Puppy Log Page

Ellen's Pups

Boy (Henry Hamilton)- Born 5:40 AM 6-6-06 started at 6.6 ounces now 20.5 oz on the morning of 6-19-04
Girl (Miss Sally Brewton)- Born at 8:20 on 6-6-04 started at 4.4 ounces now weighs 15.5 on the morning of 6-19-04

 

Daily (or when we can) updates

 

6-19-04 10:30 AM

- Still sleepless in North Miami Beach. Darcy is being more of a fuss mom than her sister Ellen. Just about the time we get everyone quiet and nursing she decides to curl up or stand up. Karen sat in there for 4 hours last night and everyone nursed. We are keeping the room at 80 degrees which adds little to our comfort but that is secondary to keeping them warm. They are on the heated nest but the heat seems to bother Darcy. She had a bath this AM after we tube fed the pups and put them in a box with heated IV bags and a heating pad so they all slept while mom bathed and, hopefully, she will be more comfortable.

We have started to tube feed everyone since we felt it important to do the littlest ones. Started with 1cc per ounce of pedialyte and now are up to 50:50 with esbilac and pedialyte. All are gaining weight but the tiny one is still only 2.3 (better than the 2.0 we started with) and can only use a few mom's smaller spigots. Our hope is that a few more days of intensive care will keep him with us.

 

6-20-04 Sunday AM Father's Day

Still a busy night as Darcy has some itching and that seems worse at night, especially with the heat from the whelping nest so she was fidgety and was into counting, cleaning and arranging the puppies instead of letting them rest. She finally settled in with us in there with her (along with a dose of a homeopathic remedy and some Bach Flowers). We tubed everyone Sat afternoon with Esbilac - Goat's Milk variety and pedialyte and then again at 11 PM and just now (7:30 AM). It is getting easier but we are still being very cautious. Tubing took about 8 minutes to weigh and tube all 5 with both Karen and I working as a team.

More to follow and happy father's day to Harry (the papa for both litters)

 

Weights are creeping up and the tiny boy nursed much better last night. He is up to 2.5 oz this AM the others are up also.

I thought I would post the chart since this log will, hopefully, help others with pups to get an idea of the process. We are going to try to photograph or film a feeding tube session later today or Monday and post it if we can.

 

Monday 6-21-04 AM

It was a quieter night as they all seem to be more enthusiastic about nursing. They are 3 1/2 days old this morning. Darcy is still itching and dislikes the heat of the nest and is not the gentlest mom (we are comparing her to Ellen "Angel") but she is getting the hang of it. We continue to tube feed them but will probably stop with Blondie and anyone else crossing the 6 oz. mark. It will really depend on how they look and if their weight gains continue. Since I am keeping the weights on the spreadsheet I thought it would be interesting to see the percentage gain since birth and the little one os not as far off from the others as I expected.

 

Tuesday 6-22-04 AM

 

Well, we made it past the 4 day mark last night and it seems that the little boy is much stronger in his nursing - he is up to 2.9 oz. this morning but still so tiny compared to the rest. I forgot to mention that Sally and Henry's eyes are open and they have full fledged puppy breath now. They are both so sweet.

"V" is the other pup that we are watching especially close. his weight seemed to dip for a day and he is not gaining as fast as the others. We tubed 3 out of 5 this AM and will continue to watch them closely. Darcy is still itchy but seems better and more at ease with the babies.

 

 

We did get a chance to create a video on tube feeding yesterday and have posted it here for anyone's interest. We have it at higher definition WIndows Media Player File available for a download also and will try for a Real Player file later.

 

How We Tube Feed - Videos

 

Wednesday 6-23-04

Pups seem to all be doing well and we are still concerned about the little Tiny Boy and 'V' as they seem the smallest. We put the 'Peanut" on Aunt Ellen this morning and he had 2 spigots full of milk, we also gave him 4cc of Esbilac via tube and he peaked at 3.1 (was 2.9 on awakening) and settled at 3.0

We will try to get even more calories into him today either via tube or Ellen or both.

