Tuesday 13 March 2012

3 week weights

The introduction of real food at about 2.5 weeks brings a new growth and strength spurt to the puppies.  They are getting stronger and their balance is improving as they practice not falling face-first into the plate of food and eating the leftovers from each other's faces.

In terms of their individual development, by the time they were 2 weeks old, Brownie had fulfilled his early promise and taken over the spot as heaviest puppy.  As you will can see from the graph, he's looking unlikely to give up that title now.  He's usually the first to stick his head in the food tray and the last to leave, so I foresee his development progressing in leaps and bounds.

Toes has had a steady progress and and reclaimed her spot as second-biggest puppy.

Hopea, the little polar bear who has maintained a steady spot in the middle of the pack is now losing a bit of ground to her siblings.  I think that's mainly because she's less enamoured of the real food than the rest of them.  She would much rather sleep, having exhausted herself stomping around, playing and wagging.  She will give the plate a few licks, but she still prefers mum's milk bar, so the rest of them are overtaking her.

Here are the numbers - as always, click on the image for a larger version that's easier to read.  For the cute photos of the day, feel free to skip to the bottom of the post.












































Before their 3-week photos, the puppies all had their faces washed and dried.  At this age, the photos often look like the puppies are wet.   This is not because they are actually wet, though.  Rather, they are somewhat, um, crunchy.  Here's why.






Little Ilo with food all over her face (and paws)

















Clockwise from left:
Hopea, Claw, Toes, Brownie, Brown Wolf
You get an idea of the mess they are making.









Then the fun part: licking the food off each other's faces.  Otherwise known as spreading it around.






Brown Wolf  "cleaning" Claw's face













After all the eating and playing is done, time for a snooze.  In the meantime, the food dries to a fine crisp.  Rather like hair gel.




L-R: Hopea, Brownie, Little Ilo, Claw, Toes, Brown Wolf













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