Neverland-Retrievers

Here are some current pictures of April.

   

April and Tink are doing fine. I relocated the webcam because April has tried to climb out of the whelping box. The webcam view of mom and daughter was blocked when I close the front door. The current view is unaffected and give a different perspective. April started opening her eyes on day 10. They are not completely opened yet, just little deep blue slits. I changed the bedding in the whelping box to the Sterilon pad and placed newspaper underneath. Aprils is having BM on her own now, so this should make clean up easier. I have to mention that I’ve been following Melody’s Whelping notes. I also purchased several books with similar information, but her note are very concise and thorough. Thanks M! April broke past 3 lbs today, See Chart Below. Her current weight is 3.15 lbs (1.43 kg). She’s gaining an average of 3.1 oz/day or 11% body weight per day. The normal range is 1.7-5.5 oz/day or 5-10%. I’ve cut her nails twice by now, but they seem to grow very fast. Like Tink, this is not her favorite activity.

Also, I’ve had an ISP problem in the last couple of days, that affected my web site and webcam. It has been temporarily resolved. A more permanent fix is coming soon which may put the webcam offline a few hours one day this week.

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This morning April weighed 37.5 oz (1063 g). Eyes and ear are still closed. The little munchkin sleeps and eats, in that order. A few more tenative steps this evening and a couple of barks while sleeping. I know she’s not dreaming, so it must be reflex or just copying mom, hope not the later.

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It is unbelievable to me, but today April took her first steps on all four legs! Her eyes are still closed, but she managed to take a couple of steps towards mom. I didn’t imagine it, even my daughter Jessica saw her when she repeated it again a few seconds later. Also, she almost managed to climb onto the rail just a minute later. This morning she weighed 35 oz (992 g) as she continues a steady weight increase.

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April’s weight is 31.3 oz this morning. I reluctantly went back to work today. It’s hard leaving the puppy, but I know Tink will take good care of her. With the webcam, I can keep an eye on the whelping box. Both mom and puppy spent most of the day sleeping, not unexpected. I also have another PC recording the webcam at regular intervals, so I can always go back and view the days activities in Fast Forward. Someday I will post a short clip for fun.

I’ve also been trying to stimulate April by using Carmen Battaglia’s technique called “Developing High Achievers”. Information on the technique can be found at www.breedingbetterdogs.com. Thanks to Linda C. for passing this information on to me.

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Here are a couple of current photos of April.

 

April is steadily increasing in weight and activity each day. This morning she weighed 29 oz (822 g) an increase of 4.5 oz from yesterday. She is becoming more active and definitely has a favorite corner of the whelping box, away from the heat lamp. I ran a small test to see how quickily she would crawl over to her corner while penned in by two towel rolls and her Snuggleme Puppy. See for yourself in the attached video below.

Pen Breakout

We had a visitor last night. Al stopped by on his way home from the airport and had a look at April. He says she look health, not much else one can make out at this point. This morning April set a new personal record for weight gain, 3.2 oz from yesterday. She now weighs 24.5 oz (694 g). I just monitor and help out occasionally since Tink is very attentive to her daughters needs.

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Now we are past the most critical stage, the first 72 hrs. April continues to do well. She’s gained another 2 oz and now weighs 21.3 oz (606 g). This morning I had a good look at her. She feels warm and soft in my hand. She seems to breath quietly and has a wet nose. Her coat is shiny and full, no bare areas except for her belly. She twitches while sleeping, like her mom. She is a strong crawler and make her way around the whelping box. While nursing, she seems to hang on strongly, even while being battered by Tink’s licks. She is quiet most of the time, except when she wants mom. Her eyes and eyes are closed, of course, it will be a couple of weeks before they open. All around, a very nice puppy, from good breeding stock.

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While mom was outside, I took this profile picture of April. Sorry for the ruler, it’s the engineer in me coming out.