Gold @Excuseme Pregnancy Diary

[Josie]

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Hello @excuseme - how are the little family doing? Did Sika decide to move to her outside kennel? or is it too cold for them all?

 

[excuseme]

Hi Josie.
I obviously did not explain myself very well last Thursday.
Sika had been checking the outside bedroom, and on Thursday I actually moved the whole family out to the kennel, they have a heater lamp on, but for better pictures I had to switch the lamp off (this is why one picture is pink and the other two are white!)
There is losds more room for the puppies to move around but not so much at the moment that they get too far from the warmth of the heater and get cold.
Mum has her own heater just beside the puppies so that she can get in and out with them as she feels the need, she is warm too. As mentioned previously there is a dog flap in the kennel and one in our back door so that she can
come indoors for cuddles whenever she wants.
The puppies are eating quiet well and are now being offered 2 small meals per day, they like both minced raw chicken and minced raw beef, (blitzed with a little warm water to prevent the meat being too "sticky" ). They are not offered any milky feeds from me, as mum has loads of the stuff herself!

 

[Josie]

Thanks for the pup date! I didn't know whether the weather would have affected them being away from the house (even though they have a heater etc)

 

[excuseme]

The kennel is only a few feet from the back door, I can see into the puppies from our bedroom window during the night to make sure their lamp is on and they are ok. (their not just thrown out and forgotten about!)

 

[FrankieDoodle]

Aww how beautiful! They look so healthy and their coats looks so shiny.

 

[excuseme]

Todays update.

First picture; mum has just let her milk down, you can hear all of the puppies gulping as they swallow her milk.
I have just given the puppies a HUGE feed of rabbit/chicken, with some fresh deer's tripe finely chopped and mixed in. They are washing it down with mums milk.
Bottom picture, sleeping after a huge meal.

 

[JudyN]

They're so BIIIIIIG!!!! How much is she eating compared to what she usually would?

 

[excuseme]

Pictures can be deceiving! although the puppies are growing well.

It's difficult to say how much.
Normally she would get 1/2lb raw per day, when not working. (frozen bags of meat weigh 1lb) 1 bag feeds 2 dogs. She is probably getting about 1 1/4lb at the moment and scraps added. I do not always weigh the dogs meat, so she may be getting more! I get butchers off cuts/waste and bones every week, and have recently been given some deer tripe, I just give what I think and make adjustments up or down as required. Maybe I shouldn't have said all of that, it sounds a bit "Hit and Miss".
(we have 3 large freezers full of dog food)

 

[Violet Turner]

Wow! there huge and lush! i want more

 

[JudyN]

Maybe I shouldn't have said all of that, it sounds a bit "Hit and Miss".

Nah, that's how we feed children, and most of them seem to thrive (on pizzas, chips, fizzy drinks...).

 

[Josie]

They do look huge now @excuseme

 

[excuseme]

The puppies are now 4 weeks old, they are growing up very quickly.
I have opened the dog flap into the kennel run and tie it open in the day time for the puppies to venture outside. The heater is still on and at the moment they choose to stay inside. It is still a bit too cold outside for them at the moment, they are still very young but the choice is theirs. (they definitely know where their heater is!) Another week and we will have to fence off an area of the back garden for them.
They have to be penned as we have a small pond that is quiet deep, ( a puppy would easily drown in it).
Today Sika was given 2 full length deer trachea for her second meal. JudyN, I did not weigh them!. She ate the first one and an end off the second then promptly took the second one into the puppies, she had to stand and wait while the puppies had a feed of mum's milk, somehow she had folded most of it all in her mouth while they fed. After she had let her milk down she decided to continue eating it herself ( ha ha, none for her greedy little pup's). I did give them their first taste of chicken on the bone afterwards, a large chicken carcass with wings included, I portioned it up so that each puppy could take a piece and eat it by itself.

 

[JoanneF]

She looks amazing, what a lovely glossy coat. Motherhood is suiting her! The puppies are really growing too. Gorgeous!

 

[Josie]

That is one multi-tasking mum! I love the last photo @excuseme

Such chunky monkeys! Thank you for the pup date - love hearing about their progress and seeing them.

 

[Violet Turner]

4 weeks! wow, they are huge and lovely looking. Have you decided on which one your keeping?

 

[excuseme]

We will probably wait until they are 8 weeks before we make a decision on which one.

 

[Violet Turner]

We will probably wait until they are 8 weeks before we make a decision on which one.

okay, have they got there personalities yet?

 

[excuseme]

They are only 4 weeks old, they will need time for their personalities to form. That is why we will wait untill their 8 weeks.

 

[Violet Turner]

They are only 4 weeks old, they will need time for their personalities to form. That is why we will wait untill their 8 weeks.

Our puppies personalities started to bloom from 4 weeks that's why i asked. Good look for picking one you will want them all!

 

[excuseme]

Just a little over 5 weeks now and the puppies are doing so well.
They now have some of our back lawn fenced off for them to make a mess of!
The back garden is normally ours and none of the girls have access to it, the front garden is available for the dogs.

The puppies are starting to eat so much now. For breakfast they have an allowance of 4 Natures Menu nuggets each, (with a small handful of Millies kibble, as top up), lunch time yesterday 1lb raw minced rabbit (bones included), tea time a 1lb block of (Natures Menu) chicken and lamb chopped up, evening last feed, a chicken carcass cut into pieces. Mum goes in after an hour to finish any bones that are not wanted.
Pictures of the puppies yesterday eating their minced rabbit and a "clean plate afterwards.

Mums milk is rapidly drying up now, I have also cut back on how much I feed her too.
.