It has now been 5 1/2 days since the whelping and we are starting to relax with Darcy a bit. More sleep for us and she leaves them for longer times while we make sure they stay warm. I found an interesting thermometer at Radio shack (Part # 63-1026). It is a two piece unit that allows you to measure both the temperature at the main unit AND the temperature at the wireless indoor/outdoor remote. We have the main unit in Darcy's "Den" (closet) to monitor the temp there and the remote sender in Ellen's Puppy Prison (an area on the other side of the room fenced off by a child's play fence). This allows us to track the temp in the two areas within 1/10th of a degree and it even has alarms for too cold or too hot. We try to keep each area between 79 and 80 degrees F - It is HOT down here so we want to sleep with a little cool but still keep things consistent for the babes.

We stopped tubing the two big ones (Lightning and Blondie) today.

 

Thursday 6-24-04

Hi All...

Happy to report that everyone is doing well. We are still nervous about the tiny boy and have upped the tube feeding to 3 times a day for the little one and perhaps 'V' - everyone else is over 7 ounces so we quit on them. We are watching them closely still. I am still reticent to say the tiny one is out of the woods but there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel. He does nurse vigorously but the others tend to push him off. Darcy continues to ITCH.

We'll see Friday!

Friday 6-25-04

One week since the babies were born and all 5 are still with us. I continue to be concerned about the "Peanut". He is strong and nurses with vigor but has difficulty competing with his ever-bigger brothers. We are going to increase his supplemental feeding to 3 or 4 times a day and give him an appropriate homeopathic remedy to see if we can help him get a jump start. He is active and vocal and a fighter so we want to give him every chance. "V" is the other one lagging a bit with the daily weight increases. I think this shows the importance of keeping the weight charts

Saturday 6-26-04

The pups seem to be sleeping better and Darcy seems happier since we put towels over the heated nest. She is more at ease with her pups. We tube fed 'V' and the "Peanut" twice yesterday (morning and afternoon) but skipped last night as they were nursing well. We are going to continue with the peanut a bit longer. We considered bottle feeding but the time required is one consideration and his getting chilled being away for a longer time is another concern.

Meanwhile Henry and Sally (probably not her final name) are starting to be little dogs and interacting more. They will be 3 weeks tomorrow.

 

Monday 6-28-04

 

Seems like we lost a day here and it is already Monday evening. We are still pretty concerned with the littlest kid. He is holding at 3.7 after that great jump to 3.9 on Sunday - we were trying to see if he could stabilize with us putting him on his mom to nurse extra times. He is still vocal - boy does he get pissed when he wanders off by himself or wants attention or one of his "big" brothers decides he is a nice pillow...

Meanwhile, you will notice the streaming DarcyCam is off. It was acting up and we are returning it. Since we are getting close to the time that the tribes will merge in a few weeks, we decided to switch to the older CCTV cam for now. It is getting around that time when we need to start videotaping anyway as we like to give a full video to their new moms and dads (assuming we let ANY of them out of this house).

We are seriously thinking of naming "Sally" for her great grandmother Katie Scarlet but we need to see who she wants to be first. Off to tend to the clan and our dinner also... Will try to update the weight chart tomorrow

 

Wednesday 6-30-04

Seems like the little pup is changing for the better - his color is starting to lighten (a week or so behind his brothers) and he is becoming more aggressive with the nursing. We are planning on tubing him at least twice a day for the next few days and switched from the Goat's milk to standard Esbilac to see where that takes us.

Henry and Sally (soon to be Katie Scarlet I think) are now officially big DOGS. They had a puppy mouth play session with each other and are doing more walking. Hopefully we will have time for a video this weekend. We usually have our first outside excursion at 4 weeks (Sunday) and they get to meet the other dogs (or maybe at 5 weeks) - It'll depend on how comfortable Karen is with the idea.

 

You might have noticed the streaming webcams are gone. We were having some programming issues and decided to can them in favor of our old standby CCTV - not as fancy but easier on my frame of mind.

 

Thursday 7-1-04

Little puppy finally made it to 4 ounces! I have noticed his color is lighter in the whites where it used to be dark. In other words, he is starting to look like a real Cavalier puppy!. Our hopes are high but we are still supplementing him.

 

Their eyes are open! It makes them seem like real dogs - the difference is you can make contact.....

