Nothing New Here

Been a really slow few days. Pups are doing fine, eating the new food with no change in stool (a sentence every blogger wants to write.) The new one is a member of the pack and just as sure of herself as Esther. I'm going to TRY to get some pictures tomorrow afternoon. The guys who do my yard work should be here first thing and once they are finished... and the pups can be seen on TOP of the grass rather than THROUGH it... we'll all go outside for a bit. Until the afternoon rains arrive. I need to get some new shots of the two available girls and the other families want pictures of their pups. I have a plan (!) because the darker females, Cream/gold dog and Teddy bear are so similar I still can;t tell them apart without the scanner. We'll see how it goes.

Cashmere in California

With his new kids the day after his arrival

With his new vet

Taking his new kids to camp the second day after his arrival

I like the way the stress seems to be dissipating from day to day. Wonder if he is looking for his kids now that they have been gone a couple days!

5 Down

So, we went to the airport early yesterday and the pup got off on time. He was NOT happy to be awakened at 5 AM (which is just 2 AM California time where his new family was sleeping peacefully) and was even less happy when I made him get inside the crate an hour later. I imagine he was overjoyed at 1 PM (California time) when his people let him out again. At their request, I sent a towel which had spent 24 hours in the puppy pen with him. His new mom said he seemed to relax as soon as she got it out and put it down for him. Two other families have also sent towels for the same mistreatment, but (ahem!) I haven't heard if the smell of home has made any difference in the pups' adjustment. It DOES seem to help with younger pups.

So, with this guy, looking a little stunned, safely in his new home, that leaves 5 in the old home. Two are leaving the first week in August and one a week later. Anyone doing the math,knows the balance is two....

Now, a little airport update or two

First, most people have flown at one time or another and know it takes a while for the baggage to get to the merry-go-round in the terminal. Same thing for pets. When I give you the expected arrival time of the plane, it is the expected arrival time of the plane with your puppy on board. Depending on the size of the airport, it can take from 20 minutes to an hour for the pup to arrive at the cargo facility. Here's the thing, until the pup is there, inside, with someone reading the airbill ,the cargo people cannot tell you if YOUR pup was on board. Despite what Delta will tell you, the Delta computer system is NOT updated every step of an individual shipment (or passenger)'s trek.Sometimes, the computer WILL say there is a live animal or 6 live animals on board, but that's it. And unfortunately, sometimes it will say there are none when in fact there are one or a bunch. Or maybe none. (Animals miss their connections just like people do.) So, you arrive at the cargo terminal (or the passenger counter in small facilities) just before the flight is due in and let the folks there know you're ready to pick up your puppy. If you take your own kids and every one of their friends with you, the Delta employees will be more than happy to get that pup to you quickly. If you must go by yourself, pretend to have a life threatening cough or cold to speed things up. FWIW.

Second, pricing is willy-nilly. There is a severe disconnect between what the booking agents tell you and what the counter people say you owe. When I call in a reservation, I have my airbill right there and know what flights I want the pup on. Not just the one leaving here but the one I want it to connect to... which is seldom the first available connection. In an effort to increase the already astronomical cost of shipping, the Delta rule is a minimum 2 hour connection time or pay more. The problem is, if you pay more there is no guarantee the pup will make the earlier connection, hence no refund when it doesn't which in my experience has been 99% of the time. ANYway, I have the airbill and the flight numbers and the pup's weight and crate dimensions. The cost is figured by the puppy's actual weight and how much weight COULD go in the space the crate is going to occupy. Let's say you have a chunky little Bulldog... since they are very heavy compared to length and height, they can go in a smaller crate than say a Whippet puppy who needs much more room but weighs a lot less. The airlines intend to get theirs regardless (and it's ALL the airlines, not just Delta.)

To make a long story short, the pup who left yesterday weighed 15 pounds and his crate, without him, was 7, probably 10 by the time I got the food bowls and all his paperwork attached, for a total of around 25. On the airbill, I had "+/- 30" which the counterlady changed to 18 for some reason. When I called in the reservation, I gave the booker the wrong crate dimensions and when the crate arrived with its nifty little informational sticker attached giving me the correct size, I called back and gave a different booker the right length/height/width. But THAT apparently was never entered into the booking computer because the price for shipping the pup was much MUCH lower than it should have been. The day before, I picked up a pup that WITH the crate was less than what the California pup weighed by himself. When I booked that shipment, I was told the arriving pup would cost around $210 plus TN tax. Now, our tax is about 10%, but the shipment ACTUALLY cost me just pennies shy of $270. And this, my friends, is why I have gone to shipping c.o.d.

