Luna-Maxx Puppies
Born February 9, 2009
Luna, about 8 hours before giving birth.
She's as round as a bowling ball!
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Day 1: We want to thank Dr. Lee Anderson and his staff at Anacortes Animal Hospital for again
doing such a wonderful, seemingly effortless job on the c-section on Luna on Monday evening.
As happens with a c-section, Luna's puppies all arrived at the same time.
Between
Kirsten and Rick and Dale and the skilled staff,
we each were able to take one of the five newly born puppies, drying and rubbing it
until it began to breathe, and move, and cry - and see the joy of a new life happen in our hands.
The puppies' weights, at 24 hours old:
Larger cream boy: 9 ounces
Smaller cream boy: 7-3/4 ounces
Brindle boy: 8-3/8 ounces
Brindle girl: 9-1/8 ounces
Fawn Pied girl: 7-1/8 ounces
Luna is being a dutiful mother, lying patiently with her new brood.
Maxx is the proud father. We hope that some of these puppies will follow in his footsteps into the show ring.
Please continue to watch each day, as the puppies grow and develop.
Day 2: When the puppies aren't eating, they're sleeping.
Today's weights:
Larger (darker) cream boy: 9-1/4 ounces
Smaller (lighter) cream boy: 8-1/4 ounces
Brindle boy: 8-3/4 ounces
Brindle girl: 9-3/4 ounces
Fawn pied girl: 7-3/8 ounces
Everyone's put on a little bit of weight.
Day 3: Sound asleep with a full tummy.
Today's weights:
Larger (darker) cream boy: 10-5/8 ounces
Smaller (lighter) cream boy: 10 ounces
Brindle boy: 10-7/8 ounces
Brindle girl: 11-1/2 ounces
Fawn pied girl: 8-3/4 ounces
Day 4: The little fawn pied girl is such a cutie!
Today's weights:
Larger (darker) cream boy: 12-1/8 ounces
Smaller (lighter) cream boy: 11-1/4 ounces
Brindle boy: 12-1/4 ounces
Brindle girl: 12-5/8 ounces
Fawn pied girl: 10-1/4 ounces
Day 5: Luna is doing great and already has lots of energy back.
The puppies are thriving under her careful supervision.
Today's weights:
Larger (darker) cream boy: 13-3/4 ounces
Smaller (lighter) cream boy: 13 ounces
Brindle boy: 13-5/8 ounces
Brindle girl: 13-1/2 ounces
Fawn pied girl: 11 ounces
Day 6: Our first yawn!
Today's weights:
Larger (darker) cream boy: 16-1/4 ounces
Smaller (lighter) cream boy: 13-1/4 ounces
Brindle boy: 14-1/2 ounces
Brindle girl: 15-1/4 ounces
Fawn pied girl: 12-1/2 ounces
Day 7: Fat and happy.
At one week of age, the puppies have just about doubled their birth weights.
Larger (darker) cream boy: 17-1/2 ounces
Smaller (lighter) cream boy: 14-3/4 ounces
Brindle boy: 16-3/8 ounces
Brindle girl: 16-7/8 ounces
Fawn pied girl: 13-1/4 ounces
Day 8: There's barely room for everyone to nurse at the same time!
Day 9: The big cream boy's eyes opened today.
Day 10: More eyes open and sleepy and full - very sweet!
Day 11: Marbled rye? Pied burrito? Or just plain love...
Day 13: ALL eyes - wide open! Where's lunch??
Day 14: Fat brother makes a good Pillow!
Lg Cream boy - 1 lb 12 oz
Sm Cream boy - 1 lb 6 oz
Fawn Pied girl - 1 lb 2 oz
Brindle girl - 1 lb 9 oz
Brindle boy - 1 lb 9 oz
Day 15: Baby cream boy, bigger and bigger and bigger!
Day 16: Playing more and more,
and then more sleep, more eat, more sleep..
Day 17: Luna is a terrific mother,
sitting patiently on her blanket
beside the puppy pen
while they sleep between feedings.
