Jotunn Norwegian Buhunds

D Litter

Journal

May 19 - D Litter Born.  6 Girls, 1 Boy. 1 Black, 6 Wheaten.   The X ray only showed 6 puppies, so when the 7th one (the only boy) popped out about half an hour later, we were quite surprised.   Folks on the Buhund chat group are saying that's normal - men are always late... :-)

May 20 - Sophie, having rested for a night, very happily took a big long, non waddling, walk with me to the end of the street and back.   She seemed happy to be away, but when we got back home, she ran right upstairs to check on her little darlings.

May 23 - Puppies had their dewclaws removed. These are little toes on the back of each feet that allow them to scramble over rocks, and in captivity, to catch of rugs and furniture. Probably would of been better to do it the day before, but doctor was out.   Unlike C litter, she used liquid bandage rather than tiny little actual band aids, so they won't be traumatized by ripping they off their furry feet.

May 24 - Five puppies (Blue, White, Orange, Yellow, and Red) all weigh a pound or more.  Little Black and Green are lagging by 20% or so, but are growing well. All the puppies almost doubled their weight in just 5 days.   Poor Mom!   

May 25 - Noticed that little puppies need their fingernails trimmed already.    Had to loosen all their collars for about the 2nd or 3rd time too - they're growing so fast.

May 26 - Red, the only boy, now weighs more than any of his sisters   Bet they'll still gang up on him and beat him up, poor little guy.

May 27 - Slept in same room with puppies last night.  They were very quiet, just the occasional tiny bark or whimper when Mom (Sophie) moved about or left the room.  She actually left them for a few hour a couple of times, and they just slept in a big puppy pile.  Tried hold them in my hands, but they kept on trying to sucking on my finger tips, which seemed bad.  Sadly, they're going to start getting much noisier and get sharp little puppy teeth in the next couple of weeks, so sleeping in same room or holding them will become much more of an adventure.    Bergie, our 1 1/2 year female, stayed up on the bed with me and spent the entire night staring down at her little cousins.

May 28 - Black girl is now the smallest of the bunch,  being slightly edged out by green.  This seems rather common in our litters, the black girls have always been the smallest.  And they say black just looks slimming :)

May 29 - Black is again slightly bigger than green.   Guess she got her appetite back.   I sort of think I saw Red open his eyes, not quite sure.

May 30 - Yep, Red has opened his eyes.   Wow, they are really dark black.  Rest are still closed.

May 31 - All the puppies eyes are now open.  Not sure they can see much yet.

June 2 - Puppies two weeks old.  Blue, the first born female, celebrated this by attempting to escape.  She somehow managed to climb a 8 inch wall, in spite of not being able to walk yet.  We found her 20 feet down the hall.

June 3 - Blue must be told the others about her adventures, because Yellow (the boy) and White were down the hall this morning.  Time to move them to an X Pen.    None of them walking let.  Mostly still just sleep and eat.

June 4 - Chewie, their older brother from C litter, came home to visit and seems even more interested in the puppies Bergie.   He's been giving all the puppies a tongue bath once or twice a day.  Sophie doesn't seem to mind at all.  Speaking of Sophie, Vali took pity on her and took her to Marymoor park for an hour long vacation.  She ran around like crazy, barked at the birds, went swimming, and came back totally covered in mud with a huge grin on her face.    She didn't even complain when Vali gave her a bath. 

June 5 - All puppies now weigh at least 2 lbs.  That means they've gained a collective 10 1/2 pounds in just 2 weeks (1/3rd their mothers weight!)  Do elephants grow that fast?   Poor Sophie.  No wonder she's letting Chewie and Bergie help! 

June 6 - Saw little yellow walk about 4 steps and then fall over.  Luckily she has such short legs, didn't have far to go.  Also saw White trying a short walk, she only made a step or two.   The others looked on, yawned, and went back to sleep.  Tomorrow for sure!.

June 9 - So far, puppies have been really quiet at night, they just sleep.  Heard some ominous squeaking coming from their room at 4am tonight - suspect my nights of peaceful sleep are just about over.

June 11 - Teeth, I felt teeth!  Their little canines are coming in, but no others quite yet.  They all look a bit like vampires.   Puppies are all walking, and in yellow's case, even running a bit.  Don't make it too far yet.  They're also starting to play with various stuff toys too, although Chewie and Bergie keep on stealing them.

June 12 - Momma Sophie doesn't appear to happy with the new teeth. I heard her growl at one of the puppies while they were having dinner tonight, and take off.  Poor little Black didn't gain much weight today, not for lack of alternatives.  Vali said she saw Black swimming in the saucer of goat's milk we had out for her, rather than eating it.   

June 13 - Yellow escaped last night!  Well, not really... We have all the puppies sleeping in a big X pen, and when we got up this morning, Yellow was outside by the TV.  I think she was trying to change the station to watch the Dog Whisperer. 

June 15 - Yeah, it's the weekend!  Took  their X pen outside this afternoon and put the puppies on the newly cut grass for the first time.   When I first put them down, they all stood with their legs locked, wondering what that cold green stuff was.   Very silly looking.  After 30 seconds or so, they got used to it and started chasing each other around.   Vail gave them a big bowl of goats milk and puppy food, they woofed it all down.  Their first solid food!  (Sophie is so happy!)


Milestones

May 17 - Norwegian Independence Day

May 19 - Puppies Born

May 23 - Dewclaws removed

May 24 - 5 Puppies now weigh 1 lb or more.

May 31 - All puppies have opened there eyes.

June 2 - 2 weeks old

June 5  - All puppies weigh 2 lbs or more.

June 6 - Puppies attempting to walk.

June 8 - All puppies weigh 1+ kg (for those metric folks out there)

June 9 - 3 weeks old

June 11:  Teeth!

June 15: First (semi) solid food, first lawn visit..

June 16 : 4 weeks old