The pups are experiencing all kinds of changes this week, a week during which they're no longer considered neonates, but still don't have use of all senses.
Their eyes are open now, and we can see them turning and bobbing their heads as they make their first attempts to look at their surroundings.
Remember, however, they can't hear yet as they will once their ears unseal. For now they're effectually deaf (not truly deaf). We'll know their ears have unsealed when we see them startling to noises. That should happen any time now.
The pups are making huge strides in their motor skills: they can stand, toddle (still quite unsteady though on their feet), move backward as well as forward, sit, and move around much more. They're peeing on their own now, and actually move away from the puppy pile to do so. This instinct to eliminate away from the nest is the foundation upon which housebreaking is built.
They're also becoming aware of each other for the first time. We've seen them chewing on each other, licking each other, sucking on each other's paws and ears, and pawing at each other. As they become more aware of each other (and more comforted by each other's presence), they seem to need Kenya's presence a bit less.
Kenya, now, is spending a couple hours at a time away from the pups outside the whelping box -- with us, curled up on the couch, sprawled on the kitchen floor, playing with the rest of the canine crew, taking naps, eating like crazy (she's doubled her food intake.. eating 4x a day now). She only goes into the whelping box to nurse and clean the pups (hardly...she's not fanatical about pup cleanliness the way Elsie has been).
Before we know it, the pups will be romping and playing and doing all things puppy. For now they're busily developing their senses and motor skills, and still sleeping 90% of the time.
For our part, now is when we start introducing toys to the whelping box (bright objects with contrasting colors) to provide some visual stimulation. The pups won't play with them much yet, but they will take notice of them.
We're also giving them more 1:1 human attention and people socialization, and exposing them to new surfaces for added sensory stimulation (usually when we clean the whelping box).
Their third week of life is a huge week in terms of development. Just a few days ago they couldn't see, hear, or walk. In just a couple days from now, they'll be seeing, hearing, and toddling around like pros! :)
Such is the life of a 14-21 day-old.
'Til next time,
Joan
Saturday, April 10, 2010
2.5 Weeks Old: Getting Cuter Every Day!
Here's a compilation of pics taken over the past few days. The pups are just starting to become aware of each other, and they're enjoying piling now more than every. Enjoy!
Friday, April 09, 2010
Kenya's Mastitis
So I had all these videos and pics I was going to put up for you a few days ago, but two hurdles made it just too difficult.
First, Kenya developed a pretty significant case of mastitis (worse than either of the times Elsie had it is with her litters). Mastitis is a breast infection that can affect one or several teats in a nursing dam. In Kenya, she had one very enlarged, hot, red/dark teat that was very sensitive to touch, and three more where the tissue was thickening in a way that suggested she was developing infections in those. When her temperature jumped to over 103 on Monday and she because reluctant to nurse, we knew she needed meds. BTW, mastitis can be serious; if left untreated, mastitis can progress to gangrene in the affected teat (causing the dam to lose the teat all together), and ultimately can kill the dam.
So we spent a couple of days doing lots of hot compresses and massaging and making sure Kenya was getting her antibiotics. She's fine now.
And the pups are happier. I think her mastitis interfered with her milk flow (at least four teats were affected), so the pups might not have been as content.
They sure are content after nursing now, though... and they'll sleep soundly for two or three hours straight (that's the first with this litter).
What in the world would we do without antibiotics?!
Then, second, I didn't get things posted as quickly as I wanted to because once Kenya started rebounding and I had the time, it seems our Internet connection sagged. For two days our connection speeds were so slow it made uploading photos and videos far too frustrating for me to deal with.
But all is well now again, I think. (I hope).
So here's Kenya, photo taken today. And she's just fine!
And here she is with her pups demonstrating her new preferred method of nursing (the sit method)
Oh... and as far as the rest of the gang... well, we'll update you on them this weekend sometime.
For now, just know all is well with Elsie, Ridge, Tuc, and Pinot, and that Pinot's interest in these pups is unquenchable.
Puppy development update will follow shortly (and more cute pics). So stay tuned!
'Til next time,
Joan
First, Kenya developed a pretty significant case of mastitis (worse than either of the times Elsie had it is with her litters). Mastitis is a breast infection that can affect one or several teats in a nursing dam. In Kenya, she had one very enlarged, hot, red/dark teat that was very sensitive to touch, and three more where the tissue was thickening in a way that suggested she was developing infections in those. When her temperature jumped to over 103 on Monday and she because reluctant to nurse, we knew she needed meds. BTW, mastitis can be serious; if left untreated, mastitis can progress to gangrene in the affected teat (causing the dam to lose the teat all together), and ultimately can kill the dam.
