Well we really couldn't be more excited! June 20, China and Mac become parents again! Our beautiful China welped 10 puppies. 6 Lovely female and 4 lovely males. All are doing incredibly well and China as usual is an amazing mother. Her puppies are spotless clean and have nice full round tummies! The smallest puppy being one lb and one oz at birth and we have 4 puppies at one lb 4 0z with the others in between. We have some white and some with a bit of colour. All puppies are very quiet and content. The entire welping took just over 3 hours but of course China had to start right before our Fathers Day dinner. So Laura took Gary out for Dinner and brought me home something to eat later. When they left we hadn't a puppyborn yet and when they returned we had 7 new miracles! I can't remember a more rewarding Fathers Day for the whole family. A very big thank you to Mac for another job very well done! I will be posting some pictures as soon as mommy is well rested and that counts for me too!
I am writing this and the puppies are now 3 1/2 days old and they are doing great. Everyone is growing well and they are soooooooo content and quiet.Maybe they are waiting till they go to their new homes :) China is now coming out to socialize a bit with us and is doing a marvelous job. My one concern is that she had decided that rolling on her back while nursing the puppies is ok. The puppies dont mind, however, I am a nervous wreck. When she decides to roll back down I am so concerned a puppy will get trapped so needless to say, we are not getting too much done. Gary is working from home so one of us can be on watch. Once the puppies reach two weeks old they will be old enough for the most part to get out of her way, but it is a bit of concern right now. I am going to try and get a picture of this. It really is interesting to see the puppies climb up and nurse on top of her while she is resting on her back. Silly girl! Her sister did this last year and that was the first time one of my girls has ever done this, so apparently China took notes and has decided this is quite comforatable! These puppies are very strong and can already motor around their welping box and today I have turned off the heat lamp as it is pretty warm in here already. Very humid today! They are calling for rain and thunderstorms so when it gets a little cooler this evening we will turn the heat lamp back on! Well got to run.
Puppies just 4 days old. Will try and get a better picture soon!
Oh my goodness a week can go by in the blink off an eye! Our lovely pups are a week old! All ten are still with us thank goodness. China is finally figuring out we are not pleased with her nursing on her back. So she is accommodating our wishes now. Here is a picture I took today. The sun was coming in the window and China was so pleased with her puppies. Hard to believe how much they have grown.
Day 10 and all the puppies are doing so well. I have finally been able to get a full nights sleep. The puppies eyes are just starting to open and they are "kinda" up and staggering around. All puppies are still very quiet and content. This weekend will be worming them for the first time since birth and weighing each puppy. I have marked all 10 so I can start figuring out who is who:) I will post a new picture at 2 weeks old.
Today our newest additions are 2 weeks old. How fast time is flying by. So as usual for this time I weighed all 10 puppies, wormed them and remarked them. So the biggest one weighed in at 2 1/2 pounds and the lightest puppy is 1 3/4 pounds. I cant say anyone enjoyed the wormer but then China took over and they were as pleased as punch. Little more eyes are open even today. I think I will start giving these guys some pablum on Tuesday. They are kinda up and around and can motor at top speed around the welping pen. Still they are the quietest puppies. Trust me when I say this is wonderful. Often at night I have litters that talk away and it is pretty hard to sleep. These guys say a little something and go right back to sleep. Again, hard to get good pictures but here are a couple from today! Starting to look more like puppies everyday now.
2 weeks old!
Today the puppies are 2 1/2 weeks old and it was moving day. I moved them to the puppy room off my kitchen as they were taking too much room in the welping box and I was getting a little nervous of China laying on one accidentally. The move went so well. Nobody was upset at all. Some litters I have puppies whine for a whole day after their move, but so far so good. Puppies are eating some pablum and baby food chicken and they all just love it. I have had to give them a sponge bath after to get the sticky pablum off. With the extreme heat I am sure they dont mind too much :) China has been soo hot. I have taken her out twice a day and given her a nice cool hose down. I haven't wanted her to go for a swim as I dont want her getting dirty in the river. So puppies China and me all doing great! Puppies gaining nicely for such a big litter. I will start adding some soaked pre starter puppy food from Royal Canin in a day as I think these guys can handle it. All for now!
Moving day for China and puppies as the puppies are starting to take up too much room in the welping pen!
This is always a very special day for us here when our puppies can eat independent of me or China. I have spent the last several days hand feeding each puppy so he/she get's the whole idea that food, other than what mommy provides,is pretty good! I am adding a little less pablum now and more Royal Canin puppy starter and the puppies are loving it. Today all 10 stayed at their own dish and licked it pretty clean! It was quite the job to clean the puppies up afterwards with the heat and the sticky pablum, but each day will get better and better now. Hard to believe that they have gone from the first picture to now in just 19 days! What is also so facinating to me is that as soon as we move the puppies to my puppy room and give them all this extra they are ALL moving off their bed onto the paper to do potty! It is funny to watch as each puppy walks(well sort of) around sniffing for its own little spot to do it's business. How incredibly smart they are.Just think of how really amazing this is. The human child takes two years to accomplish what a 20 day old puppy does. I also got my first tail wag today as I called the puppies!
