Updates

The pick up/ship scheduling is going well. Thank you VERY much. Now if only the weather will cooperate...! And I can't emphasize enough that we have to be flexible. Maybe EXTREMELY flexible. Just look at what is going on with traveling right now because of the storms a week ago. I know it's going to be hard because of the anticipation AND the fact that many of you are taking time off work which has to be scheduled in advance. Cross your fingers, toes and eyes and get everyone you know to do the same!

I'll be sending out an email, probably tomorrow, with some suggestions on supplies to get before the pups arrive.

And a couple other emails over the next two weeks with info on helping the pups to settle in and what to expect. Also one on puppy "diseases" and treatments. You might want to print these off for quick reference later, especially if you have little or old puppy experience.

Water Dogs
Di's and Emy's pups have discovered playing in the water bowl. But so far, aren't making a habit of it. I keep the house cool... low 60s... so being wet isn't all that much fun. Yet. Cotton's pups haven't done it except by accidentally stepping in the bowl when rough housing. Playing in the water bowl is one of my top complaints about Whoodle pups so these guys are all getting "A"s.

Moms
The girls must have believed me when I threatened to take them to the kennel if they didn't let their pups grow up. Emy has distanced herself the most from her pups and Cotton the least, but ALL of them seem much more content not being with them. They still run in to stand by the puppy pens when I let them out of their room or they come in from outside. But they're back to listening to me when I call them away.

Puppy web address
You can no longer get to the puppy pages from the main website. Available pups are pictured on the Whoodle Page, but to see the last pix I took of the pups with homes you have to go to their site directly. The address is
http://uptodatepuppyinfo.com

And I know you're all going to want new pix at least once more before you get your pups. All I can say is I'll TRY. These guys are already working me to death... I knew there was a reason I stopped having multiple litters at the same time... and I do need to spend as much time as possible just holding the pups individually so they know about the joys of human contact!

Farewell 2010!
WELCOME 2011

I Give Up!

Although I separated moms and pups over a week ago... I think... I am still being jarred awake every morning at 5-6 by mamas "talking" with their children. They're in adjoining rooms... but can't see each other... and I don't know who is starting it, but it's driving me nuts! And as soon as one group... pups or moms... is released from "jail," all the members go flying into the next room to see the relatives. Yesterday I had to CHASE Di, Em and Cotton around and threaten to do them bodily harm to get them back into the tv room. If they are not over this by Monday, I'm taking the girls to board at the vet's for a week. And keeping my fingers crossed!

And one other thing
Boon, the new Wheaten puppy, has his nose out of joint because of Crockett's arrival. He is so ticked off with me, he has VOLUNTARILY moved in with the pups and pretty much ignores me as much as THEY do whenever they are out. I have never had such an independant pup before and I'm not sure it's a good thing!

This is Why I Hate Taking Puppy Pix

This is Crockett who has come to live with me. He goes full out for about an hour and then collapses in a heap and sleeps for 2-3 hours.

Seasons Greetings

Merry Christmas to you and yours

from me and mine!

A Few Things

Christmas photos
This pup just wanted to get down to it and get it over with...


Will put a pix on the website of each of the pups who have homes. The others will have to wait till after Christmas for a photo session.

Weights
Got new weights on Di's and Emy's litters at 8 weeks. And I am REALLY confused!
Di's pups are all 4 to 5.25 pounds
EXCEPT the "red" boy who is 7.5!
Emy's BOYS are from 5 pounds to two that are 8 and the girls are one at 5 and one at 7.
These dogs never make anything simple!

Speaking of which
All 3 litters are still nursing. Their moms are still with them... voluntarily... all the time. The little buggers even cry when their moms are in the house and NOT in the pens with them.
Sooo... it's going to be really nosiy around here for the next couple days as I am moving moms OUT. They are going back into the tv room and babies are just going to HAVE TO adjust. I mean, they're 8 weeks old! And if they don't get with the program, not one of them is going to be ready to go next month.

Ice, Sheet, Freezing Rain

A friend sent me this photo to suggest a possible solution if any more of my trees come down. First off, MY trees are nowhere near that size and second, I'm not worried about them falling on the road, just on the house!