Day 17: It always makes us smile to see puppies so relaxed when they sleep.
Day 18: Between frequent naps and occasional feedings, the puppies
are beginning to walk around
and interact with each other, and even react to sounds,
like Luna barking at people outside
the window,
and sometimes beginning to join in with their own little barks and squeaks.
Day 20: As the puppies approach their 3-week-old birthday tomorrow,
they are beginning to get up
and around,
and have short periods of play before nap time after nursing.
Day 21: Three weeks old today. And we weigh (from left to right):
Larger Cream boy - 2 lbs - 6 ounces
Brindle boy - 2 pounds - 1 ounce
Smaller Cream boy - 1 pound - 13 ounces
Brindle girl - 1 pound - 15 ounces
Pied Girl - 1 pound - 8 ounces
(And remember how little they were!)
Day 22: The puppies are spending more time playing.
Day 24: Luna will often stay in the pen after the puppies are
done nursing and let them play with her.
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Day 26: The puppies got their first taste of food today.
There was no hesitation at all - they just gobbled it up.
Satisfied, they all fell sound asleep. It looked like the morning after a frat party!
More 4-week portraits. The big cream boy weighs 3 pounds 3 ounces...
... the red pied girl weighs 2 pounds 3 ounces...
... and the smaller cream boy (who may turn out to be a cream pied) weighs 2 pounds 10 ounces.
Four weeks old! At 4 weeks of age, the brindle girl (above) weighs 2 pounds 8 ounces,
and the brindle boy (below) weighs 2 pounds 13 ounces.
Sleeping buddies.
As the puppies approach 5 weeks of age, we're beginning to see distinct personalities.
The brindle boy and girl are very sweet, quiet and self-assured.
At 5-1/2 weeks of age, we have 7 of 10 ears up.
Today's weights:
Larger (darker) cream boy: 4 pounds 4 ounces
Smaller (lighter) cream boy: 3 pounds 13 ounces
Brindle boy: 3 pounds 13 ounces
Brindle girl: 3 pounds 7 ounces
Fawn pied girl: 2 pounds 13 ounces
The puppies continue to develop their own, individual personalities.
They're spending a lot more time playing with each other and with toys.
Six weeks old, and 9 out of 10 ears up!
Today's weights:
Larger (darker) cream boy: 4 pounds 15 ounces
Smaller (lighter) cream boy: 4 pounds 6 ounces
Brindle boy: 4 pounds 3 ounces
Brindle girl: 3 pounds 15 ounces
Fawn pied girl: 3 pounds 1 ounces
Play hard, sleep hard.
The puppies will be 7 weeks old in a few days and are enthusiastically
exploring the world outside their pen.
Tahoma's Zip It Up ("Zipper") is the most independent puppy in the litter.
He's very curious, and sometimes prefers to play on his own.
Tahoma's Lace It Up ("Lacy") finally got both her ears up just a few days ago!
She can be a bit shy at first, but she's also playful and even mischevious, and is especially affectionate.
Tahoma's Button It Up ("Button") is cute as a...well, you get the idea.
She's a sassy little girl who more than holds her own when playing with the bigger boys.
She seems to be everyone's favorite puppy in the litter.
Tahoma's Tie It Up ("Ti") reminds us that it's the quiet ones you need to watch out for.
He's turning into a good-natured, well put together Frenchie
who we think will have good show potential.
Tahoma's Cut It Up ("Cutter") looks the most like his father Maxx.
He's very self assured and expects lots of attention.
Hmmm... Maybe it's not such a good idea to give the puppies socks to play with.
This is the first week that the puppies have been outside,
and they're having a ball.
Who needs washboard abs when you
can have washboard buns?
Our lovely big boy in a quiet moment of contemplation...
And who to jump on next?
Ti and Button take a moment from playing in the yard to pose for a photo.
Zipper is turning into a confident, sociable, and very handsome boy.
Zipper, Ti and Lacy enjoy yet another sunny day in the back yard.
The puppies are just a few days shy of 12 weeks old.