Rat Race Rat Terriers

Sammie’s and Colt’s puppies turned a week old today. All of them are thriving and gaining weight, with two hitting 1 pound even this evening. The little guy is still staying small, at 9.7 ounces today, but he is active and not getting pushed around by his siblings. I am handling them a little on a daily basis, mostly with early neurological stimulation. As they grow a bit older and their eyes and ears open, I will be exposing them to different surfaces and whatever else I can find to help broaden their minds. I will also be taking them away from their siblings for a few minutes and working them individually in a different room so they become accustomed to not always being with their littermates.

The comments in their descriptions describe how they react when I do the early neurological stimulation on them. Basically this is placing the puppy in a head down position, head up position, then on their backs. I do each for a count of 5. I also handle their feet and toes. Here is more information written by Dr. Carmen Battaglia: http://breedingbetterdogs.com/pdfFiles/articles/early_neurological_stimulation_en.pdf. This process was begun by the U.S. Military back in the 1970s to develop dogs better able to handle the stress of their jobs. Figured it can’t hurt to use on Ratties!

Tails have been docked except for Hannah’s tail.

Here is a video of the puppies that I took today.

FEMALE #1 – HANNAH

Weight 15.3 ounces

When worked with, this little girl is pretty fidgety, but seems to like me rubbing her chest while she is on her back and cuddled against me. Then she settles down and is quiet. Away from her siblings today, she explored the fake sheepskin material I had them on, but got fussy after a few minutes. She quieted down after I started petting and rubbing her back.

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FEMALE #2

Weight – 1 lb. even

When worked with, she started out pretty quiet, although a little fussy on her back. She has been overall quiet, but getting a bit more fidgety and fussy when I have her head down today. She also likes chest rubs and settles down quickly.

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MALE #1

Weight 9.7 ounces

This little guy has mostly been quiet when I am working with him. He did flip back over when I put him on his back (cuddled against me), but he settles down quickly and enjoys chest rubs. He is a bit wiggly, but overall quiet.

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MALE #2

Weight 13.2

This puppy is pretty calm when I handle him so far. Like most of the pups, he’s not too crazy about having his head down, but he settles down quickly enough when he’s in the upright position and likes chest rubs. He was relaxed enough to like my finger while on his back.

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MALE #3 – THOR

Weight – 1 lb. even

This fellow is growing quite well. I imagine he will be built similar to his sire. When I am working with him, he seems to be pretty quiet, without fussing too much. At one time, he actually was relaxed enough to like his toes.

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MALE #4

Weight 13.6

This interesting puppy has been very calm so far when handled. He has been quiet, with very minimal fussing when put through the very short stress tests of the early neurological stimulation training. Even yawning at one point.

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