So we spent a couple of days doing lots of hot compresses and massaging and making sure Kenya was getting her antibiotics. She's fine now.
And the pups are happier. I think her mastitis interfered with her milk flow (at least four teats were affected), so the pups might not have been as content.
They sure are content after nursing now, though... and they'll sleep soundly for two or three hours straight (that's the first with this litter).
What in the world would we do without antibiotics?!
Then, second, I didn't get things posted as quickly as I wanted to because once Kenya started rebounding and I had the time, it seems our Internet connection sagged. For two days our connection speeds were so slow it made uploading photos and videos far too frustrating for me to deal with.
But all is well now again, I think. (I hope).
So here's Kenya, photo taken today. And she's just fine!
And here she is with her pups demonstrating her new preferred method of nursing (the sit method)
Oh... and as far as the rest of the gang... well, we'll update you on them this weekend sometime.
For now, just know all is well with Elsie, Ridge, Tuc, and Pinot, and that Pinot's interest in these pups is unquenchable.
Puppy development update will follow shortly (and more cute pics). So stay tuned!
'Til next time,
Joan
Fifteen Days Old... Look at us Go!
Here's a brief clip capturing how the pups respond when Momma Kenya wakes them (doing the potty circuit).
Notice how well they're moving now up on all fours (well... far better than two days ago), how well they sit, how mobile they are overall, how effective they are as little climbers, and how noisy they are when they're ready to eat!
It's sheer mayhem and clamoring when Momma Kenya makes her presence known!
Also notice that Kenya sits now for nursing (most of the time). The pups are big enough to climb for the upper teats, and Kenya's sitting allows the pups more access. Besides, it's gotta be more comfortable for her.
Enjoy! And make sure your sound is on.
Update to follow shortly.
Joan
Notice how well they're moving now up on all fours (well... far better than two days ago), how well they sit, how mobile they are overall, how effective they are as little climbers, and how noisy they are when they're ready to eat!
It's sheer mayhem and clamoring when Momma Kenya makes her presence known!
Also notice that Kenya sits now for nursing (most of the time). The pups are big enough to climb for the upper teats, and Kenya's sitting allows the pups more access. Besides, it's gotta be more comfortable for her.
Enjoy! And make sure your sound is on.
Update to follow shortly.
Joan
Thursday, April 08, 2010
Puppy Report: We're TWO WEEKS OLD now!
It's us puppies again.
In case you're wondering about Gramma Joan, she's been busy helping Momma Kenya. Momma Kenya had something called.... Mas.... Masti...ummm.... Mis.... ahhh.... begins with M.... anyway... Gramma will tell you about it. But Momma Kenya having it meant she got really hot (Gramma said "fever"), and it hurt her when we nursed, and her milk didn't flow as well as it could (made us frustrated and grumpy), and it means Gramma Joan spent lots of time putting hot cloths on Momma Kenya's tummy and massaging those things we get breakfast (and lunch and dinner and snacks and...) from. Dr. Wagner gave Gramma Joan some medicine to give Momma Kenya, and Momma Kenya seems to be doing a lot better now.
Now, about us.
We're all two weeks old as of today (Thursday, April 8th). Some of us turned two weeks old yesterday.
Guess what????
We can open our eyes (just barely). Things are still really blurry, but we can tell the difference between light and dark, and we can notice movement. And ALL of us have blue eyes for now (Gramma Joan says this will change).
Oh.. and we can almost walk! Well, some of us do a pretty good immitation of a drunken sailor (whatever that it), and we stumble around a bit on all fours. But we're getting pretty good at it, sorta. Tough to do when you still can't see. Gramma says we're kinda like Mr. Magoo without his glasses. Who's Mr. Magoo?
Oh...and some of us have learned how to escape! Mr. Red and Miss Pink are masters now. They tell us there's a great big world outside our little den!
And even though we're unsteady walking, we're getting pretty good at sitting and climbing (that will help us explore!):
Oh... and we're just starting to pee on our own, too (heehee... potty talk!). We leave little puddles around after we wake up. Gramma Joan grumbles sometimes about Momma Kenya not doing her job the way she's supposed to cleaning up after us. But we don't care. As long as we have a place to be be clean and dry. And as long as we can go! (phew...).
