Puppy Progress - Week 2 - Eyes Open

Another week seems to have flown by in puppy land and much like week 1 the phenomenal rate of growth has continued into week 2. It's difficult to think that the increasingly substantial mini-dogs that are yipping and squeaking around in our spare bedroom were so tiny and helpless just 14 days ago. Their face shapes are changing, their fur is getting longer, their legs are showing tentative signs of possibly standing up, they're certainly getting around a lot quicker......but even more exciting than all of that the majority of our little puppy pack is now able to see us. That's right, just 2 days ago their eyes began to open as well.

UPDATE
Adopting Leela has inspired a collection of dog-themed poems and illustrations:
Love, Fluff and Chasing Butterflies - 50% of profits are donated to the Dog's Trust 

As with last week I thought I'd throw in a few numbers from our daily weigh ins to show just how much bigger the puppies have grown since they first arrived.  (I've included the week 1 figures and an extra row to show how many times bigger they are since the first time we weighed them):

Day	George	Jess	Teddy	Rose	Pati	Bella
2	195	272	254	230	240	275
7	355	491	445	387	440	540
14	510	770	695	720	695	830
x Bigger	2.6	2.8	2.7	3.1	2.9	3

You may find yourself needing a double take on some of those numbers. I know I did. Can you believe that some of these little wrigglers are already over three times bigger than when they were born and their brothers and sisters aren't far behind.

A couple of other things to mention about the table. Firstly, we do now have names for all 6 puppies. As with last week we didn't set out looking for names, but some just seemed to crystallise out of thin air as we went along and it is easier (and more fun) than saying "George, the big light one, Rose....etc".

Secondly, although most of the puppies have grown well and by a similar factor each day, little George is now flagging quite a long way behind in absolute terms, over 300 grams lighter than his big sister Bella. There have been quite a few times we've noticed him getting knocked out of the way at feeding time and on a couple of mornings his weight didn't increase by much at all. Therefore we did decide to help him along with an occasional bottle feed as well, which has definitely helped him along the way. We were a little reluctant to 'interfere' to first, but seeing how much more energy he had the following day helped us to feel confident that an occasional extra feed is the right thing for him alongside his much bigger brothers and sisters.

Still, even though George is the little guy in weight terms he was the first to open both of his eyes. It was a wonderful moment when we realised their eyes were opening. We noticed it first with Bella opening one as she squeezed towards a teat and within 24 hours 5 out of the 6 had both eyes open. It's only Rose now who has both eyelids still shut.

In many ways the eyes opening was the cherry on the cake of their development from helpless wrigglers into the mini-dogs that we had been seeing these past few days. For example, as they've become more larger we've been noticing the first signs of play between the puppies such as one licking or gently mouthing the head of another as they get comfortable after a feed. Then there is the emerging personalities we have been seeing. Like the way Rose can't sit still and likes to haul herself around the edges of their box while the others sleep; how George and Bella always seem to stick together and how Teddy likes to bury his head when he sleeps.

It really has been a wonderful experience once more seeing them grow this week.

There were a few scary moments as well such as when Leela went off her food for a day and had diarrhoea making it difficult for her to nurse. Thankfully after a trip to the vets and being given some probiotics she did perk up and get back on the job. Also, we have been worried about how eager she is to follow us around the house instead of sitting in with her pups (even when they cry) so we do find ourselves sitting in the puppy room a lot (which is where I am writing this now). But on the whole things have been going well. We have to remember she is still a puppy herself and this is a hard job for her, something I'll write about more in future. Everyone says she is an excellent  mum, as evidenced by how well her pups are developing, but that a mother dog will need space from time to time.

And we're also expecting a busy week ahead, especially if the tentative standing up and falling over turns into walking as quickly as we think it might! Good job I have a new, sturdier pen planned out for them!

UPDATE
Adopting Leela has inspired a collection of dog-themed poems and illustrations:
Love, Fluff and Chasing Butterflies - 50% of profits are donated to the Dog's Trust