When Boo came back from Chicago, she went back to stay with her primary owners, Terry and Ian. Boo will come live with me for the last two weeks of her pregnancy and while raising her puppies.
If all goes well, puppies are due around 5 September.
Over the next day or so, I will transition Boo to a good quality puppy kibble so that her puppies get more calories. I will also start feeding Boo a late evening snack (more puppy kibble), slowly increasing the amount so that by the end of this week Boo will be getting 1/3 more than her usual amount of kibble.
I also started worming Boo with fenbendazole, which she will get over the course of three days. This will reduce the chances that parasitic worms will get passed to her puppies, which would make the puppies sick and possibly kill them.
Boo currently weighs 5.2 kilograms, up from 4.2 kilograms prior to being bred. Her belly has started to bulge, and will only get bigger over the next two weeks.
Today I decided to build Boo's whelping box in my bedroom next to my bed. Actually nursery box would be a more accurate term. I live too far out in a rural area; when Boo's time comes, we will move closer to where I can get quick veterinary help if needed. Here are some pictures of building the whelping box.
Because of all the dogs checking out the whelping box, I will wash the pad again before the puppies come.
Here are the x-ray pictures:
Using the x-ray, by comparing the size of the puppy skulls and the size of Boo's pelvic opening, the vets are also able to give a recommendation as to whether Boo needs a cesarean section (c-section) or if I should let her try to give birth to the puppies. Unfortunately the puppy skulls are almost the same size as Boo's pelvic opening, so the recommendation is that Boo should have a c-section. So this is what we will do.
My repro vets drew some blood to check Boo's progesterone level. A rising progesterone level tells us when a bitch ovulates; she then maintains a high progesterone level during a pregnancy; and when the progesterone levels falls low enough then labor starts ... and also tells us when to do a c-section. Until Boo has her puppies, I will be taking Boo every day to NC State to check her progesterone level.
My repro vets also checked Boo's puppies by ultrasound, counting the puppy heart rates and looking for movement in the puppy GI tracts. All looks good!
Boo and I then went to visit Boo's primary owner, Terry, who lives about a 30 minute drive from NC State. Almost as soon as we arrived, I got a call from NC State telling me that Boo's progesterone level had dropped significantly, and that today was "the day". So Boo and I hurried back to NC State and my repro vets took Boo in to prepare her for a c-section as soon as an operating room became free.
I then rushed home. I had not expected that today was "the day". I put clean bedding in the whelping box, turned on the whelping nest so that it would be warm when I returned with puppies, and reset the house thermometer so that the house would not be too cool. (Puppies need to be warm.) I then loaded all my other dogs into the car and we drove back to NC State. My petsitter was kind enough to meet me at NC State and she took my other dogs. My other dogs will stay with my petsitter for a few days, so that Boo and her puppies have a quiet house at first and so I can concentrate on them.
I then learned that Boo had delivered two boys and a girl by c-section, mother and puppies all doing well. Not long afterwards, they were brought out to me. Boo was awake and alert. And I got my first look at the puppies. There was a hot-water bottle underneath the towel to keep the puppies warm during the drive home.
We then drove home. Since I live between an hour and half to a two hour drive to NC State, I did a lot of driving today! But that last drive home was more relaxed. Mom and puppies were all healthy.
When we got home I got Boo and the puppies settled. I then weighed and measured the puppies. Here are their weights:
At first, Boo did not want to have anything to do with the puppies. I was worried that the puppies were getting cold (which can be death to newborn puppies), so I put my heating lamp on the puppies in addition to the heat from the whelping next. Periodically over the next several hours, I wrestled Boo to lay on her side and got the puppies to nurse for a minute. All the puppies seem to have a good suckle reflex. Finally this evening, Boo's maternal instincts seem to have kicked in and the puppies are now tucked up underneath her for warmth and to nurse. (The blood stains are from Boo. She will have a bloody discharge for weeks from her c-section that will slowly diminish.)
The one constant noise I heard during the night was Boo heavily panting. This was not because the room temperature was warm, but because - as I was able to confirm in the morning - Boo's body had been producing milk, the energy to do so produces heat which Boo was removing from her body. I do not think Boo slept all night. In the morning, when I checked Boo's belly it was warm, and there were pouches of milk around her teats.
Morning picture. And Boo with the puppies. In the morning, I weighed Boo and the puppies. It is not unusual for puppies to lose weight in the first 12 to 24 hours of life. The girl lost one gram, but both boys gained a couple of grams. At this stage we celebrate every single gram a puppy adds to its birth weight. I also took Boo's temperature, which was on the high end of normal.
As the morning went on, I became increasing worried about Boo. Instead of staying with her puppies as I would have expected, Boo kept leaving the puppies and wandering around. I would take Boo back to the puppies and get her settled with the puppies nursing. But five or ten minutes later, Boo again would leave the puppies. I finally took Boo's temperature again. It was 103.4 degrees - Boo had a fever.
I called the repro vet on call at NC State. She said I could wait a few hours to see if the fever went down, or I could bring Boo back to NC State to be checked out. I elected to make the trip to NC State. Fortunately the puppies had full bellies and did not fuss during the two-hour drive to NC State.
When we got to NC State, Boo's temperature was back in the normal range. The resident repro vet used an ultrasound to see if there was any evidence of an infection in Boo's uterus. There was some fluid in the uterus, but nothing to be concerned about. Given that Boo's temperature was back in the normal range, the vet did not think that doing a blood panel on Boo was needed. The most likely guess for Boo's temperature spike was that the pain medication Boo had been given during her c-section had worn off, and Boo was having a reaction to pain. I was given some pain pills (carprofen) for Boo for the next few days.
So that the puppies would have full bellies for the ride home, we let Boo nurse the puppies. Boo thought that my puppy box (with the hot water bottle underneath the towel) was a better spot and climbed into the box. So we put the puppies with Boo and let the puppies nurse. We had to take everyone out of the box while we refilled the hot water bottle with hot watter. The puppies had nice full bellies.
I was glad that I made the trip to NC State to have Boo checked out. Thank goodness it was not anything more serious. One of the aspects of being a breeder is to worry.
When we got home Boo nursed the puppies, and again I had nice fat puppies. I gave Boo one of her pain pills, and Boo has spent the rest of the day with the puppies nursing and resting tucked up underneath her. Boo has not left the whelping box, leaving it up to her butler (me) to bring her food and water.
At the evening weighing, in spite of the trip to NC State, the girl had gained one gram over her birth weight, and both boys had added a few more grams. And Boo's temperature was nicely down in the normal range.
Morning picture. Note the discharge from Boo. I spent a bit of time this morning cleaning Boo's private parts. This is all normal.
Everyone's weight was up at their morning weigh-in. Green has lapped his brother in their weight race.
It was a nice quiet day today ... just as I like it. I hardly heard or saw the puppies, as they were tucked up underneath mom. Another picture of the puppies underneath mom.
Even though it was quiet, it does not stop me from worrying. Every time I checked the whelping box (at least every half-hour), if I saw the girl, I moved her so that she would have access to the rear teats (which usually have the most milk). Grow little girl, grow!
On rare occasions, Boo would go outside to potty and I would get a look at the puppies. But as soon as Boo hears one of the puppies squeak, she runs back to the whelping box.
Today I changed the collars that NC State gave the puppies. I prefer to use yarn. So the girl got a pink collar, Green of course got a green collar, and his brother got a blue collar. This is how I will refer to them until I name them: Pink, Green, and Blue. Boo was very worried about the puppies as I put them on my bed and changed their collars.
At the evening weigh-in, Pink joined her brothers in the 100-gram club. But her brothers are both 30 grams ahead of her. And worryingly, Boo's temperature is again at the high end of normal.
All was well today, except that Boo refused to eat anything this morning. Sigh. Always something to worry about! Boo has to take her pain pill (carprofen) with food. And I needed to get some worming medicine (fenbendazole) into her. Later in the morning I resorted to mixing both with tuna fish, which Boo finally ate. Boo should eat some cottage cheese to keep her calcium level up, but she would not touch it today. Skipping one day will not hurt her, especially while the puppies are so young and not drinking much milk.
Boo used the ramp and climbed up onto my bed today. So Boo's c-section incision must not be bothering her too much. Boo left the puppies and wandered my house in the morning which, with her not eating, added to my worry. But I think it was more that Boo had fed the puppies and she was a little bored with being in the whelping box. She did the same thing as I was writing this.
With Boo out of the whelping box, I was able to get some pictures of the puppies:
Boo spent the afternoon in the whelping box sleeping with the puppies. I was happy to see Boo sleeping, as I do not think she slept much last night. Blue using Mommy's leg as a pillow. Note that the Blue's nails (really claws) are clear. They will soon darken. You can already see Pink's nails are getting dark.
At the evening weigh-in, Green had a dramatic weight gain, pulling further ahead of his brother. Pink had a steady weight gain. Every time I check the whelping box, if Pink is not nursing I try to shove her onto a rear teat.
Boo guarding her puppies. Note that the puppies are in the heated whelping nest.
Pink this morning finally reached the birth weight of the boys. Every time I see that Pink is not nursing I continue to put her near a nipple.
I was able to get Boo to eat some plain yogurt this morning and evening. So she got some calcium. But Boo continues to refuse to eat cottage cheese. And pretty much anything else that I put in front of her. I am not too worried about her lack of appetite. I have seen that before in new mothers, and know that Boo's appetite will improve. But I need to get calcium into her.
When Boo leaves the whelping box, the puppies migrate to the whelping nest where it is warm. It is interesting how puppies crawl. It is sort of like seals dragging their bodies over the ice. It actually is rather efficient. I have watched a puppy quickly crawl halfway across the whelping box to get to mom.
Pink. This evening Pink's weight is only up a few grams over her morning weight. Pink now weighs approximately 50 grams less than her brothers.
The big news of the day is that I brought my other dogs home from my petsitter. Boo seemed overjoyed to see everyone, running and playing with my other dogs. Boo would occasionally check on her puppies, but then come back out to be with everyone else. Evidently Boo has the puppies on some "schedule" (known only to her). The puppies continued to sleep and never made a sound.
