We Still Need Our Mommy

Many people think that since mother dogs don't want to nurse their pups much starting around five weeks that puppies can be taken from their moms by six weeks. But mom dogs do more than feed their babies they also teach them valuable lessons about how to behave. If one bites her too hard and she'll use her muzzle to push and hold him down for a minute, essentially giving him a puppy time out. If one the puppies is yelping, she runs to check to see if he's ok, which helps the puppy feel safe and learn to trust. Sometimes I'll see her correcting a puppy by pushing him down and giving him a soft bite, I don't know what the puppy has done wrong but I'm confident Connie does.

We still like Mom best!

This litter of puppies is taking their time adjusting to solid food. And if Connie is anywhere near by they ditch the food for a drink of milk. So I keep Connie away until the puppies have eaten all they're going to eat. Then I let her out to eat their leftovers - I think all moms eat their kids' leftovers.

It's very funny to see Connie try to eat what's left of the food and at the same time try to keep the puppies from nursing. She usually spins in a circle around the dish, scattering puppies as she goes. Don't think she's a neglectful mom because she doesn't want to nurse them much anymore, it's natural for a mom with puppies of this age to run from them when they try to latch on. She knows they need to adjust to life without her. She still feeds the puppies though, mainly at night when there isn't any other food for them.

Connie's Boy #1

We updated the Petfinder photos earlier this week, but the pups are sooooooo photogenic so there are lots of leftover pictures to post...

First, some of one of the little boys - his Petfinder page is here.