A couple days ago, I noticed more scratches and definitely some bite marks on Ruby’s teats. Her patience with the little sharks was still there, but getting tested for sure, and she seemed stressed hopping in and out of the pen with 4-5 hanger-on-ers using teeth to hold on. I put one of her show day jackets on upside down, so the back of the jacket now covers her teats (except the last two) and now she can get in there in between feeding times and clean up and even lay with the pups without being chewed on in a very sensitive place.

The pups are looking great – their coats are plush and their poop and pee is just what it should be, but they are ravenous eaters and Ruby is dreading it, so it’s time (though a little earlier than my previous litters) for some introduction into puppy food other than mother’s milk.

Ever smelled goat milk? Tasted it? Well, it’s not my favorite, but I’m not a big milk person anyway. It is however, second best to Ruby’s milk, according to the Ruby x OD puppies! I tested lapping responses on Tuesday with water, and everyone was good to go. Yesterday, they had a little bit of the goat’s milk, slightly warmed in their puppy feeder and some just walked in it and some just licked their siblings, and others took right to it and lapped away.

Today, the pups had a small amount of water softened puppy food blended in the Vitamix and poured in the puppy feeder. I got the big dogs busy and put the dish in the whelping pen to contain what I knew was going to be a big mess – based on the goat milk test the day before. Sure enough, everyone had to have a washcloth bath after they enjoyed their supplemental lunch. I had to grab Blue and Purple and Green out of the dish when I estimated that they had eaten their share, then Pink, and that allowed the artistic dabblers to finish up – Yellow, Orange, and Patch. In the end, I changed all the mats, washed faces and feet and ears and chests of nearly everyone and had to change my own clothes.

They played with me after they got cleaned up and I bedded them down on the warm mat in their pen as they got sleepy. They have slept an hour and a half so far, with only twitching and happy noises as they dream away. Ruby had a nice knock-out sleep on the back of my chair, too.

I know some people use powdered milk replacer instead of goat’s milk, and that’s fine, too. I’ve used both, but I like the goat’s milk if I can find it easily for the lack of preservatives and additives but I’m a bit “green” like that. We have a great natural foods store near my office and the goat’s milk was only 25 cents more than a big name organic cow’s milk, so I’m pretty happy with that.

We will start to do some stacking exercises this weekend, if everything works out and will have some 4 week photos to post then. I’ll put a couple videos with their toys on to satisfy the puppy fixes though!