I was curious how Boo would react to the other dogs when they got near the whelping box. Some of my mothers have been ferocious guardians of their puppies. Boo is such a sweet and mellow girl that being ferocious does not seem to be her style. When Gywnie, who is a first cousin once removed to Boo, got in the whelping box, Boo gently told her to get out. From other litters, my dogs usually know to stay away from the whelping box.
While everyone was eating breakfast, I changed the bedding in the whelping box and took this morning picture. After my morning ablutions, it was still cool enough to take the dogs for a walk. New mothers will sometimes come for a walk with us ... or sometimes they come part way then rush back to their puppies. I was curious what Boo would do. Boo came for a walk with us. Evidently Boo had fed the puppies before I woke up and was not worried about them. Although I did notice towards the end of our walk that Boo ran ahead to the house and the puppies.
Pink had a nice weight gain during the night, but only a few grams during the day. Blue has retaken the lead in his weight race with his brother. When Boo is nursing the puppies all I see are tails peeking out from underneath Boo. When Boo is not nursing or cleaning the puppies, Boo leaves the whelping box with the puppies in the heated whelping nest.
Now that Boo is eating, my biggest worry is Pink's slow weight gain. There are several other things to worry about, but fortunately I am not seeing any signs of them so far.
Green's collar of yarn seemed tight on him - that boy has been growing! So I tied Green a new collar ... which I had to replace again because I made it too loose and Green got his arm through his collar when he was crawling around. I actually do not need collars to tell the puppies apart. Blue has a white patch on his chest, Green does not. Still I find it useful for the puppies to have different colored collars for photographs. (Blue's white patch will shrink as he grows until it is only a thin line of white that will be difficult to see.)
Boo is now more relaxed when I handle the puppies. Before now Boo would get all anxious, probably fearing that I would drop a puppy or take it away.
Besides changing the bedding in the whelping box, the puppies also got weighed in the morning (and again in the evening). Both boys joined the 200-gram club this morning. Pink had a nice weight gain overnight and again during today. Every time I have seem Boo nursing I have been ruthless about pulling a boy off a teat and shoving Pink into the space. I may have overdone it, as Green actually lost two grams today. So now I am worrying about Green.
Blue and Pink nursing. They are actually latched onto the teats of the other side of Boo.
Blue sleeping on his side and showing his white patch. As Blue grows his white patch will shrink. I actually like to see a puppy sleeping on its side. If a puppy sleeps too much on its chest, the chest bones - being very plastic in newborns - can flatten. A flattened chest can make it difficult for a puppy to learn to walk.
Boo cleaning Pink and Green. Puppies can not pee or poop on their own; they need stimulation to pee and poop. So canine mothers lick the bottoms of their puppies ... and then eat and drink what comes out to keep the nest clean.
Note that Green and Blue have doubled their birth weight. Pink lost 2 grams overnight, so I was happy to see that she had a nice weight gain today.
Boo is currently being fed her usual amount of food - 30 ml of kibble for breakfast and 60 ml for dinner ... plus an additional 30 ml of kibble at lunch and about 50 ml of cottage cheese in the morning and again in the evening. I am weighing Boo daily to make sure that as the puppies make increasing nutritional demands on her that I feed Boo appropriately.
In addition to checking Boo's weight, I also daily inspect her teats. I am looking to see if any of them are warmer than the others, are getting hard, or the area around the teat looks discolored. Mastitis, an inflamation of a teat, can come on quickly and the teat will produce bad milk that will sicken a puppy.
At one week, my worry about puppy lung disease diminishes. The lungs of a puppy continue to develop after birth. But sometimes, for reasons that we do not understand, the development does not go as it should. A puppy then starts to have a hard time breathing, and within a day or two dies in spite of everything that we try. When the lungs are looked at under a microscope, the diagnosis can be confirmed. In the past I have had puppies with puppy lung disease and it is horrible to watch. A genetic cause is strongly suspected. I have sent bodies of lung diseased puppies to the person currently doing research on the disease.
Puppies sleeping head to tail.
Green nursing, Pink has had her fill and fallen asleep. Last night I was woken up by a slurping sound - all three puppies were nursing.
Green sleeping on his side.
I continue to be amazed at how calm Boo is when one of my other dogs comes near the whelping box, especially when Boo is nursing. I have had mothers roar out of the whelping box, teeth bared, growling ferociously at any dog who dared to come near. But Boo just looks at the dog, who then goes away. Do not think that Boo is a wimp. I find it amusing that she will bark and try to dominate my youngest adult, Izzy, who is one year old ... in spite of the fact that Izzy is slightly bigger than Boo.
At this point I am about 50 percent confident that the puppies will survive. So much can still go wrong. Grow little puppies, grow!
Pink had a nice weight gain overnight as did the boys. However today Pink and Blue only gained a gram, and Green lost two grams. I hope this is just a pause before they start gaining again. Boo has been devouring her food, so it may be time to increase the amount. Boo spends all night in the whelping box, sleeping with the puppies. During the day she spends a lot of time with me and my other dogs.
Starting from when the puppies were born, in the morning I have been feeding the puppies some plain yogurt using a small syringe. I have to be very careful to slowly put the yogurt on their tongue. I do not want anyone to aspirate on the yogurt. At first I gave them only a drop, but now the puppies are up to eating 0.5 ml of yogurt. The thought is that giving them yogurt will help their gut bacteria. I got the idea to do this from another breeder; I do not know if there is any scientific evidence in its favor. I have done this for all the litters I have raised. It does not seem to harm the puppies, so I am hesitant to stop.
If Boo is in the whelping box, here is what I see when I walk in to check on things - Boo checking on who is coming. Then Boo will settle back down and allow the puppies to resume nursing.
Green showing that he does not have any white on his chest. I still have not seen Pink lay on her side, which has me a little worried.
I decided today that Pink and Blue's collars were getting a bit tight. So here they are showing off their new collars.
Pink joined the 200-gram club this morning with a big weight gain ... actually more than either Green or Blue had overnight. So I was not surprised this evening to find that Pink had lost a few grams. Blue joined the 300-gram club this evening.
Head shots:
Other than nursing, the puppies spend all their time sleeping. If you watch a newborn puppy sleeping and stare at them, you will see that they frequently jerk or twitch, occasionally stretch their legs (like you or I would after waking up form a deep sleep), and sometime yawn. It is thought that puppies jerk or twitch as their nerves are growing.
The puppies have not yet opened their eyes; that should happen in a few days. Nor can the puppies hear yet, which will be the last of their senses to mature.
I caught this picture of Pink lying on her side today. It is the first time that I have seen Pink do this.
Boo was sleeping on her side and I was able to get this photo showing that Boo has milk. You can see Boo's teats hanging when she walks. After Boo weans the puppies, her chest will go back to its usual shape. Boo's c-section incision is healing nicely.
Boo will get in the whelping box and clean the puppies. The puppies will all scramble to get to Boo thinking "The milk bar is open". Boo will then get out of the whelping box, leaving the puppies to crawl around for a moment trying to find Boo, then the puppies give up and fall back asleep. Boo clearly has the puppies on a schedule known only to her.
I caught this picture of Pink crawling. It is the very beginning of trying to walk. Walking is still several weeks away for the puppies.
The genetics of canine coat color is still an active area of scientific research. I knew when I bred Louie and Boo that there was a possibility that a puppy might be a black-and-tan (have a black saddle). But all the puppies turned out to have a red coat (which may turn grizzle when they are older). The genetics that cause a grizzle is still unknown.
The puppies still mostly sleep.
One time today when I was checking on the puppies, I found Boo sitting in a corner of the whelping box looking at the puppies. I immediately reached in, got Pink and put her where she could start nursing. Evidently the smell of the milk woke up Green who crawled straight towards Boo.
Blue lying on Green. Notice Green's full belly.
With each passing day, I grow more confident that the puppies will survive.
I leave tomorrow for a judging assignment in Florida. My dogs including Boo and her puppies will go stay with my petsitter. My petsitter has taken care of puppies for me previously, and I have confidence in her. I have asked my petsitter to take pictures. When I get back on Monday I will update Boo's puppy diary.
Boo and puppies in the whelping/nursery box my petsitter uses. There is a heating pad underneath the towels.
My petsitter was good about texting me pictures and keeping me informed about the puppies weights. The following pictures (until I brought the puppies home) were taken by my petsitter.
Pink joined the 300 gram club, and Blue joined the 400 gram club. Notice that the eyes of the puppies are open. The puppies still mostly sleep (with their eyes closed), but when awake they will open their eyes.
Aunt Gwynie checking on the puppies while Boo looks on.
I returned from my judging trip today and picked up Boo and the puppies (and my other dogs). My petsitter remarked that other than weighing the puppies, Boo did all the work of taking care of the puppies. I was glad that all the puppies did well, and that Pink had nice weight gains. I do not like leaving puppies so young. I am fortunate to have friends and good petsitters on those occasions when I have to travel.
Back home. Since the puppies eyes are now opening, I will start putting toys in the whelping box. This will give the puppies something to focus on. Although it will take a while before the puppies eyes focus to where the puppies notice things.
I wormed the puppies this evening (0.1 ml pyrantel). I will do this every two weeks with pyrantel until the puppies are older (only the amount will change as the puppies get bigger). Since the puppies are used to my feeding them yogurt with a syringe, they did not object to being fed the pyrantel. The puppies probably thought is was funny tasting yogurt!
I am also happy to see that all the puppies continue to be able to open their eyes. Sometimes a puppy will open one or both eyes, but then a few days later stop opening their eyes (which necessitates a trip to the vet). So I can check that worry off my list.
Puppies nursing. (Note that Green has a new collar.) Also notice how big the puppies are now compared to Boo, and that room at the milk bar is getting crowded. When the puppies are nursing, you can see a puppy push against mommy's stomach to encourage the milk to let down. This causes the puppy head to push back (Newton's third law of motion - for every action there is an equal and opposite motion). So you get this bobbing rhythm as the puppies push and the heads bob. After nursing, the puppies fall asleep like drunken sailors!
The puppies did not pay any attention to the stuffed groundhog that invaded their nursery today.