Can You Ship? Not Today!

The puppy going to California this morning, didn't. At 4 AM on the nose, a REALLY violent thunderstorm hit this area. Of course, for people who were up all night or have to leave for work very early and turn on the tv as soon as they get out of bed, it was no surprise since the storm tracked down from the Ohio Valley, making tremendous noise all the way. And actually, some of my adult dogs had been restless and barky most of the night, behavior I tried to sleep through. We had lots and LOTS of lightening, including a number of ground strikes around me... not a pleasant thing. The power flicked off several times before it stayed off for a while. No a.c. and closed windows. When it came back on, I turned on the tv for a weather report and the consensus was it was going to be pretty rough for several hours. So, with the a.c. back on, I turned the alarm clock off and tried to sleep. The pup's trip has been rescheduled for tomorrow and I'll probably check the weather BEFORE I turn in tonight.

The allergy litter
Everyone has checked in and the majority of the pups seem to be fine. Several have sensitive digestive tracts, but nothing major. One has developed an unexplained odor which is a sign of a digestive problem... this IS common with Shar-Pei and usually clears up with a diet change... but the rest are pretty normal. EVERYBODY says they are in love with their puppies, which is good to hear. The pups range from 40 to 46 pounds and the blacks have stayed pretty much black, most with red highlights.

This is Eno whose young owner says "Eno just makes life more funner."

A Few Photos

But first, an update on yesterday's post about food allergies...
my vet came down firmly on the maybe side of the entire situation. Which is where I am as well.  She said that food allergies in dogs and cats are going through a tremendous increase, just as they are in humans, and that there is no indisputable evidence that it is genetic. In fact, it is more likely to be caused by the increase of chemicals, hormones and other additives in our environment and food sources. Even plants are manipulated from seed to harvest. She said if the problem were JUST genetic, it would be seen clearly in certain breeds or at least in separate lines within breeds, BUT food allergies occur in ALL breeds and crosses. As for breeding Maggie and Cisco to each other again, she suggested Mag be bred to a different male this time. Cisco already has a litter of purebred Poodle pups on the ground and almost grown with no known problems. Sometimes, for some unknown reasons, two specific individuals to not mix well although they are fine, even spectacular with others. As it says on my website, in the piece about what I've learned in a lifetime of breeding, what looks best on paper gives you the worse results. Or, in plain English, poop happens! So, until Penny has had time to digest (no pun intended... well, maybe a little pun intended) all the "information" and various opinions and decide what she wants to do, there will not be another Maggie litter.

And now, the pictures
This is the problem free Maggie/Cisco girl, Macy, enjoying her time at the beach.

Esther is moving to New York, near "the City," on August 8th. I hope this is not what she thinks of the idea!

And then, get a load of the feet on this guy, who is also moving to NYC in August.

Finally, this pretty face goes with the AVAILABLE girl, Cream and Gold Dog. More pictures of her and the other AVAILABLE female, Brown Pony, later in the week.

What's Going On Here

One of the things I tell people when they pick up their pups and something I mention fairly often in emails and on the blog is I need to hear from everyone from time to time ESPECIALLY if there is a problem with the puppy. I'm not talking about someone pulling a tick off after a day in the woods or the occasional case of the runs or tartar build up on the teeth. I'm talking about anything unusual, especially if it requires vet care. And here is why...

Saturday evening I got an email from a Maggie/Cisco family. They mentioned that there was a problem with food allergies which was "cured" by a diet change AFTER a test showed the pup was allergic to beef, pork, lamb, sweet potato, rice, eggs and brewers yeast. Their vet said it was likely that other pups from the litter had the same problem. I have NO experience with food allergies in dogs... rather odd since I have over 2 dozen years with Chinese Shar-Pei... so I started researching on the 'net AND emailed everyone who has those pups. (Some of you have not answered as yet....) To my chagrin, FOUR pups have issues with food allergies. (Some of you have not answered as yet....)  One of the reasons it is important for me to know what is going on is so I can share information about how to fix or at least improve the situation. In this case, knowing what the allergies are to and what food is working with the first family and adding probiotics to everyone's diet can save the rest of us some time, money and frustration. But just as important is knowing that a particular breeding has resulted in a serious problem. Penny was planning on repeating that breeding in just a short time. No one wants to produce  pups that you know have a greater than average possibility of an issue such as this. (Unfortunately, the genetics of food allergies is still being debated and the "experts" are no help since some say yea and some say nay. Which is pretty much the same situation with the majority of genetic problems.) I will be discussing the situation with Jane this afternoon and Penny is going to talk to her vet. I have heard from Maggie's breeder and she says Mag's mom has had a lot of yeast infections in her ears which the vet said could be from a food allergy. (We were already pretty sure the problem was coming from the Wheaten side since one of the first thing I discovered is that SCWTs are on the short list of breeds prone to food allergies. And Poodles are not.) Interestingly, ALL  four of the affected pups are male. (Some of you have not answered as yet....) 

