22nd May 2014

Thursday the 22nd of May. The first munchkin arrived at 12.00am. By 1.00pm we had 4 and she was finished by 6.30pm. Final tally 9 gorgeous babies, 5 boys 4 girls . All weighing between 415gm and one a whopping 500gm . 

 Day 5

Mother and babies are doing well. Jas adores her babies,she is so gentle with them. She has started coming down the field for a leg stretch and bounds around with the others with a big smile on her face. This time is very useful to clean the whelping box and bedding. The pups go into my electrically heated greenhouse propagator, which has served very well as an incubator.The first photo is of them all in the propagator. The next two are “The 5 Boys” and “The 4 Girls”.

2 Weeks

Pups are changing every day now,all eyes are open and they are trying their best to get to their feet .Its a bit wobbly still ,but they trundle all over the place. Jas looks at them a bit bemused not knowing where to put her feet when she gets in to feed them.

Had their nails clipped and their 2 week weigh in.They are all gaining weight at a good rate.

They are already trying to wee on the paper at the front of their whelping box so once they are stronger the front board will be removed, more paper put down in front of the box and they quickly learn to keep their vet bed clean.

We always give them a name for easy identification purposes. Sometimes the reason for their name is obscure, for instance Turner is so called due to him having a solid black head like the sea bird the Turn ! Kitty has a marking on her back which looks like a cat.Hansel and Gretal ‘s markings were so alike and they were a boy and a girl and so on. 

Top to bottom as follows :-  Hansel,Minstrel, Grettal, Chunks, Betty, Kitty, Berry, Turner, Ghost,

 

 

 3 Weeks

The puppies are receiving visitors now and Jas is more than happy to let other people keep watch over her brood while she enjoys some fresh air.

They have had Burns puppy food mixed with evaporated milk which they loved.I’m not sure how much went  into their tummies, as a fair percentage was spread all over them and the floor. The next part was not so much fun for them ,they have to have a clean to remove all the food stuck to their coats. I am sure Jas would do as good a job as Chris and I, but it is so good for the puppies socialisation to be handled in this way ,it becomes part of life for them.

 

4 weeks

Puppies have had several adventures. We moved them into the conservatory during the day and because the weather is so good they have had the doors open onto their own personal patio! They love it. Jas made the decision not to stay with them over night a few nights ago, she goes in to check them early morning, she still feels the need to clean up their poos so we clean them up beforehand. She then washes them and feeds them for a few minutes and then hops out. We have not heard a squeak from them, they sleep through until 6.00 ish. On average I think Jas feeds them 2/3 times a day but only for a couple of minutes each time. They were weighed on Thursday and are all well over 2 kilos, such chunky monkeys. They have had their second worming course, not too popular as you can imagine, but they soon forget when their next meal arrives.

They explored the lawn gambolling about, meeting  the chickens, basically having a wonderful time. It was such a special moment to see them, such confident happy babies, I absolutely love this time in their socialisation period. It is so important to let them experience as many different situations as possible. Life then becomes one big adventure and holds no fears. Thanks to John, Julie, Gemma and Mike for help in keeping count and for some of the photos.

The first two photos are of Great Granny Willow saying hello, then the next is Granny Cassie, its hard to believe we have 4 generations of Munsters.

   

6 weeks

The puppies are having busy social lives, lots of visitors, human and canine. The weather has been onside so they have been outside in the garden and down the field lots.

They are such characters,all of them are happy, confident little people. Such fun to be with, having said that the clearing up after them is not so much fun. Chris and I are running around like headless rabbits, but loving every minute. Not much longer now, they will go for their microchips week after next. All their registration documents have arrived, this litter will be my herb litter. Those of you of a similar generation may remember the childrens  T.V.  programme The Herbs, starring  Dill the dog, the very friendly lion called Parsley,  Bayleaf the gardener and a very fat feathery owl called Sage, inspiration for some of the names.

    

7 weeks

On Monday they went for their microchip and vet check. The pups were so good, coped well with the journey and as soon as they arrived at the vets attracted lots of interest from other clients and staff. 

Good luck to all “the Herberts” some will appear in the show ring, others are to be trained as gundogs  and agility dogs while some will be loved family pets . Whatever roll they take on I wish them and their new owners every success.