Super Size Me

Pretty soon I won't be able to 'store' the puppies in the warming box while I clean out their whelping pen, they are becoming much too large for such things. Not that they seem to mind, it only takes a moment or two before they are all fast asleep. They don't line up in tidy little rows like sardines but I guess whatever works. Leeloo gets very concerned and has a very hard stare at them in the box and is deeply suspicious of my intentions when I weigh them.

Miss Pink and her darling little nose copied Leeloo and used Mr Red as a pillow the other day. She is going to be one pretty girl that Pink!

Mr Red doesn't seem to mind the attention, one warm body duvet is as good as another and he certainly doesn't care who it is as long as his comforts are met. He's got those darling white paws I just want to kiss they are so cute!

Miss Orange and Purple are both still growing steadily but the same cannot be said for Mr Maroon who is not growing steadily, he is out of control! Nothing like a Big Brother to take care of you right?  This is not to say that he will be an unusually large dog though, Raimi, his dad, was not only not the biggest puppy in the litter even at 8 weeks, he was outweighed by at least one of his sisters. During puppyhood it's not easy to tell who will mature the largest because at this time their body is not telling them genetically how big to be, it's telling them what to do to survive. The bulk of their growing occurs between 7 weeks and 6 months and that is when their genetics will start to take over. And don't be fooled, Orange and Purple are not runts, they are just smaller than Maroon - in fact, true runts are not as common as you might think, usually the puppy considered the 'runt' is just smaller than the rest of the litter but there is no reason to think it will not be a normal sized adult.  Another myth dispelled.