Tale of Two Motels

Bernie (aka Moose and Brown & Tan Dog) left yesterday morning with a really wonderful family from New York. They stayed Wednesday night at the Holiday Inn Express and we got to spend about an hour sitting in the lobby Thursday morning, letting the pup get used to them. When we finally parted, Bernie walked to their car with them just a few looks in my direction. He seemed more puzzled than upset. And this is a picture of him maybe an hour later.

Now, the attitude of the people at the Holiday Inn was totally different from that at the Comfort Inn. When I met people there, I was told in no uncertain terms the puppy was not allowed in the building. Period. 

The Meadowview has also allowed me and pups to sit in their lobby with families picking them up.

So guess which motels I'm going to suggest when folks are spending the night in this area.

By the way, just so you know (if you haven't already figured it out for yourselves,) these pups are pretty smart about getting their own way. This is Watson who also lives in New York. His folks hide the car keys.

Cash, who lives in California, really likes what his family calls his "mimi" or his special smells-like-Tennessee towel. His mom put it in the laundry basket because it's becoming way to easy to smell Tennessee whenever it is around. The next thing she knew, Cash had retrieved it.

Notice every one of these guys is looking right at the camera. 

Must be pups just don't want ME taking their pictures!

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!

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!

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!

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!.

No Computer This Weenend

In case you did not get the email, my isp is down so I'm off line for the weekend. UNLESS I can find another and get signed up and up and running right away. If you need to get in touch the next couple days, call me. The number is on the website.

Pups are fine except they think they need to be out of the pen most of the time. Even Esther. She spent about 6 hours with the Nine yesterday, most of it unsupervised and much of it standing IN their water bowl. They play with her pretty much the same way they play with each other and I've stopped stopping them from ganging up on her because she doesn't seem to mind. They made her cry a couple times yeaterday, about the same as they do with each other, but she is not afraid to be with them and her teeth are just as sharp as theirs. So, as soon as I get home (I'm at the library) I'll put her in with them. Maybe she'll learn to eat FOOD!

Temp yesterday was 102, tying the all time record for high temp in our area. Today and tomorrow supposed to be about the same. And then a cooling spell with temps falling into the mid 90s.

Email with general health info going out right now!

It's Over

Tuesday, the temperature didn't get up to 80 until late afternoon and humidity was around 22. It was glorious, especially after a week plus of mid 90s with high humidity. Last night, we were one degree shy of setting a new record low for June. Today, the humidity came back and temps got up to the high 80s, but still livable. Tomorrow begins at least a week of high 90s and maybe a couple hundreds. Thank goodness my weatherfolks only do predictions for the next 7 days! We're expecting to break some all time records. Yipee.

I'm into America's Got Talent. Love it! And this week has been a good one for AGT, especially considering the lack of any decent programming this summer. So, in preparation for tonight's 2 hour broadcast, I let the pups out around 8:15, hoping they'd play hard and be tiring out by the time the show started at 9. I brought Esther in to play with us. SHE finally collapsed in a heap at my feet just before 11. I picked her up so she wouldn't get run over every couple minutes and she's been sawing logs on the cushion of my chair ever since. The rest of the gang started giving up the ghost  maybe 15-20 minutes later and now (11:45) all 9 are sound... and I do mean SOUND... asleep. Zonked! They have never played that long or that hard before. Guess they heard the weather report and were taking advantage of their last chance to romp. And Esther... I can't believe how that little baby kept up with them and gave them such a good run for the money! Her mom's been yelling at me, off and on, all evening. She is still nursing around the clock since E's really not interested in eating that dry ol' kibble. I was hoping keeping her away from her mom for several hours would make her hungry enough to eat out of the other pups' bowl. She didn't. And now she's too tired to eat!

Obviously, with the weather what it's supposed to be, the Nine won't be outside and I won't be getting any pictures, even candid shots. But if the ac works reasonably well I'll [i]try [/i] to get some photos in the chair. They really haven't changed noticeably since last week's pictures. This is a slow time for that. Their next big change will be after y'all have them.

Oops! Someone's awake. Guess I'd better get clean newspaper down and round everyone up for the night.