The ice started as predicted, early last night, BUT even though our temperature was hovering around 27, we only got a light coating. When I let the dogs out at midnight (yeah, don't want to hear about it!) the stuff coming down was icy snow. This morning, it was sort of raining and by the time I finally drug myself out of bed, the temp was up to 32... for the first time in a LONG time... and it was REAL rain. Of course, the dogs ran outside and got soaked before they came in even though they were only out there a few minutes. Nothing like cold and wet coats against bare legs! Hours later, we're still at 32... PREDICTED high for today is 42. Right! Still have both power and phone, knock on wood, while all around me the ice was worse and lines are down.

Emy and Sparky's Remy

Several people are trying to figure out what kind of coats the individual pups will have and they're basing their mental arguments on what seems most logical. However, Remy (and most of the pups from that litter) have totally different coats than the pups from Em and Sparky's first litter (of which my curly Cotton is an example.)

Boon
I know. You're all waiting for pictures of the new stud "dog." And as soon as I get over my new camera phobia... caused by trying to get decent pix of 22 individual pups... I'll post some!

He's fitting in nicely although he is about 3 weeks older than OUR pups and, therefore, a little too big to play with them (if he were a little older, he'd behave better with them) and is being spoiled rotten by my adults (who really should put him in his place a little more firmly.) So far, so good. And I'm going to try getting a shot of him with one of the "reds" to show how similar they are in coloration to purebred Wheatens.

The Truth Shall Set Me Free

HA! I got Cotton's pictures all done, just like I said I would. And in much less time than I spent with the other two litters. Every one of C's pups just sort of sat there, or laid where I wanted them to, and most had very little trouble looking at the camera. (Some pups and dogs HATE it when I put something in front of my face, even sunglasses.) With Cotton's litter, the average number of shots I took per pup was two... to get TWO USABLE pictures each.
With Di and Em's litters, the average was 4-5. Talk about laid back. Or, maybe, they're just Fabio wannabees!

This is one guy who got more than 2 shots... he was the last one I did, so maybe he was feeling slighted!

So... I Lied

It's COLD here. About 15 right now and it's only 7:30 at night. Going down to single digits and only getting UP to around 20 for the next 3-4 days. If you don't believe me, check out Ost and Wombat... AND BROGUE who never ever cuddles with anyone.


So what I lied about...
Pictures. I finished taking Emy's 8. And I'll get a shot of each uploaded to the website later this evening... provided it and my browser have settled their differences. In the meantime, here are a couple pictures I like.
One of the two "red" boys making sure HIS stuffed animal stays HIS.

And one of the 3 black and tan boys, not the least impressed with HIS!



I plan on doing pictures of Cotton's 9 babies tomorrow IF my camera isn't frozen!

Promises, Promises

I absolutely promise to get some pictures of the individual pups in Emy's and Cotton's litters and at least send them out via email THIS weekend. Don't know if I'll get them up on the website as my browser (Firefox) has suddenly taken a dislike to my site host and refuses to communicate with it/them/whatever. The folks who own/run my host have worked on the problem for days and their final solution... use another browser. The only one I have is an old (like REALLY OLD) IE. So, soon as I get the guts, I'm going to unload Firefox and load the newest version... and hope nothing is lost in the process except whatever bugged the old one about the host!

Two of Emy's older pups...
actually it's three since Zoe (the parti) is from Em and Shadow and Murphy (the black/tan) and Beckett (the snowman) are from Em and Sparky.


Zoe and Murphy


Beckett

Here's the Thing...

Microchips...
here's a situation to consider: Jack Elliott managed to get out of the yard and disappeared for several hours. Caren found him over a mile away, tied up on some guy's carport. The man told her Elliott was HIS dog and refused to give him to her. She said, "Fine. MY dog's microchipped. Let's get this dog scanned and we'll see whose dog he is." Then she put Elliott in the car and took him home.
A couple people have told me they put their pup's chip number on his id tags. If the dog gets lost and people can get close enough to him to read the tags, they can read your address/phone number. They do not need his chip number. If, on the other hand, the dog is in the hands of someone who wants to claim him as their own, it is nice to have some way, unknown to them, to prove your ownership.

