Hard to believe Tricolor Girl One could be comfortable in that position, but apparently she was, as she let me take a bunch of pictures without twitching.
The puppies are doing very nicely. Objectively, they aren’t much trouble at this age. Alas, they are now cute enough to be pretty distracting. They remain awake and playful for half an hour, maybe a little more, after nursing. They are distractingly cute for that entire period.
When I say they aren’t that much trouble, that’s in relative terms. The Tricolor boy no longer chokes at all, though he occasionally still needs a little extra formula from me. Today he was fine, gaining nicely by himself, so that was good to see.
But this litter is being super annoying about not wanting to wean. They won’t try, or immediately spit out:
Puppy food soaked in formula.
Puppy food soaked in water.
Royal Canin Starter, which is supposed to be super palatable. And probably is, for any other puppies.
Baby food — chicken
Baby food — beef
Actual top quality, very lean, minced raw beef. I’m going to eat the rest of that myself. Not raw, obviously.
A couple of them will lap a little formula out of a tiny saucer (actually a jar lid). Not this girl. The other tricolor girl and the b/t boy. Other than that, nothing. Well, I saw the ruby girl drink a little water this morning. It’s not like they’re not capable. They just aren’t interested. I tried limiting their nursing time this weekend. Nothing. I’m not going to starve them, especially not the little boys, so … they are just going to be slow to wean, I guess.
Poor Morgan! She would have liked to retire from nursing two weeks ago. At least she no longer has any sign of a rash and is plainly a lot more comfortable despite the vicious little puppy teeth that have appeared. All the puppies have correct scissors bites right now, by the way, which is excellent. Ish had a slight underbite that corrected (finally) at age five. Despite his glamor, I never showed him because of that incorrect bite. Morgan has the BEST bite, plus very nice strong teeth. Hopefully all the puppies will take after her. And preferably they will start to USE their teeth soon, for more than biting each other’s ears.
This isn’t the first time I’ve had this problem, but it’s been quite a while. I think it’s been eight or ten years since I had a litter refuse to wean. In one way, it’s not a big deal. They all get weaned eventually. In another way, obviously it’s hard on Morgan. I’m pouring food down her, but she has lost a bit of weight anyway.
I had one litter once that refused absolutely everything and eventually weaned straight onto dry kibble at about six or seven weeks, I don’t remember exactly when. Hopefully these puppies will not be quite that stubborn. But I will try dry kibble soon and see whether they like the crunch.
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