Not Much

Things are status quo. The pups are handling the heat fairly well. Like the rest of us, they are sleeping most of the afternoon. Good thing is they still sleep at night! Of course, I don't usually leave them until midnight... but they are always crashed all over the room by then. I round them up, and they are  beginning to head for the pen when I tell them. There are always a few stragglers that I have to push, but the more they learn to listen and follow orders, the better for me!

The last family is picking now.

There are two girls still unspoken for... pass it on!

Esther is loving the additional space. Haven't heard a peep out of her, mom with her or gone, since I moved them. Like all pups her age, she delights in tearing up newspaper. AND she has discovered the water bowl as a source of... wetness. Not for drinking. Last night she fell asleep with her head IN the bowl. Luckily, it was almost empty!

Maggie and Cisco's kids

These two are Auggie and Rielly. They live together in Georgia. At 7-1/2 months, they are 46 pounds each AND as you can see, still unclipped. Just look at those coats!

I've Created Monsters!

First, Esther. Now she thinks she is to be allowed out whenever her mom is or someone has to come babysit her... me or one of the older pups. The problem with just letting her out in the bedroom is she is fearless and an explorer by nature. She disappears in a flash under the bed, behind the dresser, inside the closet. Which is strange since she's only about 4-5 inches tall and with legs that short, how can she do anything in a flash? If I bring a pup in to visit, I have to supervise. It's all gone well... puppies are amazing critters!... but there is always the chance something 3 times her size could seriously injure her by accident. Think about your 50 pound kid wrestling with the neighbor's 150 pound kid.... This afternoon, I did put Esther down in the computer room with The Nine. It was after they'd already been unpenned for almost an hour, which is a little longer than their energy usually lasts. Of course, their fatigue immediately vanished and E was mobbed as soon as they saw her. Did she run and hide? Did she cry? No, she simply wiggled out from underneath and walked away from the pile-up leaving them sniffing at each other trying to figure out where she was. She makes Seigfreid and Roy look like amateurs! The whole thing wasn't much fun for me because I had to keep saying "ut ut" to get a pup's attention and "no" after I had it and then move on to the next pup and repeat. They are just learning "no" and aren't particularly clued in to "ut ut" translating to "look at me" since they're just babies themselves. And truthfully, Esther didn't seem the least bit intimidated by them, singularly or in mob mode. Maybe it's like a 3 year old riding his trike on the freeway...? It IS important for Esther to learn how to get along with other pups. Ignoring them won't work ALL her life. Will it? One thing that was really cute: at one time, most of The Nine had given up on her and were sprawled out sleeping, but one pup was outside the wire of the pen and E was on the other side. As soon as she saw it, she went into guard dog mode and charged up to the wire, barking and growling. The pup on the other side did the same thing and they entertained themselves for a few minutes "fence fighting." Yeah, it's cute NOW!
The Nine and The Water Bowl... I'e been outsmarted. Yes, I fixed the problem of them tipping it over and dumping water everywhere. However, they've gone back to digging in it and splashing it bone dry, getting water everywhere. All these years and I still don't know how to stop this behavior. At least I don't have to soak a towel for them anymore!

Experiment

This morning, when Peri went outside, I randomly picked up one of Emy's pups and put it in with Esther. The pup I got hold of is the dark female, Teddy Bear. I wanted to see how 4-1/2 week old Esther responded to another puppy since she is rather sedate and well mannered with the adult dogs, even her mom. She knew immediately that Teddy was another PUPPY. Instinctual play is so... instinctual! She pawed, she pounced, she sneaked up on her, she chewed on her face, legs, tail. She tried to mount her... pretty funny with Esther small enough to almost stand upright underneath Teddy. And the older pup? She played nicely. She let Esther lead the way and any time she knocked her over, she stood back and let her regain her feet rather than following through and holding her down the way she does with her brothers and sisters. When she pawed at Esther, it was more like she was just touching her rather than pushing. I was so impressed with both of them! So, from now on, every time I send Peri outside, I'll put another of Em's kids in with their cousin. By the beginning of next week, they should all have met her and I'll put HER in with ALL of them at once and let her stay for an hour or so at a time. Peri is still so protective, I doubt she'll put up with her baby being gone longer than that!

