Captain Colonial Posted August 7, 2014 Author Share Posted August 7, 2014 Heh heh, quite right. We're only 12 miles from Stratford-on-Avon so she'll get walked around there like her mum and see the Shakespeare sites. Abbie had us a bit concerned for a day or two because she was gaining very little weight, and they both looked exhausted. After a few phone calls and chats with friends in the know, we upped the temperature and switched Sophie's food. Whether or not this made any difference is debatable, but the outcome was that Sophie suddenly became ravenous for food and Abbie started drinking like George Best - she put on 40 grams yesterday alone. This may not sound like much, but it was 18% of her body weight - imagine putting on 18 pounds for every 100 pounds you weigh in 24 hours. (Healthy newborn puppies usually double their body weight in their first 8 days and she's certainly on course for that at the moment.) So all is well at the moment. Poor Sophie though - when Abbie's not sleeping on her warm pad, she's bellying up to the milk bar and going hell-bent for leather. It's like watching a little fuzzy head-banger go at it, really uses her whole body to get her grub. Sophie gets a "oh no, not again" look on her face by the afternoon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Colonial Posted August 8, 2014 Author Share Posted August 8, 2014 Today's build thread update: No photos on this one, but an interesting early morning start to the day. Sophie and Abbie are in their two-room custom engineered (by me) whelping box that you can see in the photos, with underfloor heating and carpeting throughout. Also equipped with a puppy rail, i.e. a barrier about 5 inches high to stop Abbie escaping. Or so I thought. Sophie runs in and wakes me up at 6 AM, which is normal enough, but she's a bit frantic. Bear in mind she's been coming in and leading us for help back into the whelping (ex-dining) room several times a day when Abbie is playing up (climbing under fur rugs I thought were secured, climbing under the electric warm pad and / or cord I thought was secured, rolling herself up in a rug I thought was secure and disappearing...she's a handful, even at 1 week old), so we're used to going in and rescuing her now, having a laugh, etc. But this time, Abbie is gone. Vanished. A frantic and awful search ensues and she's found 10 minutes later behind a chair around 15 feet away from the box, only given away by her crying because she's hungry yet again and wants to return to Yates' Milk Bar. She'd climbed over a puppy rail twice her height, and I mean did a chin-up and heaved her butterball frame over it and crawled off, because she wanted more to drink (typical female). This from a puppy still deaf and with its eyes not open yet. A puppy who can't stand up or walk yet. Needless to say, some emergency barrier heightening was done within ten minutes, and mother and daughter reunited. The whelping box puppy barrier is now more like the horse jumping event at the Olympics for Sophie. The Force is strong with this Westie... I have a feeling I've bred a bit of a character that may well kill me with worry and rescue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John K Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 1, Glad you found her..! 2, Can we suggest she might be from the xflow side of the fence and suggest she might be known by the moniker TMA as in "The Mighty Abbie" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Colonial Posted August 8, 2014 Author Share Posted August 8, 2014 TMA works for me John - although I might not live long enough to see her mature to adult status at this rate. Literally cannot believe she got over that barrier - it must have taken some strength! It would be like Stephen Hawking pulling himself up over a high jump bar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Colonial Posted August 18, 2014 Author Share Posted August 18, 2014 A few of you have been asking for build thread updates so here it is - Abbie is now 16 days old and 612 grams (1.3 lbs), triple her birth weight. Eyes opened on Saturday, and she's starting to try to stand and walk which is about 5 days early. She certainly likes her comfort as you can see. Mother and daughter both doing splendidly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Pete Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 Look more like a polar bear to my uneducated eyes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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