Eyes wide open

Well. . . maybe not wide open, but the pups are opening their eyes. Yellow girl was the first to see the world on Thursday 6/25. They are doing lots of wobbly walking and a little bit of barking, in addition to their puppy mewing. Also on Thursday, I removed the puppy pool and transitioned them into a small puppy pen. The hard flat surface is better for practicing walking and the pen offers Cleo more ventilation. The pool is great for keeping the pups warm, but now the pups are no longer so sensitive to cold. I am also very pleased that all pups have doubled their birth weights by 2 weeks of age, which is an important milestone. Poor Cleo is now supporting 18 lbs of puppies. Cleo's milk production is almost keeping up with this rapidly growing family, but we are still supplimenting with bottle feedings of goat milk. If a person steps into the pen, the pups now swarm us, just like they do Cleo. Having pups have such positive associations with people at such a young age is beneficial for future bonding.