Leaps and Bounds

Cotton's litter at 3 weeks which was yesterday.

ALL the pups are making dog noises... growls and barks... and are wrestling with each other. Of course, they're not steady enough to stand on all fours and tussle so they lie down next to (or on top of) each other and try to get someone else's head, ear, foot or tail in their mouths. Since they don't have even an inkling of teeth yet, no one is getting hurt. Moms sit and watch and never try to break it up. That will come later when things get rougher.

The pups are also noticing when they see me... when I open the pen gate or stand by the pen and talk to their moms. Sometimes I get a little chatter back from one or two babies... don't know if it's welcome or warning!

Couple things about the moms. They are feeding the pups often... every 2 hours or so... but for only a few minutes at a time. (In the next week or so, the pups will get tired of being hungry and will start in on moms' food, first sucking on it and then, as their teeth start coming in, gnawing on the kibble.) If moms don't feel like nursing the babies, they lie flat on their bellies so the pups can't get to the nipples or will leave the nest altogether. At night, since I keep the bedroom cool, they stay in with the pups all night long, but as soon as the sun comes out and things warm up a tad, they move out of the nest. When they have been outside, even if only for 5-10 minutes, they hop into their nests and inspect every pup like they suspect I'm doing something to them while their backs are turned! Every mom has visited every other mom's babies, but only for a second. So far, no one has growled at another dog for being in with the pups.