Puppies are 24 days old today and I just couldn't get a good picture. Perhaps tommorrow I will get Laura or Gary to hold some puppies for me to get some nice shots. So puppies doing great. I have one boy and now one girl with the sniffles but went to vet and all ok. I was a day late weighing puppies but the biggest at 22 days old 3 lbs 10 oz and the smallest 2 lb 14 oz. Puppies are all doing potty on the far end of the pen now and only on the paper. They have just been bumped up to 3 feedings a day and now will gain faster. China of course is still feeding them but after 3 weeks of age mothers milk starts to loose its goodness so puppies must start eating good quality food. No more pablum just Royal Canin puppy starter. Cut nails again today as they are growing faster all the time. Remarked the puppies today as well. Now I am getting ready to leave for the Golden Retriever Specialty and will be away from email for a few days. Wish me luck with leaving my puppies. I have left lots of instructions with Gary and have my cell but have to say I am going to miss those few days away. I will probably not even recognize them after 3 days away.
I just had to add this note. It is Wednesday and I leave tommorrow, but when I walked into the puppy room this morning at 6:30 all 10 puppies were sitting up and playing so nicely with each other. They had all paired off. Two at a time each pair was pawing each other and mouthing each other. I ran back to my office to get my camera and when I got back all 10 were fast asleep in piles of two! Honestly, it is little moments like this that just make all the sleepless nights worth every minute. I do promise to post some pictures today of these incredibly beautiful little faces!
So back home now for 3 days and cant believe how big the puppies got while I was away. They are now puppies! They are playing with toys and each other and when I bring them out into the puppy room they run and jump and think they are in heaven. I can start to see a bit more personality of each one but they are still very similar.I have started to wean the puppies. Last night was the first night China spent away from her puppies. She winned in bed with me on and off all night as she was worried for her babies. She was some excited to see them this morning. It is a pretty difficult time for the golden mommy. Most love their babies. It is also a difficult time for the puppies. If you do it slow enough everyone gets through it without too many complaints. China will just see the puppies before bed time today and twice a day for the rest of the week and then once a day for a couple of days and then every other day for a couple of days. Then the puppies wont see her again until just before they leave and China's milk is all gone. If we are lucky I will be able to let China play with the puppies with my supervision that last week. I wormed the puppies yesterday again, and clipped all their little nails. My dogs all got a good grooming yesterday as I had missed last week with getting ready for the Specialty. So ears cleaned, whiskers clipped, toe nails done and a good brushing. I think Sam needs a bath cause she smells like perhaps she had a roll in something while I was away!
The Specialty was fantastic. We had dogs from all over North America and Europe. I was in doggy heaven! On the one day the judge and I picked the same dogs. Wish Oliver had of been under her that day as she would have loved him. Poor Oliver was so nervous with all the tents and wagging flags! The weather was far from perfect! We had high winds and down pours of rain and that set the stage for Oliver being pretty unhappy. He was fine to sit between myself and Shelley, but we didn't want to push this little man and have him associate the show ring with anything bad. We had a great weekend regardless and Oliver will hopefully be more relaxed in Owen Sound.
I must post some pictures today of the puppies as you just wont believe the difference a few days make!
Shelley with middle back blue boy above!
Shelley with top of tail black girl!
What an exciting birthday the puppies had on Sunday with the Choy family and friends coming to visit from Niagara Falls. Puppies are 5 weeks old Sunday and growing in leaps and bounds now! They are real little puppies now. Playing and eating and sleeping still top of the list but they sure enjoyed the kids today! We know 2 kids in Niagara Falls who are going to be pretty happy come the middle of August.
The puppies and I had a lovely visit today with Dianne and husband from Keswick. Could left ear black be Carlee? What a face! The puppies only saw mommy China once today. They didn't seem to mind!
Well it is the Puppies 6 week birthday today! They had a great visit from the Graziano family. It is also Gidget's and Charms birthday today as well as two of our camp guests. We celebrated with some carrot cake and extra long walks. The puppies are now totally weaned and we wormed and did toe nails today. Tommorrow Oliver and I leave for Owen Sound for a 3 day show. I am hopefull he will be more at ease and enjoy the process. I didn't get time to take pictures but promise to do so when I return. I will also be making the final decision on which puppy fits best with which family upon return as well and posting pictures of the matches. Stay tuned and wish us luck. Gary is getting the real hang of looking after things while I am away, but I best on push my luck:) Have a great few days and know all is well on the puppy front.
It is Thursday and back from show. Cant wait to take some pictures of the puppies and post them but wont be able till tommorrow as my battery is low after the dog show.
Well the puppies are doing great. Cant believe how much they all grew in my absence. My husband is getting pretty good at this now! Dog show was a hit and Oliver took Best of Breed in 3 out of the 5 shows and Best Puppy in Breed 4 out of the 5 shows. He was a real trooper but I can't believe how happy he is to be home. Me too actually. My doggies all missed me and I them and cant wait for a shower and my own bed tonight :) Oliver was so glad to see the girls and Gary so he wont be doing anymore shows for a bit now. Check tommorrow for some great puppy pictures!
It is Monday morning and my computer crashed last Thursday so I don't have access to my email address's. Please email me if you have a puppy coming home this week. I am going to try and load my pictures that I took of the puppies yesterday on my husbands computer. The puppies are doing absolutely fabulous. All our choices have been finalized and have to say not an easy task with this litter. Each and every puppy is a joy! They are gaining great, eating us out of house and home, and toilette training is doing super. I will be worming them one last time however, have to say we have not seen any worms and have had the stool tested 2 times now and no worms or eggs. The puppies have not been ab le to play in their big yard that we have as it has never really dried out completely. If I were to let them play there now they would learn to dig pretty quick and that is a habit I prefer them not to learn. So they have had a blast on the deck and are mostly going to potty on the part of the deck on the west side.
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