The puppies turned 3 weeks old on Sunday. Everyone has their eyes fully open and has started walking right on schedule. It’s a bit of a mixed blessing when they get to this stage. It’s great to see them developing and exploring their world, but they like getting into mischief and constantly keep us on our toes.
The other milestone from this week is learning to eat from a bowl. As you can see in the picture above, we started weaning them from Ginger and everyone quickly figured out this is something delicious and fun. While they are walking and running, I wouldn’t exactly call them coordinated at this point. They are still a little clumsy on their feet. In fact, when they come up to the food bowl, most of them just walk into it and eat with their front paws in the bowl. It’s cute to watch but messy to clean up.
Because of their change in diet, they are getting more fat and protein now. All of them had significant growth spurts of 300-400 grams and almost everyone in the litter is over 2kg (4.4lbs). To put that in perspective, they are 6x-7x the size when they were born 21 days ago. Personalities are still developing but here’s what we have noticed so far.
Red (male) – First one to figure out how to eat out of the bowl. Super mellow and never gives us a hard time about trimming his nails or cleaning him up.
Orange (female) – Likes to snuggle. Always wants to be in a blanket or at the bottom of the pile. The pups all sleep in a big lump and she likes to be under all of them.
Green (male) – Wants to be held. When you pick him up, he likes to be held close to your body. He’s also a mama’s boy. He gets SUPER excited when Ginger comes into the room.
Brown (male) & Purple (Male) – Big and goofy. The two largest in the litter. They are the first ones to the dinner bowl and the last two to leave. They will push their brothers and sisters out of the way to get their fair share of food.
Pink (female) – She really has some maternal instincts. When any of the other pups cry, she is there to soothe them. She also licks and cleans everyone after they are done eating. Most of them are covered in food after a meal, and she helps Ginger lick them clean.
Aqua (female) – First pup up and walking around the whelping box. She was mobile very quickly
Yellow (female) – Likes to sleep on her back with all four paws in the air, a sign of a very content puppy.
Lime (female) – Enjoys playing with her littermates and is very social. She will do well with other animals if you have cats and dogs in your house.
That’s it for week 3, more pictures and updates next week!
