Neural Stimulation Exercises
In addition to all the daily handling,
I have been performing neural stimulation
exercises on the pups since Day 3, and will
continue until Day 16. The 3-5 second exercises are:
1. Held head up.
2. Held head down.
3. Held on its back.
4. With a Q-tip, tickle between the toes.
5. Laid on a damp towel.
These mild stresses are said to produce
positive changes in the brain, muscles,
cardiovascular & respiratory system (increased
oxygen levels). In testing, adult dogs that had the
stimulation exercises as puppies were better able
to handle stress.
Here is a link to an article by Dr. Carmen Battaglia
describing the exercises and their value.
http://www.breedingbetterdogs.com/articles/early_neurological_stimulation_en.html

Week One Puppy Charts

(through yesterday morning) Thank you PatB!!

Paris waking up the pups! June 2, 2009

June 2, 2009

May 31, 2009

May 30, 2009

May 29,2009

Mr. Blue was the first to get his front legs over
the side of the scale box at "weigh in" last night.
He weighed 2 lbs 2.1 oz this morning. Mr. Moose!

Weights To Date

In order, here are birth weights
and their weight this morning.

Mr Red *
birth 12.4 oz
today 1 lb 10.1 oz

Miss Pink *
birth 11.3 oz
today 1 lb 7.7 oz

Miss Purple *
birth 8.2 oz
today 1 lb .9 oz

Mr. Green *
birth 9.8 oz
today 1 lb 6.7 oz

Mr. Blue
birth 15.5 oz
today 1 lb 14.8 oz

Miss Yellow
birth 12.8 oz
today 1 lb 8.8 oz

Pups should double their
birth weight at one week old.
Pups with * have already doubled,
Mr. Blue & Miss Yellow will hit that
mark by tonight's weigh in.
Everyone is ahead of schedule.
First puppy born will be a week Wednesday
night, last puppy born about 4 am Thursday
morning.

Pups are thriving! Here are some charts through
yesterday morning. Click on the chart to see
a larger image





Special thanks to PatB who is creating these for me daily.
We met online through Gina Spadafori's blog :
http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2009/05/31/baby-baby-baby-dont-leave-me/
This has been so interesting to have the charts to see an overview!
If anyone is interested in having PatB chart upcoming litters,
contact me (or Gina) and we'll put you in touch.

Last night when I changed their bedding,
they bobbed their heads sniffing the new towels.
They hadn't been aware of that just hours before.
Also last night, their first licks.
They can now yawn and stick their tongues out.
Fuzz is now appearing on the ear leathers.

Mr. Red was the first pup to attempt to climb
out of the scale box!

Miss Pink on the scale. It's hard to get the
weight with all the bouncing around! And it
just gets worse the bigger, stronger they get!

The weigh station. The hand painted sign was
created by Wendy MacDonald (Coastalight).
Thank you again Wendy!

I just heard the first puppy trill this
morning. It was Mr. Green. I'll try to
capture it on video. At 4 days old, the pups
are more vocal,stronger and fast! They can
now move from one end of the box to the
other when they smell Paris, and feel the
vibration of her coming in the box.

Again, taken this morning. Shaved area on Paris'
leg from her IV. Note shaved belly too.

Finally got my camcorder to "talk" to my computer.
This was taken this morning.

Busy, busy, busy. Pups are doing well,
gaining weight. Hot compresses & making
sure pups nursed well on a couple of teats
looks to have avoided mastitis for Paris.
There is *always* something to worry about.
Are the pups warm enough, too warm?
How is Paris' incision looking? Has her
temperature gone up?

In order, here are birth weights
and their weight this morning.

Mr Red
birth 12.4 oz
today 1 lb 5.6 oz

Miss Pink
birth 11.3 oz
today 1 lb 3 oz

Miss Purple
birth 8.2 oz
today 12.5 oz

Mr. Green
birth 9.8 oz
today 1 lb 1.7 oz

Mr. Blue
birth 15.5 oz
today 1 lb 8.4 oz

Miss Yellow
birth 12.8 oz
today 1 lb 3.5 oz

For the first 10 days-2 weeks
I weigh them twice a day.

Pups this morning. At this age they change
in their development from morning to night.
The smallest puppy on left is Miss Purple.
She weighed 8.2 oz at birth. At this morning's
weigh in, she was 10.9 oz.
She is very active and strong! Look out world!
In looking at yesterday's puppy video, It was taken
closer to the pups. You can't see how much they
have grown since yesterday.

Until now, I had to drag Paris
away from her pups for a break.
Just now, she decided "enough!"
and got out by herself to get a
drink of water and lay on the
cooler tile floor.