Susan took Biggles for his first check-up at the vet today while I stayed home and did my best to clean up Beanie after a rather muddy park visit.
Biggles got his first vaccination jag, which apparently he barely noticed thanks to some strategically placed treats. He was weighed and came in at a whopping 4.2 kilos – that’s pretty hefty considering he’s only seven and a half weeks old. By comparison, Beanie weighed about 3.6 kilos when we got her at just over eleven weeks old! He really is going to be a monster of a Beagle when he grows up.
He’s due to get his second round of vaccinations once he’s over ten weeks old, and shortly thereafter he’ll be able to take his first steps outside our house and garden. In the meantime he’s got the green light to meet other vaccinated dogs, and indeed he bumped into Beanie’s pal Sophie at the vets. Poor Sophie’s had a rough time since her spaying op. She had a reaction to her stitches and now faces another couple of weeks of enforced rest before she can return to her normal, very active life. Truly a nightmare for a Beagle!
Back at home we had some wonderful, peaceful moments like this:
We also had some not so peaceful moments, as you can see and especially hear in the video below.
Surprisingly it’s Beanie making all the racket this time. I think she was a little irked to find Biggles in her play area just outside our office. Biggles is a little rascal though – you can see him having a naughty nibble of Beanie’s ear just before the noise pollution really starts up!
Despite the occasional hiccup I think things are progressing well. The same can be said of Biggles’ house training. A lot of the time he’s actually going to the door to be let into the garden when nature calls – absolutely amazing given that he’s a male, a Beagle, and not even eight weeks old yet! Of course sometimes it goes very wrong. This morning Susan had the not so pleasurable experience of having some fresh puppy poo squelch between her toes when she didn’t quite get him to the garden quick enough after his breakfast.
[Note: depending on your connection, the above videos may not run smoothly until played for a second time]
They had all my beagles howling! The howl heard round the world! Biggles is so cute.
I jumped out my seat when my mum played the video. Now I need to find out who gives dogs computer lessons.
Hehe if you think it’s loud in the video, you should hear it “live”. My ears were actually ringing afterwards!
Biggles certainly is bit – but not too bid, just checked and Tara at 8 weeks was 4.1kg with Clara a bit lighter at 3.75kg – so I think a pretty healthy weight.
He’s not the slightest bit fat. I thought he looked fat in his photos, but when you feel him you realise that it’s big folds of loose skin. You can feel his ribs easily. The vets were all quite shocked to learn he’s only 7 weeks old! But they also thought he was in great shape so he’s definately healthy!
I’m not sure how heavy beanie was at the same age, but she looked like a little, perfectly proportioned dog. There was no loose skin and no big, oversized feet. At 12 weeks she was only 3.8kg.
So I’m assuming that the big feet and loose skin are indicators that a pup is genetically programmed to grow BIG!!!
I’ve got a video of Beanie and her litter mates at the same age. I’ll dig it out and post it up.
How heavy are clara and tara now?