SO! Please let me know if you have a problem!

AND, everyone... start your pups on a probiotic. Acidophyllus is available... and cheap... at every health food store. It is also very hard to overdose since it is just natural digestive tract bacteria. It's good for people too.

The Difference between 12 Weeks and 9

Both Keogh and Di are at least ACTING normally. So that is going well.

Today I took two of the 12 weeks old pups and Esther, who is 9 weeks, to the vet. The older pups are leaving this weekend and all my k-9 kids get a thorough and I mean thorough medical exam before they go. I wanted Jane to check Esther out to be sure she is a normal pup considering her seemingly rough start in life. All three passed with flying colors.

But the point of this post is... the difference between placing pups at 12 weeks and placing them at 9.
The two older pups were NOT happy to discover other Two-Leggers in the world. They were pretty freaked out about strangers looking at them, talking to them, touching  them. When we were in the exam room, before Jane came in, they sort of strolled around, sniffing here and there, but came back to the chair where I was sitting every time there was a loud noise or people laughing or a squeal from some kid in the lobby. Once Jane came in, they retreated UNDER my chair. And when Jane finished each one's exam and put her back on the ground, the pup came immediately back to me and stayed put.

Esther was all over the place. The only thing she DIDN'T do was climb in the water bowl I asked for (because of how hot it got on the trip over and the wait in the car.) None of the noises impressed her, if she even noticed them. When Jane came in, Esther was sitting in front of the door with the exam table between her and me. She just sat there, even when Jane leaned over and picked her up. And when she was back on the floor, she started exploring the room again.

Obviously, it is much harder for the older pups to adjust when they first move into their new homes. So why keep them to 12 weeks? Because the same mental maturity that makes the transition more difficult makes other things a lot easier... like house training, which is a major consideration especially with people experiencing their very first puppy. AND at 12 weeks, they've had two of the three puppy shots, are started on heartworm protection and one of the most important considerations, have learned how to be DOGS. Younger pups, like Esther, could care less about their environment... they are still infants and as long as they are fed, warm and dry, everything is hunky-dory. Potty training is much more difficult... think 9-10 months old babies versus 2 year old toddlers... and frustrating for their people and one of the main reasons dogs end up in shelters. Younger pups haven't learned they are dogs and in the wrong hands, grow up being treated like children until their behavior isn't cute or tolerable any more and they go to shelters... IF they're not eaten by some bigger/older dog at the dog park because they don't know how to read the dog's silent communications. The fact that the younger pup has had just its first shot means a period of almost 2 months when it can't be allowed to socialize with other dogs and learn all the canine ins and outs the older pup learned at its mom's knee. (The older pup shouldn't be out and about with other dogs either until it is 16 weeks and has finished its shots, BUT if it should be exposed to diseases it is more likely to have some immunity than the younger pup.)

For homes with other dogs in residence or people who have had recent successful puppy raising experience, a younger pup isn't much of a challenge. However, most of MY clients don't fall into either of those categories.

And when we got home, the two older pups immediately collapsed and slept for almost two hours... a pup's way of dealing with stress. Esther is still going strong... thank goodness the pups at home had some rest while we were gone!

SO Embarrassed

The first two pups left this morning. It's funny how everyone in the house knows when pups are going out the door for good... when I left with the little boy, everyone howled. They didn't do it when I took the girl, so maybe they're not going to miss her!