Oh, Teddy weighed in at just shy of 6.5 pounds. And Esther? Right on 2.75.

Emy and Boon's first litter

This is Finn Nelson, clipped for the first time and in full coat just before.

Colors

But first, more about what the pups are doing.
Esther has also started playing with her toy. It is a stuffed animal that is bigger than she is. Originally, I thought she might cuddle up to it when her mommy was gone. She never did. But yesterday, for the first time, I saw her chewing on it and moving it from one spot to another. Also, it is her MOM who is scattering the food around the bowl, perhaps encouraging her to partake?
The 9 have been stymied. I always say the trick is to be smarter than the dog. Ha! They have met their match! The last few days the water bowl has been empty ALL the time. Not because they are drinking the water, but because they are playing in it and tipping it over. So I switched the fairly light weight METAL bowl for a much heavier ceramic one. Mission accomplished.

Coat colors
Several people have asked what color these pups are going to be all grown up and I can't give a definite answer. That is not my department. How much the pups lighten and how long it takes is up to genetics which is Mama Nature's department. Below are pictures taken this afternoon that show coats of the darker pups TODAY.
Starting with one of the "reds"

Now some of the darker ones
Note: these are not ALL the darker pups. Several of the pictures are of the same pup. I just wanted to give you an idea of what the undercoats are looking like.

Correction

In my note to Bob Baffert on Sunday...
please ignore my kicking him in the head. It was not Baffert who got the love tap from one of his horses. It was Wayne Lukas. They don't even look alike!

Cooper is 8 years old
Cooper is a Shadow son, one of my Doodles. And he looks a lot more like his dad than his Mom! In either pose!

Esther
Guess who discovered her mom's food bowl today. She's had her nose in it off and on all day but I don't think she's eating much. She's licking the bowl. And there are lots of kibble bits scattered around. She probably won't really get into solid food for another week or so. Her mom's milk is a lot easier for her and there is plenty of it. Both she and Peri are getting bored. I've heard whimpers from each of them all day. That's one of the drawbacks of single puppy litters... mom is tied up with puppy entertainment which she wouldn't have to do if there was another pup or two to play with. But Peri refuses to stay away from Esther for any length of time IF she is in the house. I can send her outside and she runs all over the yard for an hour. I let her out in the bedroom this afternoon... Esther was sleeping... and Peri drove me nuts running back and forth to the pen from under the bed. I couldn't concentrate on Judge Judy!

This weekend I think I'm going to grab one of Emy's pups and put her in with Esther. (I say her because there are more of them than hims.) I'm hoping putting the older pup in a strange location will disconcert it enough to give Esther time to get comfortable with the invasion of HER space. Maybe by the time they both adjust, things will go smoothly and quietly. Peri will definitely be outside.

Shots this weekend
Emy's pups will be getting the first of 3 shots they'll need before they are 16 weeks old. This one is a "5-way" which is for (actually AGAINST!) parvo, distemper, hepititis and a couple "flus." Sometimes a pup or two will feel a little under the weather for 24 hours or so. That's why I don't let pups go home the day after they get a shot.

Speaking of going home... just in case you missed it the first time around, I will not be shipping or allowing any pick ups on Mondays or Tuesdays. My groomer is closed Sundays and Mondays and since every one has to go to the groomer the day before they leave....
Also, I'll do just one shipping and up to 2 pick ups on the same day.
Wednesday the 18th is booked up.

I'm looking forward to meeting all of you who can make it here. I love the looks on people's faces when they see their pup the first time!

I Stand Corrected

Yesterday's first prize winning pup has convinced me she won fair and square and she knew exactly what she was doing and where she was going when she escaped from the nest. If I returned her once since then, I've put her back a dozen times. AND she has taught one of her lighter colored sisters the trick of sneaking down the back stairs (so to speak.) That one is getting out a lot as well, but always with the first pup. Not to be out done by the girls, the males elected one of their own to join them. But, being a boy, he's done it only once, just to prove he can.

They are all up on wobbly legs but still fall over after a step or two. Makes me wonder what Em's put in the milk!

