Friday Flashback
Well it’s Wilma here again with another Friday Flashback. The middle of January is a really funny time and I said to Mum I didn’t suppose I’d find anything very exciting had happened on this day in the last thirteen years. Anyway, it turned out I was right and except for the years when Shadow was having puppies or when Ari was still a puppy himself, it’s been a quiet week. So here from 104 is some about Shadow’s third litter when they started to move from milk to solid food
Three Weeks Old
The puppies are three weeks old today – happy birthday puppies.
Moving to solids is not proving easy. Last year the puppies were so hungry that it was as though a lightbulb went on for them when my Mistress offered them the puppy gruel and they were all happy within a few minutes to get stuck in. This year whilst Shadow may not have had much milk they have liked the milk formula we have made up and found the ease of bottle feeding rather suited them. So then they were given the opportunity to work a little harder for their food and to move onto something other than the formula they have grown used to and like. It did not go well. They tried several ways to walk in it and sit in it but very few ways to eat it. Here is the picture from the first attempt yesterday.
Back to the Drawing Board
At that point my Mistress went back to the drawing board and decided to have an individual session with each puppy using a shallow bowl and some of the existing formula that they are used to. Each of them started to understand the basics, but in the meantime the shrill cries of the other five were all a bit too much for everyone, especially my Mistress being in close proximity.
Once she had done that she let them feed from Shadow as best they could, she’s short of milk again, and then she put down some bowls of their existing formula for them to finish off. Unsurprisingly Cinderella and Cracker decided to tuck in, but the others seemed confused.
A lesson in lapping
I think they will all need another lesson in lapping before they really start to get what it is about. For the time being the old formula and the new one, which includes baby rice, are being run in parallel – although hopefully they will move to the more filling one over the weekend. I suppose last year there was no possibility of Shadow going in with them as this is the stage she was ill last year and had to have medication which meant she couldn’t even try to go in with them. That was hard to explain to the puppies – at least this year she is well even if the milk is intermittent.
Well that’s all from me. I know that life gets more exciting at the end of the month but you’ll have to wait for that!
Have a great Friday
Love
Wilma
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