And in the blink of an eye, they are puppies. :-)
They bark, they bite, they pounce, they wag their tails, and they tumble ass over tea kettle. They make each other cry. They are inquisitive. They are underfoot. They are developing their personalities (though these are subject to major change as the weeks go by).
Pink and Purple Girls are the “Hey, what is that?” puppies. First to do everything.
Blue Boy is the most alert. He shakes and “kills” his toys. He protests when things don’t go his way. Case in point. He wants under the bed. I blocked the way. He wants under the bed. HE WANTS UNDER THE BED.
Green Boy is already marching to the beat of his own drummer. When his brothers and sisters are awake, he is asleep. When he is awake, they are asleep. He explores and plays by himself (or torments sleeping puppies).
White and Yellow Boys are my “good boys”. They are the “What are we doing now?” puppies. They are good to cuddle, game to eat, love to sleep, and willing to do whatever the other puppies are doing.
They are four-weeks old today and I don’t know how much weigh. The pan they sit in on the scale is the perfect size to block the corner of the bed (and foil Blue Boy’s attempts to get under the bed).
Last week I wrote that I would be starting the weaning process. I wasn’t going to waste my time fixing their first meals if they weren’t ready for it. So on Tuesday night I tried them on water. They were all curious about the dish and dipped their noses in it. Good sign. I decided that I would fix them their first meal on Wednesday when they were 3 1/2 weeks old.
Wednesday was the night of the flood. Flood #1 occurred after school when I was putting down a clean bowl of water in the laundry room (dogs come and go in and out of the house through the laundry room - I fix their meals in there - Booster bath is in there) and some blonde CBR head knocked it out of my hand. Much cursing ensued because I cleaned this room when I was home sick. Flood #2 occurred in the puppy room when I was putting Picabo’s dinner down and she jumped up and then down into her water dish sending water everywhere. More cursing (sorry you had to hear that puppies). I started a load of puppy laundry and fixed everyone else their dinner. Trip #1 and I carried the Field Spaniels' dishes into the dog room. Trip #2 and I carried Hope and True’s dishes into the dog room. Trip #3 was to put Mercy’s food down on the laundry room floor (she is 13-years old and eats in there. She eats a little, takes a break by going out into the yard, comes back and eats some more - it takes her about 20 minutes to eat). Trip #3 into the laundry room and splish splash there is water everywhere! The washer filled, overfilled, and overflowed! I rushed over to shut off the machine but the water kept flowing. The main water shut-off valve is right there so I shut water off to the house. I am speechless. No cursing this time. I put Mercy all the way outside to eat and grabbed my mop. You know that dog hair that collects under the washer and dryer? You know that dirt and hair that we never clean up often enough? There was my sparkling clean laundry room floor with all that dirt and hair floating on it. I mopped up enough water to stop the splashing, hauled the Booster Bath into the kitchen, and literally tossed my used-to-be clean but now soggy rugs out the back door (where they still sit in a frozen lump). The rest of the evening was spent cleaning the laundry room (it ain’t easy pulling out the washer and dryer) and puzzling out what was wrong with the machine (cold water valve is stuck open for some reason). I turned off water to just the washer and turned water back on to the house. Oh, to raise a litter without a washer. Not good. But not that bad. The washer works, it just has to be manually filled with water. I can do that with a hose from the laundry tub. Not convenient but workable until the local repairman gets a day off from his regular job. He’s supposed to be here this coming Friday after school. Needless to say, the puppies did not get their first meal on Wednesday.
Sometime during the school day on Thursday, it dawned on me that I wasn’t sick. I felt better than I had in over a month. I went home in good spirits. I opened the front door and a wave of something foul-smelling hit me. My FS were all there fine and well. I went into the puppy room and Picabo was sick. She had thrown up twice and had one bout of diarrhea. More cleaning up but this time without an easy to use washer. Picabo didn’t have a temperature and her gums were nice and pink. She was quite green around the gills and you could tell by looking at her that she didn’t feel well. I shrugged it off to the stress of raising a litter. This same thing happened to her with her first litter at exactly the same time. My plan was to let her fast until morning, put her on a bland diet, and of course, I would feed her puppies. If that didn’t work, I did have the pills the vet gave me when this happened before. Pills are a last resort because of the drug transference through her milk. It is now Sunday and she is bright and perky but not 100%. That little bit of extra weight I have been working so hard to keep on her is gone. She is positively gaunt. She is eating a 1/2 portion of her food with cottage cheese. She isn’t vomiting anymore but her stools are still really loose (but she goes hours and hours between poops). She is drinking water well. She will be fine. She just can’t bounce back as quickly as she could if she wasn’t under this stress.
So the puppies were given their first dog food meal on Thursday night and they think I am one heck of a cook. :-) My weaning formula is:
1. Put the kettle on to boil.
2. Put a small amount of mom’s kibble in a mixing bowl.
3. Cover with boiling water.
4. Let soak until cool.
5. Smash it up with a potato masher.
6. For six puppies, divide it into two shallow dishes. I’ve been using the little dishes that come with frozen entrees.
7. Pour a generous amount of either goat’s milk, buttermilk, or Esbilac on top. I’m using Esbilac Goat’s Milk. It takes one can per day.
8. As days go by, reduce the milk product and add things like yogurt and cottage cheese. Reduce the amount of mashing. If mom is getting puppy food, switch the puppies over to adult food once they get the hang of eating and digesting dog food.
These puppies have taken to food really well. Thursday night they basically lapped up the milk. This morning they actually ate the food. Speaking of mornings, now that they are eating (and pooping real poop), the 30 minutes extra minutes I need in the morning to take care of them is now 45 minutes (and 60 would be better). The puppies are more fun now but they are also a lot more physical work. Karen Miller called me Saturday morning and asked how things were going. I said weakly, “Oh, fine”. LOL I can’t help but think of the song lyric, “So you had a bad day”. :-) Actually, its not so bad. It could be a lot worse. Things just got a little complicated this week. :-)
Sheila Miller
Wolftree Acres
Nevada, USA
sdmiller@the-onramp.net
http://www.wolftreeacres.homestead.com
No comments:
Post a Comment