Packages...
someone has sent me something. Ordinarily, this would not be a big problem. However, according to the post office, it is too big to put in my box and I have to pick it up at the counter, and at this time of year... especially with all the consolidation the post office has done around here... it's hard to find a parking space much less get through the line in less than 30-40 minutes. Many of you know I have PAD which makes standing in line for more than a couple minutes an impossibility. It's not that I don't want surprises; I love them! So if you're planning to send me something... and this is NOT a hint or a solicitation!... let me know and I'll give you my son's address. He lives in town and has delivery at his home. (He also has neighbors and noise and traffic....)

It's Snowing... Again!

I already had 1-1/2 inches of snow... the first weekend in November, which is very VERY early for us. And it's coming down again. Wasn't supposed to start until late this afternoon and even then it was supposed to be rain, turning to snow as the sun went down. However, there was a light dusting overnight which the dogs totally ignored when they started their morning trips outside. But now, 2 hours later, it's coming down to beat the band! The last group just came back inside, covered with the stuff and now they're soaking wet and steaming! Original predictions were a trace to 2" by Sunday night. That's been upped, thank you very much, to 2 to 4 inches by Sunday night. And with temps at or below freezing for the HIGH for the next couple days, it will probably stick around a bit. Early Winter = early Spring?

Pups and water
The kids have learned to drink water! They've been licking AT the water for the last 2 weeks... sticking their noses in, jumping back and then licking their lips, paws, etc. But in the last day or two, all of them have taken to slurping it down... and I do mean slurping. I've had horses who were quieter about getting a drink!

And lets not even talk about food. I feed my mamas... and the pups... a "better quality" food than what the dogs normally get. It is much (MUCH) higher in protein and fat and is a very small kibble size (so even the babies can eat it, even before they have teeth.) The first four weeks after birth, I used one 40 pound bag. In the almost 2 weeks since, I've used 2 bags and am about a third of the way through the bag I got Wednesday afternoon. AND this gang... all 3 sets... are NOT scattering it all over their pen but eating every little piece.

Puppy behavior
So now they're "fighting" with each other. That is, they're biting down hard enough to make each other cry. And when they're not crying, they sound like little buzz saws. It's kinda cute... especially as they've already learned the "lights out means shut up" rule. One thing I seldom see is moms interfering when the kids are tussling, however all 3 have gotten up and separated pups who were getting a little carried away in the bully department. Guess they're taking the news stories to heart!

Cotton's Pups - 5 Weeks

SOME of Cotton and Brogue's litter on their 5 weeks birthday.
A number of them are really getting the hair... I didn't brush them out for these photos, but by the next ones, they will all be fluffy!
And not to put down the other two litters, but Cotton's babies are pretty much all using just one area of their pen for potty-business. That is SO advanced it is probably just a fluke!


Other pix on the website.

Another ADULT Emy/Shad Pup

This is Zoe, who lives in Pennsylvania. She is a litter sister to Stoney (from Emy and Shadow's first offering.)


Sharing her home is Murphy, previous known as Brother, who is her HALF-sibling. He is from Emy and SPARKY's last litter.


Murphy, doing his "stacked show dog" imitation


Speaking of dog shows
Did everyone watch the Thanksgiving Day Show after the parade? The Best in Show line up was terrific! I'm satisfied with the Irish Setter winning... he won the previous day as well (his first two Best in Shows)... and he's a really nice looking Irish. Perhaps it's that he is just a youngster (only 3) but his coat is not as exaggerated as many show Setters and he actually looks like a dog that could do what he was bred for (originally bred for!) BUT if I had been judging, BIS would have done to the Affenpinscher. What a gorgeous, saucy little dog! Or, if that was not an option, my second choice would have been the Scottish Deerhound. She is just yummy! The Boxer was a nice gal as well. I did not care for the Border Collie or the Schippeke and wasn't overly thrilled with the Am Staff. And David Frye wasn't as obnoxious as usual, so a fun time was had by all!

Pix - Di and Em's

5 weeks tomorrow...



Diamond and Brogue's 5 pups
3 females and 2 males
Notice how the color is changing.

Emy and Shadow's 8 pups
3 light colored males (1 born blond, 2 will be)
3 black males
2 females




Other shots on the website on the puppy page.

And yes, some of the shots are fuzzy. YOU try getting three... or even TWO... healthy, normally active pups to sit still at the same time long enough for a digital camera to get the shot!

