The milk bar has clearly been raided as my house guests have been gaining weight nicely. They're all over 300% of their birth weight. The recommended daily weight recording is not as important now that it is clear that everyone is getting access to the fruitful milk bar. It's still good practice to monitor weight gain a few times a week to ensure that their great progress continues.
Their eyes have opened and so to aid the development of their vision mum demanded that I decorate their whelping box with some colourful pictures. This will help them focus on objects. A few soft toys have also joined them in their box which they can bump into and therefore help their awareness of moving objects.
At the beginning of the week a dose of wormer treatment is given to mum and during a 3 day period a dose of wormer paste is given to the pups. Mum isn't keen on the liquid dose but tolerates it in the knowledge that a tasty treat will follow and take the nasty taste away. The pups however appeared to enjoy their paste doses so maybe the paste has a better flavour.
Even though daily weight measurement are no longer necessary it's still good practice to undertake a daily health check. What better excuse could there be to have a quick cuddle with the velvety pups and justify it to mum. She's still keeping checks on her pups when they are removed but doesn't show any distress. As mum is comfortable with her pups being removed for short periods it's possible now to carry the pups into new areas of the house and garden.
The health check is also an ideal time to introduce handling exercises.
- Hold the pup on their back in the palm of your hand
- Hold the pup upright in both hands
- Hold the pup facing downwards, well supported
- Gently run fingers over each paw and their ears
Checking their paws also helps to highlight whether their claws need trimming and thereby reducing the risk of mum being scratched to much - she'll welcome that but will surely be dreading the development of their teeth!
Their ears start to open this week so aural stimulation should also be introduced in order to desensitise them to lots of different sounds. There are lots of sound mixtures available online so these are ideal to introduce.
Week three is also when one of the highlights of having a litter occurs. It's the Bog Snorkeling / Slush swimming training event otherwise known as Weaning. This can occur once the pups are standing and able to move about albeit they're likely to be stumbling rather than walking. The event starts with a mash of food into a porridge-like consistency. It should be warm but not hot. The mush can then be spread over a tray and pups placed onto the tray with their front paws in the food. My house guests took to it immediately, lapping up this new experience. Having lapped up their fill and most likely got covered in it due to their excitement the pups then tremble, a normal reaction whilst their digestive system adapts to the change. The trembling soon subsides.
Other posts in this new litter series:
Week 1
Week 2
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
The eviction
The pups won!
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