Word of warning
The puppy pix on the website are going to disappear so if you see one you want to save for your baby book, do it right away. Once I replace a pix with a new one, the old is gone.

Moving Along

The first award for being the first in this litter to do something goes to one of the darkest girls who was the first to get out of the nest. She gets the prize even though I think it was less of a desire on her part to go exploring than "I just got hold of this nipple and I'm not letting go" tenacity. She didn't make a sound when she found herself out on her own... I was sitting right there and noticed nothing. But every one of the dogs in the room was instantly on alert and crowding around the puppy pen. THEY made Emy nervous and she started trying to pick the pup up and put her back. I have yet to see one of MY dogs pick a pup up by the scruff of the neck and Emy is no exception. She tried to scoop the little girl into her mouth as she did when they were newborns but two weeks means the pups are way too big for that. By the time I got everyone out of the way and the pen open, Emy was frustrated and the pup was soaking wet. And still totally unperplexed! As soon as I put her up against my cheek, she started trying to find something to suck on. Emy did lie down with the gang for a few minutes before again leaving the nest to get something to eat.

Cisco's Kids
Millie enjoying her toy.

Millie weighs 32# at 6 months. Her people report she is a happy girl but is troubled by separation anxiety. I have no experience with that since I never have one dog by itself... can't remember a time when mine was not a multiple dog household... so if someone has some ideas, please let me know and I'll pass them on. Today, in Petsmart, I saw a "blanket/coat" that is designed to prevent fear of thunder. The box lists separation anxiety as one of the issues that can be helped by using the blanket which fits very snuggly over the dog's body and chest. Not sure how it works.

Well!

I had to run out to the store this afternoon so I locked up (crated or penned) all the dogs just to make sure there was no trouble with Em and the pups. (Sometimes, like children as soon as Mom's back is turned, the dogs will stick their tongues out or twitched their noses at other dogs when I'm not right there to call them on it.) I was gone just about a half hour. When I got home, Emy was out of her pen and running around the bedroom, which is gated to keep those in in and the ones out out. I could tell she needed to go outside because as soon as I opened the gate she made a beeline to the front door. BUT by the time I got to the door, she had already run back to the bedroom. She wanted back in with the pups. So we played that game a couple times before I wised up enough to open the door and leave it open. Duh! as I'm always saying, the trick is to be smarter than the dog! It took her just a minute or two to take care of her outside business, but by that time I had closed the door and gone to the bedroom to check on and rearrange the pups. That means I removed and replaced all the newspapers in the nest and the pen and put the pups on a clean blanket. Not that the other one was dirty... it's too early for them to make a mess... but Emy digs in it and pulls it from one side of the pool to the other (and then moves the pups to the side with no blanket.) I got a very dirty look from Mama when I opened the door and let her back in the house. Then she kind of stomped around the bedroom until I got there and opened the puppy pen for her. She practically jumped into the nest, sniffed everyone and then went to her food and water bowls for a few minutes.

She's really a great mom, always, and has enough experience to know what needs to be done from minute to minute, pup to pup. Unfortunately, I think she also has an active imagination and thinks of all the things that could go wrong when the babies are out of her sight and hearing for more than a minute or two.

Yesterday afternoon, temperatures outside back in the 60s and the house warming up nicely, I put all nine pups in the nest with Emy and they've been there ever since with hardly a peep. Forty-eight hours seems to be the magic time period for newborns to adjust to life outside the womb. They have already grown A LOT! Nine pups completely fill up the space between Em's front and rear legs when she's lying on her side... and usually there are a couple stacked two deep plus one under her chin and another under her tail! I'll get another photo or two in the next few days.

By the way, I put a couple of yesterday's pictures on the website. The lighting is different which shows a lot of color. However, to the naked eye, the first (darker) shots are closer to what the pups look like right now in person. But the new pictures show there are no real black pups in this litter.

Peace and Quiet

Thirty-six hours old! Emy with 5 of the girls. There is nothing like a litter of newborn pups that is sound asleep and stays that way for a couple hours!

