She was really looking forward to them, and every day since then has been filled with excitement – no wonder, since this is the first litter born to Nadinka, and they are the first puppies of our dog Darázs. Our puppy raiser hosted us in her apartment in Zugló, where she is giving home to the mother dog and now the puppies.
A colorful sight greeted us, five puppies born in a bumblebee pattern: one black, one yellow and so on. This can lift your spirits if you’re feeling down. Nadinka now has the middle child in her arms and the youngest is yellow.
The now one–month-old pups are a little noisier than she expected.
They may have an opera singer’s vein in them — from the chirping of little crocodiles to the war cries of Sioux Indians, everything can be heard here day and night.
Lightning-fast changes
Nadinka raised Darázs with the noble goal of making her a guide dog, but life brought it about that – to Nadinka’s great joy – Darázs was included in our foundation’s breeding program. There has been a lot of excitement since the puppies arrived:
Something new has happened every other day since July 2nd, and just when it seems like that will be the daily routine, it turns out that the situation has changed again. Fortunately, Darázs is such a genius that her foster mother has gotten used to her. Darázs would certainly have a different opinion about this, but she gave birth to the litter faster, and she also knows exactly when their tummy hurts or they are fussy about something else. She lets the little ones calm down on their own and fall asleep nicely, meaning she doesn’t feed them when it’s not necessary.
While we were talking, Darázs was lying next to us and was spending her maternity leave.
Motherly tricks
The mother dog takes good care of them, while also presenting the puppies with many challenges. Not long after they were born, she fed them by lying down in a far corner so they would have to ‘crawl over’ to her, that is, start using their legs. Of course, by now they run, and in many cases they reach the teats from a standing position, propping themselves up like Romulus and Remus.
It was a beautiful experience when their eyes began to open and those tiny pupils first glimmered in the slits. A few days later, their ears opened as well. A bit short-sightedly, they started to follow whoever entered their room — that big moving dot — but only if the person moved slowly. After a while, they also heard when I pulled up the shutter in their room. Each of them looked up, trying to take in what kind of stimulus had arrived, then dropped their heads back down and went on sleeping.
— said Nadinka.
The puppies like to sleep piled on top of each other as well as separately, this way they regulate their temperature. The summer warmth was good for them, as they could comfortably sprawl around in their place.
When they’re fussier, they like to snuggle up together or curl up in Nadinka’s hands, but if they feel the need to stretch, they spread out flat like little pancakes.
The garden awaits them
They are already eating dry food, and over the next few weeks their little teeth will start to come in. With the help of Nadinka’s volunteer companions, the backyard has been made puppy-friendly so they can soon begin exploring the outside world.
They will be able to romp around in a very well-protected space that’s all theirs. I’m excited to see how they will react to the world outside.
Follow the posts about the puppies on our Facebook page — we’ll soon share the latest updates on our website as well. Here’s our article about the puppies’ birth.
