Phew! Finally got a breather! Last week was a busy one and then straight in to my workweek which went pretty smoothly but never the less late nights and early mornings continued with getting the pups fed and settled in addition to providing for my own crew. Simply wasn't able to gain the time or energy I'd hoped to put together the slide show of extras or put the past week in word format.
Better late than never as they say... Will start with the words.
First I want to bring to everyone's attention the Facebook "litter page" Adelle started up. Some of you discovered it by reading comments to the previous post but in the event not everyone read them I'm posting the FB address here too. She set it up as a private page as a place for each of you to post photos and updates of your pups to share with each other. While I've got my own FB page and a page dedicated to my dogs and all things Doberman there was interest expressed within the group to find a means to stay in contact with each other. The page address is. https://www.facebook.com/groups/635968246597030/
Unfortunately Weebly doesn't support links to address within the body of text but a simple copy and paste of the link to your browser should take you right to the page. Many of you have already found the it. I hope the rest of you do too.
So... last week! A total of five visits and 5 pups selected, some which stuck and some in the end didn't. Hence the title to my post. More on that later...
Regarding the visits though it was obvious the pups enjoyed the extra attention and just as obvious everyone who visited enjoyed giving it to them.
Last week was a period of rapid growth and especially growth of ears. It seems the ears remain small for quite a while and then all the sudden I look at them and wonder "wow, when did that happen". Hard to believe a week from today a select group of four will go in for the final step of breed specific beautification. Their crop! The rest two days later.
In groups the pups spent quite a bit of time outside throughout the week with visitors and with me alone as I finished up their weekly photos. They also spent a couple hours a day each day in the smaller dog run off the back of my house. It's good for them to understand confinement in different settings can be fun and as a group, whether it be small or large, they think nothing of it. They enjoy their time with each other and the toys provided and eventually discover the doghouse. To them the dog house is more of a play station than shelter but it's the discovery of what it offers that's important. And finally, mid-week, they experienced their first little storm including some light rain and mild thunder. They happened to be dining on the deck when the rain started and neither the rain nor the distant thunder phased them. I've been fortunate enough that each of my litters has had an opportunity to weather a storm preparing them for storms of the future. I was hopeful this one would too. None of my dogs have a fear of weather and I attribute that to my lack of fear and to proper socialization when storms occur. No coddling allowed. Past litters and past storms have required my presence for reassurance but in general I know the best thing to do is to let them wonder what it's all about, gain a sense of safety in numbers, realize they're fine and then enjoy a fun romp through the wet grass when the skies clear. Since we were spared lightning last week, the pups were simply allowed the choice of finishing up their meal in the light rain or to seek shelter in the dog house or under the canopy of the run. They chose to continue on with their meal.
I broke down and advertised Purple. I've had some interest but she's still in search of a proper home. Kind of surprising actually. She may end up being the first pup since my first litter that remains homeless at the 8 week mark. Not sure what to think of that. But as I always say, everything happens for a reason. One of these days the reason will become apparent.
Now... on to the subject I touched on earlier and the title of the post. Some of you noticed, Adelle and her hubby originally chose Black but then after talking things over in the car, called within a half hour or so of leaving to inform me they wanted to go with Tan. Since no selections had been made since they'd driven off it was an easy switch. Now the monkey wrench I mentioned. Sunday night when I got home, I walked through the pup room greeting the pups and then carried on with my chores by first letting Majestic and Galtero out for a romp before dinner. It's not unusual for the pups to have a few flakes of shavings on their coats when I get home but by the time I return to them they've generally done a great job of shaking themselves clean. For that reason, I found it odd to see Tan still had a flake stuck on his snout. Unfortunately, on closer inspection it wasn't a flake of shavings but a crusty lesion thought at this point to be some form of fungal infection. While I don't think it's an issue that will be ongoing, I called to let Adelle know what was going on with her chosen boy and that I would be treating it as a fungal infection with what I had on hand until I could get to the Vet for verification. A short time later, she called back to let me know they were uncomfortable with the new development and requested to instead choose a pup from those remaining. They chose Blue.
