Chow time and teeth!

We have started feeding the puppies some puppy gruel over the past week. They are very keen! I mix up our own gruel from a combination of goat’s milk, cooked sweet potato, egg yolk, oil, probiotic yogurt, and baby oatmeal.

The puppies very much enjoy their gruel. (I’ve tasted it too and it’s not bad!!) The first time they were a bit uncertain about it, but we just poked their noses in and of course they then lick themselves to get that wet stuff off their noses and in so doing discover that it tastes good! By now they don’t need any hints, they gather around when we bring the pan out and chow down.

Of course, being puppies, they are just as inclined to walk through their food as to eat it, so we generally end up with very messy puppies after feeding time. We wipe them down, but Mama Garnet and Grandma Amore are quite happy to help with the cleaning up!

We are starting to feel little bumps along the puppies gumlines, indicative that teeth are starting to come! A couple of the pups already have sharp, pointy white spots poking through. That means they are VERY keen on chewing all kinds of things. “Mouthing” is more the word for the time being, as they have nothing much to chew with yet, but it’s coming fast! Generally the canines are the teeth that come in first (no wonder, them being dogs and all...) followed by the incisors (middle teeth) and eventually molars (at the back).

With their new teeth, we will soon be adding more solid stuff to the food we give them. Not really "solid" yet, but lumpier. We'll start by increasing the amount of tinned food, and also soaking the puppy kibble to soften it.

They're already eager to eat Mama's or Grandma's food if given half a chance. We see them standing over the bowl, mostly picking out the soft bits but also working at the bits of kibble with their gums to soften it enough to swallow. We do need to be careful, though, as they are still small enough they could choke on a piece of kibble if it was too big.

Soon, too, Mama Garnet will not be so keen on letting them nurse - those pointy white teeth can hurt!! So within a few weeks they'll be pretty much weaned.