Week 4 Summary for 03/09/2026
All weights are now in pounds as the pups have grown in to the need for us to use a larger scale with a larger unit of measure. Last week’s weight in ounces is still posted in the table below in parens ().
| Puppy | Week 3 (03/02/2026) | Week 4 (03/09/2026) | % Change |
| 1 – Mr. Ruby | 3.66 (58.63) | 4.72 | 28.7% |
| 2 – Mr. Emerald | 3.51 (56.23) | 4.59 | 30.5% |
| 3 – Ms. Sapphire | 3.78 (60.43) | 4.81 | 27.5% |
| 4 – Mr. Onyx | 4.19 (67.06) | 5.25 | 25.2% |
| 5 – Ms. Pearl | 3.75 (60.01) | 4.84 | 29.0% |
| Average (This Litter) | 3.78 (60.47) | 4.84 | 28.1% |
| Average (Other Litters) | 3.50 (55.96) | 4.53 | 29.5% |
Summary
Mr. Onyx continues to lead the way overall from Week 1 until today and is the still the largest puppy we have ever had in week four at well over five pounds. His female counterpart in the overall is Ms. Pearl who has taken the female lead role back from Ms. Sapphire. It’s close between the two and even closer than it was last week. The difference between the two could just be due to scale fluctuations and a few hours difference between time of measurement which is enough to have the top female position swap. The two girls are essentially tied for 2nd place in the overall.
Mr. Emerald leads the way with percentage gain for the week at 30.5% returning to that position after a one week hiatus. When you look at the puppies in the whelping box, he is no longer seen to be the obvious small puppy. He was once relatively easy to find because of his smaller stature. He now blends in with the rest of the group, size wise. He has had no extra supplementation from us nor has he had any alone time with Mama to feed. He’s done it on his own and good for him.
Our average Laekenois litter gains 29.5% during the fourth week. This litter gained 28.1% in it’s fourth week, which for the second week in a row, did not exceed prior litter averages on percentages.
Our average Laekenois litter has an average week 4 weight of 4.53 pounds while this litter is at 4.84 pounds which the gap in absolute terms is widening even though the percentage gain is shrinking.
Again this week, the smallest puppy, which is still at this time Mr. Emerald, is larger than the average of our other litters. This is not a case where Mr. Onyx is so large, that he has dragged an average litter weight up to being above average. Every puppy is above average. Mr. Emerald is the most responsive puppy during human interaction.
Mama is still doing well. Still to date, no supplementation for the puppies has been used. As of yesterday (Sunday the 8th), we have our first signs that we do have to begin supplementing for Lucille. That starts either later tonight or tomorrow. At this age, I suspect we can skip bottle feeding altogether but we probably will do some of that anyway, as it is enjoyable for us. We are doing a little bit more for Mama as the puppies’ needs grow. As of a few days ago, we started giving Mama lactated ringers on a daily basis so she can be at her best for the pups. It keeps her well hydrated and keeps her electrolytes up. Anecdotally, it does seem to help her with milk production. Mama spends probably more time in the whelping box playing with her pups than she does feeding them. If we leave a bone with her, she will take it to them. She loves them.
Puppy Development
The litter is ahead of schedule on most things and they are not behind on anything. Their milk teeth are coming in. All teeth appear to have erupted and we see a full set of teeth (which is not always the case with puppy teeth) and all the teeth are in the correct locations. The bites appear to be developing normally in to nice scissor bites. They have exhibited fear responses for the first time this week. They all are recovering as expected, although one does tend to be slower recovering than the rest on most stimuli which is slightly strange since that pup is the one that is least likely to have a response at all. On second exposure, they all are recovering almost immediately. They have been exposed to seeing other dogs for the first time besides Mama (no contact or shared floor space, just sight and sound from a safe distance away). They have had lot’s of exposure to different textures, noises, colorful moving sights, and visual and audio patterns. We have been putting various articles with human scent in to their space daily for them to acclimate to. They will follow new scents around. All puppies air scent and do recognize scents and find targets with their noses. Mr. Emerald and Ms. Pearl seem to have the most keen olfactories at this time. The pups were outside of the nursery for the first time during the week.
For this coming week, the big things are going to be that some crate exposure will begin this week as well as feeding by us. Mama will still continue to feed them however. One puppy has both ears up(Mr. Ruby), the rest have one ear up.
Highlights: They love their human family already. They clamour for attention when they hear us walk in to the room (tails wag, etc), this despite the fact we aren’t feeding them yet and they don’t have a food association to us yet. They like being handled and like human attention and affections.
Note: The weight of these pups is a concern in one regard. As good as this is for the pups, for those of you who mentioned you might use an airplane to come get your pup, they might be too big to travel with you by plane in week 12 and we might need to alter travel plans or move up their departure dates by a week or maybe two.
Kellie is in love with the litter.
Have a good week and God bless.