As of tomorrow he will only be getting breakfast and dinner (I feed the animals at 6am and 6pm) as the pups are almost finished growing by the time they're 6 months old so they no longer need quite as much food as they do initially (he's still on the Nutriphase Puppy).
He weighed in at 26kg today which is a 400g gain on last week, and 2kg smaller than Volt was at the same age. Its so interesting to be able to compare their growth and I plan to continue doing so with any pups we raise in future.
he loves his "crate" but he's outgrown it completely!
His training is going well. When he gets his food now he hardly looks at his bowl at all, he sits and looks at me until I say "okay" before he starts eating. And he's eating slower now too, though I am still filling his food dish with water.This week past Volt was at SAGA's kennels for three days so Riddick was very bored without him. We played lots of ball and took walks but he wasn't getting the same amount of exercise as he does when he and Volt have their running-chasing-wrestling games.
asleep on his back on the cool floor
I had a good giggle this week, Riddick has started barking back at the dogs on TV shows!
he always takes over my seat!
This morning Riddick had his first "drown proofing" session. Because our swimming pool is not covered or fenced it is dangerous for puppies, and for puppies who are mostly blind it is doubly dangerous. I know he knows where the pool is as he and Volt play around the pool when they're outside and as potent as his nose is I know he can smell it- but I need to be sure that, like Volt, he will be able to get out should he fall in accidentally. What "drown proofing" entails is pushing the pup into the pool- on lead- and then letting them swim whilst you use the lead to guide them to the steps. He swam beautifully and got out on the steps with no problem. He got out and was quite excited about being completely drenched, shaking himself and wagging his tail furiously when Volt came to investigate. And then the rub down with a towel afterwards is always nice for the puppy.
doing his "pound puppy" impression
And then today we were doing a handling session and when I checked his teeth and gums I found a small wart under his top lip on the right hand side. In dogs, a viral papilloma can be contagious between dogs if there is broken skin and I don't want Volt to now get warts from Riddick again, especially with how rough they like to play. Puppies are especially prone to the viral warts as they are still building their immune systems. I'm going to give the vet a call tomorrow and ask them what they think we should do.
And last but not least, here is a little video I made so you can see how Riddick and I play "fetch" (its a cellphone video)!
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