Here's what I'm embarrassed about...
the pups had dirty feet. Now that may not sound like much, especially as most people know that long haired breeds have hair between their foot pads that grows as long as their body hair and of course it gets dirty. BUT when the pups go to the groomer, they are supposed to have the hair clipped from between the pads. In all fairness, I DID tell the girl not to get anywhere near them with the clippers. (If you've been around here for a while, you may remember the time I took the pup in for a bath and they clipped ALL his hair off.) Unfortunately, she must not know you can use scissors on the feet. I'm going to have to talk with my groomer on Saturday so she can tell the new people in her shop about feet... she does a lot of training and they may not have reached that lesson yet. The really bad thing is, I checked the feet of The Seven and they are fairly clean! The only thing I can think of, since The Two were obviously bathed and brushed, is... yuck... they walked in "it" when they were sick in the car. I carried them into the house and don't remember getting... messy... myself, but I'm actually pretty used to getting all kinds of stuff on me!

I enjoyed meeting the families and appreciate that they drove so far to get their new family members. The girl has a young man owner, the first non-adult she's ever seen and she was impressed! I'm sure she was happy to find that not all Two-Leggers are huge!

Two ALMOST Down

Emy and Boon's first two pups to leave will be with their families early tomorrow. The male, Reindeer, and female, Dino, went to the vet yesterday and the groomer today. To make a long story short, car sickness is pretty common in puppies! Dino got sick just before we got home yesterday and again when we went out this morning and Reindeer got sick as we were pulling up the drive to the house today. Towels and newspaper are essential supplies for all those drives home!
Reindeer went from 9-1/2 to 12.13 pounds in 14 days and Dino from 8-1/2 to 11.
Esther went from 5 pounds to 7, so she is growing at the same rate as her cousins.

In an effort to keep Reindeer and Dino looking like they did when I picked them up from the groomer, I put them in Esther's pen with her. Now, she usually goes in with The Nine in THEIR area and was a little surprised when they came calling. But she adjusted quickly and had a great time being the hostess. I've decided since Esther and Peri are still SO attached, that each of the pups will come to stay with E once it's been to the groomer and Peri is NOT going to be allowed in the pen with them. She can stay in the bedroom, but that's it. Esther is 9 weeks old and still nursing! Next week, after Gray Unicorn goes home, I'll put Esther permanently in with The Nine which will be The Four by then. And Peri can like it or lump it. If she chooses the latter, she'll go board at the vet's for 5-7 days to give her some time to think about it.

Unlike almost all of my previous pups, The Nine have not been particularly interested in adult food. They'll eat it, but much prefer the puppy kibble. On the other hand, Esther just picks at the puppy kibble. She's eating enough to not be losing any ground... Peri's milk, if there IS any  milk, is not much nourishment at all. But yesterday, when E was in with The Nine, there was some Pedigree in their bowls. You would have thought she had found manna from heaven. She consumed quite a lot of it... well, what is quite a lot for a pup her size and age... so I am going to offer her a bowlful every day. Youngsters, regardless of species, are all alike!

I did say "kiss of death"
Di had a really strange reaction both times she was bred with Boon (Thursday and Sunday) and has the vets stymied. We have two possible causes, one of them will stop her breeding career right now and the other is only slightly better. Both are rather "interesting," in the vets' opinions. For me, it's a "what next?" situation. IF she is pregnant... and I'll do an ultrasound at 4-5 weeks... we'll have to decide midterm what our course of action will be. My first concern is ALWAYS my girls. Di is feeling and acting great. She is not sick or in any discomfort and is driving ALL the guys nuts because she is still in standing heat. Stay tuned!

Keogh
is continuing on the eye ointment for another week although Jane feels HER problem was just a minor infection. We want to be absolutely sure it is nothing more. Needless to say, I'm in a much better frame of mind about her situation.

More Maggie/Cisco Pups

Here are a couple more of the pups from Maggie's first litter with Cisco.

Reilly

Auggie

Interestingly, the blacks in this litter have pretty much stayed black even though Maggie, being a Wheaten Terrier is wheaten colored and Cisco, a standard Poodle, is apricot (with two apricot parents.) Unlike MY pups from my standard Poodle, Shadow, who tend to lighten up.

Good News

Diamond is in season and being bred to Boon. For reasons of her own, she has not had a litter in almost 2 years so this will be her first with Boon. Her pups are usually in the 25-35 pound range, most 28 to 32, and she has had a variety of colors and patterns, including parti (spotted.) I am excited about the possibilities! If all goes as planned (I know, the kiss of death talking about plans ) these pups will be ready to go early in December.

