Watch Us Grow: Two Week Old Boxer Puppies
Time for a puppy update! Boxer puppies are born with long tails and dewclaws on each of the front paws that are removed between 3-5 days of age. Last week was when I did my puppies “Tails and Toes” as we call it, and today we removed the stitches.
Through the years my children have each taken turns as my nurse as I perform the procedure. They have learned the responsibility that comes with raising animals as they have helped with everything from the breeding to the birthing, and even the sad times when we must bury one that didn’t make it.
This litter started out with 11 puppies – a huge litter by just about anyone’s standard. Miya is a first time mom and I freely admit that she is more than a little spoiled, so as a consequence she was quite nervous about suddenly being faced with the task of caring for all these little squeaky bodies! I think I would have been nervous too!
As is sometimes the case, nature takes care of things, and one by one we lost puppies until we were down to our current number of 6 – a number that Miya seems comfortable managing.
Right from the start, two were not expected to live due to immaturity in one, and the other suffered injury during his birth when he got stuck in the birth canal and had to be forcefully pulled out. The other three appeared perfectly healthy except for the fact that they just didn’t gain any weight.
Despite my best efforts, puppies just failed to thrive and within 5 days had slipped away. My best efforts included supplementing them with formula, making sure everyone got a portion of colostrum, keeping them all at the right temperature night and day, and the part that took the most work, sleeping in shifts so that there was always someone awake to help Miya when she became overwhelmed and didn’t know what to do.
Sometimes, despite a herculean effort, puppies just don’t make it. That is part of the lessons of life that children learn from raising dogs.
Sometimes the pain of loosing these precious little babies is almost too much and I think about giving it up. Loosing a whole litter brings one very, very close to that threshold.
Thankfully this time, I can go and pick up one of the remaining puppies and marvel at the miracle of birth and watch with fascination as these little creatures grow and learn and begin to interact with each other and eventually with me. It is a wonderful process, even the painful part.
I guess if I ever get to the point that my heart doesn’t ache for each one lost, that will be the time to walk away. I can’t imagine that ever happening – I love them too much! Raising Boxer puppies is certainly a labor of love and I am one that puts my whole heart into it.
New photos have been posted on each of the puppies pages. Their eyes are open now and they are starting to get up on their feet and stagger around the whelping box. They are so darn cute!
Next week they will be introduced to a food bowl for the first time and probably take a swim in it as well. Be sure to check back – I’m going to post videos as soon as I figure out how my camera works!
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