5/9

Just got home from being away for an agility week end, and boy, have the puppies changed! Their eyes are all open, they seem to have gained about a pound apiece and now all weigh at least three pounds, and they are getting spots and color. They can walk a little bit but still are sleeping most of the time. They have four basic sounds they make: 1. little grunts of contentment as they motor around their box, 2. chirps when they're nursing, 3. screams of frustration, which means someone should come to their aid IMMEDIATELY if not sooner, and 4. barking. The barking just happens once in a while, and the one who barks seems very surprised to hear that sound. They seem to love to lie on their backs, which, I hope, means they feel safe and secure in their environment.

blue boy

blue boy showing off his spots

blue boy, IN-Tel, Pinkie

green boy showing off his orange ear and face marking

IN-Tel

Pinkie, eyes wide open

Pinkie, Ah-ewwwww, Werewolves of London (I just love Warren Zevon)

5/5
This is a photo of green boy doing his imitation of a frog. The kids are two weeks old today. They had their first worming, which is just routine. Their eyes are open a tiny crack, and they are starting to try to walk a bit. They are still sleeping most of the time, and they are sleeping through the night (not that they know it's night).
We have published mug shots of all the puppies on our web site at
http://www.setterenglish.com/Index.asp?PG=85

blue boy exercising his tongue

Blue boy and Green boy

 5/3

IN-Tel: Sweet dreams

The children are 12 days old today and are thriving. Pink girl weighs 30 ounces, and all the boys are between 33 and 35 ounces (2+ pound whoppers). It's unusual to see two of the puppies sleeping together because the puppies in this litter often lie by themselves, not in a pile, as though they are very independent They love to be cuddled and snuggle right into your hand when you pick them up.

Pinkie: Ready, set, GO!

5/1

And then there were 4. Little Elaine passed away about 2 am early Saturday morning. We will always love her and think of her as part of this litter. She was fine in the morning, and by night, she had faded away. We were afraid the other puppies would do the same, but they are strong and vigorous. Knock wood.

They are starting to walk, or should I say lurch, a little. They are like turtles. If they accidentally roll over on their backs, they wave their arms and legs in the air but just can't seem to get turned back over. And then the frustrated vocalizing begins. You would almost think they were swearing. "I don't WANNA be on my back!! Somebody help me NOW!" Their eyelids are starting to separate just the tiniest bit, and looks like their eyes will be opening in the next few days.

4/29

Growing like weeds! Yellow boy, blue boy, and pink girl have more than doubled their birth weights, and little Elaine and green boy are very close to doubling their weights. Here is their weight chart for the first week.

wt at birth (oz) 23-Apr 24-Apr 25-Apr 26-Apr 27-Apr 28-Apr 29-Apr green boy 13 14 15.6 17.5 19.4 21 23 25.4 yellow boy 12 12 14.2 15.8 17.7 20.5 22.5 25.5 blue boy 12 12.5 15.4 17.2 19.9 22.2 23.4 25.5 Little Elaine 12 11.5 12.2 14.3 16.4 17.8 18.8 19.8 pink girl 9 10.5 11.7 13.2 15.2 17 19.4 20.8 No eyes open yet; that probably won't happen for at least another week, so we have another week of relative peace and quiet. They are all wagging their tails. Elaine is very relaxed about having the other dogs in the house near the puppies. The puppies are in our bedroom, and the first three nights, we kept the door closed to keep the other dogs out and to minimize drafts. When we opened the door to see what Elaine would do if the other dogs came into the room, she was fine with it, so now our other dogs can sleep on the bed where they normally sleep. They were quite unhappy being shut out. They just look into the whelping box from time to time but otherwise don't intrude on the little mother and her brood. Elaine enjoys hopping onto the bed with us to watch a bit of TV. We bring one puppy at a time up on the bed with her for a bit of private nursing time and some time to get used to being handled. They all seem to enjoy the human touch.

One week old today (4/28)

4/28
Pink girl revealed herself as an orange last night. Examination through a magnifying glass revealed a miniscule tan spot inside her ear. So the final count is two blue boys, one orange boy, one blue girl and one orange girl.

At one week of age today, all puppies are strong and healthy. We have posted mug shots of them on our web page at http://www.setterenglish.com/Index.asp?PG=82 or by going to www.setterenglish.com, then litters, then London x Elaine, then 1st week.

4/27
The big news today is that green boy has shown his true colors. The tip of his ear is tan, so he will be an orange belton. Pink girl is still all white and keeping us guessing as to her color.

We give the puppies 'pet' names, and we had been calling yellow boy 'RE-tard' because whatever the other puppies did, he did the opposite. Our good friend Jennifer, who is 12, was concerned that yellow boy would get a complex, and his name would become a self-fulfilling prophecy, so she proposed that we change his name to 'IN-tel," so IN-tel it is. We call the blue girl 'Little Elaine' because she looks just like her mother when her mother was the same age.
We are doing the puppy stimulation exercises (also known as Bio Sensor) that are supposed to provide early neurological stimulation. The exercises were developed by the US military for dogs in the canine corps and are as follows:

1. Tactile stimulation - holding the pup in one hand, the handler gently stimulates (tickles) the pup between the toes on any one foot using a Q-tip. It is not necessary to see that the pup is feeling the tickle. Time of stimulation 3 - 5 seconds.

2. Head held erect - using both hands, the pup is held perpendicular to the ground, (straight up), so that its head is directly above its tail. This is an upwards position. Time of stimulation 3 - 5 seconds

3. Head pointed down - holding the pup firmly with both hands the head is reversed and is pointed downward so that it is pointing towards the ground. Time of stimulation 3 - 5 seconds

4. Supine position - hold the pup so that its back is resting in the palm of both hands with its muzzle facing the ceiling. The pup while on its back is allowed to sleep struggle. Time of stimulation 3-5 seconds.

5. Thermal stimulation - use a damp towel that has been cooled in a refrigerator for at least five minutes. Place the pup on the towel, feet down. Do not restrain it from moving. Time of stimulation 3-5 seconds.

Five benefits have been observed in canines that were exposed to the Bio Sensor stimulation exercises:

1. Improved cardio vascular performance (heart rate)
2. Stronger heart beats,
3. Stronger adrenal glands,
4. More tolerance to stress
5. Greater resistance to disease

In tests of learning, stimulated pups were found to be more active and were more exploratory than their non- stimulated littermates over which they were dominant in competitive situations.

All puppies had excellent weight gains once again, and they all weigh at least 17 ounces now. The pink girl has almost doubled her weight since being born last Thursday evening.