Madds/Lucille Litter 1: Week 5 Summary for 03/16/2026

Coswald March 16, 2026

Week 5 Summary for 03/16/2026

All weights are in pounds.

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 five at well over six pounds. His female counterpart in the overall is now Ms. Sapphire who has taken the female lead role back from Ms. Pearl. The two girls continue to be essentially tied for 2nd place in the overall, week after week. It will be interesting to see if one ever wins the weight war between the two.

Mr. Ruby was the winner for the week at 24.5% gain, taking the lead back from Mr. Emerald. As you can see in the chart, in the percentage gain column, it’s in a very narrow range between all the pups this week.

This litter is now way larger than the average (5.91pounds vs 5.41 pounds). This is being powered largely by Mr. Onyx. However that might be, the average of the other four without Mr. Onyx being included is 5.78 pounds versus the other litter average of 5.41 pounds. The smallest puppy is still Mr. Emerald at 5.60 pounds which is way above the 5.41 pounds of other litters.

Our average Laekenois litter gains 19.4% during the fifth week. This litter gained 22.0% in it’s fifth week. It’s the first time in a few weeks that this litter has that prize. It’s a good thing despite the mathematical nuance that it is when you start from a bigger number. All we are looking for is a degree of progress for each puppy in the litter.

Mama is still doing well. She is not enough anymore. She is feeding them only a few times a day now and it’s just for a few minutes. They drain her of her resources very quickly. Of course, we leave it up to her to decide to go be with the pups. She watches over them all day long. This will continue until she is done and no longer wants to see them. There’s no way to know for sure, but we are probably supplying half of their nutrition. Their teeth are coming in and I am sure that’s part of her desires to not be with them so much.

Puppy Development

In week 5, we believe they are experiencing their first fear period of the Laekenois breed. I will put a post together to describe the Laekenois fear periods. They are recovering as expected from stimuli. On 2nd exposure, there is typically no response or an in instant recovery.

They have had their first crate exposure this week with more of that work to come. They are being separated at times from each other (2 here, and 3 over there). We are working them towards having some solitude which should start tonight or tomorrow.

They have had exposure to two new types of protein in the form of raw beef and raw lamb. With lamb, the bone was included. You should have seen the fresh raw cow’s milk in the prior post. They are getting that milk three times per day now.

The litter has developed a pecking order (just a snapshot in time for now that could change). It is as follows:

• Mr. Emerald
• Mr. Ruby
• Ms. Sapphire
• Mr. Onyx
• Ms. Pearl

Mr. Emerald and Mr. Ruby will likely need jobs that require mental and physical stimulation and are heading towards being pups for the professional or serious hobbyist. None of the puppies demonstrate shyness and all have good food drive. All will be happy to work for their future owners. The first two are just highly driven relative to most other Laekens. They are Belgians afterall.

The pups have had very even growth with their skeletal structure. They are very symmetric and proportionate. It’s a harmonious growth pattern. Most of the pups have had their ears up and down this week with the exception of Mr. Ruby who has his ears up seemingly forever. Their bites are continuing to develop correctly. In Week 4, we introduced them, by sight, to other dogs. This week, there was some minor and brief interaction with adolescent and adult female family.

Their first car ride is coming up this week. We expect it to be noisy. As their motor skills have improved with age, we are going to introduce some puppy agility items. Crate acceptance is a high priority item. We will likely introduce them to some adolescent and adult males in week 7.

That’s the update for this week. If you have any questions, let us know. Feel free to use the Contact Page or give us a text/call for comments or questions.

Have a good week and God bless.

Madds/Lucille Litter 1: First Bowl of Milk on 03/11/2026

Coswald March 11, 2026

First feeding not from Mama. It’s fresh RAW cow’s milk.

Madds/Lucille Litter 1: Week 4 Summary for 03/09/2026

Coswald March 9, 2026

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 ().

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.