One Week Old!
Top-Bottom: Chex, Frito (L), Orson (R), Ruffles, Popcorn
The puppies turned one week old today! Zhora’s still battling a bit of loose poop and the puppies have a bit of it too. I am going to start her on slippery elm, which is safe for lactating mothers and should help both her and the babies.
I was just writing some information on the puppycam chat that I thought might be worth sharing here too (I use this blog for my own records as well as a way to communicate with all y’all!):
Most folks will tell you that baby puppies need it to be very warm. Some recommend keeping the room they’re in at 90 degrees. While I definitely think that until they’re about 24 hours old or so (and might still be damp or being licked constantly by a new mother) they benefit from a lot of warmth, in my experience Vallhund puppies and moms are much more comfortable when it’s cooler.
It’s been unseasonably hot here until last night. The temperature in the whelping box (I have a remote temperature sensor in there so I can keep an eye on things) has been 79-81 for the last week. And the puppies, if you’ve been watching the cam, have been as far apart as they can possibly get, and have almost NEVER been on the heating pad (which is in one corner, you should never heat the whole box as young puppies cannot regulate their body temperatures and must move themselves towards and away from heat to maintain their temperature). In fact, the litter Tish was born in was born in January and even in a Buffalo winter those puppies never used the supplemental heat source (I had a heat lamp for the first day and Nina couldn’t stand being in the box because she was too hot – it’s also not recommended to use a heat lamp because it’s very drying and can predispose puppies to dehydration).
I use a heating pad with an “always on” setting, set to level 3, underneath the bedding in one corner of the box. The puppies are almost never on the pad.
Puppies at a comfortable temperature are usually in a loose pile, touching each other but not jammed together. Over the last week, I could tell they were warmer than they wanted to be because they were very spread out and almost never more than two together in the same spot.
The temperature in the box today is 73-75 degrees and the puppies seem just about perfect, they’re in loose piles, not on the heating pad and not jammed together.
Vallhunds like it cool!
Sisters. Popcorn & Ruffles
Top-Bottom: Chex, Frito (L) & Orson (R), Ruffles, Popcorn
September 28th, 2017 at 1:31 PM
They’re so cute snuggling up to one another, and they’re growing so quickly! Peeking in on them on the puppycam is the highlight of my day.
Out of curiosity, why did you break naming convention with Orson?
September 28th, 2017 at 1:41 PM
Orson was the first named, because he was by far the biggest, fattest puppy I started calling him Orson, after Orson Welles. And as much as we tried to come up with a snack food name that suited him (Count Chunkula?), Orson kind of stuck. 🙂
September 28th, 2017 at 1:50 PM
Well now I owe my coworker lunch; she was sure he was named after Orson Welles! 🙂 It certainly suits him.
September 28th, 2017 at 1:52 PM
Gah, love that snuggle pic of Popcorn and Ruffles.