4 Weeks Old

The puppies are coming on leaps and bounds now, all are fit and healthy and getting much more active. They generally wake every couple of hours or so and come straight out of their cage and promptly do a 'wee' on the training pads. Then they play, like puppies do, for about 10 or 15 minutes before they are worn out and find their way back to bed.

During the last few days we have started to introduce them to the 'food mixture' that we talked about in the last post. They are having to be spoon fed at the moment, just to get them used to the taste, but gradually they will be able to lap it themselves from the saucer.

You can just see in the picture above that all the pups now have their own little collars so that they get used to wearing them from an early age. We have found it is much easier to do this now, rather than later, as it tends to irritae them more when they are older. Blaze's collar is purple, Bigsy's is red, Fudge's is black and Freckle's is red & white checked. They are all fine with the collars and don't seem to be bothered by them in the slightest.

All the puppies are starting to develop their teeth now and in the picture above you can clearly see Bigsy showing of his new gnashers whilst he is fast sleep.

Finally, this weeks video is a few minutes of the puppies during one of the many playtimes that they have everyday now. You can see that they are far more active and inquisitive and love to play with each other too!

3 Weeks Old

Now 3 weeks old all the puppies are able to see and hear quite well. Their ears have started to fold down, like proper ones, and their eyes are getting less misty by the day. The puppies little whiskers are coming on nicely and all of them are clearly showing signs of having the 'Scooby Small Spots'.

During next week we will be starting to introduce the puppies to food which to begin with is a sloppy mixture of baby rusks, puppy meat and goats' milk, all mashed together. Mmm nice. The two largest boys, Bigsy and Fudge, both now weigh over a kilo with the other boy, Blaze, and Freckle, the girl, not far behind them.

A big heap of puppies fast asleep and

ooh look, we've all got our eyes open now

Finally here's the first piece of film of the puppies having their first real playtime. Now that they can almost walk we have started to get them out of their cage, after feeding, so that they can practice. The pups can only manage about 5 minutes at a time before they are ready to go back to sleep again.

Enjoy!

2 Weeks Old

Doesn't time fly, 2 weeks old already and Tilly's four puppies are going from strength to strength. They have now more than trebled their birth weight! The puppies nails have grown so much now that we had to give them their first trim but they didn't seem to mind at all.

At 2 weeks old we have to start the puppies worming program, this lasts for 3 days and we have to feed them a white paste-like substance which has to be placed in the roof of their mouth. A bit of a messy business as you can imagine. This is also done at 5 and 8 weeks. We also have to treat Tilly to prevent her re-infesting the puppies via her milk.

Four little puppies fast asleep in a row

Bigsy, Fudge, Freckle and Blaze

As you may already know the puppies don't start to open their eyes until they are about 2 weeks old. Well, we had a lovely surprise this morning because 2 of the pups had started to do just that! Blaze and Freckles eyes were almost fully open but, as you can see from the picture below, they are still a little glazed and will take another few days to be clear and properly focussed.

One or two of the puppies are also just starting to show signs of wanting to walk. It's rather comical at the moment because they keep trying to stand on their legs but they are a bit wobbly. Otherwise they are all still spending most of their time doing the usual puppy things, feeding and sleeping.

Finally, here is a lovely piece of film of them all moving about in the puppy cage whilst Tilly lies there waiting for them to feed. Towards the end of the film you can see Freckle coming out from underneath Tilly before having some milk. If you look closely you can clearly see how puppies use their tongue to help them suck.

9 Days Old

Well here we are at 9 days old and the puppies are really starting to develop well. Their little whiskers are growing nicely, along with their claws which will soon need trimming for the first time. Their pink pads have turned black and their tails are wagging more and more.

The puppies are noticeably stronger and more active now which means that there is a lot less chance of them being 'squished' by Tilly. Phew!

So for todays pictures we decided to try and show you a bit more of each puppies markings by taking photos of them 'backside first' rather than the usual head first. Under each picture we have also included their current weight, with birth weight in brackets, to show you how much they have grown.

Top Tip

Double click on any picture, in this blog, for an enlarged version where you will be able to see every little detail. Nice!

Freckle 470 grams (182)

Blaze 452 grams (178)

Bigsy 553 grams (224)

Fudge 548 grams (216)

In this pic you can just see that Fudge

is starting to develop a black streak from

the back of his neck to the end of his tail

Oh, and a cheery hello from a hot and sunny UK to a few people we know who are following this blog in a cold and wintery New Zealand. Good morning to you and good night from us!

6 Days Old

Lots of great pictures of Tilly's puppies today, who seem to be growing well, two of them have already doubled their birth weight with the other two only being a few grams short of doing the same.

Scooby, Tilly's mum, loves to keep an eye on the puppies and is always on hand to let Tilly know if one of her babies is about to go on 'the great escape'!

We thought this was a great picture of Tilly with her front leg draped around Freckle. It looks just like she is cuddling her.

This is Blaze who just happened to be sticking his tongue out as the photo was taken. If you look towards the bottom middle of the photo you can see that the remainder of his umbilical cord has now dropped off, leaving him with a tiny new belly button.

Another great picture of Tilly with one of her puppies. This time its Bigsy with his mum, they're both fast asleep and if you look closely you can just see his new belly button too!

And here are the 4 puppies together,

they're getting to be rather a handful now!

Fudge, Bigsy, Blaze and Freckle.

4 Days Old

All the pups are continuing to do really well.

It must be hard work though all that sleeping and eating!

They all seem to be growing so fast, only 4 days old and they are already much stronger and more active than when they were born. We thought that you might like to see individual pictures of each puppy, taken today, which clearly show all the different markings.

Don't they look cute!

Freckle

Blaze

Bigsy

Fudge

2 Days Old

(L to R) Fudge, Blaze, Freckle, Bigsy

The puppies are 2 days old already and are all doing really well. We always weigh them at the end of every day until they are 2 weeks old just to make sure that they are all feeding well and steadily putting on weight. After 2 weeks we then continue to weigh them but just once a week until they leave for their new homes, at about 8 weeks old.

So, after tonight's check the puppies weights are as follows:

1. Freckle 242 grams (182)
2. Blaze 245 grams (178)
3. Bigsy 305 grams (224)
4. Fudge 310 grams (216)

The birth weight is in brackets so that you can see how quickly they have grown.

Tilly is doing an excellent job of looking after her puppies, feeding them well and keeping them clean and warm. She has also got her appetite back now and is feeding herself well too and, as you can see in the picture above, she even finds time for a short nap with the puppies.