[pyrnet] 11 puppies and how they grew #2

[Ken McNamara <conmara@grandcanyonhiker.com>]

Hi again -

For those of you who have done this - it will come as no surprise that
the last 3 weeks have been....busy.

At the end of my last note - we had 11 puppies, Elaine (mom) wasn't
eating very well, and she had a touch of mastitis.

You'll all be happy to know that ALL 11 pups are thriving.  It's such a
relief to be through the first 4 weeks.  At this time they all weigh
around 5# (smallest is 4.3# and largest is 5.5#)  (2 kg to 2.5 kg)

Time   Avg Weight  % gain  Stdev% of avg
Birth    1#                  16%
8 days   1.55#     (56%)     13%
15 days  2#        (31%)     11%
22 days  3#        (45%)      7%
29 days  4.9#      (65%)      7%

I don't have any weight charts to compare this to - so if someone could
comment on how this looks I'd really appreciate it.  Considering the
reduction in the standard deviation I'm satisfied that we're spreading
the nutrition around correctly.

Mom started eating better - but her quantity of milk just didn't seem to
be enough.  So we supplemented - especially the two smallest.  We also
had to get her to lay down with her pups and make sure they all got
fed.  She wasn't in the mood to be a mother for this litter.

You'll recall from my first letter that this was an unplanned
pregnancy.  So unplanned that we had committed to a house boat the first
week of July.  You can imagine how panicked I was when I realized she
was pregnant and would need care while we were on vacation.  Fortunately
we know a local family whose daughters have an extensive animal
husbandry background and we were able to hire one of them to come over 3
times a day to see to feeding.  She tended the litter from the 8th day
to the 15th day - during which the average weight gain was 1# (.45kg)
and the variation in weight dropped to 7%.  I feel very satisfied that
she did a good job.

Mom continued to have problems with mastitis when we were gone and was
put on a second dose of antibiotics.  But when we got back she was going
off the antibiotic again and within a day or two it was developing a
problem again.  I'd like to say that we used warm compresses to good
effect - but although we tried I wasn't satisfied with the results. 
Elaine was less than cooperative.  The best help seemed to be making
sure that the puppies drained her dry at each feeding.  They had no
problem getting this done.

This is Elaine's second litter with Alexander.  We are very pleased with
her pups.  Our customer's for the first litter have all been very
satisfied.  But - this will be her last litter.  We're going to have her
spayed before she comes into heat again.  I don't want to deal with
mastitis again.

At 22 days I had the puppies stool checked - found round worms (as
expected) and got a prescription to treat them.  Their stools
immediately showed dead worms.  The last time we did this at 5+ weeks
and the worm load seemed to be less this time.

Although her milk has stayed good (as near as I can tell from visual
inspection) - we have been bottle feeding and at 22 days we also began
introducing regular food.  Most of the pups went right after it.  Our
mix is Science Diet dry 1st year with supplement milk (and then weaning
pabulum) mixed in.  We soak the dry food and mash it down - then add
enough water to make it very sloppy.

Sloppy is how the puppies look for the first week.  They get as much on
them as in them - then what mom doesn't lick off - they lick off each
other.

The pup's personalities are starting to surface a little (at least when
they're not sleeping).  They've almost got walking down and they're
starting to connect us with food.  We feed them in a used plastic
swimming pool - which all but 2 can climb out of when they're finished. 
They climb over the edge and go 'PLOP' onto the ground.  Won't be long
and they'll be mobbing us when we come out - I had some process for
dealing with that the last time - but darned if I can remember just what
- oh well, something will get worked out.

Next week (5 weeks old) they get their first visit to the vet.  They'll
get the standard shots and a professional examination.  We're aware that
we could give the shots (my son-in-law ran a hog operation for 2 years
and could do this in his sleep).  But we think it's best to have a
professional give them at least 2 thorough examinations (and shots)
before we place them.


Hope everyone out there is having as much fun as we are.  Pups are
really a joy - but the real joy comes with meeting the people we'll
place the pups with.  People who like Pyrenees are some of the best
people around.

Ken McNamara
grandcanyonhiker.com
Pittsboro, Indiana