Follow Hope's Journey

Hope is two weeks old today and this past week has been filled with quite a few accomplishments. Her first Florida cold snap, a much more involved mommy, a lot of weight gain - Almost three full ounces worth! Between the help from momma Suri and myself,  she is up to...

Almost two weeks in and now suddenly, something kicked into gear with Suri and I now have an active participant when it comes to feeding Hope. Up until today, I would feed and then place Hope into the whelping box for Suri to tend to. She would stimulate and clean her...

Yes, that is what I look for every time I feed Hope. Milk beards, not milk mustaches. With the placement of Hope's cleft, her nostril hangs low and makes nursing troublesome. The nipple from when we fed her from a bottle and now the syringe, seems to find its way...

Day two of keeping warm and I have to say, I believe that Hope is getting more milk from momma than I originally thought. I have witnessed a few attempts without ever seeing her actually nurse. I assumed she got something last week since a couple of Suri's nipples...

The temperatures have dropped here in Florida and our private quarters for for Suri and Hope have required a bit of adjustment yo keep the heat in. The heating pad is set at a bit warmer setting and the bin is draped in additional blankets. This afternoon when I came...

I sing that little ditty every time I feed Hope. Her little front legs go straight up and wave to and fro as if kneading from her own momma. It's so sweet to watch and yet another nature vs. nurture example. Her instinct is to knead at her mommy's teets to help...

Hope has proven to be a very smart little puppy. While she cuddles with and gets cleaned by her mommy, Suri, she knows who the source to her food is, that's for sure! The moment I walk into the room, Suri pops up and wags her tail. Then, I flip the power switch on the...

Against the odds, our sweet Hope is one week old today. To celebrate this monumental occasion, I picked up Hope and Suri a few new oval beds from PetCo.   They are actually cat beds, but their size and their price ($7.99) make them perfect additions to whelping box...

The homemade puppy forumla has done the job. Hope has had normal bowel movements for the last 24 hours and boy does she feel a heck of a lot better! She is sustaining her birth weight - the weight we finally got back up to yesterday. Any guess what? Hope is crawling...