More good news
I heard from Penny and she is definitely going to do another Maggie/Cisco litter when Mag comes back in season... which she thinks could be anytime from right now to 2 months. I prefer at least 6 weeks so I don't have Mag's pups coming to me before Di's have gone to you!

Enough Said

Maggie and Cisco's daughter, Lula, handling the summer just fine, thanks to John and Joel in Alabama.

The Rain is Here to Stay

It has been nearly a week and we have had rain every day, lots of rain... sometimes a Pacific NW misty type, but more often torrential downpours. And so far, I'm surviving quite well without the sun. It's amazing! Gray and ugly as it has been it is such a relief from the hot hot hot temperatures that I don't care! Our temps are going back into the 90s over the weekend and into next week (and probably higher after that) but we are supposed to continue with the rain for another 5-6 days.

Puppies leaving
Two are going home on Wednesday and two more over the weekend. So I have appointments every day next week.

Something that seems to be unclear... these pups are NOT housebroken and I am NOT trying  to housebreak them. First off, there are NINE of them. And second, just like with babies, each one reaches the physical and mental maturity level required for house training at a different time. When out of their pen, MOST of the pups will go back to it and potty on the newspapers. Those are the ones who are going to pick up the go-outside-to-do-my-business concept right away. The others will not be far behind.

Another thing... the pups are not going outside. First off, there are NINE of them and I am too old to be chasing nine puppies around the year when I want them back inside. And second, it's been too hot and now it's too wet. You'll see soon enough how much work goes into keeping ONE pup clean and dry. They like it outside,even on the deck, so they'll take to it quickly.

And one more thing... they are NOT lead trained. First off, ... you already know the song and dance.

Esther
has discovered ME! I've always been there but she accepted me as part of the environment. She  understood  from early on that her mom and other dogs were different beings than she, but I was just there.
The other day she began making eye contact with me... a HUGE step for any puppy... but particularly difficult for my pups because I am 6 feet tall. Yesterday, she started communicating with me. Today I wish she would stop! When I left her in the pen with The Nine this afternoon so I could go take my now routine nap, Esther was not happy. She whined and yodelled for an hour. Peri didn't help... she whined and whimpered back at her from the other end of the house (as usual.) Esther is such a normal puppy and is so well tolerated by her cousins, I may start calling then The Ten!

When It Rains

Had a sick dog yesterday. My 9 year old Goldendoodle, Keogh. Over the weekend, she started walking into things and by Sunday night, she was unwilling to move around on her own. I cleaned her eyes and examined them but couldn't see anything... she has one eye with a lot of scaring from dry eye, but neither was matted or mucousy. Could NOT get into my vet Monday... couldn't even get through on the phone until just before noon. The next appointment was for the 17th. So yesterday morning, once I got everyone situated, I took Keogh over as a "walk-in." Usually that means you sit and wait for a couple hours, longer if you want to see a specific vet. But, to my surprise, the parking lot was practically empty which stopped being a surprise when I walked in the door to a very dark waiting room. Our early morning severe storms had left them without power. They vets were taking care of whatever they could in just natural daylight, with no electrical equipment. So we got in right away. Jane couldn't see much wrong with Ke's eyes except for a slight infection in the eye itself. Usually she's really upbeat and just gives me a general list of possible bad to worse scenarios. But yesterday she was really not encouraging. She ruled out lepto because I put the dogs back on the vaccine a couple years ago. Her real concern was a fungus we have IN the ground in this area which is deadly and hard to diagnose. Keogh is a digger... she goes after the groundhogs and moles with a vengeance. A friend of mine lost a dog to this fungus a few years ago and it was a long, painful process before they even figured out what was wrong with him and put him down. I've been depressed ever since hearing one of the symptoms is eye infections. So, we're treating the eyes for the infection and Keogh is back to going outside without bumping into the door, but it's a waiting game to see if the treatments produce a long lasting effect or just help the symptoms.

So now, Keogh is being treated with 3 different meds...one three times a day and the other two, twice a day. Add that to what I'm doing with the pups and I feel like I'm Nurse Betty!