 

Saturday AM 7-3-04

As you can see another skipped day - don't worry, we fed everyone and handled a ton of patient emergencies...

His Peanutship is up to 4.4 ounces this AM - We have been tubing him 3 times a day with 4 cc Esbilac non goat and we are seeing changes. We also gave him a homeopathic remedy the other day that should be helping. The Piglets (Katie and Henry) are now officially puppies with their puppy wrestling and growling and mouth play. They also lapped some of the left over forum la yesterday and I may have captured it on the video camera but need to load the film to my computer to see if we can provide it to you all.

Sunday should be their 4 week birthday and we usually make our first outside excursion and meet some of the other family members.

 

Sunday 7-1-04

We spent most of the day cleaning and grooming and the puppies went downstairs for the day so they would not be exposed to the disinfectant etc. They seems to enjoy the change of venue and Ellen's Pups - now Henry and Katie Scarlet in honor of her great grandmother (at least for this week) roamed the room a bit.

 

Tomorrow we will do outside as it was 93 and TOOOOO Hot today

 

Here are Henry and Katie last night (it IS a tough life being 4 weeks old)

 

Peanut is such a scrapper - was actually at 4.7 this afternoon with only one tubing this AM - I am beginning to feel that he will end up sticking around but won't really breathe easy for another few weeks. He will probably end up the strongest of them all!

 

Tuesday 7-6-04

Catching up on the practice after the "holiday" weekend....

The Peanut was 5.0 tonight (1 tube feeding )

Henry and Katie have started puppy wars and played with their cousins tonight.
More details tomorrow but here is a short flash video of Katie and Henry at war.

Puppies at play - Flash Video 7-4-04

P.S. Karen pointed out there are typos in the log- blame it on sleep deprivation..

 

7-7-04 Wednesday

They had their first meal today - video links below.

Peanut was 5.1 this AM

Henry and Katie are completely adorable DOGS now. Katie (or Scarlet) spend 15 minutes giving me a total face wash (nose and ears included). Strangely aware behavior for a 4 1/2 week old pup but .....

 

We made a video of the first meal this AM (in our free time). It is in low res and hi res and is 5 minutes long

Here is a link to the new video menu page so you can choose

 

Puppy Videos

 

7-8-04 Thursday

Peanut at 6.2! Starting to lick the milk but still tubing

I lost a hard disk today so it was pretty busy but all puppy stuff is safe....

Big day for Katie and Henry - nail trims AND outside and meeting everyone

Puppy Videos

 

7-9-04 Friday

Darcy's Pups are 3 weeks old last night and the "Peanut" was 6.5 ounces this AM. We think this is the week that he will get the hang of eating on hi sowna nd then he will take off. Square became a 'pound' puppy this AM so only 'V' and Peanut are under a pound.

HAd another short outing with the Ellen Kids this morning and everyone had fun. Lots of kisses and tail wags.

SInce the computer issues seem resolved with the new disk, we should be able to keep the cameras up....

 

7-11-04 Sunday

Hi:

 

I am finding it more difficult to keep up this log as I am spending more quality puppy time - Katie and Henry are integrating into the "pack" a little at a time and we had to shift them to the playpen at about 3 AM this morning as they thought it was "play time" and kept crying for attention. Boy they learn fast.

Peanut weighed in at just over 7 ounces this AM. He is starting to get the hang of licking the milk but is SO frantic at feeding time that we are still tubing him as a supplement - he swallows the tube willingly and took 10cc tonight to seem satiated. They are only 3 1/2 weeks old so I am hoping another week and it will not be an issue. They are standing and starting some puppy play with each other.

I love the photo of the Henry (left) and Katie in Karen's arms this AM. . They almost make a perfect heart! I switched back to my old err Olympus camera (3030) but the off the camera flash makes such a difference in the detail it is worth it.

 

Monday 7-12-04

Still having trouble keeping weight on the Peanut - holding at 7 ounces - we tried to just let him nurse alone on Darcy but it does not seem sufficient so back to some tubing and he is starting to eat a little from the dish.

Henry and Katie had an outing with Chalice (see video menu) and here is a cute Katie photo from the video.

