Bandit x Tutu Pups: 1 Week

Quixand's Reflections Of Infineon, WRCh-X & BIF Longrun's Too Hot To Handle, CRX-3, OTRM-2 (WRCh, ORC, and ASFA FCh pointed)

Photo Pedigree

The puppies' first week has been one of ups and downs. We have enjoyed having little ones in the house again, and delighted in puppy breath, puppy snuggles, and puppy antics. The only downside at first was the small size of Pup 5, and our concern over making sure that he got plenty of nursing time. We had experienced having one pup much smaller than it's littermates before, and that little one had thrived and caught up to her siblings quickly. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case this time. Even though we gave him several feedings per day and made sure he was able to nurse on Tutu without being pushed aside by the bigger pups, he never gained weight, and by day five was no longer trying to suckle. We continued to give him formula, and Tutu continued to lick and care for him, but he only became more weak, and passed away quietly on the sixth day.

The classic mama and puppy shot! I love it!

Little girl #4, just one day old, with a very serene Tutu.

Our little red girlie #3 -

full of milk and snoozing soundly. Awwwww!

The two red girls, #3 and #2, the parti girl -

such nice babies! (3 days old)

Girl 3 seems to like sleeping on her back -

which is sooooo adorable! She's five days old here.

Girl 6 is at the top, L-R below are 3, 2, 1, 4, 5.

This is the last group photo with tiny #5; he slipped away from us about an hour later.

Even though we are devastated to have lost our tiny cuddle-bug, there have been so many more "ups" in the first week with this litter, we can't help feeling fortunate to have five fat, strong puppies to enjoy.

It has been a pure pleasure to watch Tutu take to motherhood! She's an amazing and loving little mama, keeping her puppies squeaky clean, warm, and dry. I don't think a drop of puppy pee has hit the blankets! Tutu is very proud of her brood, and is making the supreme sacrifice of eating extra food so she can feed them. You laugh, but Tutu has never been one to over-eat, and getting her to eat extra meals has been a challenge. It's a good thing she's a sucker for canned salmon. If you see us out and about with these pups in the coming weeks and find that they smell a bit like fish, that would be why!

The two males, at one day old -

big #1 at the top, and #5 at the bottom.

Sleepy girl #6 at three days -

all chubby and content.

Little boy #5, all snug in a warmed washcloth,

for a bottle feeding. I tried hard to get him to gain weight.

At five days, girl 6 is over at the right, then -

top to bottom on the left: 4, 1, 2, 5, and belly-up 3.

Big, sturdy boy #1 at his one-week weigh-in,

too tired to wiggle, which made it easy to read the scale!

Sadly, little boy 5 failed to thrive, never gaining weight or bulking up like his siblings. Tutu and I worked hard to stimulate and feed him, but he just couldn't stay. He quietly left us a few hours before his six-day mark, snuggled close to his mama's body.

Pup #1, boy, 1 lb. 5 oz.

Too sleepy to stretch out and show how nice and long he is.

Pup #2, girl, 1 lb. 3 oz.

She was NOT too sleepy to stretch out - she was crawling around!

Pup #3, girl, 1 lb. 1 oz.

She was also crawling around, making it hard to get a good side pic, but that's OK.

Pup #4, girl, 1 lb. 2 oz.

She was a little more cooperative, and isn't she pretty!

Pup #6, girl, 1 lb. 2 oz.

Awwwww, another sleepy little whippet-ball!

While we miss our bitty boy, we can't help but feel blessed by the five beautiful, fat puppies that we have to love and care for. Each one is a precious gift, and we're happy to share their individual photos at one whole week old:

Pup 1 really only wanted to curl up and snooze -