Morning picture. This morning when great-grandmother Mandy sounded her "call to morning breakfast" (barking to tell me to get out of bed faster and prepare breakfast), I noticed that all the puppies reacted to the noise. Evidently the puppies' ear canals have opened and the puppies can now hear. Another developmental milestone!
Blue joined the 500 gram club today. Today when I picked up Pink and looked her over before weighing her, it seemed like she was focusing on my face.
If you just put a puppy on my big dog scale, the puppy will try to crawl off the scale. To get a puppy to stay relatively still, a trick I learned is to pick up the puppy and drag the puppy's paws backwards across the top of the scale several times. Then put the puppy on the scale. The puppy will stay relatively still for the five seconds needed to get a weight.
A snake invaded the whelping box today. The puppies took no notice.
When I picked up the puppies today, I noticed that they each were warm. The puppies are now generating their own body heat. This is very good as it means that the puppies can now fight off viruses. So I can cross canine herpes off of my list of worries. Canine herpes is something that all dogs get at some point. But canine herpes can be deadly to newborn puppies and has been known to wipe out whole litters. But viruses do not like heat, which is one reason why I have kept the puppies in the whelping nest which is very warm. Now that the puppies can generate their own body heat, they can generate a fever (if necessary) to fight off an infection like canine herpes.
Blue resting his head on brother Green. A few moments later, the puppies had shifted around and Pink was on top. The puppies still spend almost all their time sleeping ... except when Mommy gets in the whelping box, in which case there is a scramble as the puppies crawl towards her to get to her milk. Boo now stays out of the whelping box except to clean and nurse the puppies. Boo spent part of last night sleeping on one of the pillows on my bed.
Morning picture. The puppies were on my bed while I changed the bedding in the whelping box. The puppies are starting to pee on the bedding, as I am finding urine stains. If you are a breeder, you need a good washing machine!
Pink joined the 400 gram club today, and Green joined the 500 gram club.
Green looking at the pink cow who wandered into the whelping box. Later Pink tried to see if the cow had any milk, but sadly not. Actually I think Pink just stumbled against the cow. Although I later saw Blue trying to "taste" his brother. Like children everywhere, the puppies will now try to put things into their mouth.
Blue upright on his front legs. Usually I see puppies first struggle to get upright. But these puppies seem to have moved directly into the almost walking phase. I was worried about Pink's ability to walk. Not anymore. Pink and her brothers are able to take a step or two before falling over. It always takes puppies a while to get the coordination of all four legs working correctly.
Today the puppies had their first nail trim. I used a human nail clipper to just take the tips off of their claws. Otherwise their claws would scratch Mommy's belly when the puppies nursed.
Pink sleeping on brother Blue.
Usually the only sound I hear from the puppies is a soft squeak ... and then only rarely. But last night for the first time one of the puppies made a trilling sound - similar to the sound made by a Star Trek tribble. My best guess is that the sound means the puppy is annoyed or frustrated about something.
Morning picture. The puppies continue to gain weight nicely. Blue show no sign of relinquishing his lead in the weight race. Boo is currently eating two big helpings of cottage cheese (morning and evening) as well as almost double the amount of kibble she would normally eat.
This morning as usual I put the puppies on my bed while I was changing the bedding in the whelping box. When I finished, to my surprise I found that Blue had crawled/walked away from his littermates and was halfway across my bed!
A purple bunny invaded the whelping box today. Mommy had just woken everyone up (by cleaning the puppies) and the puppies were staggering around. You can see Blue up on all four legs, Green up on his front legs, and Pink having taken a spill.
I do not know when Boo feeds the puppies during the day, although she must as the puppies are nice and fat and not complaining. All I usually see is Boo go in to check the puppies and clean them, which wakes the puppies up. The puppies then move towards Boo to nurse but Boo will move around the whelping box to lick another puppy. If a puppy does manage to latch onto a nipple, Boo will move dragging the puppy until the puppy falls off. When Boo leaves the whelping box the puppies now explore (look for Mommy?) for a minute, before settling down for another nap.
At this point my pessimism turns to cautious optimism that the puppies will survive. Bad things can still happen, but such events are rare.
It is also time to name the puppies rather than refer to them by the color of their collars. My convention is to choose names from the last Shakespeare or Shakespeare-related play, film, or book that I have recently seen or read. In this case it would be the play "A Midsummer Night's Dream" that I saw this summer in Atlanta. So the puppies register names (and call names in parenthesis) will be:
An orange gecko has invaded the whelping box. Peter up on all four legs exploring.
I have to do some unexpected travelling. The puppies' aunt Siri has come into season. So Siri and I are headed to Kentucky for the breeding. The puppies (and my other dogs) will be staying with my petsitter. In a kennel crate for the car ride to my petsitter.
Mommy Boo telling the puppies that they have arrived safely at the home of my petsitter, and that the puppies can come out of the crate. The puppies exploring their new home.
After I left my petsitter sent me these pictures and comments.
My petsitter sent me these pictures and comments:
My petsitter sent me these pictures and comments:
My petsitter sent me these pictures and comments:
I was in the process of hand stripping Izzy when I had to leave with Siri to go to Kentucky. I still have to work on Izzy's head, belly, rear, and tail.
After breeding Siri in Kentucky, Siri and I drove home to North Carolina today. Breeding Siri has caused a major disruption in my plans. I had expected to be away from the puppies next week for the week-long annual celebration of all things terrier called Montgomery. Being away for two weeks was not in my original plans!
As I would just have to turn around and bring everyone back the next day to my petsitter, I decided to leave everyone with my petsitter. I did stop at my petsitter's house to see everyone and the puppies. I dropped off Siri with my petsitter and picked up great-grandmother Mandy who is coming with me to Montgomery.
When I arrived at my petsitter's house, I found the puppies all asleep on my petsitter's lap. (Tommy woke up as I was taking the picture.) Everyone is healthy and growing, which is all I ask.
Mommy Boo's normal diet is 90 ml of kibble a day. Currently Boo is eating 240 ml of kibble plus two big helpings (each between 50 to 100 ml) of cottage cheese. It takes a lot of food to make milk for growing puppies! Boo is still above her pre-pregnancy weight, but not by much. Besides weighing the puppies each day, my petsitter also weighs Boo and lets me know the numbers. I then advise my petsitter about increasing the amount of kibble that Boo gets.
My petsitter sent me these pictures:
Unless blocked, the puppies will soon be climbing out of their nursery and playpen.
My petsitter reports "Getting nothing done here due to cuteness overload".
My petsitter sent me these pictures:
My petsitter reports "The puppies are really motoring around today! Izzy has spent a lot of time in the play area with them this morning".
My petsitter reports "Rockin' and rolling this morning. We keep substituting toys to distract them from chewing on the x-pen".
My petsitter sent me these pictures:
While I wish I was taking care of the puppies, I know that the puppies are getting good socialization at my petsitter's house.
My petsitter reports "They are just so incredibly cute during morning playtime!"
My petsitter reports "The puppies love the dog bed. Lots of exploring before falling asleep."
In talking on my phone with my petsitter, we agreed that it is time to start feeding the puppies. I advised my petsitter to offer the puppies some puppy kibble soaked in goat's milk ... and to send me pictures!
My petsitter sent me these pictures:
I got home from Montgomery today. (For details about Montgomery, see the Shaksper News.)
Before going to pick up my dogs and the puppies from my petsitter, I set up my puppy playpen in my living room. Checking out the playpen are Aunt Madeline and Uncle Bear, who will be staying with me for a few days. Both of them have fond memories as puppies being in the exact same playpen. Unlike my other older dogs who get the honorific of aunt or uncle, Madeline is the litter sister of Boo, and so really is the puppies' aunt.
The puppies traveling home. Notice how much thay have grown! Compare with the same view when I took the puppies to my petsitter on 24 September.
The first order of business when we got home was to feed the puppies. Peter was looking for Mommy, who I had put outside the puppy playpen (and you can just see in the bottom right). Then the puppies got down to eating and did a creditable job. Mommy got to clean up the leftovers.
My wooden barrier that I used when the playpen is open is not much of a barrier to these five-week old puppies. All three quickly climbed over the barrier and went exploring. I was pleasantly surprised to see Frannie leading the pack. Here is Peter getting cleaned by Mommy with Uncle Bear helping. Aunt Madeline was helping with another puppy. Frannie was the first to find the communal water bowl. (The water is green because of a water additive called Healthy Mouth, recommended by the Veterinary Oral Health Council.) After eating and exploring, the puppies settled down for a nap.
Later while I was working to bring this puppy diary up to date, all the big dogs were sprawled out around my chair. Suddenly I heard a slurping sound underneath my chair. Frannie and Peter had found Mommy underneath my chair and were getting a drink at the milk bar.
Peter getting drink of water. When the puppies are loose, I have to do the "puppy shuffle" to make sure not to step on a puppy.
A nice picture of Mommy Boo during our morning walk. The puppies were sleeping while we were out.
The puppies had their first trip outdoors today. It is time to start potty training the puppies.
The puppies still prefer Mommy's milk. And after nursing, the puppies like to take a nap.
Tommy got halfway through the baby tunnel on my porch before turning around.
Nursing again. From left to right, Frannie, Tommy, and Peter.
Puppies napping in the donut bed next to my desk. Note the mirror so that the puppies get used to seeing themselves in a mirror.
Another nice picture of Mommy Boo taken during my morning walk with my adult dogs.
Peter was the first to go out the gate from my porch to my gravel driveway. Then his siblings joined him. At this point I can still outrun the puppies, so I let them explore. Later I will not be able to let them out my gate.
Tommy going through the wooden tunnel on my porch. (Technically it is a part of an earthdog-liner.)
After the puppies play outside for a while, I bring them inside and they find someplace to nap. In this case it was aunt Madeline's crate.
The puppies were hungry this morning. They ate all of the 30 ml of ground puppy kibble soaked in Esbilac (puppy milk replacement) that I gave them. So I gave the puppies another 30 ml of ground puppy kibble but this time mixed with Royal Canin Starter (canned food). This was a big hit and the puppies ate all of that also! But now - as I knew from experience and from trying again at dinner - the puppies turn their nose up at kibble soaked in Esbilac. Fortunately my older dogs will be happy to finish the opened can of Esbilac.
