Thanksgiving Pictures

Ah, the excitement! Their first holiday! Obviously they were totally unfazed! Got all 7 done in record time... perhaps it's because I did them individually. Pictures of all 7 are on the website and for the first time I am able to tell which pup is which so if you see one that really interests you, let me know!

One cute little thing... the black and tan male puppy has developed the habit of sleeping ON TOP of his mama. There is a rug in their nest which seems to keep the rest of them warm enough at night, but the b-a-t boy isn't satisfied with that. He stretches out full length along her back or side, whichever way she's sleeping, and stays there until she dumps him off.

Di is now spending a couple hours at a time away from them. They're always happy to see her when she returns but are not UNhappy when she's gone.

They'll be 6 weeks old Tuesday and will be getting their first shots. Half way to rehoming time!

Pookie Again

The beautiful Emy/Shadow girl who lives in Chicago, has passed her Therapy Dog test and is certified! Pookie is just shy of being a year old and has done amazingly well.

Dan hopes to start working her soon.

Finally - New Pix

More photos on the website.


Marna's little girl



The two smallest blond pups



The other blond guy and the black and tan male



The two largest pups

Most of the smaller boys are really starting to lighten up and sizes are getting closer to being the same although there are still differences.

The pups are ALL running and wrestling and making a lot of noise. Several of them are really interested in the dogs on the other side of the wire and I spend way too much time watching the ones inside paw at the ones outside... and vice versa! And I can no longer just open the gate and easily walk around in the pen. As soon as I start to open the gate, I am swarmed by little bodies!

Yeah, yeah yeah!

I know. I promised pictures. But things went haywire around here for a couple days and I simply haven't gotten around to it. I will do it this weekend. Owl is leaving tomorrow... I know! Bummer! But as sweet as he is, he's a little too rough on a couple of these little rescues and he can't live with Mina. So some Deerhound people are coming up from Florida to get him. They already have a Deerhound which will give him someone his own size to play with. Although, his best friend here is a little Poodle mix pup, about 10 months old, who weighs maybe 8 pounds. Owl picks her up by her head and carries her around. Scares me to death! Even if SHE doesn't seem to mind. I'll miss his sweet face but not his cold nose waking me up at 7 AM because he wants to go outside! If I don't get pictures of the pups later today, I will do them tomorrow after Owl leaves.

Progress

Yesterday, right on schedule, the pups found their mom's food. It amazes me that one day they have absolutely zero interest in anything that isn't pre-heated to body temperature and the next, they're chowing down on stuff that is not only cold, but has to be chewed! But all of them are eating it. Of course, they're still on mom as well. I enlarged their pen from 4' by 4 to 7 by 4' and the extra space threw a couple of them... their eyesight isn't too good as yet (or their brains are developed enough to process what they're seeing) and even though they could see the nest a few feet in front of them, they were lost. Diamond was sitting right there... they were practically under her feet... and after she listened to them whine for about a half hour, she got up and walked into the nest. They followed. And everything is peaceful once again. By this afternoon, they'll be comfortable with the additional space and will even try picking up the pace a little... puppies learning to run is actually quite funny. The other dogs are lying around the pen, noses pressed to the wire, some of the smaller ones sticking their paws inside to touch puppies that get close enough. It will be a while before I let the two groups mingle freely although Diamond is no longer warning everyone away.
They'll be 4 weeks this evening! Picture time again!

All Together Now!

For the first time, ALL the pups were out of the nest, roaming around, confident. None of them appeared to feel lost, deserted or alone. They were just exploring. AND when mom went back in the nest (probably thinking she'd catch a snooze while they were occupied elsewhere) everyone of them found its way back. NOBODY squealed, cried or even whimpered for over an hour! Pretty soon, all the puppy raising work is going to be mine and Diamond can just sit back and smirk!

3 Weeks Old Group Pix

This is most likely the last time I'll be able to get them all together... and obviously they weren't all into having their sleep disturbed THIS time! The black/tan male has grown by leaps and bounds and is now in the middle of the pack while the black/tan female is just slightly bigger than he while one of the darkest is the same size. The 2 smallest guys are still the darkest and the 2 lightest guys are now the largest in the litter. Several of the pups have small amounts of white on their chests. ALL have their eyes and ears open and now notice me when I'm in the pen with them, touching or holding them. They are on their feet... still a little unsure but gaining confidence every hour! Looking for their mama, a couple have gotten out of the nest and promptly gotten lost when she's gone back IN the nest. Some time before their next week's birthday they'll discover the water bowl and then the big find... mama's food! They grow up so fast!