Puppy Videos

 

7-15-04 Thursday

Back from 2 days in Maryland with AHVMA meetings and Karen held down the fort. She has the Peanut eating some and lapping the esbilac. He is at 8.4 ounces and getting stronger. The other 4 brothers are strong and starting to get the hang of food but Peanut is definitely the quickest in that regard.
Katie and Henry are getting ready (6 weeks this coming Sunday) to spend more time out with the pack.

Karen captured some adorable puppy war footage while I was away and I just uploaded it

Puppy Videos

 

7-16-04 Happy Birthday Peanut!

I am so proud of my wife... While I was in Maryland she dedicated herself (and her sleep) to helping Peanut over a major hump. He seems to be the most active and coordinated eater of the 5 right now. He is still spindly and a big belly but he can walk forward whereas the others still "moonwalk" backwards. He laps formula and baby food while his brothers stare at it. When he was born, a wise breeder said "we'll see if he makes it 2 days". He has made it 28 days and seems to catching his stride. I am not confident enough to say any puppy is out of the woods yet but I sometimes allow my heart to soar with joy.

 

We usually start the normal naming at 4 weeks but have been so preoccupied caring for them that the naming will have to wait a bit but we'll keep you posted.

 

Birthday Photos

 

7-17-04

 

Peanut is at 10.4 but I did notice that the Fontanel (soft spot) is still open on his head. This is a sign of immaturity so we prescribed a remedy and he seems more substantial today.

 

Tuesday 7-20-04

The "boys" are growing up - they are starting to play like their older cousins - Peanut (soon to be Taras Uncle Peter) is at 11.5 and eating more. He is still tiny but getting more normal proportions and the soft spot (fontanel) is closed about 50% of last Saturday so that is a good thing.

Katie and Henry (Taras Henry Hamilton
Taras Katie Scarlett) are actively engaged in bonding with the big dogs since they were 6 weeks old on Sunday

We relocated everyone today. The boys came out of the closet and took over Henry and Katie's lair. Katie and Henry went out to the living room play area. I swapped ca,eras around so you will see Katie and Henry (and the boys when they join them for play time) on the color feed from the living room and the "Fab 5" from the B&W camera in the bedroom.

We have been thinking of names for the 5 boys and some of the ideas are


Taras Uncle Peter
Taras Frank Kennedy
Taras Wade Hamilton
Taras John Wilkes
Taras Dr. Meade or Taras Phillipe Robillard

Remember everyone born to our kennel (Taras) is named for characters from GWTW or Scarlett

7-21-04 Wednesday

Everyone seemed to do well in their new digs and we expanded the puppy playground in the living room as the boys are interacting more with Katie and Henry.

Peanut reached 13.0 oz. this morning which made us very happy - still waiting for that magic - "pound puppy" level but it seems more realistic now.

Last evening we had such a great laugh as Henry chased Adam around the living rom (Katie joined in also). We are not sure if it is the newness of puppies to Adam or his way of playing (an British thing?) but he seemed to enjoy it. Wish the video camera were nearby but this was too good to miss and distract them.

Did get a really cute video of puppy wars in their new playground....

Go to our video menu

7-23-04 Friday

Yesterday was a busy day as we moved the "boys" out to the living room with Katie and Henry - Henry, however, was being a bit too dominant and beating up his new boy "toys" so we separated the two play areas. Peanut is up to 14.1 ounces this AM so we a hoping to have a pound puppy soon. His teeth are coming in a little slower than the others so we repeated his remedy at a higher potency this A. M.

 

Here are some photos of the them from yesterday with more to follow.

Both Tribes together 7-222-04

 

Katie Scarlett

 

Saturday 7-24-04

Peanut (Peter) is at 14.7 and everyone seems to be happy in their new location.

We re planning on the "boys" having a combined outing with their cousins on Sunday in the AM - should be a blast watching 7 of them at once. Time to get the exercise pen out and let Nanny Chalice han with them in their (protection against flying predators etc).
We have been thinking of breaking the naming conventions and naming the boys after the famous "Rat Pack". For all of you too young or not film oriented, the original Rat Pack consisited of 5 actors

Frank Sinatra
Dean Martin
Sammy Davis Jr.
Peter Lawford
Joey Bishop

So we were thinking about how many litters of 5 boys we will ever have and thought it might be an option... We'll see

Jeanne took some snapshots of he boys when she was over the other day

Jeanne's Photos to follow

Tuesday 7-27-04

Sorry for the 3 day lag but things were busy, puppies needed attention and time flies when you have cute and fuzzy puppies to laugh at and clean up after....