Of course after a big meal, the puppies settled down for a long nap. Here is Frannie on the big dog bed on the other side of my living room. Later Frannie joined her brothers on the donut next to my desk, but made if very clear that she did not want to be disturbed.
Mommy Boo allowed the puppies to nurse several times today.
The puppies exploring a jungle. (I really have to do some mowing!)
Mommy Boo snuggling with Frannie while the two boys slept like bookends.
Frannie dreaming of being Supergirl!
Family photo - Mommy Boo with puppies.
Norwich by nature are not "diggers" ... unless they are trying to dig to get to a critter. On the other hand, puppies seem to like to dig ... especially around the edge of my porch.
Puppies wrestling. Today was the first time that I noticed "bite inhibition" being learned by the puppies. Often when wrestling a puppy will grab the limb of another puppy with its mouth and shake the limb vigorously. But now that the puppies' teeth are coming in, when they grab they sometimes grab too tightly and cause the other puppy to yelp. The grabbing puppy - being startled - lets go. (Also often an adult dog is rushing over to see what the problem is.) This is how puppies learn how to grab with just enough force to hold on but not to hurt (i.e., bite inhibition).
Also today for the first time I saw Mommy Boo chastize one of the puppies for some lapse of doggy manners. Boo had the puppy on its back and was growling and play-biting at the puppy. She was really giving the puppy a scolding!
Nursing. Here is another area where the puppies learn bite inhibition. If a puppy is not gentle, Mommy will get up and not let the puppy nurse. Boo letting the puppies nurse often is at cross-purposes to my trying to get the puppies to eat according to my silly human schedule. The puppies hardly touched their lunch today. Boo was happy to eat it.
Tommy taking a nap next to Mommy.
Morning picture. The puppies ate a good breakfast. They know that Mommy is in the nearby blue crate.
Mommy Boo and puppies Peter is sneaking a drink.
Peter is the first to go all the way through the baby tunnel on my porch. Peter seems to be the explorer of the group.
The puppies again turned their collective noses up at lunch, preferring Mommy's milk. It is hard to compete with Mommy's milk! But I know that eventually the puppies will need more calories than Mommy can provide.
My friends Jennifer and Keith visited today to pick up their dogs Bear and Madeline who had been staying with me, and also to see and play with the puppies. Keith was kind enough to hold the puppies while I got the following photos. According to breeder folklore, puppies at six weeks of age look like miniature versions of what they will look like as an adult. After six weeks, different body parts grow at different rates (think gangly teenagers) and it will not be until the puppies are six months old that they will again look like they will as adults.
After Jennifer, Keith, Uncle Bear, and Aunt Madeline left, I fed the puppies dinner. The puppies ate a good meal, but immediately fell asleep. Company is exhausting!
While outside after breakfast getting a drink from Mommy. Later all three puppies cornered Boo for some milk.
Right before lunch time, Boo allowed the puppies to nurse (thus ruining any attempts to feed the puppies lunch). You can see how much the puppies stretch Boo's skin when they nurse. (After the puppies are weaned, Boo's belly will tighten back up.) Once the puppies finished with the upper teats, they moved to the lower teats. You can see Frannie's tongue making a tight seal as she sucks milk. Since I knew that the puppies would not eat a normal lunch of ground puppy kibble mixed with Royal Canin Starter (canned puppy food), I just gave the puppies some Starter. This the puppies ate. I guess they thought of it as desert.
Tommy showing his baby teeth coming in. Those baby teeth are sharp, much sharper than his adult teeth will be!
Puppies asleep under my desk.
Two against one is fun if you are one of the two.
As an experiment since the puppies teeth are coming in, after the puppies finished with their evening meal of ground puppy kibble mixed with Starter, I gave the puppies some regular (unground) puppy kibble. The puppies thought this new packaging was great! They ate as much unground puppy kibble as they did ground kibble. I guess I can stop grinding puppy kibble now.
Tommy discovered my wobble board this morning. (It actually is a human exercise balance board.) Puppies like that the board make a bang when they step on it and that they can make it move. Tommy tried to bite the board to control it. Later in the morning Tommy actually got up on the board with all four feet for a few seconds.
The puppies huddling together and plotting their next big surprise.
Peter sleeping on the pillow underneath my desk.
I take the puppies outside as soon as one of them wakes up from a nap. If I am quick enough, I can get them all outside before one of them piddles on my floor. I let the puppies play for a while outside, then bring them back inside where they play a bit more then fall asleep for another nap. I try to stay outside whenever the puppies are outside, but sometimes I have to dash inside for a moment to attend to something. Today when I had gone inside, Tommy pushed open my doggy door and followed me inside! Later in the day, I saw Tommy unsuccessfully trying to find the magic panel to push in order to open my doggy door. The puppies clearly have been watching my older dogs and learning from them.
The puppies nursing and showing off their new collars. Their old collars were getting tight so I decided to replace them with new collars.
For dinner today the puppies got scrambled eggs mixed with their kibble. It is time to start exposing them to new foods.
Tommy circumnavigating the x-pen (exercise pen) in my yard. When I get up at night to use the bathroom, I take the puppies out to the x-pen so that the puppies can do their potty business. (This is part of their potty training.) Being in an x-pen means that the puppies can not wander all over my fenced yard in the dark. I am also using the puppies' potty command "Do your business" to start the Pavloving conditioning between the command and the action.
It was chilly this morning, so the puppies all snuggled together when taking a nap. Later in the morning after it warmed up, Peter felt comfortable sleeping on his back.
Puppies outside exploring.
The puppies were wrestling but Mommy was not worried. However I did see Boo later go after each puppy in succession giving each a scolding. Or maybe she was teaching them how to wrestle without hurting.
The puppies all ran through my baby tunnel chasing Mommy. Tommy is the first to get up on my baby dogwalk. Tommy and Peter chewing on a stick. Explorer Peter (in the distance) almost made it to the corner of my fenced yard before turning back.
Because it was chilly today, the puppies actually spent a lot of time indoors. The puppies explored and found my bathroom and started dragging my toilet mat out. My house is very puppy-proof, but one of my few rules is "leave the toilet mat with the toilet". So I got the Bitter Apple and sprayed the mat. Bitter Apple makes things taste bad to dogs. After getting a taste each puppy shook their head in disgust at the taste and left the mat alone.
Later in the morning, the puppies were nursing again. Next to Mommy Boo is Great-Grandmother Mandy.
Tommy on the baby dogwalk again. Peter on the baby teeter. And Peter's first time on the dogwalk.
Puppies wrestling in my baby tunnel. The uneven ridges inside the tunnel help the puppies learn to go over uneven terrain. Yes, that is a small desciccated frog in front of the tunnel that the puppies found. The puppies think the frog is a great chew toy and were fighting over possession!
A big adventure today! First a long car ride. The purpose of the trip was an agility lesson/practice for my older dogs. The puppies came along for socialization. The puppies got to meet a Doberman who was just leaving as we were arriving. All my dogs got to run an agility course. Even Mommy Boo did a little agility. But mostly Boo hung out with the puppies while my other dogs ran. Eventually the puppies got tired and took a nap.
After the lesson was over, we played with the puppies. My instructor thought that Tommy - the lion-king puppy - was the best agility prospect. But Frannie was the puppy she wanted to keep! The puppies got handled, their tummies rubbed, and their pictures taken. I had tired puppies for the ride home.
Dinner today had a new flavor - canned salmon mixed with puppy kibble. The puppies liked the new menu item.
Tommy was very tired after all the events of the day.
After breakfast and a quick potty trip outside (it was chilly), instead of coming inside and taking a nap, the puppies seemed to have a lot of energy and wanted to chew on EVERYTHING! I followed the puppies around with my bottle of Bitter Apple, spraying things that I did now want chewed. Peter the Explorer (followed quickly by his littermates) found the route between my living room and the whelping box that the puppies had only previously flown over (been carried). The puppies finally fell asleep and I got to take a shower and have my breakfast.
Later in the morning I watched as Peter was at my doggy door. Peter threw his body against the panel to get it to open. But then Peter got stuck as the springs closed the panels. Angry, Peter bit at the panel. Having taught the panel a lesson, Peter was able to push his way past the disrespectful panel and make it outside.
Mommy Boo resting because being a mommy is hard work.
Darrell and his wife Cynthia plus two of their Norwich, Gunner and Darby, visited today. Gunner is Boo's father and thus the maternal grandfather of the puppies. Here is Darrell holding Gunner and two puppies, while Cynthia holds the third puppy (and aunt Izzy makes sure everything is ok).
With three humans - one to watch each puppy - we took the puppies on a hike to the treeline. The puppies discovered pine cones and carried the pine cones around. We carried the puppies back to my yard and brought some pine cones for them to play with later. Peter fell asleep in Cynthia's arms. Having company is exhausting according to the puppies.
Later I found Peter spooning with mommy Boo.
In addition to weighing the puppies each day, I have also been weighing Mommy Boo. I have slowly been cutting back the amount of kibble that Boo eats. Yesterday besides two big helpings of cottage cheese, instead of her pre-puppy diet of 90 ml of kibble a day, Boo got 150 ml of puppy kibble. Today I plan to cut her back to 120 ml of kibble.
Morning picture. The puppies had a hardy appetite today. This morning as a birthday treat I mixed a little bit of canned tripe into their kibble, which they liked. Of course any time I introduce a new food, I have to be prepared for a bit of diarrhea. So the puppies had plain kibble for lunch, and it was back to kibble with Starter for dinner. Things are firming up nicely. It is important that the puppies develop robust gut bacteria so that they can tolerate a change in diet.
Peter this morning demonstrated that not only can he go out my doggy door, he knows how to go from the outside to the inside. Peter still has to wrestle with a recalcitrant panel but eventually he wins the battle. Peter went in and out several more times today. This means I now have to be extra vigilent about where Peter is and whether or not I have left my yard gate open for the big dogs. I do not want Peter wandering outside of my fenced yard on his own.
Mommy Boo guarding her puppies while they nap.
