More Q & A

Brie asks:

Their noses gradually darken? Is that what I'm seeing?

Yes, most sammies (and I'm guessing all breeds with dark points?) are born with pink skin all over. As they get older their noses, eye rims and lip rims will darken. Many sammies also get black spots on their tummies and their paw pads turn black as well. Usually noses and eye rims are completely dark by 8-10 weeks, lip rims may take longer, in fact, I have one dog who didn't complety fill in until he was 4 years old!

Occasionally they are born with a little pigment, usually seen as a gray shading. Breeders like to brag how quickly their puppies get pigment, but in the end it really doesn't matter how fast it comes in.

Lisa said:

They are growing so fast!

I'm guessing the first one will hit two pounds tomorrow! And maybe even a couple of them will. The youngest I've ever had a puppy hit two pounds was 6 days (that was Babe) but given how big these guys were when they were born, similar to Raven's litter, 10 days seems to be 2 Pound Day.

Eyes may start to open in the next few days... I've occasionally had a puppy open its eyes as young as 10 or 11 days but more typically it's about 14 or 15 days. I'm betting on Red to be the first!

Now walking is a different story... I've had puppies walk as early as 6 days and as late as 21! I swear I saw either Blue or Purple up on his feet actually walking at one point today. But all my efforsts to catch him at it again have been in vain. But I'm betting tomorrow I'll have a couple entries in the Progress Chart!