4 weeks old

Tub full of puppies, waiting for their pen to get cleaned

Pups are 4 weeks old, have had their first Christmas and been through their first blizzard.  The power is still on, and all is well.   The pups gained approximately 1 1/2 lbs each last week.  Most of the pups weigh a little over 5 lbs.  The big pup is Maggie at 5 lbs 6 oz.  The outlier is Penny who only weighs 4 lbs 10 oz, but is doing fine.  Yoko is currently eagerly eating 9 cup of high calorie kibble and is still in peak lactation.  I have started individually feeding the pups kibble and milk, since group feeding was too frenetic and food consumption too uneven.  The pups are currently still sleeping a lot, but when awake, are playful and affectionate.  Their pen is full off all sorts of toys with different textures and some of which make noise to stimulate and challenge them.  Amazingly, they are still staying behind the low half gate that allows Yoko easy access.   With most litters, pups are climbing over the low half gate at around 3 weeks of age.  I have started doing some handling exercises, cradling the pups on their backs, handling paws and ears, etc.  The TV is next to their pen and I keep it on a lot for background noise.  When I am gone, I am starting to leave the radio on, tuned to NPR.