Gramma Joan said something about bringing out some toys for us this week. What are toys? She said that since we're starting to see things we need some visual stim... stum...sim.... ummm... it's another big word. She'll tell you about that later, too.
We're all plumping out as we should. For a puppy, being round is a good thing. Gramma calls us chunky monkeys. Most of us have tripled our weights, weighing from just under 3 pounds to about 3.5 pounds. Right now Mr. Red and Miss Pink are the biggest, and Mr. Blue and Miss Lime are the smallest, but everybody is steadily growing and gaining weight as we should.
Oh... and one more thing. We don't like it when it's really hot and humid. We can't pant much yet, so we don't have a way to cool off. That made us cranky for the past two days. But Gramma Joan made sure we were as comfortable as we could be and that we got some extra nursing in (to stay hydrated). So we did okay with our first exposure to yucky hot weather.
As of today we get BIG pup rickrack for our collar change! Must mean we're really growing up. Gramma will put up pictures. And we get our nails trimmed again today, too.
That's it for now. Time for a nap. We're still sleeping about 90% of the time. We sleep and dream and twitch and makes noises, then we wake up, pee, eat, pee again, then poo, waddle around and then go back to sleep some more.
That's life in the whelping box.
Bye for now!
Red, Lime, Sky, Yellow, Orange, Blue, White, Pink, and Green
In case you're wondering about Gramma Joan, she's been busy helping Momma Kenya. Momma Kenya had something called.... Mas.... Masti...ummm.... Mis.... ahhh.... begins with M.... anyway... Gramma will tell you about it. But Momma Kenya having it meant she got really hot (Gramma said "fever"), and it hurt her when we nursed, and her milk didn't flow as well as it could (made us frustrated and grumpy), and it means Gramma Joan spent lots of time putting hot cloths on Momma Kenya's tummy and massaging those things we get breakfast (and lunch and dinner and snacks and...) from. Dr. Wagner gave Gramma Joan some medicine to give Momma Kenya, and Momma Kenya seems to be doing a lot better now.
Now, about us.
We're all two weeks old as of today (Thursday, April 8th). Some of us turned two weeks old yesterday.
Guess what????
We can open our eyes (just barely). Things are still really blurry, but we can tell the difference between light and dark, and we can notice movement. And ALL of us have blue eyes for now (Gramma Joan says this will change).
Oh.. and we can almost walk! Well, some of us do a pretty good immitation of a drunken sailor (whatever that it), and we stumble around a bit on all fours. But we're getting pretty good at it, sorta. Tough to do when you still can't see. Gramma says we're kinda like Mr. Magoo without his glasses. Who's Mr. Magoo?
Oh...and some of us have learned how to escape! Mr. Red and Miss Pink are masters now. They tell us there's a great big world outside our little den!
And even though we're unsteady walking, we're getting pretty good at sitting and climbing (that will help us explore!):
Oh... and we're just starting to pee on our own, too (heehee... potty talk!). We leave little puddles around after we wake up. Gramma Joan grumbles sometimes about Momma Kenya not doing her job the way she's supposed to cleaning up after us. But we don't care. As long as we have a place to be be clean and dry. And as long as we can go! (phew...).
Gramma Joan said something about bringing out some toys for us this week. What are toys? She said that since we're starting to see things we need some visual stim... stum...sim.... ummm... it's another big word. She'll tell you about that later, too.
We're all plumping out as we should. For a puppy, being round is a good thing. Gramma calls us chunky monkeys. Most of us have tripled our weights, weighing from just under 3 pounds to about 3.5 pounds. Right now Mr. Red and Miss Pink are the biggest, and Mr. Blue and Miss Lime are the smallest, but everybody is steadily growing and gaining weight as we should.
Oh... and one more thing. We don't like it when it's really hot and humid. We can't pant much yet, so we don't have a way to cool off. That made us cranky for the past two days. But Gramma Joan made sure we were as comfortable as we could be and that we got some extra nursing in (to stay hydrated). So we did okay with our first exposure to yucky hot weather.
As of today we get BIG pup rickrack for our collar change! Must mean we're really growing up. Gramma will put up pictures. And we get our nails trimmed again today, too.
That's it for now. Time for a nap. We're still sleeping about 90% of the time. We sleep and dream and twitch and makes noises, then we wake up, pee, eat, pee again, then poo, waddle around and then go back to sleep some more.
That's life in the whelping box.
Bye for now!