Shadow and Stoney

Dog Meets Son
Last weekend Stoney came to visit for a few minutes. He sure has changed since the last time we saw him, almost 2 years ago! Shadow made his acquaintance... and then was totally disinterested. (Now, if it had been one of his daughters, it would have been a different story!) Since Emy was busy with Stoney's new brothers and sisters, she wasn't able to join in.

Cotton's Weights at 4 Weeks

Here we go again. And the main thing I've learned in weighing this entire batch of pups is that I could use a new scales! Mine is 9-10 years old and like most things in the house (human included,) has not aged well!

Cotton's pups weigh between one at 1.95 pounds (a girl) and four at 2.20 pounds (a girl in this bunch also.) The average weight in the litter is about 2.10 or just a tad more than Diamond's. And, here's the test, class, what does this equate to (sort of) as ideal adult weight? (One possible answer will be at the end of this post.)

This is the group I think will show the greatest difference at 8 weeks and beyond. Nine of them being fed entirely by their mom would seem to mean they haven't been getting as much as they might like as five in the same situation would. They are as active AND as quiet as the others, so nobody is suffering. (A quiet pup is full... or into something. But they're too little for that.) Now that they've discovered a bowl of food readily at hand, 24/7, they're on their way to being dogs.

Breakdown is
Cotton's blond females:
1.75. 2.0, 2.2
Blond males:
1.96, 2.0, 2.1,
2.2, 2.2, 2.2

For a couple days, Cotton had this bunch under control. They all learned at the same time how to get out of the pool. Since they hadn't figured ut how to get back in, she traded places with them. However, they have watched and learned from their aunts and uncles living next door and now Cotton always has 4 in and 5 out or vice versa.

Here's why there aren't any new pictures
I am in the process of moving the pups out of the bedroom because they need more room and I'm not adding on to the house! This means, furniture in other rooms has to be moved (and removed) and adult dogs resituated so I can set up puppy pens. I can't just DO it because I live alone (and my son has just started work on a new club... he puts together nightclubs, everything from locale to name to licensing to equipment to advertising to... you get the picture... and can't help me) AND because dogs are very oriented to structure and situation, especially when there are a bunch of them. AND they are all fascinated with the pups. So this is taking several days. I hope to get time for a photo session over the weekend.

But I may sleep instead.

****
Answer to the question: Cotton's pups should weigh just slightly more than Diamond's, a little over 30 pounds.

Weights at 4 weeks

This morning, to mark the 4 weeks birthday of Diamond and Emerald's litters, I weighed all 13 pups. Di's averaged at 2 pounds while Em's averaged 2.5. In Emy's litter, 3 pups (2 black males and the red female) are larger than any of Di's and one (the other black male) is the same weight as Diamond's largest (a female.) The smallest pup of the baker's dozen is also Emy's, a red male, and her other red guy is just slightly bigger than the smallest pup in Di's litter (the BLACK male!)

Now, there is a formula that works VERY well with large breeds and is fairly accurate with small breeds if you adjust it. It's just so-so with medium breeds.

The formula is a pup weighs 10% of its ideal adult weight for every 4 weeks of age.
That is a large breed puppy who weighs 5 pounds at 4 weeks will weigh around 50 pounds as an adult. (For small breeds, the pups weighs 20% of its adult weight for every 4 weeks or a small breed pup who is 2 pound at 8 weeks will weigh about 5 pounds full grown.)

I usually figure the Whoodles fall in between the two... 15% per 4 weeks. SO! Diamond's pups, on average, should be in the area of 30 pounds and Emy's 37.
Here's a little (another) disclaimer... the pups are weaning off moms. Most of them are somewhat hungry. SOME have found the food and are eating it, a couple on a regular basis. In another 4 weeks, they will have been eating as much as they want whenever they want and I believe weights taken at 8 weeks will be a better indication of adult size.

For those keeping track, the weights are:
Diamond's: black male - 1.81#, red male - 2.16,
red females - 2.25, 1.96, 1.90

Emerald's: black males - 3.0, 2.55, 2.25,
red males - 1.85 & 1.75, blond male - 2.12,
blond female - 2.0, red female - 2.55

One more thing: One of Emy's two year old sons from her previous Shadow litter came to see me this weekend. He is just under 40 pounds. And ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS! Off white in color and put together like all dogs should be built. Just a stunning fellow!

