One of the unique aspects of this litter of Sugar’s is that another volunteer and talented videographer with many credits to his name on a variety of higher profile projects and shows is planning to do a documentary on Sugar and this litter; he will follow their progress through all of the stages of development including puppy raisers, fosters, and the prison program or wherever they may go all the way through to final training and placement with a client at graduation!  He has been taping from the day Sugar got pregnant and he was at the vet for the ultrasound to confirm her pregnancy, the x-rays, at the delivery for the c-section and has made a number of trips to our house to chronicle the journey from puppy to placement!  We are honored and humbled to be even a small part of that journey and to have the privilege to watch the progress of the documentary and see where it takes him!

The daily routine is setting in nicely now-bio sensor training, nail trims and filing so that they don’t scratch up Sugar’s stomach or create issues with infection, tracking their weights, and waiting for the next stages of their development.  As I was filing their nails, I snickered at the fact that they have already had more manicures in one week than I have had in my whole lifetime!  They have a very special purpose to fulfill, and their care and treatment along the way is of utmost importance to everyone who comes in contact with them!

Their ear canals have opened because they now have startle reactions to noises in the vicinity of their box; their eyes should be opening this next week and Orange already seems like his right eye is thinking that he wants to see the world; and they should be able to support their weight on all fours in this upcoming week as well.

I actually got two individual chunks of 3 hours each of sleep last night which is a first in 8 days! I’ve become an expert at 10-15 minute cat naps over this past week during the nighttime hours and I’ve been a little surprised at how little sleep you can really function on 🙂 It’s not hard to go without sleep when you look into the whelping box and see these incredible creatures just learning about life!  I should be a test subject in a study about the positive effects on humans when surrounded by a newborn litter of pups-a calm, peaceful feeling even though things haven’t been perfect. Maybe that’s a thesis paper for a college student in the future!