3 weeks old!

The pups turned 3 weeks on Sunday, March 28th. Today marks their second week with us. Time has been flying by but it seems like they been here for longer.

Here is an update:

Monday we had a weigh in and here are the results!

1. Kearney 4 lbs
2. Seamus 4 lbs
3. Bailey 3 lbs 9 oz

That is a gain of 1.5 lbs in a week.

They are up to eating 100 ml per feeding and eating 5 times a day. The first week they were eating about 20 ml per feeding. We took away a feeding because they were not eating in the afternoon, so we spread the feedings out more and now they eat a full meal each time.

The eating schedule is now:

1. 7 am
2. 12 noon
3. 4:00 pm
4. 8:00 pm
5. 12:00 am

They are now:

• Standing and walking easily!
• Barking, howling and growling!
• Playing both with us and each other!
• Getting their baby teeth! OUCH!

The next two weeks will be challenging as we try to ween them from the bottle and eat from a saucer and also introduce solid food.

MORE NEW PICS COMING SOON!

Just a minute of your time...

Now that they are a bit more mobile I thought a quick video would be fun. Sorry about the quality... I shot this with my phone. I am hoping that as they grow, so too will my videography skills. Either way enjoy a minute with these little cuties!

Check Up

Teddy bear Kearney says hello everybody! All went well at the vet check up today!

Waiting...Introducing Dr. Love (not kidding) of the Greer Clinic at Pet Helpers. Ran through the basics of any doctor visit for tiny beings... eating schedule, poo schedule, funny incidents and sleeping habits. These three are all rolling along just fine except for the poo. I won't unsettle anyone with details, let's just say there was a lot of discussion about a bit of an irregular poo situation. Instructions are to keep watch and see if their little tummies will settle in the next few days. If not, medicines will have to be administered.
All vitals strong; heart rate, eyes, ears, vocal cords....

And the all important temperature. Puppy temperatures in the third week should stay above 99 degrees. Now that they are a bit stronger and wigglier, it's less about getting an accurate reading and more about making sure that they are at least within range. I don't blame you little buddy, I prefer the under the tongue method myself.

And in this corner... weighing in at 2.5 pounds...

Seamus and Kearney are both two and a half pounds, while Bailey is a slim two and a quarter pounds. They have doubled in size in just the few days! Yikes!

It's a relief to know that all is well and that they are each strong and healthy. Now I'm off to make new calculations for feeding time... I think they are big enough now for that extra 1 oz. shot of formula in their bottle!

3,2,1... Lift Off!

Seamus, Kearney, Bailey all standing at 14 days!

That's it. I'm done for.

They are now standing on their own!

At this rate they'll be walking tomorrow and next week they'll be running on the doggie track team. For now they are teetering on all four paws. Standing seems to be easy, it's the staying up part that needs practice. They are entering their third week of life, so they will only become more animated from this point. So this may be the last smiling group shot. My heart just melts at the (small) signs of development and growth. Each day they get just a bit heavier, their eyes and ears are open, their ears are beginning to flop a bit instead of sticking straight out from their heads and their personalities are coming into focus.

I am excited that the information I have been reading about their development indicates that this week they'll begin to play with each other. As well as become more mobile. (I can't wait!)

Such fun!

Here's lookin' at you kid...

Kearney, Bailey, Seamus, all eyes open, at 13 days old

All is well at the Batcave! The little pups are growing nicely! Kearney, the girl, is by far the biggest and most advanced. Her eyes opened yesterday morning at 12 days old and she is now sticking her tongue out and panting like a big dog. Seamus, who was the littlest, has had a growth spurt and is catching up with his sis. His eyes opened second, yesterday afternoon, at 12 days old. Little Bailey, who seems to eat the most, it now the smallest and his eyes opened today at 13 days old. All three are holding themselves up and trying to walk. We even had to raise the sides of the Port- O -Puppy to make sure there are no escapes.

Only four days into this adventure and I can see each pups individual personality shine in this picture. With over a month left, I sure there will be much more to share!

Seamus

Meet Seamus.

Pronounced Shea-mus, this mild mannered wee little man is a true Irish gentleman. Gentle and soft spoken, he doesn't need to loud or pushy to get his way. He knows that all he has to do is to give you puppy-dog eyes and you'll make that pot o' gold magically appear.

Kearney

Meet Kearney.

If dear Kearney were in the bonnie hills of Ireland... she'd pick up some speed rolling down them. She's a jolly round little one. Happy all the time... so long as she gets her bottle on time.

Bailey

Meet Mr.Baily.

Cream tips on his toes and tail give him the look of distinction, but he is oh so cool and casual with his white t-shirt chest.

Don't let his firey red head fool you, he doesn't have a bit of a temper. He's all sweet, just like Bailey's Irish Cream.

Day 1

Dog Date 3.18.10
Twelve days old

Day one was a blur.