Big BIG Deal!

Remember Emy's smallest black male... I said he was the first one to be able to get out of the swimming pool. Well, smart little fellow that he is, he's figured out how to get back in. For one thing, it is always much harder for pups to climb IN than out and for another, it's a huge mental leap to realize IN is where they should be. This pup needs a really smart owner!

Leaps and Bounds

Cotton's litter at 3 weeks which was yesterday.

ALL the pups are making dog noises... growls and barks... and are wrestling with each other. Of course, they're not steady enough to stand on all fours and tussle so they lie down next to (or on top of) each other and try to get someone else's head, ear, foot or tail in their mouths. Since they don't have even an inkling of teeth yet, no one is getting hurt. Moms sit and watch and never try to break it up. That will come later when things get rougher.

The pups are also noticing when they see me... when I open the pen gate or stand by the pen and talk to their moms. Sometimes I get a little chatter back from one or two babies... don't know if it's welcome or warning!

Couple things about the moms. They are feeding the pups often... every 2 hours or so... but for only a few minutes at a time. (In the next week or so, the pups will get tired of being hungry and will start in on moms' food, first sucking on it and then, as their teeth start coming in, gnawing on the kibble.) If moms don't feel like nursing the babies, they lie flat on their bellies so the pups can't get to the nipples or will leave the nest altogether. At night, since I keep the bedroom cool, they stay in with the pups all night long, but as soon as the sun comes out and things warm up a tad, they move out of the nest. When they have been outside, even if only for 5-10 minutes, they hop into their nests and inspect every pup like they suspect I'm doing something to them while their backs are turned! Every mom has visited every other mom's babies, but only for a second. So far, no one has growled at another dog for being in with the pups.

Individual Achievement

The prize for first to make Honest, Unadulterated Contact with a Human...
goes to the smallest red girl in Diamond's litter.
(I was holding her in my hand, with her belly up so I could rub it, looking in her face and making small talk with her when she made eye contact with me and started answering with little barking sounds. She was lying still, just looking straight in my eyes, making sure I knew it was ME she was talking to.)

Winner of first prize for Walking All the Way Across the Nest without Falling, Staggering or even Touching a Nose to the Ground to Maintain Balance...
is one of Cotton's larger boys.
(I had all the pups out of the nest while I changed the bedding and I put him back first, on the side away from where the gang always congregates and watched in amazement as he marched his little butt straight across to where his mama had left him. He's one pup who will always be first in the chow line.)

And finally, the prize for the first pup to make a Deliberate and Planned Escape from the Nest without the Aid of Mom's Nipple or Climbing Up and Over a Pile of Littermates...
is presented to Emy's smallest black guy.
(And he's done it not once or twice, but several times. Here we have an Edmond Dantes, folks!)

"Old" Pups Pix

MONTANA
a little over a year old, from Diamond and Brogue's last litter.
She USED to be black and tan!

CHARLIE
from Emy and Sparky's last litter.
He used to be red.

TUCKER
from the same litter as Charlie.
He has always been blond.

As a point of interest... Charlie's picture was sent to me by someone who got it from someone else. The person who took the picture knew the lady who sent it to me had a Whoodle and he just wanted her to see the cute Whoodle puppy he had run into during his travels. SHE recognised the "look" because she has spent so much time on my website and wanted to know if he was one of mine. After we compared notes, it was easy to identify the puppy!

Moral: you can run, but you can't hide!

Trivia

These are the biggest pups from each litter. The red is from Di's, the black is from Em's and the blond is from Cotton's.
As is to be expected, the overall biggest puppies are in Emy's litter and some of them are huge (compared to the rest.) I am still impressed by the general size of Cotton's which are as big as Diamond's. In two of the litters... Di's and Cotton's... the current largest pups overall are female.

I think you can tell from some of the photos that eyes are opening. Yesterday, no one was focusing but today several pups appeared to be startled when something moved unexpectedly in their line of sight. AND noises seem to be bothering some of them today as well.

During picture taking yesterday, one of Cotton's boys objected the whole time with a very cute puppy growl. Okay, so maybe it was more of a grumble, but he didn't like going outside and didn't like my son handling him and was still rumbling when I put him back in the nest with his mom.

