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I've Not Deserted You...

11/30/2018

We're all good here...
I took some time, in stages, to put some "festive" into the holiday season and successfully got my tree up. Even threw some wood in the fireplace last night and fired her up. It was a nice change. I've been wrapping up my evenings in the bedroom with Remedy watching TV for a couple hours each night since the pups arrived. Have probably watched more TV in the past three weeks than I've watched the rest of the year in it's entirety.

Today I decided to snap a few pics of the pups individually while I had them out of the whelping box for their linen change. It's early yet but I'm hoping to get their individual pages published to celebrate three weeks. They aren't particularly active alone -quick to fall asleep but becoming somewhat photogenic.

I'm just starting to see some play. Gnawing on each other mainly with an occasional swipe of the paw. Fun to watch but hard to capture on camera. The two pictures below show Little Boy Blue attempting to take a chunk out of a much bigger pup, probably Orange, only to have the favor returned. Blue may be little right now but appears to have some feisty in him! :-)

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Pupdate...

11/26/2018

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Not too much news to report... Pups are doing well and Remedy continues to do typical mom things. She's becoming comfortable leaving her pups for short periods. Even spent a little time outside with me yesterday providing moral support as I did some grounds maintenance. Inside she seems to enjoy her reprieves perched upon the ottoman that sits alongside the whelping box where she can look down upon her brood. But not be bothered. All completely normal.
Blue seems to be doing well in general but as expected I'm seeing a weight discrepancy grow. Once a pup looses ground, they rarely catch up. Eventually likely, but not while with the pack. Becomes kind of a vicious circle. The larger pups overpower the smaller ones for best positions and at times away completely as the little ones give up the struggle. They burn the calories with the fight but then only get a chance to consume enough to replace those they spent. I do what I can to make sure the smaller ones get in there in general -and at a minimum get their fill at least a few times a day. As the days progress though, mom ventures into the whelping box less frequently. Especially during the daytime hours. I think she continues to bed down with them throughout the bulk of the night. But daytime is slowly becoming her time. Bottle feeding is an option but not one I've ever had much success with. Easier, and probably better for them to simply make sure they get uncompromised time with mom. Won't be long before I get them on mash and that will help even the score dramatically.
In some of the photos size difference is pretty evident. Especially between Blue and Orange. Orange is a tank of a pup... especially for a girl. She's regained her title of heavyweight of the litter. Not all that common for a girl at this stage of the game. But to watch her it's no surprise. She powers her way in and always gets her fill. Then rolls over to let things settle. She reminds me of myself when I've eaten more than I should at one sitting. One thing that can be said of the smaller pups -they're generally more agile. I guess it's easier for them to maneuver their weight around when their legs are just begin to carry them. As a group I'm seeing them finally behave like little dogs. Sitting at times and taking several steps before falling over. The pictures tell the story. The two smallest pups caught on camera. Blue sitting and pink walking.
Yesterday I heard my first real bark... it came from Black.

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Let There Be Light!

11/23/2018

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All pups' eyes are open. Some fully and some almost there. Pink's eyes opened first. A couple days ago. Research states, despite being open, they're still unable to see. Maybe shadows. But over the course of the next few days, the shadows become more vivid and meaningful and they'll start moving about with a degree of purpose. For what ever reason the camera generally picks their eyes up as blue. Often they appear to be going different directions and with a sort of film covering. To look at them though, their eyes appear black and will later lighten to a dark brown. We'll still see a bunch of photos with eyes mostly closed going forward. Outside of nursing they don't spend much time awake. Yet... Hard to believe these guys are nearing two weeks already! Progressing well. Feeble attempts to walk but they're trying.

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Happy Birthday To My Baby!

11/22/2018

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Did Someone Mention A Feast?

Turkey For All?

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Thankful!

11/22/2018

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Remedy

11/21/2018

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A Great Mom

Hanging Out With Her Pups... Doing Mom Things

Enjoying Some Relatively Quiet Moments

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One Down Seven To Go!

11/19/2018

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So We've got a week and a day under our belt and everybody seems to be doing good.... Blue too. His breathing seems to have improved. No longer appears labored. Possibly a little more rapid than the other pups but nothing obvious like it was a few days ago. He's eating, stretching and maneuvering the same as the rest and I'm feeling better about him. Cautiously optimistic I guess. He lost some ground in weight but seems to be picking back up. He's tied with Brown collared boy. Weekly weights were taken again today and have been posted.

Tails and dewclaws are looking good, healing well! In some of the photos you can see the sutures. Look like blue fishing line. Eyes should begin opening in a few days! The ability to see really stimulates rapid change in behavior. Fun to watch.

I called and secured cropping appointments and I'm happy to report all will be done on the same day... January 8th. I'll hold them overnight for observation and as long as every one's behaving as I know them to behave they can be picked up the day after on the 9th. We have lots of ground to cover between now and then but I just wanted to throw the date out there for those of you who like to have things planned in advance.

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Lazy Saturday!

11/17/2018

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And we're all doing good....

CLICK ON SMALLER PHOTOS TO ENLARGE

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A case of the blues...

11/16/2018

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A few more pictures taken over the course of the past few days... sometimes the words to go with them don't come easy. Basically a writers block. In this case the block stems from concern for one of the pups. Our boy in Blue is demonstrating some labored breathing. I first noticed it Wednesday when at the Vets office waiting for the pups to have their tails and dew claws done. While laying side by side in my basket his respiratory pattern drew my attention. When I mentioned it to our Vet, she looked closely at him and unfortunately agreed -something seemed a bit off. She listened to his heart and lungs and gave him an all clear there. Then mentioned, as she observed him, the possibility of a diaphragmatic hernia. The only way of knowing would be through X-ray but felt at his age and size, that in itself wasn't really an option. And if confirmed, he's too young to do any type of corrective surgery. Outside of the respiratory irregularity, he didn't appear to be gaining weight as quickly as the others either. I weighed them all again today and my suspicion was confirmed. All pups have gained 8-10 ounces since Monday with the exception of Blue who gained only 4. He's behaving normally- nursing maneuvering etc, and fortunately showing no signs of distress or pain. So now, for now, the only option is to watch and wait. While I naturally worry about the pups in my care, as I would any of my dogs, I also worry about the people waiting in anticipation of them joining their family. And I'm hear to tell you, while I'm probably one of the most transparent breeders you'll ever come across, transparency is at times painful. This is one of those times. I've already spoken with Sandra, who at the time of the pups arrival was happy to hear Remedy came through for her. But now, just a couple days after placing the call that brought happiness I had to make another that brought forth concern and disappointment. Never easy.

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