Pets and Other Animal Friends II

[killersmom]

Sherry, with that many pups, does she have enough milk for all of them as they get older?

[doodler]

Their little peepers should be open by now.   But as with other breeds, it will be a few more weeks before they can see very well?

Actually, to my surprise, yesterday I discovered all of their eyes are open. They are SOOO quiet and still... ALL they do is eat and sleep... and when I pick one up that is sleeping, it just stays asleep... I just assumed they were still blind. And today one barked this morning... just a single bark (NOT a yip or squeek) and there was another bark this evening and that means at least THAT pup's ears are also open. Which means, ALL of them will be hearing tomorrow and things will be noisy around here for 24-48 hours while they adjust to sound.

[doodler]

My puppies have access to their mom's food... a high quality commercial puppy kibble (Royal Canin)... from the time they can get in it, which is usually around 3 weeks. They start eating it... dry, right out of the bowl... almost immediately and by the time they are 5-6 weeks, when most people are "weaning" their litters, mine are pretty much on solid food period. Knock on wood, I have never had a mom want her pups to leave her alone because her nipples are sore from their teeth. (My pups have kibble to chew on and seldom do anything but SUCK on their moms.) And moms don't lose weight from nursing too long. In fact, I usually have the opposite problem... moms fatter than they need to be because they are still eating the puppy food. When my pups leave at 12 weeks and beyond, their moms are still in with them much of the time, by choice. It is so amazing to watch the interaction of mamas and "older" babies. Both benefit from it.

[killersmom]

Thanks for all the information, Sherry. I have never had litters of puppies, so I have never known this.
Have had litters of kittens, but the most was 5 kittens in a litter.

[conny]

Conny, you have the most beautiful dogs! AND you're a great photographer!

thanks 

[desertrat]

Great photos, everyone!

I loved the cats and dogs-pics. 

[doodler]

Thanks for all the information, Sherry. I have never had litters of puppies, so I have never known this.
Have had litters of kittens, but the most was 5 kittens in a litter.

Cats don't seem to have as many babies at one time.
I raised Ocicats for a number of years and the largest litter I ever had was one of 7, the rest were always 4-6. Cat people are smarter about weaning than dog people... in fact, cat people seem to leave much of kitten raising to mamas. I think that might be when I started raising my pups differently. I'll tell you one thing... kittens are WAY noisier than puppies!

[huntinbuddy]

Thanks for all the information, Sherry. I have never had litters of puppies, so I have never known this.
Have had litters of kittens, but the most was 5 kittens in a litter.

Years ago (late 80's and early 90's) I had a pair of Pugs.   I kept them both intact to raise some puppies and of course they were all sold before they were even a month old.  But I first let them mate when the female was 18 months old.  The first litter, she had six, but one was still born, and another was really small, and passed within a day.  But the other four were healthy.   Second litter, she had four, and third litter she had three.  All the pups for 2nd & 3rd were fine.   I didn't permit any breeding aftet the third.

[doodler]

Poor dogs. All the fun was over!

Something most people don't know, dogs are the only animals that go through a complete hormonal pregnancy every cycle, whether they are bred or not.

[doodler]

[doodler]

[doodler]

[atruant]

Lovely shot, Sherry - hope you don't mind me sharing it!

John

[doodler]

Feel free to pass it on, John. A friend sends me TONS of photos emailed him by others and the Cat and Dog pix was a series of a couple dozen shots.  I feel any pix on the internet that is not protected is fair game. There is a beautiful, touching photograph of Calvin Borel and Rachel Alexander on her farm's website which I want to share with the world, but it is protected, darn it!

[killersmom]

Cats don't seem to have as many babies at one time.
I raised Ocicats for a number of years and the largest litter I ever had was one of 7, the rest were always 4-6. Cat people are smarter about weaning than dog people... in fact, cat people seem to leave much of kitten raising to mamas. I think that might be when I started raising my pups differently. I'll tell you one thing... kittens are WAY noisier than puppies!

yes kittens are very verbal almost from the very beginning.