I started the photo session with Di's pups, leaving her foster son (from Emy) in the nest alone. Then I put the rest back and took him and the two red males from Em to be photographed, put all THREE of those pups in with Emy, took the black boys and finally, the girls. The blond boy stayed in Emy's nest while I was doing the rest of her pups. When I first put him down... right under her nose... she sniffed him all over and turned him on his back so she could inspect his belly. She didn't seem particularly delighted, intrigued or amused with him. However, a half hour or so later, when I was leaving the room with some of Cotton's pups, I glanced in Emy's pen and she had isolated her prodigal son from the rest of her pups! He was on one side of her and all his brothers and sisters were on the other and she was lying on her belly in between. So he went back to grandma... who took one sniff of him and seemed to say "Where the heck have you been!"

New Pix

So! This has taken the whole day but I'm getting ready to upload photos to my website. Just hang in there a few more hours and they will be there AND the new (litter specific) pages will be available as well. In the meantime, here's one shot that I just love:

Aggravation!

First, on Saturday,Zenyatta lost by the bob of Blame's head. I know how bad I felt and can only imagine how her people are still feeling.

Second, Emy's little blond girl passed away last night. She gave it all she had and it just wasn't enough. Everyone else is trying to walk and some eyes are partly opening.

And third, I got an email from a friend this morning:

Color Test
A great test, do the test until you get 100%!
Bet you can't get 100% on the first try! But I'm rootin' for ya...This is
pretty neat! See how you do with the colors! Have fun!
It takes an average of 5 tries to get to 100%. Follow the directions! It's
harder than it seems, as it should be!
A brain waker-upper for today!
Click here to start
www.humorsphere.com/fun/8787/colortest.swf

Last, I'm going to try getting photos tomorrow (or Wednesday,) whenever I can get my son to come over to help me. And THAT is real aggravation!

Changes Coming

First off, the pups are doing great! All but one are chubby, active babies who are starting to sleep through their mamas' disappearances when they leave the nests to take care of business. And moms are starting to stay outside, IN the yard, for longer periods of time (instead of rushing out the door, squatting, and then making a beeline back in.) One pup... a blond female from Emy's litter... is NOT doing well. She's very thin and cranky even though she nurses all the time. She is not growing at anywhere near the rate of everyone else and I have serious doubts that she is going to make it. This is not unusual especially considering the number in the litter and their overall size. Of Em and Shadow's nine, a male and female are about the size of Di's pups who are smaller in general. But the others are mostly hunks! And already a handful when I pick them up. Cotton's kids are pretty much the same size within the litter (minor variations,)about the size of Di and Brogue's, and all the same shade of pale blond. Most of them have crinkled coats, indicating they'll have more curl to their hair. We'll see!

Now, for the changes
I've been getting some comments about the website being slow to load and some of the photos not coming up. It IS a little photo heavy (and I don't see much sense in little pictures that you can't see anything in, which doesn't help matters any!) So I am going to develop a puppies page or pages... maybe one for each litter because once I start taking individual photos, things add up fast! Until picks are made, it will have a link off the main page as well as its own URL (so you can directly there and skip everything else... which you already know by heart anyway!) On the main page, I'll post just one photo from each litter with no parents' pix except in the "adults" section at the bottom of the page. It's going to take me a couple days to get this done, so bear with me.

Cotton's Pups 1 Week

Snuggled between mom and the hot water bottle.
And it's supposed to get down into the 20s the next couple nights... guess I'd better go get a few more water bottles!

All 3 litters doing well. Starting to pick their bodies up a little bit when moving around. Their snail stage is on its way out!

Cold Nights and Blast ABC

Emy's pups have figured out how to get through the night even when Mom decides to take a potty break! (Of course, getting up to fill hot water bottles every 2 hours gets old after a few nights...!)

Zenyatta and the Breeders Cup
So, Zenyatta, the maybe best horse to ever live is running in her last race this Saturday, the Breeders Cup Classic, around 6:45 PM at Churhill Downs. And ABC is broadcasting three Breeders Cup races... all much earlier on the card and not nearly as important. Never mind that Zenyatta has won 19 of the 19 races she's run in, including last year's Classic, the fact that ABC is so... well, uninformed is about as nice as I can get... as to ignore the Classic, ANY Classic, just makes me want to not watch ANYTHING they air ever PERIOD. That means I have to give up Castle and Brothers and Sisters, but so be it. I'm trying to find a place to watch the race on ESPN and may have to drive to the OTB site in Virginia.