There is a nice video from Sunday when the boys went out with their cousins and today PEANUT IS A POUND PUPPY, yes he made it to 16 ounces this AM. Katie and Henry are going out with the big dogs during the day (sometimes) and this afternoon Blondie and Lightning went out with the group (the others were sleeping) and met Chalice first hand. She growled and hovered until both gave her face licks and then went belly up. Afterward they basically hung from an ear and she was tolerant. It is scary to watch her be alpha to them but it teaches them how to behave in the pack and that is a good thing to learn (or so I am told). Tomorrow the others (except maybe Peanut) will get to share the experience.

Time goes so quickly! It is hard to imagine that Henry will be ready for a home in a few weeks (usually 10-12 weeks depending on each situation)
and the other boys a few weeks after.

Katie is a keeper for sure and we all know Peanut is not going anywhere until we he is well along and we find the right place for him.

7-31-04 Saturday

As you can see, we are coming to the end of the puppy log and web cam as it has been 8 weeks tomorrow and that gets to be a lower and lower priority as the interaction with the "kids" becomes much more of one. Now that Darcy's litter is 6 weeks and needs tons of attention, we will only be doing these sporadic updates.

 

Peanut is up to 17.7 (my mistake on the 18.2 I posted earlier - maybe tomorrow) ounces and, while still not out of the woods, is cutting teeth and eating on his own. It is hard to tell Blondie from the older litter sometimes as he is catching up to Katie, and Square and Lightning are not far behind. V is a bit slower in development but pretty feisty.

We did get a video of all 7 outside and a bunch of stills from the last week

Go to our video Menu for the Flash Video from 7-30-04

And here is a link to the photos from the last week.

 

Monday August 2

Peanut is at 18.6 ounces and spent some private puppy time with us last night and spent 10 ogf those chewing on my beard and and fingers. He has teeth now and the soft spot is 75% closed! We are going to close the puppy cam Wednesday as I will be traveling and Karen has enough to do to hold down the fort. She will try to update the log pages. She shot a short video this morning of Katie and Henry at play with Adam and Ellen.

and here is acute shot of Peanut from yesterday

Go to our video Menu for the Flash Video from 8-2-04

Thursday -August 5, 2204

Well Doc is off to his class and then on to Maine to see some clients so I'll try and keep the log up myself......The pups are doing great. Henry and Katie are now 8 1/2 weeks old and "the boys" are 7 weeks old today. Peanut weighed in at 20.4 ounces this morning. He wiggles quite a bit when on the scale so it varies a little. Henry and Katie have been spending more 'free' time out with the big dogs and the little ones get to use the larger area then. They are all fed together but when the playing starts, I have to move the smaller ones (Peanut and V) back to the other kennel.

Everyone has had some outside time but the weather has been stormy and overcast so not as much time as I would like. More tomorrow.

Sunday - August 8, 2004

Did you know puppies apparently are born knowing how to swim.......well I hope this is true for all but I do now know that Katie and Henry are born swimmers.....in water that is! I decided since the weather has not been cooperating that since today was just overcast to take the little devils out to run off some of that excess energy. Now I'm bright enough to know that I can't take them all out unless I use the fenced area so I decided that just Katie and Henry would get to romp.....because they walk down the ramp by themselves. Well they did just that and were playing and galloping around. All was just fine until Little Miss Katie I'm Going To Do What I Want and her brother, Henry If She Can do it so Can I....decided to get to close to the pond. I was within two feet of the little angels when Katie just dove in. Not to be out done by his sister, Henry did a belly flop right behind her. Well I was able to grab Henry but Katie swam to the other side so in I hopped, shoes and all.

