In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Muse gave birth to a litter of five boys.  This was the largest litter we have had since 2004.  All of the babies are over a pound already and doing well (they like to eat like Grandma Maya.)  Muse is being a great mom and we are having a lot of fun enjoying puppy snuggles.

Right now the puppies are set up in a spare bedroom where they were born.  This allows Muse to have a little privacy from the rest of the pack but still makes it easy for us to monitor them without inconveniencing the dogs who normally sleep in the bedroom with us.  When the puppies get a little older and are more aware of their surroundings we will move them down to the kitchen so they can be exposed to more household noises and stimulation.

Since things are going well with the litter, Muse is doing most of the work at this point.  We are enjoying handling the puppies often and are checking weights daily.  Beginning on day 3, we have been doing Early Neurological Stimulation with each puppy, as well as introducing a new scent to them daily, as described at www.avidog.com.  So far the boys have experienced unwashed angora rabbit fiber, lavender, and leather.  The hope is that this type of exposure will improve their scenting ability later in life.

Here’s a photo of the puppy pile from this morning: