Puppy Growth Characteristics

I wrote earlier that puppies grow logarithmically (or exponentially, which is the flip side) for a period during early development. Plot the weight of the puppy on the ordinate, and time, the independent variable, on the abscissa (see the chart on the upper right of this page). If the ordinate values are plotted as the logarithm of the value, you will observe a straight line for those periods of growth that are exponential. Then, the slope of that straight line, when divided into ln 2 yields doubling time.

Here is such a plot for Kayla. I use her as an example because her time vs weight curve shows no lag or stationary phase. The red points are her actual weights, and I computed a linear regression (black line is the best fit) to estimate the slope. The slope of this line, m, is termed μ, the specific growth rate (y=mx+b, standard first order curve). In this case, μ = 0.088. So doubling time is td = ln 2/0.088 = 0.693/0.088 = 7.8 days. Kayla's weight doubles every 7.8 days.

What a Whiner

This is Piper's vocalization today.
Margie says she doesn't want her.
She is the most vocal.

Some of the pups are walking about already. This kind of freaked out Martha and she was a bit apprehensive about returning to the whelping box. Eyes are still shut.

Enjoy your Mother's Day.

Gretl and BJ, and Nick and Emily will come by today to prepare lunch.

Margie's mom is recovering nicely from surgery.

Litter History

This is the seventh Canterbury Tails litter since 1988. This chart displays number of whelp per litter, the distribution of genders within each litter, and the distribution of litters across years. The gender ratio within a litter is variable, and it really isn't meaningful anyway since the number of whelp per litter is small. However, overall, we've had 17 male live births and 17 female live births.

Talk About Porkers !

These fellows grow fast! They are almost a foot long. And they are so much out of proportion when contrasted with adult conformation. Their fat tummies are particularly charming. Their eyes are still not open. I love the way they grunt and moan, and twitch. When I hold them, they cuddle up to me and relax. I'm letting them get a good smell and taste of me so they'll have a memory of me when they are adults.

Martha continues to have loose stools. The stools are not as watery and tinged with blood as earlier in the week. We hope control her digestive issues with diet, yet still get sufficient nutrition into her so she and the puppies will thrive.

Margie and Gretl are in Chicago visiting Margie's mom who is in the hospital recovering from surgery.



It's a cool, damp, cloudy day today. It's a perfect day for catching up on sleep - for me and the puppies.

Some Stats on the Whelp

Okay, now that we're recovered from W-Day (whelp day), I've prepared some vital statistics that characterize the event.

Five Females - two females deceased
Two Males

Avg Weight...............................13 oz
Avg Weight of Males.................16 oz
Avg Weight of Female..............11.8 oz

Water Break to First Whelp.......11 min
Duration of Whelp....................3 hr 41 min
Avg Period Between Puppy......35 min

In the chart below, I've visualized gender, birth weight, time of whelp (where time 0 is water bag break), and mortality. The period between birth of the pups is fairly similar. I don't see any obvious temporal gaps which might indicate which groups of pups were located in the same uterine horn. It seems odd that only females suffered mortality. There was no clear relationship of mortality and birth weight. The sample size is small, so these conclusions need to be viewed in the proper context.

Measuring Puppy Weight Gain

We measure the puppys weight frequently to confirm they are growing. We use our food scale. It's not precise, but it's a trend we're after, not the exact weight. There is a link to a weight chart over on the right hand upper side of this page. With previous litters, puppy weight gain has been exponential for about the first two weeks after an initial lag (plotting weight vs time on a semi-log scale yields a straight line). When we get more data points, we'll plot the growth on a semi-log scale. The puppies wiggle a lot when we weigh them, so it's difficult to get a good weight anyway. So far, they are growing nicely.

They nap after eating. Their eyes and ears are still sealed shut. Eyes will open about day 10 post-whelp. They find mom's teats by smell alone.

Tails Are Docked

The pups visited Tom today to have their tails docked and dew claws removed. All is well with them. Martha is a very good mom. She lays with the pups all day, and hestiates to leave them when it is time to exercise. We have to virtually drag her outside. And then, she rushes back in. The whole family is helping handle the puppies, and Martha allows us to get our puppy management chores done.