So now I run into the house with two soaking pups and into a warm tub of water, a quick first bath....which is something I usually make a big deal over....film and all. Washed the the two little angels, got them dry, bundled them up and here I sit, totally exhausted and they are still full of energy. Never a dull moment in a house full of pups!

Peanut is now 23 ounces while V is up to 31. The babies are growing up too fast! Can't wait for Doc to get home so there's another set of eyes to watch these guys!

 

 

 

 

Updated weight chart as of 7-20-04 (Peanut was18.6 ounces on 8-1-04)

Date Time Peanut Lightning Blondie Square 'V' enus Katie Henry
                 
12:00:00 AM Birth 6:31:00 PM 6:40:00 PM 7:57:00 PM 9:25:00 PM 9:30:00 PM    
6/17/2004 AM 2.0 4.1 3.7 3.0 3.0    
6/18/2004 AM 2.1 4.1 4.6 3.5 3.1    
6/19/2004 AM 2.2 5.0 5.1 3.8 3.3    
6/19/2004 PM 2.3 4.8 5.3 4.0 3.5    
6/20/2004 AM 2.5 4.9 5.7 4.3 3.8 17.7 23.3
6/21/2004 AM 2.6 5.8 6.7 4.9 4.2 18.7 25.3
6/21/2004 PM 2.7 6.1 7.2 5.4 4.1    
6/22/2004 AM 2.9 6.5 7.6 5.5 4.7    
6/22/2004 PM 2.8 6.6 8.0 5.8 4.8    
6/23/2004 AM 3.0 6.9 8.6 6.2 5.3 20.1 27.5
6/23/2004 PM 3.0 7.5 8.9 6.6 5.6    
6/24/2004 AM 3.3 7.8 9.6 7.0 5.9 22.5 29.3
6/24/2004 PM 3.1 8.1 10.0 7.1 6.0    
6/25/2004 AM 3.2 8.4 10.4 7.7 6.1 23.5 30.0
6/26/2004 AM 3.5 9.3 11.5 7.9 6.6
6/27/2004 PM 3.9 10.5 11.8 8.2 7.2
6/28/2004 AM 3.7 11.2 12.5 9.0 7.4
6/29/2004 AM 3.7 11.7 12.6 9.6 8.0 26.5 34.6
6/30/2004 AM 3.7 12.5 14.1 10.0 8.1 27.2 35.4
7/1/2004 AM 4.0 13.5 14.6 10.8 8.2
7/2/2004 4.1
7/3/2004 4.4 14.7 17.5 11.9 9.2 30.1 Off Scale
7/4/2004 AM 4.6 14.9 18.5 12.7 10.0
7/5/2004 AM 4.7 15.6 20.3 13.6 10.8
7/7/2004 AM 5.1 16.6 22.9 15.5 10.9
7/8/2004 AM 6.2 17.4 22.8 15.9 12.4
7/9/2004 AM 6.5 17.5 24.0 16.0 12.6
7/10/2004 AM 6.3 18.0 25.2 16.7 12.1
7/11/2004 7.0 19.1 25.0 17.3 13.0
7/12/2004
7/13/2004 8.0 19.9 25.9 18.3 14.5
7/14/2004 8.1 20.9 26.6 19.6 14.6
7/15/2004 9.0 20.5 26.2 18.5 14.3
7/16/2004 9.5 22.8 28.1 20.3 15.1
7/17/2004 10.4 23.6 28.5 20.9 15.7
7/20/2004 11.5 26.0 30.0 22.8 17.5
Percent Increase from Birth   575% 634% 811% 760% 583%    

 

 

We use our office postage scale (Capacity up to 2 lbs.) with a little basket on it.
When we turn on the scale, it is at 0 with the basket so we get a very accurate reading

Pelouze Electronic Digital Postal Scale
Model PS2R1P

 

The other question that has come up is a source for the red rubber Sherwood Sovereign Feeding tubes.

We get ours from our veterinary supplier (sometimes it's good to be the vet) and have seen them online

 

They are made by Sherwood and are Sovereign Catheters - we use the 5 FR (French is a size measurement) for the littlest puppies and move up to 8 or 12 FR for the bigger breeds.

How We Tube Feed - Videos

Manufactured by Sherwood

 

 

Back to PuppyCams