Puppies are doing well & Thriving

Anne went home yesterday afternoon and Ivie and I working on creating a routine.  When the puppies sleep so does she and I.  Yesterday she seemed to have figured this out all on her own, she came out of the box and looked into the spare bedroom as if to say come on mom let's take a nap, so we did.

She doesn't have enough milk for them all and I am having to supplement them with Goats Milk, which takes about an hour an a half from start to finish and I am doing this 4 times a day.  I am also keeping track of their weights 2 times a day and the puppies that are not gaining as much end up on the back nipples and the little porkers (namely the boys) are on the front ones.  Ivie at first would be watching every move I made with a pup when I took them out to feed and now she seems to know what is going on.  Plus I think she likes licking their faces before going back in the box to sleep.  Heather, my friend that helped whelp the puppies said I need to get her on Fenugreek as a milk supplement.  I started that yesterday and I don't know if it is wishful thinking on my part or if it is really working but it looks like she has more milk today than yesterday.  With this many puppies it is so important for her to get rest so she can replenish the milk and that is my number one goal.

Ivie is also being somewhat of a prima donna when it comes to her meals.  She has taken to spitting out the kibble.  This morning she wrinkled her nose at chicken breast but scarfed down about 1/2 a cup or more of Brandy's raw food mixture and a handful of goats milk cheese.  At this point I am just happy to have her eat anything and I would be a lot happier if she would eat more.  I took a big rib roast out of the freezer this morning and will throw it into a stew pot and see if that entices her at all.

Frodo is making out like a king in the food department.  When Ivie walks away from something he is right there to make sure that it is cleaned out good and proper for me to try something else.  I figure it won't hurt him, he has been on the skinny side and he is loving it.  Brandy so wanted to play this morning, she was being such a clown and comes back to the gate to the back part of the house and sits there and cocks her head from side to side, trying to figure out what is back there.  I figure I need to get Ivie through the next few days before I let Brandy come and peek at the puppies.  Gandalf really wants to see them.  He has sniffed me from one end to the other and when I brought him in last night he just layed on my lap as if to take it all in, he is such a sweet natured boy, I think these pups are going to have great aunts and uncles to watch over them as they grow up.  I will take more pictures tonight for everyone and try and put them up either here or on the website.