Early days (and late nights)

 

Puppies staying warm on the heating pad.

A new litter of pups always means sleep deprivation for the humans even with a stellar doggy Mama, as Mom and pups require care and monitoring around the clock.

Kodi needs to stay well hydrated and have additional calories in her diet so she has plenty of milk.  She needs to be encouraged to leave the pups for potty breaks and we are providing "take out" from the kitchen to the whelping box area so she does not need to be separated from the pups while she is eating.  She is a HUGE fan of Jan's sourdough waffles and took herself off to the kitchen briefly to feast on them when she smelled them cooking today.

Kodi takes care of the puppies needs in terms of feeding and cleanup, but we will monitor their weight twice a day for several weeks to make sure all the pups are thriving and gaining weight as they should.

Janitorial duties fall to us and we change out the bedding under the whelping box a few times per day to keep Mom and pups environment as fresh and clean as possible.

We've chosen litter names for the pups and will post individual photos with their names, probably later today.  We'll also start a series of albums on Flickr and save photos there for easier viewing.  

Kodi was just a little blur heading into the kitchen to beg for a sourdough waffle.

Puppies lined up at the milk bar.