Puppies are amazing little things, and I love rearing them, so much so that I choose to sleep in the same room as the whelping box for the first few weeks of their lives.
They dream straight after birth, with twitching legs and little yelps, but one of them must have been dreaming in technicolour last night if the yelling and howling was anything to go by. Their mother Riska looks distinctly bleary eyed this morning, as though she hasn’t had enough sleep.
I occasionally have to get out of bed during the night if I hear one of them complaining, but it’s usually nothing more alarming than the poor little soul being behind Riska’s back and unable to find it’s way back, while it’s greedy siblings are tucking in to yet another feed.
Puppies are born blind and deaf, so when they wake up the first sign of them being on the move is loud sniffing noises as they locate their mother, followed by squeaks and squeals when they latch onto the teats and pummel the udder to persuade Riska to let her milk down, then there is the lovely sound of contented grunts as the milk flows, with all their tails wagging in contentment.
All seven puppies are positively thriving, and Riska is already happy to come out with the pack for a walk.
It was a fascinating insight into the first hours and days of a puppies life. Unless you’ve ownd a bitch that has had pups its something that is never experienced
So thank you for that Nessa
Shirley
Thankyou Shirley – I LOVE raising puppies – time consuming, yes, but never hard work!