Cutting Nails 11 Days Old
Sunday, October 11, 2015 at 3:22PM 
It is a riot when you see the difference in pups in just 9 days. When they get older you will not see this great of a difference if anything at all. Take a look at Roxie's blog to see what I mean.
Today was cutting nails day. Why? Well they kept getting their nails caught in the blankets. That is a sure indicator that its overdue. At this stage normally you do them every 7 days. Next week he will be doing both litters. Here's the Cutting Nails Gallery.
I see a slit on one puppy so maybe in a couple of days we shall see eyes. Wouldn't that be great?
At this point they sleep an awful lot. It isn't till their eyes and ears open that they appear exciting though I find each stage exciting.
Here are last night and today's videos.
Just like us, dogs dream. They go through three sleep stages: NREM, non-rapid eye movement; REM, rapid eye movement; and SWS, short-wave sleep. It is in the SWS stage that a dog breathes heavily while he is sleeping. Animal experts theorize that dogs dream during the REM stage and act on their dreams by twitching or moving all four paws as if they were chasing a rabbit.
Dogs who sleep all curled up must keep their muscles tensed and are therefore less relaxed than dogs who stretch out when they sleep and are less likely to twitch in their sleep. Did you know their sleep movement helps with the development of their nerves and muscles?
It's important to get them used to a variety of textures even when their eyes are closed. It gives them a sense of familiarity that helps them build their coping skills with changes.
Reader Comments (4)
Darlah that is great information about moving in their sleep. It has made things clearer for me. Rusty twitches sometimes and other times he breaths very heavy. Once or twice I was very concerned. Now I understand much better. Thank you as always. I should have asked you long ago. I loved watching Nathan clipping nails. I am still nervous. Rusty has black nails.
Actually it just happened to Rusty. Trembling paws and really heavy breathing. Maybe he is dreaming about a home run. We are watching the baseball game Lots of action in our family room and at the game.
Glad it helped. I try to give useful info ever now and then.
Patches and a lot of my other dogs also bark in their sleep, Ronnie, Their legs twitch away and move like they are running but they also have little barks, they are after something!!!!! We always say "get it, get it" quite quietly to let them know we are there just in case it's a nightmare (what we do for our dogs, huh?). But, you know they deserve every single thing we do for them.
I am amazed that Nathan can see those little nails to clip them. Ronnie again, it is always hard to clip the black ones. I take off just a little bit of the black ones, let the quick withdraw, then do it again sooner than the white ones (Patches has some white where it is easy to see the quick and some black). It helps.