The puppies are now enlarging their world and the door of the puppy box has been opened. Some find it scary, others exciting! There is also a  water bowl for them to discover. None of them has tried to drink yet. They just wonder around in the water a bit surprised about the feeling!

All puppies are born with worms and need be dewormed at week 2, 4, 6, 8 and 12. When the bitch is pregnant her rising progesterone levels cause immature worm larvae in her muscles to awaken and swim right through the uterine wall into the puppy before it is even born. By two or three weeks of age puppies are shedding worm eggs and infecting each other. This week the puppies were dewormed for the first time. I used Drontal Pup suspension and gave it directly in the mouth with a syringe to get the exact right amount. They were not amused by this strange pink "millk" from such a weired nipple!

The time has come for the puppies to start interacting with each other. It is so cute! I have also added a newspaper section in the far end of the puppy box where the puppies will learn to pee. They were already doing it a little bit away from where they were sleeping. It is a natural inclination for an animal to keep their sleepiing area clean. As soon as I laid down the newspaper, on top of a wooden shelf, some of them started peeing there!  So smart these puppies ;-) !

The puppies are now 2 weeks old. When this photos were taken they were exactly 15 days. They grow steadily and have all increased their weight by 2-300 percent. The boys are reaching the kilo! All walk pretty well and have their eyes opened - also the brown boy, he was just very sleepy!

Just a cute photo of the puppies drinking. Yatzie is laying down trying to get some rest while "at work". Yatzie only has 9 functioning nippples so there is always one litttle puppy "over". But then it is nice to just lay cosy by mama's head. I try to manage the drinking so that it is not always the same one not making it to a nipples in time. Then I steal a nipple from one of the cheeky boys and let the smaller girls drink in his place! But most of the time it works ut by itself cause when one puppy has drunk enough he dozes off and there is a place free!

Yatzie's puppies are getting more and more stable on their legs. Some of them are able to walk a whole puppy box length without falling down! In this video Yatzie fed them recently and is resting but Moët came by to have a look at the angels, so they smelled her and thought it was mama. They are looking around for her and peeping.

The puppies having their breakfast milk this morning. It is busy around the milk tank! They are today 2 weeks old and most eyes are just opened!

The first 10 days of the puppies' life Yatzie allowed Moët to enter into the box when she was there. Lately she does not allow it any longer. She growls towards Moët who immediately understands and respects her mother's signal and walks away. But the puppies fascinates her. And when Yatzie is not around Moët sneeks in to the puppy box. She sniffs every puppy and she moves them around with her nose. I always oversee her because she does not have the same soft hand with them as Yatzie and I am not sure she totally understands what these funny little beings are. But I still want her to be able to get to know them so that she can create a good relationship with them as a big sister once they grow a little older. She is still a little bit afraid of the puppies and if they start crawling around too much she quickly jumps out of the box!

The puppies are 12 days old and are starting to stagger around on their little legs. In this film Yatzie is standing up in the puppy box  for a moment to clean them. The puppies, who had just been laying down drinking, are eagerly moving around to look for their lost nipple. as you can see we have added a new material to the puppy box. It is called "vetbed". It is a perfect material for this period of the puppies' life when they start drinking and peeing more, since the top layer stays dry. It is also easier for the puppies to practise walking on this material than on the more slippery artificial leather that they layed on before.

This morning the first eye of the light blue boy had opened. An hour later the second. The period when the eyes start to open is magic. These little creatures get a  more distinct personality then. The first days they see things blur. What is also interesting to know is that all puppies have blue eyes in the beginning.

Here the sweeet angels 1 week old ( 9 days exactly). You can see a big difference from the photos made day 1 in the way their eyes look. They are slowly opening up. Some of the puppies have already doubled their weight.

Nose to nose - Moët and our brown boy. You have got a lot of growing to do little one to match up with your half sister!

A bitch has a busy schedule and must multi-task. While feeding the puppies she is also constantly licking them to take care of both A and B. This licking keeps them clean but also stimulates the function of the puppies' organs. Often you hear a sweet little sound from the puppy while being so intimately taken care of by the mother. Yatzie is also constantly licking the puppy box clean and dry.

The puppies are exercising! Some of them already start taking small steps on their legs. Here is the brown male doing his morning push-ups to become the strongest of them all and reach the one and only goal these little puppies have at this time of thier life: to get to the best nipple and hang on there!

The puppies are just irresistible! Margot loves to sit with them and once in a while they get their first kiss! We hope that later on they will get hundreds of them in their long life in their new loving families!

Yatzie is resting her head while feeding the very last drops of milk to the last puppies. Only two are still drinking, the others are already sleeping in the corner. Yatzie is doing very well, spending a lot of time with the pups still. She comes along for a walk nowadays but not for long. After a few minutes she wants to go back home to make sure all is fine with her angels.

While Yatzie serves the barbet world carrying and bringing up her 10 angels we serve her with attention, love, water and the best food we can think of. Yatzie eats fresh meat from Carnibest, that contains all that the bitch needs to produce good milk for the puppies. All puppies are eating and growing well. Here Margot is taking care of feeding Yatzie.  

Today Yatzie had a nice and necessary wash. After the wash we cleaned the puppy box and while doing that we placed all the puppies in a small cane basket. When Yatzie saw her Angels in there she stepped in herself. So there they were all together in the little basket, The puppies started drinking and it was just the cutest sight in the world! So I made a lot of photos!

Yatzie placed all her Angels neatly in a square pattern in the hook of the puppy box so she could keep a good eye on them!