Pictures

Diamond with her Brogue babies

And, of course, her blond grandson who she is raising

Emy with her Shadow babies


Cotton with her Brogue babies

Diamond with her grandson (Emy's boy) and her own pup

I supposed I could put him back with Emy and his brothers and sisters now, but he seems perfectly happy with his grandma... and so does she!

Happy Birthday - yesterday

With all that's going on, I forgot to wish all the pups from Emy and Sparky's litter a happy 6 months birthday. So here it is a day late!

This is Elliot, ON his birthday. Look how light colored he is... with those still dark ears!

Pix - Cotton's Pups

Cotton and brood last night. Poor Cotton... she took 6-1/2 hours to deliver, probably because of the pups' size... and she was plumb tuckered!
Pix of the boys, the girls and the whole litter are going on the website in a bit.

Cotton has Puppies

Cotton wasn't about to let her mom out do her so she had 10 pups too. Because one of them had stopped developing a week or so ago, there are 6 males and 3 females alive and nursing. The pups are quite large (at least as big already as Di and Emy's who are 3 days older) and just like her first litter, all the same shade of pale blond (meaning I'm going to have a hard time telling them apart!) I'm going to try getting pictures tomorrow... actually I could take a picture of just one of them and you'd know what ALL of them look like!

Interesting...

This is Murphy (nee Brother) from Emy and SPARKY's LAST litter.
What is interesting is Murphy just weighed in at 19.8 pounds getting close to his 6 months birthday.
The curious aspect of this is his litterbrother, Elliott, weighed in at
42+ pounds at the same time!

Unfortunate news
The little tiny guy died during the night. I was giving him 1-2 cc every 2 hours even though he had been nursing and wasn't dehydrated, but he was obviously less active every time I picked him up and just lay in my hand, letting me drip fluid into his mouth. Healthy pups tend to squirm a lot when handled, even (especially) at this young age and hungry pups suck the tip of the syringe. Some pups just don't make it, no matter what.

PIX! Di's and Em's Litters

/\ from Di and Brogue, 2 males and 3 females /\
The boys are on the bottom (slightly to the left) and the 3 girls are, well
the other 3 pups!
Don't ask which one I'm keeping!

\/ from Emy and Shadow, 7 males and 3 females \/
The girls are the 3 on the left and the boys are the big pile on the right. One of the "blacks" is now (since he's dry!) one of the "reds."

So far, the only pup I have any reservations about is one of the light blond males. He's just plain scrawny! But, every time I check, he's got a nipple in his mouth, so we'll see. AND he's the only one of the 15 who has a back dewclaw (just one,) which I'm leaving right where it is. (No sense in stressing him any with a trip to the vet to have it removed.)


Another thing: I'm going to post pix of the pups divided into just males and just females (for each litter) as well as a different shot of each litter on the website. However, we're about to get a kick from another big thunderstorm (LOTS of damage... around the area but not here... from the one that went through this AM.) I may not get the website updated for a day or two as we're expecting an even bigger storm some time tomorrow. Everyone pray for my trees!

Cotton
Ms C is getting big and I'm going to move her into the nursery (which I used to call my bedroom) either tonight or tomorrow. Just in case!

Ta DAH!

This morning, Diamond and Brogue have added 5 beauties to their lifetime achievement total. Two males and three females, all wheaten except for one black boy. The wheatens, who are reddish colored right now, WILL and the black COULD end up just as blond as their dad. Right now, everyone seems perfectly healthy, warm, dry and fed.

Emy's reservation list CLOSED
because she also had pups this morning. (I was afeared that was going to happen since she was so closed to term and in the same room as her mom. And, yes, I know "afeared" is not a real word.) Em and Shadow had... sit down and take a deep breath... TEN (10.) Theirs are 3 girls and 7 boys. The girls are a wheaten and two pale blonds and the boys are the same plus 4 blacks. Again, all of them could end up being blond. Also, they're all warm, dry, fed, and appear healthy.

