus keeping the whelping box nice and clean for them to sleep and play.
Today I decided that they were big enough to move into the utility room and they took the change of living quarters in their stride, seeming to enjoy having a larger area to explore. They now have access to a large area of the garden, which means that I can march them all outside when they wake up and they can learn to be clean indoors. It has been warm and sunny this afternoon, so they have been outside a couple of times, and they were all very confident about the change of scenery.
