Avita Whippets

Woot & litter sister Prima went lure coursing today and tied for first in open.  Woot forfeited to Prima who in turn forfeited to the special, our shirt tail relative, Porkchop, for best of breed.  Woohoo!  First two points for Prima!  Porkchop went on to win best in field.  Porkchop's mom Jennie was kind enough to take Woot while I was home with Corky, Big Mo and the pups.  Porkchop's injured sister Breeze stayed with us while they had all that fun.

Our friend Linda came over yesterday and helped us get some pictures of the pups.  Here they are in s slide show:

The pups are two weeks old today and are taking on significant new talents in celebration.  All of them are up on their back legs though only for a very shaky  step or two.  It's so darned cute to watch.  And, eyes continue to open.  Here's the score as of this morning:

Open,open,open - Black Nose & the Dude
One open, one not quite - Mr P
Barely open - RA (Rachel Alexandra), Twinkle & Cappie
Slits only - MoonieTwo & Keyhole Boy
No - The Other Boy

The Dude has discovered that he can quickly zero in on a nursing station by looking.  He may be laid back but you can't get anything by him.

Tomorrow they are two weeks old and - right on time - their eyes are opening.  Or perhaps I should say that some have opened their eyes and others are looking less tightly closed.  They don't see yet but they soon will and then there will be no hiding.

This morning Woot brought the puppies a toy and left it with them.  What a sweet sister.  While I was out running errands, Woot assumed that they would be as stressed as she gets and so brought them her best comforter, my shoe.  The whelping pool looked pretty rakish with nine tiny puppies, a big toy and a big shoe each taking up about the same space.  I've posted a couple of pictures from the puppies second week to a web album here

The puppies are thriving and growing which has led to a bit of a problem.   Now that they are bigger, there isn't enough room for all nine to line up at the bar.  Maybe I can convince Big Mo to lie on her back.  That would do it.
Meanwhile, Big Mo is letting big sister Woot into the welping bed most of the time which Woot loves.  She would like to be the official cleaner upper.  Woot is so exuberant though that she tends to turn whichever puppy has come under her ministrations end over end.  I'm back to assisting with nursing both to try to get all the pups on the milk bar and to keep Woot from knocking them off and across the bed while cleaning them up.
The most fun news though is that I just saw the first hint of an opening eye.  The Dude's left eye is partially open.  Won't be long!

The pups are one week old today and all are growing and doing well.  Thanks to our friend Jennie, we got some pictures of the puppies' various sides.  Here's a slide show of those pics

The day began at 7:30 am with a trip to the vet for the first check up and to remove dew claws.  All puppies were declared whole & healthy.  Mama Mo and pups are glad to be back in their whelping box.  It was quite an adventure!
I did finally get a photo of each puppy up on the first day page which you can see here

The puppies are starting a regimen of stimulation that will continue for a couple of weeks.  There are five exercises that provide very mild sensory stress.  Studies have shown that this increases the puppy's immune system, confidence, and ability to learn.  You could google Super Dog program to learn the details.

Big Mo had her puppies on Thurs/Fri last week.  See litter info and a link to first pictures here
Saturday, Momo was Best of Winners at the Coyote Hills show in Vallejo!  And on Sunday, Momo & Emily got Winners.  They are doing so well!