All Is Well

Holly and pups are doing well!  She's settled into motherhood and is very attentive without being obsessed.  The pups are clean and well fed but we can actually get Holly to go outdoors without dragging or carrying her, as we sometimes have to do the first day or two, and she'll get out of the box to take a drink of water.  She does insist on eating in bed, so we'll humor her for a couple of days.

Pups get handled several times a day for the first week or so.  I don't actually weigh them, but I check their body tone and their skin elasticity to be sure they are not getting dehydrated.  One of the old whelping books refers to a healthy puppy feeling like a glove with a hand in it, while a pup who is not thriving feels like an empty glove.  Very good description.

I don't put colored collars or rick rack on the pups to tell them apart, as they all have distinctive eye, nose or ear markings.  In this litter where the nose trim is done on all the pups except one, it's a bit harder and I'll have to depend on ear & and eye markings a more heavily.  Nice problem to have though.   I want to be able to identify each pup by the time they go in tomorrow for Vet Checks and dew claw removal.