Puppy Development Page
Updated daily to weekly. We hope you will enjoy participating with us as we share what it is like to raise a litter of Lhasa Apsos.
Day 10 - April 11
More cream please! Each puppy jockies for his favorite place at the bar.
Foxy wants to be away from her pups occasionally for some privacy to eat and drink. Still, after being outside for just a few moments she comes to the door to let us know she wants to come in and check how her youngsters are doing.
Day 6 - April 7
Both of the darker puppies have nice black pigment around their face. Compare this picture with the day one picture at the bottom of the page.
There is no question she feels hard done by if she is moved from her comfortable place by her Mama.
His belly is round and firmly packed.
You can also see that the pigmentation on the pads is starting to turn black. The Canadian standard wants black pads as well as black nose while the Amarican standard only mentions the nose.
\
We are starting to see some progress in the little particolor pigmentation. She looks like she has a mustache and beard today.
Day 5 - April 6
The puppies are growing! These two are now at eight ounces, a gain of 3 ounces from the day after birth. Their cheeks are filling out. The puppies are settling on about an ounce a day, and should countinue that rate for the near future.
Any pillow will do. You can see that the largest of the puppies is the particolored puppy. They have a tendency to bunch together when they are young and spread out as they are getting older.
Tomorrow we will show you the other side of the puppies.
Foxy the cow has to find a comfortable sleeping position. Let the puppies crawl where they will, Foxy is realaxing.
Milk is no problem for either Foxy or the puppies. They have all they can use. Her supply will increase as the puppies grow and demand more.
April 2, Day 2
Each day the puppies are weighed, at least until they double their weight. It is typical that the puppies lose before they gain. At birth they all weighed between 6 ounces and 8 ounces, about average for puppies through our lines. This puppy is still 6 ounces today.
This little girl's nose is already starting to turn black. Within a week the nose and lip area are likely to be black. The particolor above will take a little longer. The Lhasa standard calls for a black nose.
Notice the taxicab ears. In a few weeks the ears will drop so the puppy looks a bit more like the Lhasa they will become. When it happens we will include a picture.
Foxy thinks her puppies are pretty special too. We have a hard time talking her into going outside. As soon as she relieves herself she is ready to get back to her puppies. She is a good little "new mama".
Typically this is the day dew claws are removed. Removal of the dew claw is a personal decision rather than a health decision.
Day 1 - Whelping Day
Foxy is making her nest, preparing to be a good mother. This is a first time for Foxy, so she has had no practice.
Like with humans, birthing is a painful process. One difference is she gets no pain pills. Her births are entirely naturual. Judging from her comments, there were times when she would have preferred not to get into this situation.
Most of our puppies are born the color of the lower puppy. They also tend to turn out to be the red gold you see in the majority of our other Lhasas.
The darker puppy above will likely turn into some shade of red, although it would be fine with us if he kept the pigment he has now.
Foxy had two girls and two boys. The litter of four will be relatively easy for Foxy to care for. With larger litters it is sometimes necessary to supplement feeding. We don't expect this to be the case. Our part of the process right now is to make sure each puppy can "hook on" to their mother.
Another of our responsibilities is to make sure Foxy is eating well and maintains her health. We do watch carefully to see how the dam and the puppies are adjusting to their new life together.
It is evident that instinct has kicked in and Foxy is doing a good job of caring for her puppies.
Parti colored Lhasas are not rare, but the coloring is recessive. Foxy's sire was a black and white particolor. This puppy has very nice particolor markings, and as can be seen, the white is white and the color is dark. Lori has been hoping for a show quality particolor. In a couple of months she may know whether she has one. If not, we don't doubt that she will make a wonderful pet to a good family.
We do hope that one of the puppies will have both the breed qualities and the personality to go into the show ring. Evaluation of the puppies will be a constant process that we desire to complete in the eighth week.
The question we ask when we place a puppy is whether he/she will be happier in the prospective home than they will with us. Giving up a puppy is difficult, but reality says that most will be adopted to good families - some even after they have achieved their Champion status.
Please email us if you have comments or questions.
