The last couple of days have been a bit wearing, because Pasha has been extremely fidgety and kept getting up and leaving the whelping box, sometimes before the pups had even finished feeding, and lying on the floor outside of it, and was not too hot on getting back in when the pups needed her again. It's not much fun getting up every two hours at night to make her get in and make sure she stays there long enough for them to get a decent meal inside them (and then being trodden on by a 3 1/2 stone poodle while trying to sleep, when she decides she wants to come out again). I'm not sure what the reason for it is, other than basic lack of mothering experience and perhaps stress. I trimmed the pups' claws a few days after they were born so they did not scratch her, and I do not think she is sore. She seems to be getting better now and managed to spend most of last night with them, and went in of her own volition to sort them out. I am not happy with some of the pups' more recent weight gain, but hopefully that should improve if Pasha continues to be more attentive.
The puppies have not started to open their eyes yet, but since they were born four days early, some delay is probably to be expected. The paler two pups seem to have more obvious expressions and muscular movement around their eyes, so perhaps they are thinking about it. They seem to be starting to look more like poodles rather than generic dogthings, although it may just be my imagination.
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