With the nursery prepared, a tiny puppy enters
the world.
She’s called Molly
and she could fit in the palm of your hand.
Her eyes and ears are sealed shut
so she can’t see or hear a thing.
She can’t get to her feet
and she can’t even stay warm on her own.
She has one amazing survival tool.
Sensors in all the noise
can pick up heat from mom’s tummy,
and she follows this trail
to find a warm spot to snuggle up to.
Before long,
Molly is joined by five more siblings
and she’s found a way
to the most important meal of her little life.
She needs to get her fill of this nutrient
rich milk within the first few hours so she can go off big and strong.
The first week of life is the
riskiest time for all puppies
to survive.
Molly and her brothers and sisters need to gain weight every single day.
Never stray far from the warmth of Mom
four to help.
Hours later,
something unexpected.
This late arrival is the runt of the litter.
And after this much time in the womb,
he may not be alive.
With every passing second, Mom
anxiously licks her newborn.
But it’s up to this pup
to take his first breath.
Come on up, fella.
You can make it.
It is alive
and is given the name Lucky.
But tiny pups like him
often don’t make it past the first week of life.
We’ll follow him over the next critical days and weeks
to see if he can beat the odds
and show the world what he’s made of.
And not every pup starts out so tiny.
This is bigger on.
He’s two weeks old, older in order to run nearly twice
the size.
Big Ryan, like all puppies at this early age,
sleeps for about 20 hours a day.
While we can’t see it
behind us, sleepy snores.
Our magical transformation is underway and
it’s during nap time
that Big Ron’s brain keeps developing
the day.
Every sleepy twitch is a signal that his muscles are going to.
Before long lap time is interrupted.
These kisses are Mommy’s way of cleaning
and bonding with her new babies.
Big Ron like old pups.
A tiny, sensitive ears in his belly,
which makes this feel sweet.
A ten days old, Big Ron can open his eyes.
His vision is blurry, but
soon he sets his sights on what looks like lunch.
Big Ron pushes on his mum’s tummy to release a generous helping
of full fat milk,
and his technique is flawless.
Big Ron and these hungry
lads will eat every 2 hours.
Come on.
They’ll grow more than twice their size in barely a month.