Red, Lime, Sky, Yellow, Orange, Blue, White, Pink, and Green
Sunday, April 04, 2010
Puppy Pics from 8-10 Days Old (Cuteness Alert!)
Happy Easter All!
Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the last few days. I hope they bring you a smile. :)
Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the last few days. I hope they bring you a smile. :)
Our First Escapee!!!! :)
The pups, all 10-11 days old now (don't you just love this split birth date thing?!), are just starting to push themselves up onto all four legs. They're not walking yet, but will be soon. For now, their rear legs haven't quite caught up to the front legs in strength and development, but they're getting more even every day.
In this clip, Mr. Red is the first awake and ready to nurse of the rest of the litter (after Kenya sauntered into the whelping box, and then sauntered out... the tease!). He REALLY wants his mom and goes to great lengths (for an 11-day-old) to let her know (what a howl!) and to find her. His scrambling should give you an idea of how mobile the little ones have become.
And though he can't quite walk yet, he sure can climb!
And that, dear readers, is why the whelping box sides are so high. The lip over which Mr. Red escaped effectively disappears when we put that side of the whelping box back up (that's the hinged side we leave down to allow Kenya to come and go).
Not to worry. He was just fine. And he discovered a world beyond the whelping box!
Just wait until they have open eyes and unsealed ears (next week sometime)! Then their world really expands.
Heehee... we're in trouble now! Look out world. :)
'Til next time,
Joan
In this clip, Mr. Red is the first awake and ready to nurse of the rest of the litter (after Kenya sauntered into the whelping box, and then sauntered out... the tease!). He REALLY wants his mom and goes to great lengths (for an 11-day-old) to let her know (what a howl!) and to find her. His scrambling should give you an idea of how mobile the little ones have become.
And though he can't quite walk yet, he sure can climb!
And that, dear readers, is why the whelping box sides are so high. The lip over which Mr. Red escaped effectively disappears when we put that side of the whelping box back up (that's the hinged side we leave down to allow Kenya to come and go).
Not to worry. He was just fine. And he discovered a world beyond the whelping box!
Just wait until they have open eyes and unsealed ears (next week sometime)! Then their world really expands.
Heehee... we're in trouble now! Look out world. :)
'Til next time,
Joan
Saturday, April 03, 2010
Morning Mahem: What Happens When Kenya returns to Nurse
The pups are 9-10 days old in this clip. And by this time, Kenya is no longer staying in the whelping box 24/7. She's occasionally taking hour-long naps outside the box, sometimes even two hours.
And, boy, when she returns, we all know it! Take a look:
Heeheehee... silly puppies! LOUD silly puppies. :)
And so it goes.
'til next time,
Joan
And, boy, when she returns, we all know it! Take a look:
Heeheehee... silly puppies! LOUD silly puppies. :)
And so it goes.
'til next time,
Joan
Friday, April 02, 2010
Mr. Green's Bad Morning
Poor 9-day-old Mr. Green. He tried so hard to be the first to the breakfast bar. Or at least to be one of the first.
Poor boy.
He just couldn't get there in the direct, swift manner he'd hoped to employ.
No to worry. He got his share.
LOL... but he sure worked hard for it!
'Til next time,
Joan
Poor boy.
He just couldn't get there in the direct, swift manner he'd hoped to employ.
No to worry. He got his share.
LOL... but he sure worked hard for it!
'Til next time,
Joan
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Puppy Report: We're ONE WEEK OLD!
Grandma Joan is taking a break (she needs a nap) so we're going to give you our update instead.
It's us. The puppies! :) We're growing so fast!!!!!
We're all ONE WEEK OLD now.
And, we know..., you probably think we've just been lollygagging around eating and sleeping and pooing and peeing and such. Ah... but we've been doing SO much more.
Here's the lo-down:
That's about it for now. Phew. We're tired, and we gotta get back to the hard work of growing. :) We'll check in with you next week for another puppy report.
Bye!
Red, Blue, Green, Pink, Lime, Yellow, White, Sky, & Orange
It's us. The puppies! :) We're growing so fast!!!!!
We're all ONE WEEK OLD now.
And, we know..., you probably think we've just been lollygagging around eating and sleeping and pooing and peeing and such. Ah... but we've been doing SO much more.
Here's the lo-down:
- We've all more than doubled our weight.
- We have round rumps now (unlike those bony butts we had when we popped out)
- We can squiggle (kinda like salamanders)
- We pile now (PUPPY PILE!)
- We can make all kinds of noises (see the video underneath this entry).
- We had our first vet visit (we look great!).
