Maggie's First Litter-Weeks 1 and 2

Background

     A puppy "pile on"       typical nursing puppy pose
For the first two weeks the puppies eyes are closed.  They rolled around and tried to stand, but mostly couldn't manage it for long.  They started with no teeth and then slowly grew little needles in their mouths.  Maggie fed them all the time and after some initial growls let Tommy and Zack check them out.  Tommy thought they were really cool, but they were a little small for play time so we kept his visits short mostly.

The proud Mom    

  Mom naps as puppies nurse

Maggie really hit her stride...she cleaned them, fed them, and then cleaned them again.  However, Maggie also slept all the time; in fact, she slept when ever she was not eating, drinking, or nursing (or even while she was nursing).  The little pups were not very steady when they were trying to crawl.  Often Maggie just bowled them over with her nose or even her tongue when they were trying to nurse.  Then she would nudge them along with her nose so she could give them a good bath (despite protests)!

Maggie is either napping here or in the middle of cleaning a puppy bottom  

The First Two Weeks

What did they do?

Spock ears and smashed noses

For the first week they had flat little ears and their nose was all smushed.   They were the cutest little things, and they made little cooing noises.  Rarely did they even whine. Ohh, they also made sucking noises while eating (which was all the time).  The also began to scratch up Maggie's belly with their little claws.  Andrea started cutting their nails when they were 2 days old and needed to continue more than once a week.

What did they sound like?

FIRST, TURN UP YOUR VOLUME! 

Then select early puppy sounds (first week) or later puppy sounds (about 2 weeks I think)!

There are 2 copies of each file (one each in "au" or "wav" format).  Try them one at a time until something works.

I think you will need something like realplayer (TM) or Quicktime (TM) on your computer.

1. early puppy click HERE for early puppy sounds (au file format)

                      click HERE for early puppy sounds (wav file format)

2. later puppy click HERE for later puppy sounds (au file format)

                      click HERE for early puppy sounds (wav file format)

(Sorry if this is confusing, still working on this...now it at least works on my computer.

If neither sound and neither format works, e-mail us and I can send you some sound bite files.  Put something about asking for sound bites in the title...)

mailto:gallea@earthlink.net

What else did they do?

Even during the first week they were a little mobile, but it was slow motion and they mostly dragged along their back end with their front paws if they used their legs at all (they looked like little seals or walrus).   And, of course, they passed out as soon as they were done nursing.  As you might imagine, they put on weight quickly...Doubling in size every 5 to 7 days.

First we nurse, then we pass out  

 Some time during the second week they first stood up, but it didn't last long.  They became mobile, but it was slow motion and they mostly dragged along their back end with their front paws (they looked like little seals or walrus).  And, of course, they still passed out as soon as they were done nursing.  We began to notice them twitching while they slept (perhaps to dream...).  And their tongue seemed to have a life of its own.  Sometimes the tongue was peaking out of their mouth, and sometimes it took over while they slept.  Their puppy wrinkles became big chubby wrinkles of loose skin, especially around the face.  About this time their nose also began to straighten, but this happened quite slowly.

Napping, napping, and more napping     

They also began to whine a little if they heard you or if Maggie got close (Who knows if they smelled her or heard her or...).  During this period they also got distressed if they rolled off and found themselves alone.  If they were picked up and placed back with their brothers they usually would quiet right down.