First Two to the Vet

Some good, some not so good results
The girls, 50/50 and blond, were the first two to visit with my vet. Neither got sick in the car, going OR coming. Both pooped. (Note to those picking up: bring newspapers, towels and bottled water for clean up as well as drinking.)

50/50 has exactly doubled her 8 weeks weight, from 5.6 to 10.12. Blondie has gone from 5.0 to 8.4 (which is more what I expected.) (Note to everyone: weight gains as a REAL predictor of adult size is still just guessing.)

BOTH have nicely colored, formed stool with no blood. Both have some coccidia in their stool. ALL of the pups leaving this weekend will be going home with Albon. (Note: the pups were already started on a prophylactic daily dose of Albon, it will just be continued for an extra week or until YOUR vet decides differently.)

The two girls had eyes the size of saucers as they looked around at all the people. My vet's practice is very large and very busy. And to make things worse, from the pups' point of view, the office is about three-fourths through a major remodelling. There is a LOT of noise, including loud banging. It's a far cry from living in the woods on a private road! Both girls wanted to stay in my lap rather than sit on the exam table, even when I put them up there at the same time. Jane left the back door open whenever she went out of the room and the pups were VERY interested in the doctors and staff walking up and down passed the room. They liked it better when the people were either leading or carrying an animal; they were not so thrilled when someone stopped to talk with me. They lived through the experience and weren't particularly excited OR subdued when they got back with their siblings. (Note: be prepared to let the pups adjust on their own terms... lots of holding and belly rubbing are in order.)

Tomorrow, black with most white, black-and-tan and blond males go in for their exams.

Cotton
Last night, a lady left a message on my phone that she thought Cotton might be at one of the area shelters. She had been up there and there was a dog who had "recently had puppies." Since it was late when I got the message, I went into town at 1 this afternoon, when the shelter opens, to check it out. AFTER spending the entire night thinking I might walk in there and finally find my dog. And the place is closed on Wednesdays. I have been unable to reach the lady this afternoon to get a description... even if she says it is a short haired black Mastiff type, I'll still go tomorrow to see for myself, but all day my mood has gone from high to very low... again.