- We had SURGERY and got STITCHES (Well.... sorta... we had our dew claws removed requiring one stitch in each foreleg when we were 2 days old. We didn't like it, but it was quick, and we all healed quickly). All done. Check.
- We've started ENS (Early Neurological Stimulation). Gramma Joan wrote about this a couple times before, (in a blog entry about Stages of Puppy Development for one of Elsie's litters) but it's supposed to make us healthier and stronger when we grow up. All we know is that, for about 3-5 seconds, just 1x per day, Gramma Joan...
- tickles our toes with q-tips
- holds us on our back in her hands
- holds us head up, perpendicular to the ground
- holds us head down
- lays us on a cold surface (like the table top or a damp towel)
- We've all had our nails clipped (we were scratching Momma Kenya's tummy when we pushed on her)
- We're all willing to be cuddled regularly, too... just a little... by Gramma Joan and Grandpa Don and Aunt Jeanie. Not too much yet. But just enough to help us like humans as much as we like Momma Kenya.
- We all have NEW collars (well... rickrack... but it works). And we've changed our collars TWICE now already. That's how fast we're growing.
- We only sleep 90% of the time now, instead of 95%. :)
That's about it for now. Phew. We're tired, and we gotta get back to the hard work of growing. :) We'll check in with you next week for another puppy report.
Bye!
Red, Blue, Green, Pink, Lime, Yellow, White, Sky, & Orange
A Cacophony of Puppy Noises
The pups here are six days old. I had planned to capture them settling down to sleep after I set then in the warming box (where they go while Kenya eats and I clean the whelping box... 4x a day).
I thought I'd get a short little clip of a some cute little wiggles and sighs.
LOL.. They had something else in mind. What follows is an astounding (at least in my mind) assortment of puppy vocalizations. Every time I think they're going to settle they start up again. :) Enjoy!
It's just another clip that made me smile (I giggled despite myself while I was taking the video). Make sure your sound is on!
'til next time,
Joan
I thought I'd get a short little clip of a some cute little wiggles and sighs.
LOL.. They had something else in mind. What follows is an astounding (at least in my mind) assortment of puppy vocalizations. Every time I think they're going to settle they start up again. :) Enjoy!
It's just another clip that made me smile (I giggled despite myself while I was taking the video). Make sure your sound is on!
'til next time,
Joan
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Giggle Factor
Regular Reader knows that part of the reason we have our five Labs (and that I've kept the LabTails blog over the years) is because of what I term "giggle factor" -- that quirky ability Labs have to make us smile or chuckle or grin despite ourselves or our circumstances.
Labs make me giggle. They just do.
And Lab puppies make me giggle too.
What follows are a few pics of our 5-6 day-old neonates (and Kenya) that made me smile today as I was going through a few hundred photos (yes, hundred... the wonders of digital photography). I hope they make you smile, too! :)
1. The bear (yes, he's sleeping this way.. not stretching):
2. Sleepy puppy:
3. To each his own:
4. Up and down:
5. C'mon baby, lets do the twist:
6. Bottom's up (yes, this pup is nursing this way)?
7. Mom's need pacifiers, too:
Happy giggles to you,
Joan
Labs make me giggle. They just do.
And Lab puppies make me giggle too.
What follows are a few pics of our 5-6 day-old neonates (and Kenya) that made me smile today as I was going through a few hundred photos (yes, hundred... the wonders of digital photography). I hope they make you smile, too! :)
1. The bear (yes, he's sleeping this way.. not stretching):
2. Sleepy puppy:
3. To each his own:
4. Up and down:
5. C'mon baby, lets do the twist:
6. Bottom's up (yes, this pup is nursing this way)?
7. Mom's need pacifiers, too:
Happy giggles to you,
Joan
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
The Whys of the Whelping Box - Informational Post
Whenever we do this document-a-litter thing on LabTails, I try to include some information about puppies or whelping or breeder-responsibility or the "whys" of some of the things you see here.
Today is one of those posts (I mark the informational posts in the title, so if you find them boring you can skip them).
This is our second whelping box. We burned the first one after our "P" word experience -- didn't want to risk any lingering virus in the environment. And while the first one (DH's design compiled from what he liked of various boxes he saw on-line) served us well, this second one seems to be serving us even better (again, DH's design, just redesigned from the first).