Here they are the little angel puppies one by one, 1 day old. They are presented in the order they were born. Hold the cursor over the photo and the collar colour and gender will show. Enlarge by clicking.

Moët still finds the puppies peculiar beings. But she is getting more brave and checks them out a little longer now. In this film Yatzie has just left the puppy box and Moët goes in there to sniff all of the little living things in there. But as soon as they start to peep Yatzie comes running back! I have now added a heated pad in the puppy box covered with a thick pillow case. The temperature in the box is important. Puppies need a higher than normal temperature the first weeks. At the same time Yatzie suffers from too much heat so I try to balance these two "demands".

Yatzie is exhausted after the delivery and is lying down feeding her 1 day old puppies.

The puppies are all doing very well, drinking well and sleeping much. Yatzie unfortunately got a uterus infection the day after the delivery. She had high fever and pain, loosing blood. She did not want to eat, but she always drank well. We immediately had her put on antibiotics and it has helped her very much. All through her pain and sickness she has been caring for her babies like the mother angel she is. She does not leave the puppies. When she has been out to pee (in our garden, 2 meters from the door), she rushes up the stairs like a rocket, back to her little ones. Soon I will publish individual photos of the puppies and announce their sweet angel names.

Yatzie is sitting in the puppy box feeding her 10 puppies. They are not yet one day old. Moët finds these ltittle creatures peculiar. She is a bit anxious but her curiosity takes over. Yatzie allows her to come into the puppy box, but she still did not spend much time there, just sniffing and wondering what are those funny peeping things that came down from heaven?

Yatzie scored 10 again! Her litter will be named after angels – what could be more suitable for these adorable, sweet puppies that bring so much joy to the world! The litter is exceptionally balanced with 5 males (1 brown, 4 black) and 5 females (1 brown, 4 black). They are all doing very well, drinking well and being taken care of by their proud mother. Yatzie is exhausted but fine. She did an amazing job. You are the star of these angels darling Yatzie!

Yatzie is panting hard, nesting in the puppy box and waiting to see the sweet faces of her little ones!

It is starting! Yatzie's temperature has dropped by almost one degree. It is a sign that the body is preparing for delivery. It can now take up to 48 hours until the puppies are born.
I knew already last night that something was happening. In the night Yatzie stood by the stairs saying: Come on, we have to go upstairs to the puppy box mama! I followed her and she went to lie down in the box, digging, sighing. Yatzie does not want to eat very much, so now I feed her delicious egg yokes and sausages while she is laying on the couch. It is a normal reaction not to want to eat, since it is better that the bitch's stomach is not full during delivery. But she still neeeds some energy to do her work!

Magot is busy making a lot of collars for the puppies. She uses woolen thread in many different colours and makes each colour in three sizes, so that we can change the collar as the puppies grow.  
The pups are so lively.  You can even see them move when you watch Yatzie's belly. I shaved her belly to make it easier for the pups to drink and avoid any risk of entanglement. I am also smearing her nipples with a soft cream to make them in a good condition for the coming trials!

The puppy box has become so cosy with its soft blankets and woolen blanket ceilling that both Yatzie and Moët like to lie in it! Yatzie sometimes nests in there, digging around in the blankets. I am since the beginning of this week monitoring her temperature twice daily to notice any changes. 24-48 hours before the delivery starts the temperature will decrease by one grade.

This morning 7 puppies were born at Barbedoux kennel in Holland. The proud mother is Babouche (Barbedoux Carrera Classique) who is a half-sister to Yatzie! They have the same father: Alias de l'Ile Romande! Welcome sweet little barbets and congratulations!

When you see and feel Yatzie's large belly, knowing it is still 7 days to go, you ask yourself: Can pregnant bitches explode ;-) ? The puppies have already begun to position themselves for birth, that process starts around day 54. Yatzie's belly is jam-packed and she does not always want to eat. There is very little room for the food, so she gets small amounts throughout the day and we take her out often. Yatzie is daily busy with shedding hair on her belly, even though I have shaved her quite short. This is what a bitch does to prepare for their puppies to be able to drink easily. There is plenty of milk already.

Tessa is one of the owners of the expected puppies and came with her large family to see the very pregnant Yatzie! Yatzie enjoys all the attention and is very patient with the small children, who were throwing balls for her, hugging her all over, giving her sweets and kisses! Jip also picked a flower for her that we put in her wavy hair!

This weekend saw a lot of  preparations for the arrival of the puppies. I made the puppy box already for Yatzie's previous litter, from an old book shelf. It worked out very well. This year I decided to add a few things to the box. First of all I made a mattress from the filling of an old couch from the neighbours. I cut out the foam in the correct measurementd and ordered a perfectly fitting matress cover from Internet, see www.mijneigenkussen.nl. I choose fake leather, easy to wipe off. I also ordered an extra cover, with elastics, that I can use later on for Yatzie just to sleep on. It will be a nice and soft mattress.
At the entrance of the box I attached thin wood skirtings left over in out shed, on both sides of the opening in order to be able to build up the height of the opening as the puppies grow. I had wood from the same bookshelf cut out at a caarpenter shop in 5 and 10 cms height. Finally I added wood poles on both sides to hang a blanket on as a ceiling. Yatzie loves to sleep under stairs and tables, and I think she will find this cosy. It also helps prevent from draft. The floor I covered with the linoleum carpet I bought last time, just had to recut it a little. So we are all set to receive the little ones!

It was a sunny morning and I took the dogs to the waters by Vianen. We all love it there. It is an open area so ine can reallyt enjoy the sun, the dog sniff after rabbits and swim in the waters. Yatzie also runs now and then, but she is more quiet than normal of course.