It is deer hunting season here in the rural county where I live. Here hunters are allowed to hunt with dogs to flush the deer. As sometimes happens the hunters' dogs get lost and come around my house. My dogs take great exception to any strange canine interlopers, so there was much barking and chasing away of the intruders. It is funny to watch a big foxhound-type dog being chased by my pack of small terriers. The puppies picked up on the barks of alarm from my dogs and kept close out of harms way. But at one point I lost Tommy and I could not find him, in spite of several trips thoughout my house and fenced yard looking for him. I finally found Tommy ... but for a few moments I was panicing.
After all the excitment with the hunting dogs, Frannie kept her baby sheep close by while she took a nap. Later, Frannie lying on the porch with Mommy and watching the world go by.
If you think of my porch as being on one corner of my rectangular fenced yard, Tommy and Peter have made it to the adjacent corners. Today I watched as Tommy and Peter explored further along the fence-line, making it almost - but not quite - to the opposite corner from my porch.
Peter has been trying to rearrange things in my house, my bath mat especially. Today he dragged the towel in Mommy's crate out and was disgusted when I put the towel back inside.
After dinner today, the puppies discovered the pine cones that we gathered the other day and put inside my fenced yard. Here are Peter and Frannie starting to take a pine cone apart.
Morning picture - After a hearty breakfast, the puppies are outside playing: Peter and Tommy are wrestling in the background, Frannie is on the porch and Mommy Boo is just outside my gate.
After breakfast, the puppies chase Mommy until she finally relents and lets the puppies nurse. But Boo does not let the puppies nurse long. Boo is definitely starting to cut the puppies off.
Little devils when awake, little angels when asleep.
Frannie with pine cone.
Some miscellaneous notes. All three puppies have been on my baby teeter and baby dogwalk. All three when inside like playing with my wobble board. Adult dogs do not get the hiccups, but puppies do. There is nothing you can do when a puppy has the hiccups; eventually the hiccups stop. All three puppies seem to have good "scissor bites" - the upper incisors (small teeth in front of mouth) are located in front of the lower incisors when the mouth is closed. When I have to be out of the house for any period of time, I leave the puppies in their puppy playpen. I also leave on a CD of "city sounds" - cars honking, dump trucks backing up, planes flying overhead, etc.
Dinner tonight for my dogs was sardines ... meaning that they had some sardines on top of their kibble. The puppies had sardine juice dribbled on thei kibble ... which they thought was great!
Morning picture - Before breakfast, attacking the invaders of the puppy playpen. (Really, just wrestling.) After breakfast, chasing Mommy for some milk. And finally getting Mommy to open the milk bar. (Note the position of all three puppies because of crowding at the bar.) Tommy being cleaned by Mommy afterwards.
I finally got a picture of Frannie on the baby teeter. Later I had tired puppies, and even one sleeping in the crate in the playpen.
Tommy peeing. Boy puppies will squat like girls until they reach puberty, at which point they will start lifting their leg. (Also when boys reach puberty they have to relearn potty training, as a boy's natural inclination is to mark everything.)
Tommy and Peter wrestling. Frannie in her lair (baby tunnel) with a pine cone.
Two against one. Tommy is on the bottom. A few minutes later it all changed and a different puppy was on the bottom. Tommy showing his sharp baby teeth. Later this evening I had to (gently) kick Peter away from my ankles that he was biting. Almost all puppies get the nickname "Ankle biter" at some point.
Right before dinner time, the puppies convinced Mommy to open the milk bar. Eventually everyone arrived at a more traditional position at the bar, but the position is getting more and more uncomfortable because of the size of everyone.
I was pleasantly surprised that the puppies ate any dinner, but they did. They the puppies had a long snooze. Frannie having defeated her foe in honorable combat rested upon his slain body. Upon waking up there was more vigorous play, then another nap. (Notice that the white spot on Tommy's chest is shrinking as he grows.)
Mommy Boo's weight has continued to drift up, so I have again cut the amount of kibble that I give her. Boo is now getting 90 ml of kibble - her pre-pregnancy amount - but it is puppy kibble, so it has more calories than regular kibble. Plus she still gets two helpings of cottage cheese a day. And Boo gets to eat anything the puppies fail to eat. But the price for eating leftovers is that the puppies can get at the milk bar.
Puppies sleeping stacked like logs.
Visitors again
today. The puppies got another walk to the tree
line and back ... and lots of petting and being held.
The visitors left around noon and the puppies sacked out. I did not
have the heart to wake them for lunch. I let the puppies
sleep until 1 pm when I finally roused them to eat.
Mommy again got to eat some left-overs and again the
puppies got some milk.
Usually my dogs - adults and puppies alike - are all going
in different directions. Today was a foggy overcast day,
so everyone was a little subdued and I was able to
get a group photo.
On the far left is Boo in the front, with Gwynie behind her with
Frannie, moving to the right is Mandy in front with Tommy
and Izzy behind her, then Siri and Ophelia, with Peter to the far
right.
Puppies all chewing on a stick.
Dinner tonight was scambled eggs (scambled eggs on top of kibble).
The puppies liked this meal, but again afterwards
ambushed Mommy. (I am
pretty sure that the big belly is Tommy.)
Peter joined the 1400-gram club today. Breakfast seems to be
the puppies favorite meal. The three puppies ate a total of
120 ml of puppy kibble this morning. The puppies now
seem mostly stomach, with a smaller head and chest attached.
Group picture - after breakfast
playtime. Frannie is
about to leap off the porch to join her brothers.
After a short nap, the puppies had early morning
company. Trying to untie shoe laces was the big
sport. The puppies had a nice time exploring outside
my fenced yard. But eventually the puppies got tired.
Frannie choose to go
to sleep on the dogwalk. The boys kept at
the shoe laces until finally Peter had enough and just laid down to sleep.
A long nap inside
where it was warmer followed.
Dinner tonight for the dogs was cooked ground turkey over
a bed of kibble. The puppies got some broth on top of
their kibble which they
enjoyed.
Morning picture. It
is always hard to judge how much the puppies will eat at
any given meal. Yesterday they ate a lot for breakfast.
Today not so much.
Another car trip.
All three puppies in one crate is almost too crowded.
Again I was taking all my dogs to an agility lesson,
so the puppies got
to come along. The puppies got to meet a Border Terrier and a Sheltie. The puppies
even got to do some agility!
I do not seriously expect the puppies to learn agility at this
age ... we were only trying to expose them to new experiences.
But if anyone asks - these puppies started learning agility
at seven weeks of age!
Even Mommy Boo got to try some agility. Here she
is jumping through a tire:
takeoff and
landing, plus
coming down the A-frame.
When we were finished with agility, we played with the puppies:
Some "stacked" photos:
My instructor still thinks Tommy is the best
agility prospect, because he follows and is so food
motivated. But I had to stop my instructor from stealing Frannie.
After the long drive home, it was back to
playing and getting
some milk from Mommy.
Morning picture - Breakfast,
with a drink afterwards.
This morning Peter found the ramp to my bed used by
my adult dogs. Since I do not want puppies piddling in my
bed, I now have to remember to take the ramp down during
the day when the puppies are loose.
Since the puppies are now attacking with their
teeth everything in my house - rather than
constantly saying "no" - it is better to give them
something that they have permission to destroy. A cardboard box is the
perfect solution.
Puppies sleeping together.
The big adventure for today was the puppies' first trip to the vet!
The was the first time that the puppies had travelled
without Mommy (although Aunt Gwynie came along to chaperone
as she had to see the vet also). It was also the first
time that the puppies were in separate crates. While in
the waiting room the puppies were quite vocal that they
did not like all this change. However once we were in the
exam room and the vet came in, the puppies quieted down.
Each puppy was examined in turn and got their first puppy shot.
Everyone got a clean bill of health, their bites looked
good, and the vet could feel that both boys had two
testicles (although the testies are really small at
this age). Each puppy got a first DHPPC vaccine shot
that protects against the distemper, hepatitis, parvo,
parainfluenza, and corona viruses. The puppies will get
the same shot a few more times over the next several weeks.
The puppies initially got antibodies from Mommy's milk
during their first day of life (and from serum collected
from a donor dog). Over time these maternal antibodies
degrade. If you give the shots too early, the maternal
antibodies that are active block the effect of the shot
(maternal interference). If too late, the puppy is
unprotected for a period of time. So the puppies get a
series of shots, in the hope of hitting the sweet spot so
that the puppy is constantly protected. Without additional
information, vets follow various protocols as to when to
give puppy shots based upon their experience. However I
had both Mommy's serum and the donor dog's serum measured
(titered) for the antibodies for parvo and distemper at
the University of Wisconsin. From this, the Wisconsin lab
makes a more educated prediction of when Boo's puppies need
their shots. This prediction (nomograph) says that Boo's
puppies should get their puppy shots around 8, 12, 15,
and 18 weeks of age. (And the Wisconsin lab recommends
that at 20 weeks of age, each puppy is titered to make
sure the puppy is protected.) Since I expect to be taking
the puppies back to my vet around the 12 week mark for
certificates of health before each puppy goes to its new
home, the puppies can get their second puppy shot then.
After their exams and shots, it was time to play "pass the puppy".
For socialization purposes, I like the puppies to meet as many people
as possible. So both receptionists got to hold a puppy
(photo 1 and
photo 2). I even had
people in the waiting room holding a puppy
(photo 1 and
photo 2).
The puppies did not seem to have any ill effects from their
shots or their visit to the vet.
Tommy playing with an ice cube.
Today I saw first Frannie, then Tommy come through my doggy door
from the outside to the inside. I guess they are getting tired
waiting for a flight on Puppy Air (my carrying them).
Dinner tonight for
the puppies was Baby Rice mixed with cooked ground turkey
and puppy kibble. But of course what the puppies really
want is Mommy's milk.
My dinner tonight included an orange bell pepper.
This is always a favorite among my dogs as they enjoy
a slice of the sweet pepper. The puppies also thought
this was great, although I suspect that the puppies played with their slices
and that the big dogs eventually ate the pieces.
Mommy
sleeping with two
puppies on the donut bed next to my desk. There is
hardly room now for just those three!
Peter did not gain anything over yesterday. At eight weeks my notes tell me to stop weighing every day, and just weigh weekly. Otherwise I will drive myself crazy when someone does not gain. As long as everyone has nice round bellies and is acting normally ...
