Puppy Update and Other Stuff

First off, is there some internet thing going on that hasn't made the news yet? My host is down (for the website and for all those I'm maintaining... about 2 dozen.) The Brokeback forum is down. And another dog-related site I visit fairly often is down. I hate it when that happens!

The Puppies
Lots going on with these guys, both good and troublesome. Over the weekend they all got really yucky stool...
I guess I should post a warning: if you have a queasy stomach, move on to the next paragraph...
yellowish, brown liquid. This is highly unusual at this age since the pups are on just mama's milk. I decided to worm with Panacur, rather than Pyrantel, because Panacur "gets" a variety of internal bugs while Pyrantel pamoate only gets round worms (and yes, it's true, all... as in 99% of... pups have worms.) Panacur is a white chalky suspension and tastes terrible AND you give it several days in a row. Pups HATE it. But, I'm bigger than they are, so they're getting it. Yesterday, after I didn't see much improvement in their stool and the color was still very yellowish (indicating too much fat in their diet,) I changed Cotton back from the super high grade puppy kibble she was on to my normal adult dog food, Pedigree. We'll see how that works in the next couple days. AND because I still didn't see a lot of change this morning, I called the vet and asked about putting the pups on Albon, a sulfa based antibiotic that is used for a multitude of intestinal upsets. She said to give them the normal dose for several days. At least it tastes good, so they don't object!
Don't get me wrong, they are not sick. They're acting and apparently FEELING normal, which is great... can't think of anything worse than ELEVEN unhappy pups!

Okay, for the squeamish, you can come back now.
Here's what the gang is up to... one found mom's water bowl this afternoon and actually drank quite a bit of water. Well, quite a bit for a 3-1/2 weeks old puppy. Then he/she let another pup lick his wet face and pretty soon THAT pup also had his nose in the bowl!
Another puppy tried his/her hand at running... took off at a fast clip and made it most of the way across the 8 foot pen before falling on his chin. The last couple strides were something to behold as the brakes didn't seem to be working.
All of them have discovered... each other. They began wrestling with each other a couple days ago but it was more one tripping over a sleeping littermate and then the two of them mouthing each other. Today, several have actually gotten up from where they were sitting or sleeping and gone in search of a playmate.
They can growl and I've even heard a few baby barks.
And they've noticed ME. A couple have started responding to the sound of my voice or sitting with their noses pressed through the wire staring at me. Trust me, it gets tougher from here out!

Another Doodle heard from
These are pictures sent me of Cooper at 5 years of age.


This is Cooper with a couple pals, obviously other Doods