In the interest of making sure everyone gets enough food from mom, Em's two very blond boys have moved to grandma's nest where they are snuggled in with their aunts and uncles.

The whole thing of whelping 15 puppies took 4-1/2 hours, from 6 AM (exactly) to 10:30 (okay, it was actually 10:40.)

This human is running into town to WalMart (yuck) for some more hot water bottles, then taking a quick nap and then watching bull riding from Las Vegas. Those guys think they're so tough!

Pictures MAYBE tomorrow.

Progress...

But no pups yet. Diamond's been in and out a half dozen times since about 7 AM. She's trembly and anzy, doesn't want me out of her sight. The kettle is on, the newspapers and towels are ready and the scissors have been sterlized. AND I've had a full night's sleep!

Not Yet

But Diamond was up, digging around at 3 or so this morning. I went and put on the tea kettle, gathered the stack of newspapers and towels and the scissors and took them in the bedroom. Whereupon, SHE sat down and stared at me like I was disturbing her. Then she lay down and slept through the rest of the night.

Emy's and Cotton's reservation lists

There is one opening on Emy's list, for a male or unspecified.

And both a female and male/unspecified openings on Cotton's list.

The lists close when full or when pups arrive (IF pups arrive!)

Still Nothing

No pups yet. But we're getting close. (We HAVE to be!) Di didn't eat all day yesterday and I was pretty much mentally prepared to be up all night, but about the time Survivor finished up, she sat down in front of her food bowl and ate everything in it. Darn!

Computer Update

I'm on the MAC. HOWEVER, it's not a happy camper. Freezes up for no reason I can see (MACs don't do that) and is not the least bit interested in doing any business with yahoo. (So, if you email me from there, it may be a while... until I go to the library... before I get back to you.) Also, I've really gotten used to the light touch keyboard and mouse all built into my laptop. Should probably price Apple laptops but....

And finally, not sure how the MAC is going to handle photos. Seems I remember that was one of the reasons I was using the laptop in the first place.

No Pups Yet

Sorry, folks, but Diamond seems quite comfortable toting her babies internally. She's still able to jump up on the bed unaided AND she's eating.

For those of you who are first timers in the waiting game, signs of labor beginning are:
no eating (except for the exceptions to this rule)
no jumping on furniture (except for exceptions)
nesting (digging in the newspaper or bedding of the nest... or the bed, furniture, closet, etc... except for girls who don't do that)
paying attention to the rear end (licking or just looking at it with a puzzled expression... except...)

On the other hand, Emy is HUGE. And uncomfortable. I've moved her into the bedroom as well. She can't get up on the bed, but she's not much into furniture anyway. She's a little spooked at being moved from her family (dogs are very into status quo) and is a little off her feed because of that. (I hope it's because of that.)

Cotton is also way bigger than I was expecting at this time.

Did I say 20 pups? Looks like I was off in that prediction!

Computer problem

My laptop has decided to either die or just get terminally ill. The color fades to various shades of gray, making it impossible for me to do anything but play mahjongg (because the symbols are so dark I can still see them.) I can't read email or anything else, so it's at the fixer-uppers. However, they had never heard of the problem as I described it and were not very encouraging. This is the first laptop I've had and I thought they could just replace the color/graphics card... was not happy to learn laptops don't have them and everything is built in.

Today I'm at the library and later this afternoon I'm going to drag out my MAC and see if it will respond to some sweet talk. I actually prefer it but it got a little sluggish after the dogs got tangled in its cords and pulled it around the tv room for awhile a few years ago. I knew I should have taken it in to be tended to way back then, but I had the laptop and....

Finally

I have PAD which makes some things uncomfortable, even painful. Like standing in lines. That is ONE of the reasons I ask people to "waive signature" when they send me their initial reservation or deposit overnight. If I don't have to sign for it, it goes right into my p o box and I can pick it up without going to the counter and signing for it. Also, I often... as in usually... do not get into town until after counter hours, so having the mail right there works out for me. The box is safe, certainly safer than having mail left at the door or in a street mailbox. So please! waive signature.

Pregnant Pix

Diamond, due in a week +/-


Emy, due about a week after Di
(thank goodness she was only covered once!)


Cotton, due a couple days after Em