What I've noticed about Emy... she is comfortable with me dividing the litter, leaving half with her and taking half away. Her internal clock lets her know when it's time to switch. She gets antsy, moves around a lot, disturbing the pups nestled against her which makes them cry which lets me know (or wakes me up) it is time for the ones with me to eat.

What I've noticed about the pups... they are perfectly comfortable with me dividing the litter. The ones with Emy nurse, get their bottoms cleaned, fall asleep and then repeat until I switch them. THEN as soon as I put them in the drawer, they crawl to the end closest to my bed and fall into a deep sleep before I even get the cover pulled over them. And they stay that way until I wake them up to make the exchange. The interesting thing is, they don't fall asleep where I put them, but always move to the other side of the dresser. The ones with their mom are always noisier than the ones with me.

Peri
What a difference a week makes! Peri LOOKS pregnant. Her ribs have sprung, she has a real belly, her breasts are enlarged and her nipples swollen. Last week, when I would pick her up, she felt empty. Not any more! And her attitude toward the other dogs is changing... Crockett (the Crested) has always been her best bud. She is suddenly not interested in romping with him 23 hours a day and when she is lying down, she wants him to LEAVE HER ALONE!

Her reservation list is closed.

PUPPIES!

Emy spent yesterday evening presenting nine... yep, NINE... beautiful babies to the world. The first appeared at 5:50 PM and the last at 10. Three are boys and the others are, as luck would have it, not. (Yes, I know. GENERALLY there are 2-3 males per female, but not this time. Actually, it was almost even with Boon's first litter too, with the lead going to the boys by just one. Since the sire determines the sex, maybe Boon is going to have about fifty/fifty.) Two of the pups (one of each) appear to be black while the rest are "wheaten red." Which means they are dark mahogany color right now but WILL lighten up to some shade of blond. They're really quite pretty!

After a rather long night, mom and puppies are all doing well. Of course, last night was the coldest of the year; after a winter when we had only a couple nights below freezing, this spring has already seen lower temps! Didn't have snow at my level, but at slightly higher ones, they had 1-3 inches. So it was pretty noisy around here since I have the heat off and Emy just could not get herself curled around that many pups at one time. Early this morning, I finally... duh!... put half the litter on a hot water bottle in a dresser drawer while she got the rest of them tucked up nice and close to her belly. Peace reigns! We're rotating every 1-1/2 to 2 hours and everyone's happy. Em has figured out that she'll get the others back, in trade, and they are safe out of her sight. But she really gives the ones returning from the drawer the once over!


More than anything, puppies have to be warm. Which is reasonable since they're coming from an environment that is 100 degrees!

So, now that everyone knows the good news, I'm going to take a nap.
Photos later.

A Couple Things

Ms Sheana left this morning for her new home in California. Over the last two weeks, this little girl and I got close, something I try not to do when I'm not keeping a pup. But when I get down to just one... well, it's not easy to stay aloof! She was really brave at the airport. I did something with her I've never done before... I put her down on the ground and let her walk around. She never got more than 3 feet from me, but she explored in all directions. She was interested in the people standing in line and walking passed us, although the ones dragging suitcases on wheels were a little scary for her. I was really proud of her. Before I had to put her in the crate, she actually walked up to a lady who came up to the counter next to us. And she did the 12 hours in the crate with just a little protest. I don't think I mentioned before that the pups all learned to howl so they could take part in the daily sings around here. The only problem was... are you ready for this... she was put on an earlier than scheduled connecting flight out of Atlanta and the dummies in San Francisco didn't bother to read the airbill. So they didn't call her people to tell them she was there 3 hours before expected. Luckily, Francene called the airport to check on the scheduled flight and found out she was already there. So now Emy's pups are all gone.

Which brings me to Diamond
who is in standing heat and as of right now this minute has been bred twice by Boon. For a young, inexperienced stud, he does very well at maintaining his cool. Two days ago, Diamond had a headache and attacked him every time he even looked in her direction. However, the hormones have a way of changing a young lady's attitude toward a little lovin'. Since she is now receptive, I'll keep putting them together every evening until she tells me (and Boon) she's over it. So, if she "settles," the pups will be due at the very end of January... the same week Maggie's pups will be ready to go. Gonna be busy. Again.