MAY 19 DAY DAY 8

ONE WEEK WEIGH IN

PUPPY WT MAY11 WT MAY19 GAIN

BLUE F 14.0 OZ 24.9 OZ 10.9 OZ
PURPLE F 12.9 OZ 24.3 OZ 11.4OZ
BLACK M 12.3 OZ 23.4 OZ 11.1 OZ
GREEN F 12.8 OZ 22.7 OZ 9.9 OZ
WHITE F 13.2 OZ 24.0 OZ 10.8 OZ
ORANGE M 14.7 OZ 27.7 OZ 13.0 OZ
YELLOW M 13.7 OZ 23.7 OZ 10.0 OZ
PINK M 12.9 OZ 21.1 OZ 8.2 OZ
TEAL F 14.9 OZ 27.3 OZ 12.4 OZ

I have no idea how breeders get those cute pictures of puppies posed next to toys. These guys wouldn't stop wiggling... so this is the best you get ;) The bottles were given to me by Paul Wild of Royale Standard Poodles. She came and evaluated my last litter.. partially because she was the owner of the Sire of that litter and partially because she took the 'pick' girl out of the litter and partially because we became friends over the course of the year. She has been breeding Silver Standards for many decades and I felt honored that she not only let me breed to her beautiful boy but fell in love with my puppy girl. Her name is Dele' and lives in Arizona. I hope to make a trip this fall to see them both.

anyway... here are the Alchmy Absolut pups at 8 days old:

BLUE

PURPLE

BLACK

GREEN

WHITE

ORANGE

YELLOW

PINK

TEAL

MAY 18 DAY 7 ONE WEEK OLD

Can you believe it?!

Puppies are starting to support themselves on their hind legs and much more ambulatory. Mom is taking a little more time out of the whelping box and actually slept on the bed for a few hours last night. Puppies are sleeping well and growing like crazy. They have doubled their weight.

Trying to stand on back legs

Robyn and Bob came for a visit yesterday. They even brought Nickel a basket full of Purple Monkeys! and home made treats. Nickel wouldn't take her eyes off that basket. She was relaxed and at ease having them handle the puppies.

Robyn and Green

MAY 16 DAY 5

This is taken from

Handbook of Applied Dog Behavior and Training:

"The Neonatal period is associated with reflexive activities aimed at optimizing nurturance and contact with the mother." It is outlined in the following chart

THE NEONATAL PERIOD 0-12 DAYS

S E N S O R Y		Olfactory, Vestibular, Tactile, Pain, Thermal, Taste development--------- Most time spent sleeping---------------		------------> ------------------------>
M O T O R		Flexor dominance Primitive reflexes Forelimb placing----		-------------------------------> Forelimb supporting---		Hind-Limb Placement-----------> ---------------->
S O C I A L		Distress Vocaliza		Reflexive comfort tion-------->		seeking--------------->
L E A R N I N G		Responsive to early “gentling” effects				Weak and variable appetitive and avoidance learning first appears--------->
	B I R T H		4 D A Y S		8 D A Y S		12 D A Y S

We have certainly seen evidence of 90% of the time sleeping.. just look at my photos.. ha ha ha!!

Here's another chart outlining developmental stages from Day 1 to Day 28:

MAY 15 DAY4

TinTin and puppies... Nickel is puppy on upper right

Today's task is to trim puppy toe nails. I'll do this while the puppies nurse so they associate nail trimming with something positive. This doesn't always mean that they'll enjoy having their nails trimmed. While they nurse I also massage their feet and toes, tail and ears.

Visitors

Wendy and Joe came to visit today. Nickel let Wendy into the box and fell asleep in her lap while the puppies nursed. They're wearing the blue jumpsuits, booties and wash hands with surgical soap. This is a precaution reducing the chances of introducing any harmful microbes, viruses, etc to the puppies. The hairy mass behind Wendy is the ever present TinTin.

Trust

Wendy and Orange

Orange

Leopard Spots

white

Testing out those hind legs

MAY 14 DAY 3

AKA... no tail docking/dewclaw day!

Normally day three is the day tails are docked and dewclaws removed. I have been considering leaving my puppies 'natural' with each litter. In Ico's litter I left the dewclaws on the puppy that I planned to keep. After having experienced what it's like to have a poodle with dewclaws I came to the realization that they are not flimsy superfluous growths on their legs that will easily tear off. A poodle's dewclaw is Webbed like the rest of their toes and it is a true toe. I'm excited to see how these puppies progress with their tails and dewclaws intact.

Normally I would have taken the puppies to the vet today and Nickel would have had to stay in the car (wondering why her babies were being taken away) so she couldn't hear her pups cry during the procedure. It is very quick and the puppies go right back to nursing after the procedure... but is is minor surgery. I'm happy to not have to deal with the stress involved during this hour and the worry of infection the following days. I'm also looking forward to seeing the puppies running and playing with their beautiful 'number 9' tails... just like their Daddy :0)

Here's a wave of the flag for Full Flying Tails

Nickel's New Doo

My Friend Cat came to visit me... ok... the puppies, last night. She told me that I HAD to cut Nickel down. She said that she looked frumpy, too much hair and she was way too hot. You see, Puppies can't regulate their own body temperature for the first week of life. There is a heated 'whelping dish' built into the whelping box that stays at a constant temperature of 90 degrees. On top of this it's necessary to heat the room. I try to find a balance between keeping the puppies warm and not overheating mom. The ambient temperature is around 80 degrees. On top of this, while a Mom is nursing she is burning calories like crazy. Calories burned = increased temperature. So! can you see why Nickel might be a little too warm?

proud mama in front of the whelping box

Now lets get acquainted with our new family members!!

Yellow Boy and Green Boy

White Girl and Black Boy

Orange Boy

Green Girl and Pink Boy

Green

Pink Boy and Purple Girl

Blue Girl

Blue

Purple Girl

Leopard Spot Girl

Leopard Spot Girl and Pink Boy

Green

Orange

Belly Up

May 13 Day 2

This is a test.... The Blog server is having some issues and I haven't been able to post for the last day.... it removed my last entry from DAY 1. Hopefully we'll get that back. I'm going to try to catch up!

In the mean time you'll just have to wait!!!