One week old!

So the pups are one week old today!!!  It was a long week, that's for sure.  Rave won't let me go back to my bed, so I am stuck sleeping on the air mattress in the puppy room a little longer.  But it's worth it since the pups are thriving, including little Gypsy.  I *think* at this point, I can breathe a sigh of relief.  She's been consistently gaining weight since Monday, is active and is now fussing at me when I weigh her or do ENS.  Yay!  She's still much smaller than the other pups, but gaining at the same rate as they are.

The best part of this week has been seeing how the pups have acclimated to handling.  The first few days they made the biggest stink when we picked them up and did things to them.  Now they still fuss a little during ENS (really who wants to be turned upside down!), but now they seem to really enjoy our touch, being held and don't fuss nearly as much when they get moved around.

I did start dremeling their nails this week too.  Their sharp nails were scratching up Rave's tummy and nipples so it needed to be done.  I cut their tiny toenails on Tuesday and that did not go well at all.  Their nails are so tiny and there were so squirmy, it was difficult and I did make Octane bleed.  :-(  So now I am dremeling them and for me it's going much better, since I can't hurt them.  But they beg to differ!!!  I have to put Rave outside when I do it as she gets sooooo concerned.

Rave has started spending more time away from the pups during the day, and wants to  play again.  I think it's healthy for her mentally and emotionally to have a break---what dog wants to be stuck in the same room day after day.  But also I think the physical exercise will really help her recover from the pregnancy physically and keep her endorphins up mentally.  When she comes back in from playing, she runs right back in to feed and check on the pups though.

She is still VERY protective of the pups when it comes to the other dogs.  Rival is the only dog who she's comfortable with in the room and seeing the pups.  No one else has that privilege.  But Rival and Rave have a very special, close relationship and I know she trusts him.

The pups did have some visitors this week.  My mom helped out by stopping by and making sure all was well with the babies during the week while we were gone.  I am so grateful for her help, it made a huge difference.  Then I'd come home at lunch too and make sure all was good.  Yesterday, Pam came by to visit since one of the black boys will be hers.  Rave is more than happy to show off her brood to people.

The biggest issue we've had this week is the bedding in the whelping box.  Rave wants to dig it up and at one point during the week, I had to run home from work and fix it since she had covered the pups up with the pad.  And we don't want any pups to suffocate!  At this point we've resorted to duct taping the whelping mats down, since Rave likes to nest so much!!!  Kind of a pain, since they have to be washed all the time!

It was a pretty stressful week overall, mostly because we worried so much about Gypsy.  All of the others were clearly doing great, but we really worked hard to give her extra care, attention and feedings.  And it's paid off, so well worth it.  I am hoping this week is a bit smoother and I look forward to seeing more development in these little guys.