Speaking of Numbers ...

Lise and I were clipping nails the other day, which we do every 3 days, and figured out that by the time the pups go home we will have clipped 4,680 nails!  The great part about doing it is that the pups learn that having someone handling their feet is just something that happens to them.   By the time they go home, the new owners should have no trouble doing their nails.  At this age we use a human nail clipper like the one to the right.  Eventually we alternate between clipping and using a Dremel, shown below.   

The puppies have all doubled their birth weights!  Because we have 13 pups we are giving private feedings to the pups with the smallest weight gains each morning.  Depending on what their overnight gains were, we may give a supplemental feeding to all of the pups at some point during the day.   Many people ask why we don't supplement more often, which is a good question.  Without question, the best nutrition for the pups is Paige's milk.   We provide Paige with the best possible nutrition we can, feeding her what we believe all dogs should be eating for life, a high-quality diet for breeding stock (we happen to feed a raw diet, but there are kibbles out there that meet our requirements) with 3 supplements we believe all dogs should be on for life - a high-quality vitamin/mineral supplement, a canine single-organism probiotic and DHA.  The brands we use are ProBalance, Geneflora and Bravo Wild Salmon Oil.   Her milk changes as they get older, providing them with the nutrition they need at that stage of their development.   Our goal is for Paige to be able to supply all the nutrition for the pups.  If we supplement too much she will produce less milk, because her milk production is a demand/supply system.  Right now Paige is eating 5 pounds of food a day, and that amount will increase as their demand on her increases.


Paige has been wonderful with the pups.  For a dog that is used to a lot of work every day, her mothering instinct with the pups has been fabulous.  At nine days in she is beginning to get a little bored, and yet is still willing to spend most of the day in the box with them, nuzzling them, cleaning them and keeping them warm.  We are truly blessed that, like Paige, our girls are wonderful mothers!
  

Paige peeking over the whelping box

Here are some fun photos and a video of the pups.  There's lots more on the Smugmug site, so be sure to check them out.

Mr. Dusty Blue (a/k/a Dusty)

"There has to be some mile here somewhere"