Task #1: Learn to tell them apart so that I don't feed one twice while starving another. (insert puppy squeal) Yeah, I don't think they'll let that happen. Good. Next!

Task #2: Decide on names. I am thinking that since they were lucky enough to be rescued (on St. Patrick's Day no less) that the names should be something like; Lucky, Charm and Rainbow. Those names are immediately met with a look of horror from B... evidently naming a rescue dog "Lucky" is like telling a stage actress "Good Luck" on opening night. Somehow I don't think that "Break a leg" will make a good puppy name, so we decide to go the subtle route: Irish names. We are currently trying a few names on for size. I'll make the formal introductions in a few days.

Task #3 Work out a routine. I keep finding myself in the midst of screaming puppies, trying to wrangle them and something else, thinking... woops, I think I did that backwards. There's an old proverb that says that "For every one thing to be done, there are ten things to be done before the one thing." Wait, I think that's one of Murphy's Laws... well, that is now my mantra: "What's first? " It seems to be keeping things a bit quicker and quieter.

So far the routine looks something like this:

1. Make the bottle:

The formula is mixed up at a ratio of 2 to 1. Two parts water to one part formula. At their weight they get about 2 oz. per feeding, six times per day. The first few feedings we made them their own individual bottles in a effort to do everything perfectly. This was not only messy and time consuming, it was also hard to keep the temperature of the milk regulated. It was easy to over heat and it cooled super quickly. Once we felt comfortable that they wouldn't eat until they exploded, we made one bottle for all. That works much better.

2. Gather all supplies:

Towel to feed on? Check! Washcloths/ Paper towels for after feeding? Check! Bottle? Right here. Meds? (only once per day) Check!

3. Port - o - Puppy:

One thing that was instantly needed was housing and it was decided that the bedroom would be good for stability and routine. They'd be near at night and it's quiet during the day for naps. So the den was set up with heating pad, warm able bean bags, and towels. Done.

In reading about puppy rearing best practices, it was suggested that on the counter is best. I like that the mess is most easily contained there and it's nice to have them on my level without them scratching my face. So kitchen counter is meal central.

So how to get them from here to there and back.... hhmmm.... I could pick them up and just snuggle/ carry them to the counter. But, upon trying this tactic, one will quickly observe that puppies don't wear diapers... Thus the Port - O - Puppy came into being. B devised a system of transport involving a simple box lined with a base layer of towel for comfort and warmth that is covered in newspapers. it is literally a bathroom carrier. By the time they make it to the kitchen they are empty and ready for a new batch of milk and cookies. (well, no cookies yet.) A quick yank and the paper goes in the trash so they can wait for their turn at the nipple in clean dry comfort.

TRIPLETS!!!

It all started with a frantic email from Pet Helpers... "There is a litter of neo-natal puppies in a local shelter and they can't find anyone to care for them. If they don't find someone tonight they will have to euthanize them!" Pet Helpers already has a litter of tender puppies that they are caring for... to take in a litter from another shelter would be tough, so they were calling in re-enforcements.

I didn't know exactly what kind dog a 'Neo-Natal' was, but they sounded like they were in trouble! So after far too little consideration Batman and Robin sprung into action! (Yes, Brian you can be Batman in this story...)

Pet Helpers did the actual rescuing, I can't take credit for that. They checked the little nippers out to be sure that they were healthy enough to hand over to novices like us... uhm... I mean Super Heros (!) like Batman and I. All seemed to be as well as could be expected for a litter of seven puppies without a mother only ten days into their life. Calls were made, details confirmed and on St.Patrick's day we walked into Pet Helpers get the litter...

I wish I had brought my camera along to show you the mountain of stuff that we were faced with as we were walked through the fostering process. I was holding a cute and cuddly little fur ball that I instantly decided would be mine forever, lost in love... until I heard Kristen say that if I fed them and their temperature wasn't at a sweet spot of between 99 - 102 degrees they could die! I then quickly put the cute, cuddly puppy back in with it's siblings and with eyes wide as saucers, I paid careful attention to all that she said.

And it continued... den temperature, feeding schedule, cleaning regimen, and don't forget the de-wormer and probiotics in the mornings. Being under two weeks old they will sleep a lot. As it turns out, I have to restrain myself from waking them to play, as this sleep is very serious business. So after that sobering message, we packed up the pee towels and puppy formula and all the other care supplies we'd need for our neo-natals (which, by the way, just seems to mean teeny tiny puppy) and Batman and I took our triplets back to the bat cave.

Oh the antics that will ensue!

The plan is to blog about it all, in between the six feedings everyday, to share the highs and the lows of the experience. Just like a baby's first weeks, they grow so fast and change so much that information could be forgotten and lost in the shuffle. So my hope is to chronicle the first weeks of these three little ones.

Now we just have to come up with names... but first, it's time for a feeding.