#RiddickPup Is Fourteen Weeks Old

This morning on the vet's scale he weighed 11.6kg which is a 600g gain since last week. 
As of today he's eating 140g of Nutriphase puppy food three times a day, and I am still adding water to the bowl to slow him down when he eats. I have to giggle because he reacts to the word "hungry"! And because I have taught him that jumping up in excitement is not allowed, he now does this little run in a circle, sometimes running around Volt who is also sitting waiting for food!


I found out this week from the holder of Riddick's mother, Liberty, that Riddick was the first puppy born and until we named him was referred to as 'A1'.


This week coming Riddick is going back to the animal eye doctor to have his eyes looked at again. They want to see if there is any worsening since they first saw him as a tiny pup and they want to get a better look at him than they were able to get when he was so little.


Riddick really likes his box. Its the box we got for him to use as a crate whilst we did house training. He now asks to get in his box at night so we're going to find a bigger box for him to use in our bedroom.

Riddick is now quite comfortable climbing the stairs in our house and outside the kitchen door. He is used to them and climbs them in the dark too. He also has far more freedom in the house than Volt did as a little puppy as his "crate" is upstairs in my bedroom.

Snoozing on the couch...

Here are some photos of a handling session with Riddick. Because he's still learning I wait until he's drowsy and then I croon to him and praise him so that he associates his calm state of mind with my touch. I check his eyes, ears, gums, teeth and nose. I run my hands down his legs and check his paw pads, nails, tail and between his toes. I run my hands down his back, over his ribcage and over his tummy.
The handling serves several purposes. It makes it far easier for him to be handled by vets or groomers in future, it makes it easier for me to medicate him if I have to, and I can find lumps or injuries that may go unnoticed at a cursory glance.

On Sunday afternoon we visited my parents and spent the day fixing the irrigation system in their garden. My folk's 11 year old dog Cleo is usually not keen on puppies, but she took to Riddick and was very sweet to him. She doesn't play anymore as her hips giver her some trouble. Their other dog is a 3 year old foxy-cross named Toppy and whilst he loves to play with puppies he had a broken toe. Riddick was very good with both of them, being submissive and not jumping on the old girl. He's never spent so much time outdoors and he was very well behaved! Even with the little children he didn't jump up on them and by the time we drove home he was exhausted!