Sunday, September 21, 2008

Two Days Old!

Here they are at two days old -- the whole gang --in the warming box (it's lined with a heating pad). We only put them in the warming box now when we clean the whelping box. Otherwise they're with Elsie 24/7.


While we're cleaning and with the pups safe a warm by her side, Elsie grabs a nice big breakfast of her normal food mixed with a little puppy food and covered in "Just Born" (a milk replacement for puppies that is also a great supplement for nursing moms).

And here's the squirming mass getting their own tummies filled and snoozing in contentment (while Momma Elsie carefully oversees):







We'll be weighing them after Don gets up (I took over at 4 a.m.; he's been sleeping since). And I'll report on their growth later today.

And, yes, we're still doing headcounts ever few minutes 24/7 and will for the next few days (until the pups are about a week old and strong enough to wiggle out from underneath Elsie if she lies down on top of them).

In case you're wondering how I'm getting this stuff done, there's really not much else to do when the house is dark and all is quiet in the wee hours of the morning. I don't turn the lights on or make much noise then because the other dogs will think it's time to get up! So while I do the early, early morning shift, and all is dark and quiet, I sit here at the kitchen table with my laptop, counting puppy heads every few minutes (always listening for different kinds of squeals) and updating the blog. :o)

And that's about it for now.

'Til next time,

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

ooh, poor Elsie! But aren't they the cutest little things? How does she handle it all with sooooo many pups?