Puppies : Kalahari's B-litter : Week Four (4/25/06 - 5/1/06)

We have now divided the 8' by 6' whelping box into half. One half contains pine shavings and the other contains bedding (soft blanket).

The puppies now consistently go over to the side with the pine shavings to go potty, starting at 20 days of age! They have such a natural instinct to be clean that if the proper environment is available, they know exactly what to do!

Mom has stopped cleaning up after them now, so it has become my job, and the pine shavings make the whole process so much easier! It's so cute to watch them wake up and then toddle over to the other side, go potty, and toddle back.

Mom unfortunately developed mastitis in one breast yesterday, and is now on puppy-safe antibiotics to clear that up. I have been up with her all day and all night yesterday and today, putting warm compresses on it every fifteen minutes or so, to help reduce the engorgement. She is so stoic, it's hard to tell if she is uncomfortable. She is fine with letting the pups nurse on her, but I keep them off that particular breast, hand expressing it instead.

The pups also now are very much into playing with one another. They bite tails, chomp on heads, roll over on their backs, and play fight with each other now. Then they flop down and sleep for a while, and repeat the process all over again.

They act and play like little dogs now. They also wag their tails when talked to or picked up, and lick your finger or chin to say Hi. Their baby teeth are almost in all the way now, so they also bite on you!

They love to eat, and still eat about every three hours or so. It's amazing what a racket they can put up when they are ready to be fed.

They are all experts at eating out of the puppy pan now, and after a meal, they promptly fall asleep right next to (or on) the puppy pan!

More photos of the pups are below...

Playtime	Asleep at the food bowl
How do we get out?	Like this....if you try hard enough