Personalities are starting to show....

The puppies are acting very "puppy like".  They are full of energy and spunk.  It seems they're always investigating something new or wrestling around.  The pecking order seems to be changing as fast as they're growing.  At this time I'd have to say the pups with the blue and black collars are the most dominate males, followed by the purple, green and green striped being lesser dominate.  While the pups with the hot pink and lite pink seem to be the most dominate females, followed by the red, orange and yellow/orange striped collars being lesser dominate.  Although they're still young, yet quite inquisitive, there are a few pups showing signs of pointing, they are the green, hot pink and yellow/orange striped collars.  This weekend we decided to move the litter outside.  The beautiful weather allowed the puppies to run in a larger kennel as well as the yard.  The pups enjoyed the nice weather as much as I did.     

Growing like weeds....

It's amazing how fast these little things grow.  Last week they had maybe two or three of their front teeth.  This week they all have a full set of razor sharp teeth including canines and molars.  They're all over 4# and have progressed to dry puppy food.  Each has their very own colored collar.  We'll now be able to identify each as these rambunctious little things develop their pecking order.  The more masculine colors are the boys and the more feminine colors are the girls. 

Link to video 1- http://s342.photobucket.com/albums/o403/dchinsch/?action=view&current=MVI_0336.flv

Link to video 2-  http://s342.photobucket.com/albums/o403/dchinsch/?action=view&current=MVI_0337.flv

Even more changes....

Last week the puppies began to walk and opened their eyes.  This week it's a whole new ballgame!  Their ears are open, all are steadily walking, climbing and even on occasion, escape the whelping box.  That is, until we made some modifications.  No longer will these Houdini wannabees be able to climb out the door opening.  Today we started them on puppy food.  The food has been soaked in water and allowed to soften, thus creating a mush.  Tonight they'll be receiving their first puppy pedicure.  This will take the sharpness off and prevent them from scratching and clawing Hailey as they continue to feed from her.  As time goes on she'll start feeding less and they'll begin to rely more on the puppy mush.  With the addition of solid food we'll see them start to grow faster than they have in their first three weeks.

Eyes wide open....

The first 14 days the puppies could only investigate the world via their senses of smell, touch and taste.  This past Thursday they opened their eyes and discovered a whole new world.  They're also starting to sit up and try and walk a bit.  I expect their walking to vastly improve over the next week.  In addition to opening their eyes, and improved mobility, the puppies grew another pound, with their weight averaging 2.8#.

   

Big changes come in small packages

The first ten days have seen big changes in these puppies young lives.  At birth the puppies had a weight of .7#, today they're weight averaged 1.7#.  During their short lives their noses, lips and toes have changed from a flesh pink color to black, thus taking after their father.  Expect some time in the next 10-14 days to see even bigger changes as their eyes and ears begin to open and the puppies start exploring more.  Below are pictures of the the five males and five females as well as the entire litter and Hailey.

    The Boys                                                                           The Girls

  

    All 10                                               Fighting for position while feeding

Hailey whelps 10 puppies!

Whew, what a long day!  Hailey started whelping, with the first male at 1:30 yesterday afternoon.  She finished with the last female being born at 3:30 this morning.  At first her deliveries were anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour apart.  As the evening grew onward the time between puppies also grew to anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half.  The last two puppies were born two hours apart.  Tomorrow we're off to the vet to have dew claws removed and have everyone checked for a clean bill of health.  I'll post pictures and give updates as the puppies progress.

The Boys                                           The Girls