Sasha’s pups are 5 weeks old today and they are a lively gang

All of the pups have now been fully weaned and are eating solid food 4 times a day.

Over the years I have tried a raw food diet and I have tried every well known recommended dry food on the Market. I am currently using a food called Simpson’s which I find is an excellent food.

I soak it then put it in the blender then I cover it with raw minced beef. In the evening they have Weetabix and goats milk which they are absolutely crazy about.

I have extended their exercise area and Sasha still has full access at all times so she could feed if she wanted to and she is always on hand to keep an eye on them and maintain order if necessary.

Lenny is also allowed access but not all the time because I think it is important for young pups to grow up with an adult male.

Our conservatory was carpeted for our A,B & C litter but I recently tiled it which has made life much easier when I am cleaning out the living area as the pups can run around while I do that.

This week we allowed them to venture out of the patio doors to allow them access to the garden. Here they are weighing up the situation. Considering they were only 4 weeks and 4 days here they did really well.

I am continually evaluating them and on this occasion the two boys blue cam and black cam collars were first out followed by girls blue collar, pink collar, and Dot who has a pink tartan collar.

This week we introduced them to the grass in a pen so that they were nice and safe and free to explore and so that mum could be involved without being chased and mobbed by the gang.

They were very quick to get used to the new surface and with the exception of a couple of pups who whined, not because they were stressed but because they could smell me videoing and as I am now the food and game man and they wanted to get to me. ( Show Video 1 )



I am slowly getting Lenny introduced to the pups outside using the pen.

Today I will be fencing a large grass area off so that they can run around and explore outside of the pen without getting in danger. 
The same day that I introduced them to the pen I also gave them their first meal outside. They continue to have their own individual bowl to ensure everyone gets their fair share..

Once I have made sure that everyone has had their fair share they then all migrate to all the other bowls and have a great game which goes on for about 5 minutes while they see if there is anything on offer.

Then it was time for a little exploring.

It was a very windy day and I would have expected puppies to be a little cautious of all the noise  but their love of food definitely made sure a bit of wind wasn’t going to bother them



The fresh air obviously took its toll as they all then crashed out in the pen completely oblivious to anything..

What happened later in the day brought a lump to my throat when Sasha decided to interact with all of her pups outside the pen.

She was just so relaxed and at ease with her pups it was beautiful to watch. She allowed them to suckle even though she hasn’t got the milk to feed them properly now. I must be getting soft but I could just imagine we were in the wild watching a wolf or fox mum with her pups or cubs.


Finally at the end of the day they were so tired and content they totally crashed out in their pen at the end of the day.

But not so crashed out that they didn’t wake up for their Weetabix at 9pm.
Here a few pictures of the pups.

Jasper

Finally I would like to finish with some sad news that we are having to retire Police dog Jasper who is nearly 4 because he is finding life as a Police dog a little stressful.

His handler Vikki is devastated and you can see from the pictures what a great life and bond they have together.

We are looking for an active home where preferably he has someone who will get out and about with him and enjoy that one on one partnership and companionship that he has had with Vikki.

See you next week when the pups will no doubt be exploring everywhere and we will take them on a few visits not forgetting they are still only 5 weeks old.

From Lenny, Sasha and me see you next week.

Sasha’s 9 Puppies are 4 weeks old today and all are progressing well

Sasha is still being a wonderful mum to her 9 pups as you can see from the above picture. This is one of my favourite pictures which shows how relaxed and content her pups are. Some are feeding while others who have had their feed are playing and biting her nails.

This was of real interest to me because Sasha has had real problems biting her nails during her pregnancy and since. Our vet says it is probably an allergy but whatever it is her pups seemed to think they could help out.

She is still feeding her pups but her milk is reducing and I have started to wean her pups onto an all in one feed. She wants to go out in my van at every opportunity clearly hoping that I will take her out to do what she loves more than anything else and that is to play our searching and tracking games.

At 9 oclock every night on the dot she sits by the cupboard in the kitchen waiting for her Weetabix and goats milk.

The pups are really getting very active now and as good a mum as she is I can see she is starting to find it tough. Here are some pictures of the gang about to come over the top of the front board.

The below picture is one of my favourites because all of the pups heard Sasha come into the room and they all piled over the front board not realising she had come into the back box behind them.

I am continuing split feeds to make life easier for Sasha. She likes to feed them on the cold tile floor rather than in the whelping box and she is much happier feeding them in small groups.

A remarkable thing happened yesterday.  I was cleaning out the whelping box and the exercise run.

The pups were in with me when Sasha came in and they all piled onto her desperate to feed They were obviously starving and were very noisy but Sasha was clearly not keen to feed them in this area.

She came over and barged me clearly telling me something. I took 4 of the pups over to the tiled floor and she immediately fed them.