Speaking of rain

In less than 24 hours we made up most of our nearly 5 inch shortfall for the year. And it has continued to rain off and on all yesterday and today. Much of it came down in buckets. Luckily for me, I'm part way up the hill which is part way up another hill so I don't worry about flash flooding. Most of my immediate area is hills on hills and the drainage always (knock on wood!) seems to spread out before reaching bottom. I've never heard of anyone around here having a flood problem. HOWEVER! My car is one of those with automatic locks once the transmission is in drive and the wheels start rolling. I don't know how fast you have to be moving before the doors lock... no more than a couple miles at most. And yet, my road is so bad... and I'm not just whistling Dixie here... I am down my drive and off the hill, almost to the blacktop before the locks click. What's that? ONE mile an hour? Two? And even then, I'm still banging the undercarriage. Besides the enormous ruts, there are bricks and half bricks scattered all over along with small chunks of old pavement. At one time, the road was brick all the way to the top and at another it was paved. The hill is so steep, none of that has lasted and it has all washed down. It gets covered over with dirt and gravel over time, until heavy downpours wash it away and expose the rest. The road hasn't been graded in a while... my "neighbor" at the top of the hill who has a tractor and used to grade it occasionally has either moved or... I don't know what. It is so bad right now the teenagers who live above me have slowed to what THEY consider a crawl!

The good thing about the rain, besides ending the drought (at least temporarily,) is temps are down to normal... mid 80s... at least until the weekend. I can function again!

In Brief

If you've been to the website, you've seen that the issue with my host has been resolved. Have I mentioned, I hate computers?

Which reminds me... at midnight, the FBI is turning off the servers they've been using to protect the US from some bug or other for the last 6 months. If you haven't already, you can check your computer for infection by going to http://www.dns-ok.us. It takes about one second.

Esther and The Nine

This morning, I filled up the water bowl in The Nine's pen. Promptly, the two who are the worse about playing in it were in it. First, I warned one off... several times... loudly and then when she seemed to get the message and wandered, dripping wet. off then I had to contend with the second. A few minutes later, I put Esther in the pen with them. They played their usual good morning game of everyone surround the newby and bark at her until she started barking back at them, then they broke up into groups for wrestling. After a few minutes, Esther went to the water bowl and started splashing in it. SEVEN of The Nine stopped what they were doing and LOOKED AT ME. 

Well trained as I am, I yelled at her to stop.

Here We Go Again

It's Friday, right? Know how I can tell (now that summer tv has no schedule worth watching?) I'm having a computer problem. This one is JUST with the website host. I can't get on to edit files... which means I can't do anything on my site or any of the others I maintain. According to the host... who I have LOVED for 8-9-10 years... it is MY fault. Which I find really hard to believe since it was working fine Tuesday and early Wednesday (when I updated the puppy pictures.) I logged off for a couple hours and haven't been able to get back on since. I downloaded Firefox, which I like much better than IE anyway... just wasn't sure how long it was going to take to download on dial-up... and it is working fine (well, it will be as soon as I remember all the ins and outs!) And I've tried twice to download the latest adobe flashplayer... but both times it's made my computer freeze after 28%. Both changes were at the suggestion of the host's "support team." I'm still having a problem understanding how those two things just went out of wack JUST when I want on that particularly website and not for anything else. I HATE computers!

Emy's pups

Just one girl available now... Pony. I've had A LOT of inquiries, so many, it's getting hard to keep up with who's who... so I expect she'll be leaving with the rest of the family. A couple are staying into August.

Something everyone should remember... it is REALLY hard on a 3 months old puppy to be ripped away from his family and everything he's known. He is aware that everything is different... sights, sounds, smells, the taste of water, how people talk, the activity in his new home and probably the worse, no other dogs for back up (in most cases.) Be prepared for him to NOT want to run and play, often the pups don't even want to eat even when they are hungry. Lots of holding and petting and quiet time to just explore on his own... limit him to one room to start with... and time in his crate, away from the kids and all the goings on. Usually, the puppies perk up when they are taken outside. Just remember those short legs can really move fast so be sure he's in a secure place. You might want to let him drag his lead around so you can grab it without being right on top of him. Also, playing with a pup-friendly dog who has not been any place where he can pick up viruses/bacteria to expose YOUR pup to (like the dog park or even just walking around the neighborhood) will reassure your pup he's not the last of his kind in the world.

And one other thing... these pups, every one of them, like to sleep on their backs. Every time they're all down, at least two are belly up!.

New Pix

On the website are new pictures of MOST of the pups. One... dino... is currently missing a shot and another... black/white dog... is missing both. Their original photos were rather fuzzy, so I retook some after posting the rest. Now my web hostsite is doing maintenance and I can't get on there again until morning. In the meantime, here are two NOT going on the site, entitled:
When Stuffed Animals Attack:

I'm not happy about the dark red background and won't be using it again.