Morning picture. A lot of things change at eight weeks of age. The puppies do not realize it, but they just spent their last night in the whelping box. Breakfast was the last communal meal that the puppies will have.
Morning nap on the donut bed next to my desk.
This morning I took the whelping box apart and stored it away ... under supervision of course.
"Who, me? I did not tear this strip from the box."
In the place of the whelping box has been erected a brand new puppy condo. Hurry, these units are selling fast!
Puppies eating lunch, each in his or her own crate and eating out of their own bowl. One advantage of the puppies eating separately is that I will be better able to monitor the food intake of each puppy.
I watched Tommy today who was initially on the opposite side of the fence as the water bowl. Tommy was growling and whining in frustration that he could not get to the water bowl. Then I saw the light bulb go off in Tommy's head, and he ran around the fence to get a drink of water. This is a developmental milestone. Putting something desirable behind a barrier is often used in cognition studies.
Today the puppies met Mr. Dremel in order to "cut" (really grind) their nails (really claws). So that the puppies will let me use a mechanical tool close to them, I first smear Nutri-Cal on their face. Nutri-Cal is mostly glucose, so the puppies like the sugar. While the puppies are busy licking the Nutri-Cal, I quickly dremel the nails on one paw. Then more Nutri-Cal on the face and another paw. I repeat until all four paws are done. The first paw is usually the hardest, as the puppies are frightened by the noise of the dremel and they do not know what is happening. But the puppies quickly learn that while getting their nails dremeled is unpleasant, they get a tasty treat to distract them. I dremeled the puppies' nails in the following order: Tommy, Peter, and finally Frannie.
The puppies do not realize it yet, but at eight weeks they are cut down from four meals a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and bedtime) to just three meals a day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner). After dinner today the puppies all picked different places to nap. Tommy took a new unusual spot, Peter opted for the comforting spot of Mommy's crate, and Frannie stuck with the traditional spot next to my desk.
Some notes. I do not think that Boo allowed the puppies to nurse today. Over the past couple of days I have noticed that Boo is spending more time "toughening up the puppies". Boo will pick out a puppy, flip the puppy on its back, almost lay on the puppy to stop the puppy from escaping, and growl and gently bite at the puppy.
I watched Peter today twice get up from a nap, go out my doggy door and go into the yard to potty. It is nice to see that my potty training efforts are having some effect.
With the puppies sleeping tonight for the first time in the puppy condo, I predict not much sleep for me. First there will be complaints about the new sleeping arrangements. Then when a puppy does have to go potty in the middle of the night, I really will have to get up and take them outside - no excuses!
Morning picture - wrestling while waiting for the chef to prepare breakfast. The puppies ate a decent breakfast, but left a mess for me to clean up. What the puppies really wanted is milk, but Mommy kept moving away until the puppies cornered her again. Afterward, the puppies took a nap.
Peter figured out that he can see the top of the wooden tunnel.
Eating and sleeping (with a lot of playing in between).
With all the toys and playground equipment I have for the puppies, still the puppies spend most of their time wrestling. And afterwards the puppies take a nap.
The puppies ate a good lunch but still wanted a milk chaser.
Frannie watching the world go by from the vantage point of my baby dogwalk.
Puppies with great-grandmother Mandy. Having seen so many puppies ... and wishing they would all go away ... Mandy usually just growls at the puppies. Or goes off to a quiet spot to rest.
After dinner the puppies tried but failed to get milk from Mommy. Mommy said "no".
Peter sleeping in a cardboard box. Peter seemed to be on a different schedule today than his littermates. When Peter would be sleeping Frannie and Tommy would be awake, and vice versa.
The little monsters decided to take apart my baby dogwalk. My baby dogwalk had been showing its age. I will have to decide whether to try to repair or to replace. But that decision will have to wait until the puppies are done with it!
I decided that today was the day that the puppies would start their contributions to science. I swabbed the inside cheeks of each puppy with an Embark DNA swab. Embark is a DNA panel testing company. With one swab Embark tests for over 200 known canine genetic health problems. Now only four of the these problems are known to occur in Norwich. And I knew - from testing the parents - that the puppies would be normal/clear for all four. But Embark also gives the "raw DNA", which is what I want. This raw DNA is the values of the DNA at approximately 200,000 positions (of the 2.8 billion in the canine genome). But just like with humans, most DNA is the same for all dogs ... these 200,000 positions are ones where differences are known to happen. I have used this raw DNA to teach myself "Bioinfomatics" - the analysis of DNA. It is much more fun to learn using data on which you are really interested. I have learned a lot, made a few minor discoveries regarding the Norwich genome, but I still have much to learn.
Puppies playing "plastic bottle soccer".
Morning picture - waiting on the chef to prepare breakfast. And after-breakfast nursing. This was the only time I saw the puppies at the milk bar today.
I watched this morning as Mommy Boo "toughened up" Tommy. It went on a long time ... maybe five minutes. Here is a succession of photos that I took. As you look at the photos imagine Mommy growling and Tommy squealing.
Morning nap. The puppies do not stay in the same postion when they sleep. Like people occasionally rolling over when sleeping, the puppies occasionally change position. Wedging themself between the playpen and the wall is a favorite position; another is moving into a corner.
All three puppies now go both in and out of my doggy door at will. All I can do now is try to keep rough track of where they are. Of course there is the old saying "Silence is golden. Except when it comes to Norwich Terriers. Then it is suspicious." This saying goes double for puppies!
I do not know what was so appealing about this patch of grass, but Tommy was determined to determined to clear the grass away and get down to dirt.
Frannie and Peter (left and right) walking along.
The puppies have explored about 80 percent of my fenced yard. I still have not seen them in the far corner.
Some workmen came today, so everyone had to stay in my fenced yard.
The puppies big adventure for today was accompanying Aunt Siri to North Carolina State University for an ultrasound to see if Aunt Siri is pregnant. I deliberately arrived an hour early for Siri's appointment. I set up an x-pen near an entrance to the Wellness Center, fed the puppies lunch (note the leaf in the water bowl), let the puppies play with the leaves, and invited everyone who passed by (it was lunchtime) to "Pet a puppy". I had a lot of people who stopped to pet and hold the puppies!
Meeting lots of people is great socialization for the puppies! Even the vet we came to see wanted to play with the puppies! (And yes, Aunt Siri is pregnant.)
I had very tired puppies for the long ride home. But once home the wrestling began!
Frannie coming towards the camera with Tommy in the background.
Morning picture - waiting to be let out of their crates after breakfast. Notice that the puppies are not cleaning their plates. After being set loose, the puppies got some milk. After some play there was morning nap, then more play. The puppies were wrestling when I got this picture.
Another long car ride today to an agility lesson. Mommy Boo stayed home (with aunts Siri and Ophelia) as I want the puppies to be used to being without Mommy. The puppies got to run around with some Shelties, were held by Ali, my instructor, and her husband, and while my other dogs had their lesson the puppies stayed in an x-pen and had lunch. After my adult dogs were finished, it was time for the puppies to have their agility lesson!
First up was Tommy. We put Tommy high up on the descent plank of the dogwalk and had him run down (photo 1 and photo 2). Food treats are great motivators for Norwich Terriers! Then we had Tommy run back and forth between us while going over a bar on the ground (photo 1 and photo 2). Then finally Tommy went through a straight tunnel a few times.
Next up was Peter. Peter did so well coming down the plank (photo 1, photo 2, and photo 3), that we decided to see if he could do an entire dogwalk. Peter had no problem with the ascent, nor with the middle, but had to take a short rest on the descent - dogwalks are long! - before completing his first dogwalk! Then Peter did some back and forth over a bar. And finally Peter went through a tunnel a couple of times (photo 1 and photo 2). As we were walking back from the tunnel to get Frannie, suddenly we noticed that Peter had turned around and was doing the dogwalk again!
Frannie was initially hesitent when we put her at the top of the descent plank of the dogwalk. If you look closely you can see the treats we put on the plank to encourage Frannie to come down the plank (photo 1, photo 2, photo 3, and photo 4). But after that Frannie had no trouble and came down the dogwalk plank to get the treat (photo 1, photo 2, and photo 3). Then Frannie had her turn running over the bar on the ground (photo 1 and photo 2) and going through the tunnel (photo 1, photo 2). Note the treat I am using to encourage Frannie to come to me. It is just some cut up sandwich turkey.
After all that work (whew!) it was time for some unstructured play
and then the long car ride home.
Frannie and brother doing some digging.
Morning picture - Mommy and puppies (can you find all three puppies?) waiting for breakfast to be prepared. After breakfast, getting some milk from Mommy. (The puppies also got some milk during 5 am potty time.) After-breakfast nap.
Aunt Izzy believes that one of her missions in life is to rid my property of voles. Izzy caught another vole today and brought the body back to the house to show me. Izzy left the carcass where the puppies could see it. I got to dispose of the remains.
Peter says "He's back with that camera AGAIN". Frannie just stuck her tongue out at the camera.
The puppies ate a good amount for lunch. Tommy actually cleaned his plate! (60 ml of kibble!) Afterwards there was a post-lunch nap. As an example of the puppies shifting position, this is how the puppies were sleeping a few moments later.
The puppies had another appointment with Mr. Dremel today. Frannie still was frightened until I got to the last paw, Peter complained the most, but Tommy was happy as long as he was getting a sweet.
Afterwards, again the puppies were very popular with my older dogs who helped clean the puppies' faces.
Peter sleeping underneath my desk. It seems so long since I have seen anyone sleep there. Tommy and Frannie were on the donut next to my desk.
Peter letting it all hang out. Cardboard rolls make interesting toys (photo 1 and photo 2).
Visitors! And after the first set of visitors left, a second set came! Untying visitors' shoe laces was a favorite activity (photo 1 and photo 2). Finally we had to spray the laces with Bitter Apple to get the puppies to stop untying laces.
But visitors are exhausting! Peter sleeping underneath the baby dogwalk, while Tommy looks on. Frannie just flopped over. Tommy tried to stay awake with the big dogs, but finally succumbed to the Sandman.
