If this title looks somewhat familiar you must be a fan of the TV show Private Practice too. If you’re not, don’t bother. This is the last season and there are far too many story lines to have a satisfactory ending, but I am in for the long haul. Anyway, in last week’s episode we found our favorite hapless pediatrician anxiously awaiting the of his birth of triplets. The episode caught the viewers up by breaking Charlotte’s (his wife) pregnancy up into weeks, narrated by expecting dad (hapless pediatrician) Cooper. As they segued from week to week the screen had the pregnancy week number scrawled across the top next to a stack of veggies that most closely resembled the current size of the babies.
I guess I could have said “potatoes” – but I like the sound of Tater. My grandma used to say it and I had a cousin who actually date a guy named Tater once. My uncle was very relieved that it was just a summer romance. Also as someone who is changing the way they are eating and now happens to know how much an average potato weight – post whelp puppy week two is certainly a litter of taters.
One of the things we bring home with from the ultra sound appointment is the whelp manual. Dave calls it the dog bible. (We don’t mean to offend, but truly we refer to it quite a bit – mainly to make sure we haven’t forgotten anything. There is a lot to remember, trust me.) There are some particularly funny parts of the manual too, which I will be sharing later during this catch up week. The first line of the post whelp week two – tater, section is one of Sabina’s favorite parts (she has a few) and it says:
Increase your CCI breeder’s food amounts..
Yep that is a favorite passage of hers. It is only second to the part where I look up the how many cups times how many puppies and come up with some magical number like 15 cups of kibble a day. Yes I said 15 cups a day. That is for a larger litter of course, and it isn’t as glamorous as it sounds, but more on that later.
My least favorite part of post whelp week 2 – taters, is that we are still handling the pups minimally. While it is amazing to watch them in there, I have to wait for a couple weeks to my favorite time of puppies. It is sort of the same for me with kids too. Newborns are nice and all, but I love a spunky toddler or a four week old puppy – they are about the same thing.
As you know from an earlier post it was during post whelp week two – taters, when we brought home the W pups. I was a little apprehensive about how Sabina would do with me bringing in two little foreigners. I absolutely knew she would follow direction and do what I told her to do, but I wanted her to welcome them into the litter. My fears were quickly extinguished.
Belly up to the bar B+2 Litter!
As I reported she wasn’t very happy about cleaning them which is essential. A mama’s vigorous cleaning of a pup stimulates them to hurry, till they figure it out themselves. The first few days Dave and I regularly took care of it, then on day 3 either by accident or resignation (I don’t know which nor do I care) Sabina took over. My guess is that I probably wasn’t doing it right and she just did it.
You have heard the old adage if you want something done right you do it yourself. Sabina is no dummy, she knows that I have never had a kid and essentially have no idea what I am doing. We were both happier with her doing it anyway.
When we first brought those little Ws home they were the most ravenous pups I had ever seen. They ate and ate and ate! However they also snuggled with Sabina more than any other pups we have had. I am not sure if they were just extra happy to be here or were making sure Sabina knew they were thankful. None the less it was pretty darn cute. Particularly because she isn’t that snuggly of a mama. Well Dave thinks she is and she is just acting tough. Who knows.
Puppies do a heck of a lot of maturing in eight weeks. Everyday there is some new development or they make a new discovery. It was really unique to have pups of different ages all mixed in together, and amazing what a difference there was in just those four days more the Ws had been on this earth.
I am happy to report that the Ws continued to lead the pack in many things (most notably – escape attempts, and rabble-rousing) including weight. From two little teeny, tiny pups (post whelp week one – half a banana) – to 14 pound ropy-polys at turn in. Time, kibble of course, and the love of the most awesome mama dog ever made all the difference in the world.
Waltz and Widget the “Ws” before turn in.
Proud of you Bean – you never let me down.
Mama Bean
Aspiring Service Dog Chronicles 