Just so you know... the black in the back row is the girl, her brother is in front. The 3 next to them are the darkest little guy with the 2 biggest pups in front and the 2 smallest boys are on the left.

Different shots... still conglomerations... are on the website and dbi.com

Introducing... TATER

This is Mr. Potato Head or, as he'll be known around here, Tater. (I wanted a name that was Irish but not overused!) He's just a baby but when he grows up, he'll take Brogue's place. He was the only male in his litter... just like Marna's new pup was the only female in Di/Brogue's litter. It happens!

Speaking of what's NOT happening
Emy is out of season. The guys have gone back to ignoring her. So, unless Shadow managed to have his way with her one of the days they were out in the backyard and I wasn't with them, there will be no pups from her in December. I was really looking forward to their litter... especially now that I've found my Wheaten puppy. I was planning to keep a Em/Shad girl and they could grow up together. (I was planning to keep a Di/Brogue girl too and we all know what happened there!)

Going to change the website in just a bit so people are aware that we're now waiting for Cotton to come back into season.

Peace at Last, Peace at Last!

Seems like the coughing has come to an end. Finally. It was only around 11 days, but it was a long 11 days! And nights. Even Ravin seems to be 99% recovered. The last coughing pup stopped yesterday afternoon and quiet reigned supreme last night. I would say, on the whole, the individual coughing lasted 4-5 days.

Emy
A lot of you are interested in what is going on with Em... and nothing is. She is simply NOT interested in any of the guys. I AM going to keep trying until Shadow is no longer interested, but I'm not hopeful. Cotton has not been in season yet... that I know of!... and she's next on the list, so we'll see.

Owl is here!
And he must have grown 3 inches in the last couple weeks! He is one tall puppy. And still doesn't speak much English. But he's really sweet.

Daylight Savings Time
This has nothing... well, LITTLE... to do with the dogs, but it's my blog and I can complain if I want. I HATE this time change business, whichever direction we're changing the clocks. It takes me at least a week to adjust... thank heavens I don't have to punch a time clock! And the dogs get really annoyed with me and my arbitrary revamping of their schedule. So, after much thought, I've come up with a solution. This Spring or late Winter or whenever we're supposed to "lose" an hour, we lose a half hour and we leave it lost. Forever. We do not find it next Fall or early Winter. That should even out the daylight/nightime hours quite nicely. And who cares if the rest of the world is on the hour when we're on the half hour? We're the ones in charge, right?

2 Weeks Old Tonight

And the birthday pictures are on the website. Stop groaning. I was determined to get shots of faces this time, and out of over 5 dozen snaps, managed to get just a couple that were usable, so they're on the site.

Emy Update
This is one of those bad news/bad news situations. Emy is simply not interested in being a mom right now. She'll let Shadow come and sit by her. He can clean her face and massage her shoulders. But that's it. He's interested in taking it to another level, but is the most gentlemanly stud dog I've ever had, so when she says "No!" he takes it for an answer. I thought/hoped she might be more receptive to another dog... namely Brogue... but as pushy as he is, she backed him right down. I'll keep trying... she could be just cycling very slowly or she could be taking a page out of her mom's book and skipping motherhood this time around.

IF I don't get Emy bred, I WILL breed Cotton, who has not come into season yet. She's due any day now... she's usually about 10-14 days behind Em.

Meanwhile, with the Coughing...
Most everyone has stopped, or at least slowed considerably. I've stopped the antibiotics except with Ravin, my somewhat elderly Lab. She seems to be having a time with it, although (like everyone else,) she's NOT sick. Some of the pups are also coughing, but they have NOT been on antibiotics and are getting the Robitussin only at bedtime (MY bedtime.) It breaks my heart to hear them... a couple of you have told me about your kids having the croup... but so long as no one has a runny nose and everyone is eating, I'm not going to medicate them. I figure (with fingers, toes and eyes crossed) that it will be all over and done with by this time next week. And some of the dogs have not coughed even once... no new cases since Saturday. Go figure!