Some notes. I picked up the potty x-pen today. Now at night I just carry the puppies outside, put them down in the grass, let them do their business, and they come back inside on their own (although sometimes I have to go back to pick them up).
Today I started the puppies on the "pretty mouth" command. After using a dental wipe on each of my adult dogs' teeth, I put each puppy up on my grooming table, put my hand over their head and gently raise their lips, all the while saying "pretty mouth". Then they got a treat. I only held their lips up for a second so that I could see their teeth. I will slowly increase the time I can look at their teeth.
Today seemed like the first day that the puppies really noticed me. They seem to have figured out that I am the person bringing them food and consequently someone of importance in their lives.
This morning I left the puppies loose while I took my older dogs for an early walk. Because the puppies are larger, I am much more relaxed about the puppies being outside now without me. I expected that when we came back from our walk, we would find the puppies taking a nap. Instead the puppies were waiting for us at the fence line. Afterwards the puppies took a nap.
Frannie resting inside the protection of a wooden tunnel
When I feed the puppies, I put them in their crates with their food bowl filled with 60 ml of puppy kibble. I leave the puppies in their crates for 5 minutes or so. By that time the puppies have usually eaten their fill. I then take the puppies out of their crates and take the puppies outside. I can feel full bellies when I take each puppy out of its crate. Usually the puppies leave some kibble. At dinner today Tommy cleaned his bowl!
After I did my daily brushing (really using dental wipes) on my adult dogs, I put the puppies in succession up on my grooming table to work on the "pretty mouth" command. Peter liked the treat afterwards, Tommy laid down to eat his treat, but Frannie was more interested in playing with the used wipes than in her treat which you can see on the table.
Our weekly agility lesson was scheduled for today. So again the puppies had a long car drive. The puppies got to see a Sheltie again. (Aunt Gwyne is in the foreground. If you look carefully you can see where I have started to strip Gwynie's fur.) And the puppies got to meet a young boy.
After my adult dogs had their lesson, the puppies had their turn. First up was Frannie, who remembered coming down the dogwalk ramp , but was little hesitant about going up the ramp. So we used the training trick of leaving a trail of treats (photo 1, photo 2, photo 3) for Frannie to follow, until Frannie completed her first dogwalk. Next we played the recall game over a bar on the ground, then through a straight tunnel (photo 1 and photo 2). For something new, we asked Frannie to walk on a wooden plank which she had no problem doing. (Usually the wooden plank is used to introduce dogs to walking on a dogwalk; I just wanted the puppies to walk on a new surface.) Then we put Frannie on an agility table (again a new surface), and showed Frannie a training lure.
Next up was Peter who remembered how to do a dogwalk. So we asked Peter to do the dogwalk a second time (photo 1, photo 2, photo 3). Peter also got to play the recall game over a bar and through a tunnel (photo 1, photo 2, photo 3). Peter did so well, we decided to see if Peter would do a slightly curved tunnel, with which Peter had no problem (photo 1 and photo 2). And Peter also got to experience the wooden plank and an agility table.
Tommy also did the dogwalk without any problem, but so quickly I did not get any pictures. But I did record his second dogwalk (photo 1, photo 2, photo 3, photo 4). Tommy also got to play the recall game over a bar and through a tunnel (photo 1 and photo 2), and got to try a curved tunnel (photo 1, photo 2, photo 3). Tommy also had the chance to try the wooden plank and an agility table. Tommy even went exploring around the other agility equipment, but we had to tell him that he was too young for weave poles. (Doing weave poles puts a lot of stress on a dogs' body. I do not even start weave pole training with my Norwich until they are at least a year old.)
My instructor still likes Tommy as the best agility prospect (she likes his enthusiasm), but agrees that Peter seems more intelligent. I do not expect these puppies to have agility careers. Rather I am just trying to expose them to new things and have them interact with humans. This is all part of puppy socialization.
After agility, we drove to the home of Amy and Tom. The puppies got to explore a new place, play with new toys (including a "Busy Bee" ) and play tug-of-war. The puppies also thanked Amy for the crate pads that Amy had knitted and which she gave to each puppy.
I was reminded how dogs do not generalize well. The puppies have been doing much better with their potty training at my house. But this being a new place ... with some nice soft rugs ... the puppies had a few piddle accidents. Fortunately Amy and Tom were very understanding.
Too soon it was time to go on the long car ride home.
Morning play and morning nap.
Mommy Boo cleaning Tommy. Frannie is just to the left of Boo, and over further left is Peter peaking at what is happening. Boo still pays a lot of attention to the puppies; playing with them, cleaning them, and chastising them. I have started to strip Boo. You can not see much difference in her coat yet, unless you look at between her ears where I have gotten down to undercoat.
Puppies sleeping together. And Frannie using Tommy as a pillow. Frannie awake. If it seems like I take a lot of pictures of the puppies sleeping it is because it is very hard to get a photo of the puppies when they are awake - they move so quickly!
Not being content with pulling the pad off one ramp of my baby dogwalk, the puppies are now working on the other ramp.
And what the puppies spend most of their awake time doing - wrestling!
A few days ago I picked up the puppy playpen in my living room. This reduces to very few the number of soft surfaces on which a puppy might try to piddle. Instead of carrying the puppies outside during the day, I call them and lead them outside, and the puppies walk outside to go potty. Since my older dogs are all coming with me, I suspect there is some sort of doggy social pressure to come along with the pack. Potty traing is going well. So far today is a zero accident day.
This morning the puppies were out around 5 am to potty. I really wanted to get some more sleep but knew that if I put the puppies back in their crates they would just complain. So I left the puppies loose. Tommy and Peter took advantage of their freedom to climb up the ramp to my bed. After some growls from my adult dogs already on the bed, both puppies settled down, snuggled next to me, and went to sleep. I believe Frannie just napped on one of the dog beds in my bedroom.
Morning picture - playing after breakfast. And getting some morning milk. And after more play, using brother Tommy as a pillow.
Puppies trying to play with Aunt Izzy. Izzy just growled at the puppies, which caused the puppies to roll over onto their backs, which seems to be doggy language to mean "we are just puppies".
At lunch today both Tommy and Peter cleaned their bowls (60 ml of puppy kibble). When I take the puppies out of their crate after a meal, I can feel their bellies being full.
After dinner the puppies chewed on some large toothpicks. And to my surprise convinced Mommy to give them some milk.
This morning again the puppies wanted to get up before the crack of dawn, while I wanted to sleep till at least there was some light on the horizon. So again after taking the puppies outside to potty, I left them loose inside. This time I know it was Tommy and Frannie who came up onto my bed. When there was some light, Frannie started nibbling on my ear to get me to wake up.
Morning picture - Puppies out before breakfast to potty. Aunts Gwynie (left, partially stripped) and Siri (right) are with them. It had rained overnight and it continued to rain and was windy all day. Such days are not conducive to potty training, and there were several potty accidents today. In fact, at one point this morning there was a tornado warning, so I put all the dogs into their crates and was getting ready to move everyone into my bathroom (which does not have any windows) when the storm passed.
After vigorous play this morning, the puppies passed out in exhaustion (Frannie, left and Peter, right).
Visitors today. Amy brought her daughter and two grand-daughters to see my dogs and the puppies. Because it was so windy and rainy, I set up a big exercise pen in my barn so that the people and dogs could play together. A good time was had by all!
After-dinner nap (Tommy at the top, Peter at the bottom). Tommy again cleaned his dinner bowl (60 ml of puppy kibble). (Peter cleaned his lunch bowl.) Frannie chose a much more comfortable place to take an after-dinner nap - one of the dog beds in my bedroom.
The puppies are ten weeks old today and weigh as follows:
Morning picture - Puppies napping
after breakfast and early morning play. It was not until later
in the morning that I saw the
puppies nursing.
Visitors again today. Manny and Jane came and had a long
visit with the puppies.
After Manny and Jane left the puppies
took another nap.
Dinner tonight was scrambled eggs (puppy kibble topped with
scrambled eggs). I have not mentioned that the puppies
over the past couple of days have
had meals with tuna fish and meals with cottage cheese.
All the future homes for the puppies have told me their planned
call names for the puppies. (Of course call names can be changed
on a whim. And sometimes my dogs get multiple call names. "Sock
stealer" and "Ankle biter" are favorites!) Here are the
puppies' new names:
I will be using these names going forward ... mostly
so that I get used to them!
Marian resting her head
on brother Yoshi.
All three puppies cleaned their bowls (60 ml puppy kibble)
at lunch today.
Just as I do for my older dogs, I add a quarter of a
Pet Tab Plus (a vitamin) and a crushed blueberry to each
puppies' breakfast bowl. The Pet Tab is almost always
eaten; the blueberry less so. Fortunately my older dogs
are always happy to eat any leftover blueberry.
Unless Boo did so when I was not looking (like when
I was taking a shower) I did not see the puppies
nurse today.
Mommy Boo playing with
the puppies after breakfast. If you look closely,
you can see that Boo is in a "play bow" (front down,
butt in the air).
When we went back inside, Boo started "toughening up" Marian.
(photo 1 and
photo 2). Boo
has Marian on Marian's back and is growling and play
biting at Marian. I only
see this behavior with mothers towards their
puppies. My other adults mostly ignore the puppies.
Some of the ones who have been mothers will sometimes help Boo
groom a puppy, but I do not see them
play with the puppies.. Mostly the adults just growl if a puppy
comes too near. Only the mother does this "toughening up".
Marian and Yoshi playing tug-of-war
(photo 1 and
photo 2).
Shared bodily warmth. Given
how cold it was this morning, I was surprised how long the puppies
spent outside playing.
Playing and
sleeping - the life
of a puppy.
I believe I saw Aunt Izzy - who is just one-year old herself so still might be considered a puppy - playing with the puppies
(photo 1,
photo 2, and
photo 3).
Mommy Boo snuggling with Yoshi.
I have not seen the puppies nurse today. I have cut Boo back to
half a helping of cottage cheese.
