WEEK 5 OF THE LAB NURSERY DIARIES We hope that sharing some of our experiences with this litter will be fun for the new owners to read as well as informative to those thinking of purchasing a Lab puppy in the future or possibly breeding their Labrador Retriever. WEEK #5 The Puppies Personalities Are Developing. 3/4/05 Happy Four Week/1 Month old Birthday to the puppies! What happens during Week 5 with the litter: Puppies put anything and everything in their mouths. Puppies become more interested in toys. Puppies bark/cry when they see people or other dogs outside the whelping box. Puppies play with each other and their mother more. Puppies continue to increase in weight rapidly. By end of week 5, puppies will be eating solids 3 times per day and nursing less. 3/5/05 It's amazing how many canine helpers we have in the whelping box every day and Ali now permits them to visit. We were able to photograph two of today's helpers, Ali's daughter Jazz from her first litter 2 years ago (sitting in photo) and Lily (our pug, who had her own litter last year). It's hard to see in the photo but there is also a black puppy curled up against Lily's rear. The two 1 year old pug sisters are also frequent visitors and the puppies think they are great fun. 3/6/05 FIRST OUTING!! Who would have thought we would be lucky enough to have it warm enough to take the pups outside in early March but a day in the upper 50s has given us that chance. The pups enjoyed some fresh air and sun with their mom for almost 2 hours before the sun left the deck and we had to bring them in. Being outside is soooo tiring. Time for a nap with mom! The photos were so cute I couldn't decide which one to use! 3/8/05 The puppies are now getting puppy food (soaked first in warm water to soften it up) 2 times a day. Ali also nurses them several times a day. We are feeding her 3 times per day so she keeps her weight up while nursing them so often. We will let her decide when to wean them totally. She will likely just cut back more and more on the times she nurses them and gradually wean them although some mothers wean them more abruptly, especially since they now have teeth. 3/10/05 Here are some photos of the black puppies. They are so cute, just hard to photograph inside. This is the black girl. More "Labrador Nursery Diary" Pages No text or images may be used without permission.