Toys and Puppies

Raising puppies can sometimes be very humorous. Each canine mom has their own opinions about what is allowed in with their puppies and what is not. I have a digital thermometer that has two units, one that goes into the whelping box to read the temperature and the other unit I carry with me so that I can see what the temperature is wherever I am in the house. My red girl, Mandy, who is now retired was so funny about that thermometer. My alarm would go off on the unit I was carrying and I would rush to the whelping box, only to find that Mandy had removed the thermometer from the box and placed it as far away from her puppies as she could. She considered that thermometer a huge threat and I was never able to use it as she wouldn't allow it to remain in the box for more than a few minutes. I tried to talk to her and explain that it really was not a threat, but she was stubborn and not at all sure I was telling the truth. Mandy also would remove all squeaking toys from the proximity of her puppies. I am not sure if she considered a squeaker the sign that the toy was still alive?? She was quite happy to remove the squeaker (and the stuffing) while away from her puppies and then happily trot back to the whelping box to give the newly killed toy back to her babies.

The reason I bring this up is that I have two litters right now and each mom is completely different in what they feel is appropriate to have near their puppies. Bella is quite the minimalist (maybe she doesn't want her puppies to be spoiled?) and removes all toys of all kinds from her puppies' pen. She just picks them up and drops them over the side of the x-pen until she has emptied the puppies' area of any and every toy. On the other hand, she will carry to them anything and everything she thinks is edible and leave it for them to enjoy. Anything I feed her is fair game and she always tries to save a bit to carry in to the puppies.

Sophie spends her free time finding the very best toys in the house and carrying them to her puppies. Her whelping box was always filled with more stuffed animals than there were puppies! If this spoils a puppy, I am sure hers are doomed. Each new toy that enters our house finds it's way in to her box sooner or later. Sophie has not yet tried to share anything edible with her puppies... those things quickly find their way in to Sophie's stomach.