Morning picture - Eating
breakfast. When I bring the food bowls into my bedroom
for the puppies, all the dogs and the puppies are wrestling at my
feet. I do not understand why the dogs think that wrestling
proves that they should be fed, but that seems seems to be
how they think. Aunt Mandy is usually barking at me to hurry up as
she is hungry, and does not understand why the puppies should
be fed first. When I reach down to pick up a puppy, almost
always one of the brothers (usually Yoshi) first jumps into my hands
to be lifted up to his crate and food. Then the second brother,
and finally Marian. Then I feed my older dogs ... and peace reigns
in my house for a few moments.
Puppies playing outside after
breakfast before settling down for their
after-breakfast nap.
Yoshi
tugging on an obstinate
vine that he decided needed weeding, while Marin was
chewing on a stick.
Watson - photo 1 and
photo 2. I did not get
Watson's entire ears in photo 1, but I like the expression on his
face.
Marian continues the puppies' box disassembly project.
I so often take pictures of the puppies' faces, that today
I decided I would concentrate on other angles of the body, such
as backs:
and rears:
Yoshi, having defeated the evil Teddy Bear in honorable combat,
carries and lays the
body of his esteemed opponent in a place of honor.
I did not see Boo let the puppies nurse today. I think
after three days of not seeing any nursing, that it is
safe to say that nursing is finished for the puppies.
After the puppies had breakfast and been outside to play and
(hopefully) potty, I was in the bathroom when I heard some
slurping sounds. Before I could investigate the sounds stopped.
There may have been some clandestine nursing going on!
Morning picture - puppies
napping on the dog beds in my bedroom.
Irene and Jim brought uncle "HP" to visit the
puppies today. "Uncle" is not an honorific, HP really
is the littermate of Boo and so is the uncle of the
puppies. We took the puppies outside my fenced yard on a big walk in the field
in front of my house. After getting the puppies tired
I put them inside to nap, and Irene, Jim, and I took the
adult dogs on a long walk. As we finished the walk,
we saw the puppies waiting for us.
That is Boo leading us home followed by HP.
We then sat on the porch and played with the puppies
(photo 1 and
photo 2). The
puppies were
very interested in
Uncle HP. Eventually the puppies got tired and
took
a nap at Jim's feet.
I tried (and failed) to get a good natural photo of Boo and HP.
Jim tried holding Boo
and HP. (Boo is on the left, HP on the right; clearly
I have more grooming to do on Boo's face; aunt Izzy is
looking up at HP.) Finally we put
Boo and HP up on
my grooming table for the best photo I was able to get of the two
of them. We also put the puppies up on the grooming table next
to HP:
After Irene, Jim, and HP left, the puppies
went back to playing and napping ... and destruction of the box.
Watson is making an attempt to overtake Yoshi in their weight
race. Watson cleaned his bowl at both lunch and dinner today.
The big adventure today was an adventure for just Yoshi -
a trip to the vet
to get a certificate of health, as Yoshi will be leaving
me early next week. Yoshi started his visit by first
being
held by the receptionists.
[The green thing on the desk is the microchip and microchip
applicator - basically a large gauge needle - that I brought
for Yoshi. Rather than use the microchip supplied
by my vet, I ask my vet to inject a mini-microchip - which
is smaller - that I supply. I purchase the
"international" variant of microchip, so it should be
recognized anywhere in the world.]
And of course Yoshi had to visit the other
receptionist
(photo 1
and photo 2).
When Yoshi and I got into the exam room, and after Yoshi
was weighed and had his temperature and a fecal sample taken,
I was able to get this nice
selfie of Yoshie.
While we waited for the vet, a succession of vet techs
came in to
give Yoshi a hug.
Finally the vet came and examined Yoshi
(photo 1
and photo 2).
Yoshi then got his
microchip injected.
(Yoshi did not make a sound.)
Since everything looked good, my vet signed Yoshi's certificate
of health - which makes Yoshi legal to cross state lines early
next week.
When we got home, Yoshi was not done. Now that Yoshi
had his microchip, I was able to swab the inside of his
cheeks for his AKC DNA identification. The results will
not be back for a couple of months. The AKC DNA id will
allow Yoshi to be identified by DNA and also verify that
Yoshi's recorded parentage is correct. (Recall that I
took DNA samples earlier from all the puppies and sent
them to Embark, a commercial DNA testing company. I will
get the same information - identification and parentage
verification - (and much more) from the raw data that
Embark will supply. But the AKC being a bureaucracy
has their own DNA markers that they use.)
The three puppies playing
keep-away and tug-of-war with a pine needle.
Mommy Boo playing with the puppies.
Morning picture and a
few minutes later (Mommy
Boo is checking out a puppy, while two puppies are checking to
see if Mommy has any milk).
Post-breakfast nap and
mid-morning nap.
Again I took the puppies along when I took three of my adult dogs
for an agility lesson. Being a Saturday, my instructor's
children were all home and got to play with the puppies
(photo 1,
photo 2,
photo 3, and
photo 4).
After I worked with my adult dogs, it was the puppies' turn.
Watson was up first and had no problem with the dogwalk
(photo 1,
photo 2, and
photo 3). Actually
this was not Watson's first time on the dogwalk today. When
the children were playing with the puppies and I was setting
up the puppies' x-pen, I looked up to find the young boy
leading Watson over the dogwalk with nothing more
than an "air cookie" (no treat in his hand).
It is better if an experienced agility person is supervising
a beginner dog ... but Watson did not have any problem. (I asked
the boy to bring Watson outside of the agility ring.) After
Watson did the dogwalk down and back (with my instructor supervising)
we moved to a jump with the bar on the ground for some
recalls
over the bar. Then we moved to a curved tunnel for
some recalls through the tunnel
(photo 1 and
photo 2).
Marian was up next. Marian is still a little hesitant and needed
encouragement,
wanted to stop and
sniff, but finally
finished. Marian got a little worried coming back, but with encouragement
made it to the top and
across and finished.
Marian also did some
recalls over a bar, and
recalls through a curved tunnel
(photo 1 and
photo 2).
Finally it was Yoshi's turn. Yoshi was so fast doing the
dogwalk that I initially missed getting any pictures, but
I got some on his way back
(photo 1 and
photo 2).
My instructor still likes Yoshi's enthusiasm! Then
some
recalls over a bar, and
through a curved tunnel
(photo 1,
photo 2 and
photo 3).
After some more petting and cuddles from the children
(photo 1 and
photo 2), we packed up and
made the long drive home.
At home there was more play. Yoshi
dragged a stick
up onto my baby dogwalk. Later I saw Waton jump
from the baby dogwalk to the top of the wooden
tunnel, but he got off before I could get my camera out.
Puppies waiting for us
as the adult dogs and I come back from our daily walk. Mommy
Boo ran ahead and waited with the puppies. Note how different
Boo looks now that she has been stripped (groomed).
Yoshi keeping an eye
on the robot vacuum cleaner.
Today was nail day at my house. All the dogs and all the
puppies met Mr. Dremel and had their nails done.
Mommy Boo all groomed
in preparation for returning home to her primary owners.
All my dogs and the
puppies loaded in my car for the long trip to the big city
of Raleigh.
Our first stop was to Boo's home. I gave Boo and the
puppies a chance to say goodbye (photo 1 and
photo 2). This is
likely to be their last time being all together. We left
Boo with her primary owners who were very happy to have
Boo back home in time for Thanksgiving.
Our next stop was the home of my petsitter. I gave
the puppies a chance to say goodbye to each other, but
the puppies were more
interested in exploring this new place. I left
all my adult dogs and Marian and Watson with my petsitter.
Yoshi and I then travelled for a visit with a
friend who is a Cavalier breeder. Yoshi was
the center
of attention! Yoshi even got to meet a Cavalier puppy.
They exchanged proper
doggy greetings by sniffing each others' butts.
Yoshi and I then made the long drive home. So tonight Yoshi is the only dog
at my house.
My petsitter send me this picture of Marian and Watson
all tuckered out.
There will now be an interruption to this puppy
diary as I will be travelling. Tomorrow I
will be taking Yoshi to his new home in Philadelphia.
As soon as I return to North Carolina, I will be flying
to St. Louis to judge over the Thanksgiving weekend.
And when I fly home on Monday from the judging assignment,
aunt Siri should be having her puppies (if she has not
already had them while I am away). I will update this
puppy diary as I am able.
My petsitter sent me these pictures of Marian and Watson:
My petsitter commented jokingly that she was trying to find
some steel-toed shoes to protect her toes from puppy teeth!
We were only home for a short time before it was
time to go to
the vet. Great-grandmother Mandy came along to
chaperone as it was time for Mandy to get a rabies shot.
I took advantage of the opportunity for socialization
and let some of the people in the waiting room hold the puppies.
Marian was the first to be weighed and
have her
temperature taken (rectally). Then it was Watson's turn for the
uncomfortable procedure. Since Watson was already on
the table when the vet came in, Watson was examined
first and got
his second puppy shot and his microchip. Then Marian
was examined (photo
1 and photo 2).
Then Marian got her
second puppy shot and her microchip.
Both puppies got their certificate of health and so
are ready to go to their new homes.
When we got home everyone had dinner. Since then the
puppies have been running around playing and do not seem
affected by their puppy shot. The puppies (and Boo)
act as if they had not been away for a week.
In the morning after breakfast Marian and Watson played
but then settled down for
a nap. Too soon, the time came for Boo and Marian to
say goodbye to Watson
(Boo is on the left, Watson is wearing a harness).
Joan and Doug had come
to take Watson to his new home in South Carolina.
And then there was just
one - Marian.
To soothe my sadness at Watson leaving, I took my
dogs for a long walk. Siri of course stayed home with
her puppies. I did not want to leave Marian all alone,
so I brought Marian along for the walk. I half expected
to end up carrying Marian, but she kept up with my
adult dogs on the long walk. But I had a tired puppy
at the end!
Morning picture of Marian.
Today Amy and Tom came to pick up Marian. (Tom is
holding mommy Boo.) Marian will be living with Amy and
Tom at their home in Raleigh. So Marian is going from
being a country girl to being a city girl.
Tomorrow I will return mommy Boo to her primary owners.
I am always sad for a day or two after a puppy leaves. But
I know that they are in good homes ... and life goes on.
So that brings this puppy diary to a close.
Hopefully the owners of Marian, Watson, and Yoshi will send me
pictures and stories, and the best will end up on the
Shaksper News blog.
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