Esther
When E's mom went outside at 9 this morning, I put E in the pen with her nine cousins. And she's stayed there all day. Without complaint. Peri, on the other hand, has been barking and whining all evening. Seems like the pup had a curfew which she missed! I'm about to put her back with Peri and expect there'll be some splainin' to do.
Here are Esther's pictures from today. I LOVE the black and white. Sepia was an option which was also nice; I'll use it some other time.

Weights

So! The new scale finally arrived yesterday and last night, everyone was weighed. This is just for YOUR information since the formula I use to determine adult weight is not very accurate with medium size dogs. At 10 weeks, there is around a 3-1/2 pound difference between the largest, brown & tan dog, and the smallest, pink dino. The other two males and two of the girls are clustered together, while the other three females are toward the top.
Boys first:
brown & tan dog --- just a tad over 12 pounds
reindeer --- 9-1/2
gray unicorn --- 9
Darker females:
cream & gold dog --- 10 pounds
pink dino --- 8-1/2
teddy bear --- 9
Lighter females:
pink unicorn --- 9-1/2 pounds
black & white --- a tad over 11
brown pony --- a tad under 11

The gender line up is m/f/f/f/m/f/m/f/f. The 3 boys average 10.17# while the 6 girls average 9.99#
Over all, a very consistent litter in size as well as absolutely everything else!

Esther
weighed in at just under 5 pounds at 7 weeks.

And speaking of "the natural," she is now chasing the other pups around their pen. That's when she is not standing on all fours IN their water bowl. It is probably a good thing she is the only pup in her litter... she'd have the rest toeing the line from dawn to dusk!

And she gets the award for first to sleep alone all night. Peri kept climbing out of the puppy pen last night, so I locked her in a crate... and fell asleep. Every time I woke up, she AND the pup were sound asleep, so I just left them apart. About 6 this morning, I put Peri back in the pen and they both acted like no big deal.

They grow up so fast!

I'm Back!

Took my time this morning, made sure all the pups and dogs were in a good place and I had a big glass of cold water handy then called the first number on my list of possible isps. Hit the jackpot right away. The girl spoke English as a first language and it took only about 20 minutes to get signed up and set up. I still have to download their webpage accelerator although I'm not sure how much it will help. If I don't like it, I can go back to their regular dial up and save $4 a month. So far so good.

Thunderstorm
Had a couple big ones come through here during the night and early morning hours. Emy's pups have not heard thunder since they have gotten out of the baby stage... and they were not sure what to make of it. The pups had been playing out on the deck, where it was cooler than the house, as the wind picked up and thunder started rumbling. I made them come in before the rain started, but closed just the storm door so they could still watch outside. Some of them decided it was a good time to come in the room with me, while others stood up with paws on the windows and watched stuff blow around and lightning flash. When it got really loud and room shaking, several of them were frightened but one... brown/tan male... didn't even wake up. The interesting thing was the pups who were bothered by the noise all looked up at me and made eye contact. None of them ran TO me for protection or tried to hide. After the first storm passed, they all crashed in front of the fans. When the second storm came through, about an hour and a half later, they were pretty cool with it. It wasn't as intense, which may hae had something to do with that. I put them to bed and went into the bedroom to watch tv with that gang... it was about midnight... and didn't hear anything from the pups when the other storms came through. The first one was the worse... especially when the power went out toward the end of my whodunit and I started cursing up a storm of my own! But the power came back on within 5 minutes and PBS repeats their Masterpiece Mystery in the early morning hours, so I got to tune back in and see who dun it. (Which I had already figured out anyway.)

Friday, Saturday and Sunday we matched one all time record and then broke it the next two days. This morning has been gorgeous! The rain really cleared the air and brought the temperature down so the house was cool and stayed that way for hours. Today's high is supposed to be 95-97 with high humidity, which is more than 10 degrees above normal for us but practically a spring break from the weekend. The rest of the week is supposed to be more humidity and 92-99. I'm ready for winter... I'm still waiting for LAST winter!

Since you're tired of weather reports
let's talk about horses. I'll Have Another has been sold to a stud farm in Japan. He'll be junior stud to Roses in May who lives at the same farm and by all reports is very well cared for and appreciated. Since he's not going to be running any more, it is a good spot for a nice colt.