What, the milk bar is dry?
- Posted on 18th February 2008
- in Our Litters, zz 2008 Litters
- by jvfairbanks
Well; this was a first! Liberty (Belle’s mom) just climbed into the whelp box and was cleaning up the puppies. This is not unusual as Belle and Libby frequently share mother duties. What was hilarious (and the first) was she lay down to nurse the puppies. Considering she has no milk but such a nurturing instinct Jeff and I were laughing so hard. She was all open to receive them and the puppies were finding the nipple but no milk. I called her and she would not come out. She is the “ultimate” mom and would nurse them forever I think. There was a first time last year when both she and Belle had litters on the ground a couple of weeks apart. Libby would feed the masses even when Belle was done nursing.
Belle has moved from the lay down to nurse to the stand up to nurse stance as the puppies get bigger. She is also a great mom it is just funny the different mothering instincts and the reasons behind them. Belle is preparing them to become more independent and exercise in working for it more, using instincts of smell and new sights to move them along. Libby wants to keep them babies forever. I think that is why Libby is “mine” and Belle is “Jeff’s”. Jeff nurtures our own children while at the same time encouraging independence of thought and “letting them learn”. Me, I would keep both my children with me forever and protect them from lessons learned. If only they just listen to me. J The two different approaches to nurturing is nice to have the puppies exposed too. This litter is blessed by having two wonderful moms to help raise them up. But with one, she seemed to forget the milk bar is dry. There are so many wonderful lessons I learn as we raise puppies. When we don’t have litters on the ground our Libby and Belle always have sparks that remind us of life lessons and what is important.
The week three photos of each puppy will be coming later today for the website as well as the Blog. I have to go get some batteries for my camera. This week we will be moving the whelp box, adding the crate without a crate door for them to explore. Expect this coming week for the puppies to move from finding their walking ability to attempting to run. They will be exposed to a small water dish as well as an introduction to goats milk and puppy rice at the end of this week. Their ears are opening and they are starting to make practice whelps. They will be mouthing each other more and interacting with each other more and sleeping less as they develop. We handle each one several times a day and provide gentle stress. Jim, owner of Latte from the last litter shared the Monks of New Skete book passages on puppy rearing. I was aware of their book on how to be your dog’s best friend but was thrilled after getting the book on raising a whelp. I loved their theories on the art of raising a puppy and have introduced more into the raising of a wonderful Labradoodle.