She then happily fed the remaining 5 pups in the same place.


How frustrating it must be for dogs not being able to tell us what they want. All the time they try to communicate and all too often we either don’t understand or worse we don’t realise that they are trying to communicate. There is so much we have to learn. 

We have already had lots of visitors and the pups absolutely love meeting people. Here is one of the pups having fallen asleep on one of our visitors.

II also recorded a short video of the encounter which is really funny to watch.


A regular visitor is dad Lenny who is now completely used to the pups and Sasha is very comfortable with him being there.

This week I started getting the pups ready to eat normal food . I do this by taking each pup one at a time using a small ball of raw minced beef I get them to eat it out of my hand.

 It is the most natural thing for a pup to eat and they always eat it without drawing breath.

I do this a couple of times and then I introduce a very small amount of Salmon and potato all in one puppy food soaked and mixed in the blender and then I cover the food in raw minced beef. I then feed this by hand in a small dish which they always love.


Once I have done this I am ready to introduce their food in their own individual dish. I feed the pups in two’s on a raised platform to get them used to human hands around their bowl while they feed and to make sure each pup gets its fair share.

It is obviously a bit more time consuming feeding this way and I have had some breeders tell me I should feed them in groups to encourage competiveness. I can tell you that I have never had problems with any of my pups lacking in competiveness or determination later on.

What I think it does do is prevent food aggression later on because they are relaxed and see human hands around their bowl as a good thing from a very early age. They certainly enjoyed their first meal and promptly went soundly to sleep

 

They have also had their first drink of water.

One of the pups black collar ( previously no collar ) had been causing me concern due to not putting on weight and Sasha obviously was aware of a problem because she was giving her special attention.

One on one sessions seem to have done the trick.

I have introduced some small toys and already they are tugging and carrying them around. Pink dot collar is always the one who comes out from the crowd with the toy and keeps hold of it.

I have included several other photo’s which I thought were quite nice

I have also included a short video of all the pups just to show you how active and energetic they now are.


Tomorrow I will be extending the exercise run and we are just about ready to take the pups out into the garden which is when things start to get really interesting.

Hope you enjoyed the blog and see you all next week.

Bye for now from Lenny, Sasha and me.

The D Litter Are Now 3 Weeks Old With Sasha And Her 9 Pups All Doing Well

Well the litter have really moved on since last week They are all seeing and hearing now and they were all walking at 2 and a half weeks which is the earliest of any of our litters. They still spend lots of time sleeping

but the rest of the time they are now looking for something to do.

They are all now able to get over the front single board

and so I have had to put in an additional board which stops them getting out but makes it harder for Sasha to get in and out. I have put in a raised platform for Sasha to make it easy for her to get in and out of the whelping box and so that she can watch what they are getting up to.

She is such a good mum but now that they are getting livelier and 9 of them she is finding it tough. I have therefore been splitting the feeds into smaller groups which she clearly appreciates and I have been letting her feed them next to the open patio doors to keep her nice and cool.

Another task has been to cut the nails of the pups because their sharp claws rake Sasha when they are feeding.

We men are not known for our multi tasking skills but when you have a dog like Sasha who is so relaxed I can supervise the feeding and do their nails at the same time.

For your dog to have the best possible relationship with you it has to be built on trust and a desire to be with you and as you can see here we certainly have that.

The pups are so mobile I have been putting down the front board to let them explore outside the box and it has been really interesting seeing their different reactions to walking down a shiny incline.

Every now and then dad Lenny pops in to see how things are developing and because Sasha is so relaxed about him being around I allow. It will do the pups no harm at all growing up around another adult provided that the adult which in this case is Lenny has a good character.

This week I took Sasha to the vet for a general health check and to check out her right ear which she seemed to be scratching. Im not a fan of going to the vet with a mother who has pups because of the obvious risk of picking up an infection. Fortunately her ears and everything else was fine. Note Sasha’s wonderful temperament with the vet.

They are now becoming very lively and active and so I will be adding an extended run area tomorrow. You can see from the following pictures they are now on the lookout for mischief.

The main one to watch out for is pink collar she is nearly always the first to everything and the first to try and get over the top. Although to look at her butter wouldn’t melt.

Ive included some individual photo’s of the pups.

Finally Ive put together 3 short video’s.

Video 1 was taken today to show how they are developing.

Video 2 I found amusing seeing red collar and pink dot collar like two lovers kissing and cuddling then red collar has a rush of temper which I will need to keep an eye on. In the video he has no collar on as I had just washed it.

Video 3 is a very short clip of the lovely Sasha having a roll and a scratch looking every inch the contented and happy mum.

(Anyone know how to rotate a video in youTube? - Brilliant thank you, under enhancements)

Hope you enjoy the Blog and hopefully see you for week 4 next week.

From Lenny, Sasha and me bye for now.