Today was the first day to try lapping up milk from a dish. Although they’ve been clamoring to get at Finley’s bowls of broth, they were a little more timid when the dish was intended for them. They all got at least a little taste. Number 1 actually drank a fair amount of the warm goats’ milk.
Finley stops in to check on her pups multiple times during the day and spends most of the night sleeping with them. Although they can all pee and poop on their own now, (increasing the clean up that Biff and I need to do) she continues to sniff their backsides regularly, to see if they need any cleaning. All three have begun to reach for her nipples when Finley’s standing, a nursing position they can’t quite take yet, but they’re getting close.
They pretty much fill the transfer container that we’ve been using when we change their bedding. Big changes are just ahead. We’ll move them out to the barn when they’re able to escape the whelping box and they’ll soon begin eating and drinking from a dish.
Although the puppies are still very much babies with their multiple naps and frequent nursing, they have been getting playful with each other, so we scrubbed the puppy chew toys last night and introduced a couple of them today. They sniffed them and did a little bit of mouthing them (still toothless.) Soon enough they’ll be scrapping over them, but for now the play was peaceful.
The puppies (and Finley) received lots of attention from family members who came out to visit. Niece-in-law Jamie, grand-nephew Logan, sister-in-law Lynn and niece Sara spent time snuggling the puppies. The puppies cooperated by accepting all the love.
Special thanks to Lynn who cleaned up the pee-fest that followed the naps in laps.
I sat in the middle of the whelping box for a while this morning while the puppies crawled on and around me, all finally finding a spot to fall asleep.
#2 has gravitated to the corner of the whelping box a few times and we’ve found him sleeping in this position (below!)
How they’ve changed over the last few days. Look at the puppies now!
Although Finley seems to be enjoying longer stretches away from the puppies and time outdoors with Chev and Xupe, she dutifully returns to her puppies to sniff their back ends (attending to them as needed) and then she lies down to let them nurse. The two photos below were taken within seconds of each other. The first is Finley returning to her napping babies. They awaken upon her arrival and quickly make their way to their lunch as she stretches alongside them.
I take quite a few snapshots (using both my phone and my “real” camera) and most of the shots come out looking blurry because there’s so much movement going on. The puppies’ coordination seems to increase by the hour and they increasingly sit up and walk to get where they’re going. Even having seen this with past litters, we are constantly amazed.
The puppies’ pattern of nursing and sleeping continues and they keep on growing. They’ve all taken their “first steps” although those steps are wobbly and erratic. The top left photo has (from left to right) #3, #2 and #1. The photo to the right is #2 in the background and #3 in the foreground.
