What's for dinner?

"Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are." -Brillat-Savarin

Gordo and Fargo

We feed our adult dogs a raw diet consisting of meaty bones (mainly chicken wings, necks, backs) and a ground meat and veggie mixture which we prepare ourselves.  We add in various "extras" now and then and give them a good "all-round" supplement on their evening meal.  We usually keep a bag of grain-free kibble on hand too, for times that we forget to thaw their meat, and to use as treats.
We are starting to wean the pups on many of the same foods our adult dogs get.

In the last few days they have had several meals each day consisting of about 2-3 cups of puppy formula with some Evanger's Grain-free Chicken with Sweet Potato and Pumpkin dog food soaked and blended with it.  They slurp this concoction down eagerly.

Cabot

They will also begin getting some fresh raw ground meat for the first time, with some sweet potato and pumpkin mixed in.  We will offer them some raw meaty bones (chicken wings) in the upcoming days and weeks too.  Obviously they can't eat them yet (their teeth are just starting to come in), but will get good exercise and chewing practice working on them.

When it comes time for them to head off to their new homes, we will send the pups with a small supply of the foods they are currently eating and there will be a discussion in their puppy books about making good food choices for them.

Did I mention that some of them are getting teeth?  Capri, Cabot and several of the other parti-colored boys have a pretty good mouthful of sharp little teeth already while Gordo, Fargo and Pixie are a little slower to get theirs.

We have a CD of various noises that we play for the puppies to help get them used to sounds that they may hear when they are older.   They get to hear usual noises from around our house of course (coffee grinder, blender, oven timer, vacuum cleaner) but this CD also has travel sounds (airport terminal, train, helicopter, traffic noise, kennel sounds, dogs barking), things that go boom (fireworks, guns, thunderstorms), animal sounds (geese, ducks, sheep), household sounds (including lawn mower), child sounds (crying) and more.

Weekend Report

A snack on the patio.  We are good drinkers.

On Friday evening, the puppies moved from the back bedroom to slightly larger living quarters in the dining room.  Within the next week or so, they will have the run of the entire room, but for now we just opened up their area so they have about 1/3 more space than they did.  The front part of the house is much more noisy and active, so it is good exposure for the pups.

Gordo thought Karen's feet made a fine pillow.

Peri came to the house very early on Saturday and stayed with Ecko and Chili so I could get away for the morning to take Stoker and Delta to the lake to meet some friends for water training.

Ranger shows how the pups are beginning to play with toys.

After a fun morning at the lake, I returned home to wait for Karen to arrive to visit with the puppies.  Karen is the first person outside Ecko's closest friends to get to come visit with the puppies.  Since it was such a nice warm afternoon, I set up an ex-pen on the patio with a blanket inside and we took the pups out and sat in the sunshine watching them sleep (mostly) and play (a little).  Before Karen left, we gave them a little snack of milk supplement so she could see what good drinkers they are getting to be.

The chiropractor came for another visit with Ecko and was very pleased at how comfortable she is.  We both agreed that she does not need any more visits for the foreseeable future.

Capri surveys the living room from behind bars.

I spent the evening cooking up a yummy pot of chicken/sweet potato/kale "stew" in the crockpot for Ecko.  I've been adding a heaping spoonful of this to her food for the last few weeks since it seems like she deserves some extra "yum" and calories with her food while she is nursing the puppies.

The stuffed cow has been a puppy mascot for the last 3 litters.

Sunday was a relaxing day.  The pups visited the living room for a few hours while we put fresh bedding in their pen.  They get very agitated and vocal when they are in a strange new place, but settle down quickly.  They mostly stayed in the pen we set up for them there, but almost all ventured out a bit and explored some of the living room.

Hey Mom.....Pixie pulled my tail!

The pups are interacting more and more and Pixie pulled Capri's tail as she tried to take a post-lunch nap today.  Very cute!

The pups wait in Grandpa Kilo's bed while their box gets fresh bedding.

Ranger  and accomplice Capri contemplate the world outside their box.

Capri takes a post-lunch siesta.

Jasper rolling around in play.

Jasper.  Contemplating the world outside the whelping box?

MACH5 Pepin

Pepin is the sire of our current litter.  Pep just celebrated his 6th birthday and, just days before that, he earned his MACH5.  The MACH is an AKC (American Kennel Club) agility title and stands for "Masters Agility Champion" and the "5" signifies that Pepin and his owner Sandy have earned the title 5 times over!

Here is a video of Pepin's Jumpers run which earned him the MACH 5 followed by a quick celebration lap:

Pepin's MACH5 run

A little TLC for Mama Ecko

The dogs love to have some quality time in the recliner with Jan.

Now we are three (weeks...)

Another week went flying by and the pups had their 3-week birthday on Sunday.  They are now in the "awareness or identification period".  You can see more here in a previous blog posting:  http://lookoutpwd.blogspot.com/2008/01/awareness-or-identification-period-21.html

This blog entry was written when Ecko was a tiny puppy herself.

They are starting to walk with a bit more coordination and strength and are interacting with each other in the briefest of play sessions before falling back to sleep.

Jasper makes a good pillow.

Puppy Geometry?  They made a triangle.

The chiropractor came to work on Ecko again on Saturday.  She is SO much better.  She can shake her head and scratch her ears with her back foot again.  She can also jump on and off the couch or bed.  We are so relieved to have her feeling better.

Only Ecko's closest friends have been coming over with the puppies so young still.  My friend Julie (who owns Ecko's brother Cooper) came on Saturday and helped with toenail trims.  I trimmed the adult dogs nails by myself in the morning (64 toenails) and Julie held the babies while I trimmed all their nails in the afternoon (144 more toenails - but who is counting?).

We didn't take many photos this week as it isn't good to use a flash when the pup's eyes are opening.  We'll take more and more photos as the pups get older and cuter.

The pup's big sister Delta is very helpful about watching over them.

Tiny toenails...

Gordo (dk green) and Capri - nap buddies

We were a bit lazy and "only" trimmed the front nails on the tiny puppies this weekend.  A human fingernail trimmer is plenty big for the task, right now.  The nails need to be trimmed so Ecko's belly doesn't get all scratched and sore when the puppies nurse.  That means 80 tiny toenails trimmed, if I do my math correctly (4 on each front paw, plus dewclaws...).

The chiropractor came to the house again and gave Ecko another adjustment.  We are seeing some progress on getting her feeling comfortable again.  Fortunately she is taking great care of the babies and her appetite has never waned.

Ranger getting a boost from a sibling at the milk bar

The pups are starting to feel strong and muscular when you pick them up now.  Hank was the first pup I noticed with an eye that was beginning to open on Saturday evening.

Fargo found a cozy place to sleep