The Triplets are one week old, and there’s not a whole lot to report. They are fat, happy, and active, and are growing by leaps and bounds. Still not doing much besides eating and sleeping. Pop, who was the smallest at birth, has already doubled his birth weight, and Snap is close. Crackle, who was the biggest at birth and remains about 1.5oz bigger then the other two, but hasn’t quite hit the doubled mark yet.
I am currently during Early Neurologic Stimulation with the pups. For those who are unfamiliar, it’s 5 things you do with the pups for 3-5 seconds each, daily, from Days 3-16 (Tickle foot with a Qtip, head up, head down, on back, and on cold towel). It’s supposed to facilitate development of the neurologic system, and help the puppies be better able to cope with stress. I had the chance to ask some military working dog trainers/breeding program managers about it, and they think it’s a load of bunk. Basically, there’s no research to say it actually does anything. I think they might be right, but it’s hard to test, simply because breeders that do ENS, are also the same breeders that are doing a lot of enrichment, exposing the puppies to lots of sights, sounds, surfaces, etc, so those puppies are getting the best start possible regardless. Nevertheless, I am doing it, because done as instructed, it’s not going to hurt, and I’ll do anything I can for well-adjusted puppies. The ability to rebound from stress is probably one of the most crucial attributes for ANY performance dog, and one that’s sometimes overlooked.
Trip is still being a good mom when I make her. 🙂 She started feeling more like herself after about 4-5 days, and since then, is not really happy about staying in the whelping box. I have to lock the gate when I’m gone. I’ve started giving her some “Trip” time when I get home from work. I let her hang out, sit on the sofa, and just be with us, vs. having to be in the box and be mom. She’s still very protective, and if she sees one of the other dogs heading for the whelping room, she’s on it to go get between them and her babies. When I see her on camera when I’m at work, she’s taking care of the puppies, nursing and keeping them clean. She just doesn’t want to do it 24/7, and I really don’t blame her.
Right now, I’m waiting for the Triplets to open their eyes. That usually happens at 10-14 days, so early next week I’ll be checking them anxiously. I also got their puppy registration info in the mail today, so hopefully I will have that all set when they go to their new homes. But they still have a long way to go…
Whelping/Puppies by .
So, I guess it’s time we picked some puppy names for the Triplets. I’m mean, blue boy, blue girl, and brown boy are clear enough, but I was hoping for something more interesting. So, since everyone is doing fantastic and gaining weight by leaps and bounds, I think it’s time they got some individuality. So…meet:
“Snap” (Blue Girl)
“Crackle” (Blue Boy)
“Pop” (Sable boy)
Whelping/Puppies by .
So, Trip’s mothering instincts took a little over 12 hours to kick in, but she’s doing absolutely fabulous now. At 4am, she was frantically licking one of the puppies, and looked at me while she was doing it like she was thinking “I have no idea why I’m doing this, but I MUST lick this puppy.” She’s been taking great care of her pups since then–cleaning and nursing them, and anytime *I* want to do something, like weigh them, she has to make sure they’re ok since they cry bloody murder.
I’m so proud of her, but what else could I expect from my perfect princess? Seriously, I swear she delivers whatever I ask for. AKC Finals–check…breed by September–check…blue girl–check. Obviously, it’s time for me to up the ante, and ask for BIGGER things, like WINNING at the Nationals. And we need to sit down and have a talk about the World Team. 🙂
Blue boy
Blue girl
The Boys
Whelping/Puppies by .