Nothing is accidental in planning a whelping box; virtually everything you see is there for a reason. So here are the "whys" of our current whelping box, just FYI. This is Kenya acclimating to the box a couple days before she's due:
1. The box itself is made of 2 standard sheets of malamine: for ease in materials purchase, construction, and ease in cleaning up after the litter.
2. The bumpers (or guardrails), necessary to prevent pups from being squished between the dam and the wall, are made of PVC piping: for ease in clean-up, to make things more comfortable for the dam (the old 2x4s couldn't have been very comfortable), and to prevent chewing on by the pups later on (they loved to chew on the old 2x4s). The holes you see in the bumpers are for drill-bit access to the mounting bolts inside the pipe (which hold the piping to the wall).
3. The overall dimensions are partly planned to maximize what DH could get out of standard-sized materials (like 2 sheets of melamine) and to give sufficient room to dam and pups without creating too big a space that could result in cold zones where pups could get chilled. This photo was taken while Kenya was still in active labor (notice pups in warming box under heat light to right):
Kenya, even when whelping, kept an eye on her pups (the hook you see on the wall is what holds the hinged wall up and closed ... there's a hook-and-eye latch on both sides, the eyes mounted on the edges of the hinged wall, the hooks mounted on the fixed walls).
4. The wall height is to prevent the puppy climb-out factor later on (we had more than our share of escapees with the last box).
5. The hinged wall (instead of a cut out wall) becomes a ramp when lowered, which later will give the pups their first exposure to inclines. Mounting the hinge a couple of inches from the floor creates a lip when the wall is lowered, which contains the neonates in the box, but allows the dam to come and go as she pleases.
6. The swing-arm lamp clamped to side: allow for easy removal when then pups no longer need external sources of warmth and allows for easy movement of the lamp (depending on where the dam lies down and for when we move the pups to the warming box to clean the whelping box).
I think that's about all I can think of (specific to the box itself) for now. I'll post a separate list of whys (about the warming box and other supplies we use) separately.
Hope you find this interesting! If not.. there are plenty of other pictures coming to keep you occupied for a bit, I'm sure. :)
'til next time,
Joan
Today is one of those posts (I mark the informational posts in the title, so if you find them boring you can skip them).
This is our second whelping box. We burned the first one after our "P" word experience -- didn't want to risk any lingering virus in the environment. And while the first one (DH's design compiled from what he liked of various boxes he saw on-line) served us well, this second one seems to be serving us even better (again, DH's design, just redesigned from the first).
Nothing is accidental in planning a whelping box; virtually everything you see is there for a reason. So here are the "whys" of our current whelping box, just FYI. This is Kenya acclimating to the box a couple days before she's due:
1. The box itself is made of 2 standard sheets of malamine: for ease in materials purchase, construction, and ease in cleaning up after the litter.
2. The bumpers (or guardrails), necessary to prevent pups from being squished between the dam and the wall, are made of PVC piping: for ease in clean-up, to make things more comfortable for the dam (the old 2x4s couldn't have been very comfortable), and to prevent chewing on by the pups later on (they loved to chew on the old 2x4s). The holes you see in the bumpers are for drill-bit access to the mounting bolts inside the pipe (which hold the piping to the wall).
3. The overall dimensions are partly planned to maximize what DH could get out of standard-sized materials (like 2 sheets of melamine) and to give sufficient room to dam and pups without creating too big a space that could result in cold zones where pups could get chilled. This photo was taken while Kenya was still in active labor (notice pups in warming box under heat light to right):
Kenya, even when whelping, kept an eye on her pups (the hook you see on the wall is what holds the hinged wall up and closed ... there's a hook-and-eye latch on both sides, the eyes mounted on the edges of the hinged wall, the hooks mounted on the fixed walls).
4. The wall height is to prevent the puppy climb-out factor later on (we had more than our share of escapees with the last box).
5. The hinged wall (instead of a cut out wall) becomes a ramp when lowered, which later will give the pups their first exposure to inclines. Mounting the hinge a couple of inches from the floor creates a lip when the wall is lowered, which contains the neonates in the box, but allows the dam to come and go as she pleases.
6. The swing-arm lamp clamped to side: allow for easy removal when then pups no longer need external sources of warmth and allows for easy movement of the lamp (depending on where the dam lies down and for when we move the pups to the warming box to clean the whelping box).
I think that's about all I can think of (specific to the box itself) for now. I'll post a separate list of whys (about the warming box and other supplies we use) separately.
Hope you find this interesting! If not.. there are plenty of other pictures coming to keep you occupied for a bit, I'm sure. :)
'til next time,
Joan
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