As a result Tan is once again thrown back into the pot for selection and Blue is no longer available. I suppose under the current set of circumstances Suzie and Ashley would have an opportunity to re-select but I think they're both happy with their current picks. I considered calling -just now as I'm typing this but after looking at the clock decided it was too late in the evening. Maybe, if I don't receive comments by mid day tomorrow, I'll make the calls to let them know what's going on. As for the rest of you, as far as Tan is concerned, he will need a clean bill of health in order to gain his certificate of health which I generally get during their cropping appointment. The blemish on his snout I'm thinking already looks somewhat better... different anyway. The crusties gone but a hairless area remains as a result of the topical I've applied. We've got an appointment to see the Vet at 10am tomorrow. I've got just over a week to continue what ever course of treatment is recommended before his scheduled crop and hopefully enough time will pass and enough healing will occur that he'll receive his certificate on schedule. I know no one wants to hear of any issues but as per our agreement if I can't produce a pup with a valid health certificate our contract essentially becomes null and void and deposit returned. Honestly, I don't believe Tan's condition is much of a problem but I can't guarantee there won't be a slight delay in the issuance of certificate. That being said, I'm a fair woman of my word and the ball's in your court as far as "Tan The Man" is concerned. Gotta love a monkey wrench!
Tomorrow I'll begin the process of weekly photos once again and will try and get some to show what's going on with Tan. When speaking with Adelle she said she noticed a bit of a raised area on his snout when they were here to select. I actually recall her mentioning something but there was so much going on and since I hadn't noticed anything unusual I guess I'm guilty of not really paying close enough attention to what she said. In hindsight, I wish I had. I'd be that much farther ahead of the game. :-(
FYI... the little "f" directly below will take you to the Facebook page mentioned earlier in the post. I learned something new today...
Better late than never as they say... Will start with the words.
First I want to bring to everyone's attention the Facebook "litter page" Adelle started up. Some of you discovered it by reading comments to the previous post but in the event not everyone read them I'm posting the FB address here too. She set it up as a private page as a place for each of you to post photos and updates of your pups to share with each other. While I've got my own FB page and a page dedicated to my dogs and all things Doberman there was interest expressed within the group to find a means to stay in contact with each other. The page address is. https://www.facebook.com/groups/635968246597030/
Unfortunately Weebly doesn't support links to address within the body of text but a simple copy and paste of the link to your browser should take you right to the page. Many of you have already found the it. I hope the rest of you do too.
So... last week! A total of five visits and 5 pups selected, some which stuck and some in the end didn't. Hence the title to my post. More on that later...
Regarding the visits though it was obvious the pups enjoyed the extra attention and just as obvious everyone who visited enjoyed giving it to them.
Last week was a period of rapid growth and especially growth of ears. It seems the ears remain small for quite a while and then all the sudden I look at them and wonder "wow, when did that happen". Hard to believe a week from today a select group of four will go in for the final step of breed specific beautification. Their crop! The rest two days later.
In groups the pups spent quite a bit of time outside throughout the week with visitors and with me alone as I finished up their weekly photos. They also spent a couple hours a day each day in the smaller dog run off the back of my house. It's good for them to understand confinement in different settings can be fun and as a group, whether it be small or large, they think nothing of it. They enjoy their time with each other and the toys provided and eventually discover the doghouse. To them the dog house is more of a play station than shelter but it's the discovery of what it offers that's important. And finally, mid-week, they experienced their first little storm including some light rain and mild thunder. They happened to be dining on the deck when the rain started and neither the rain nor the distant thunder phased them. I've been fortunate enough that each of my litters has had an opportunity to weather a storm preparing them for storms of the future. I was hopeful this one would too. None of my dogs have a fear of weather and I attribute that to my lack of fear and to proper socialization when storms occur. No coddling allowed. Past litters and past storms have required my presence for reassurance but in general I know the best thing to do is to let them wonder what it's all about, gain a sense of safety in numbers, realize they're fine and then enjoy a fun romp through the wet grass when the skies clear. Since we were spared lightning last week, the pups were simply allowed the choice of finishing up their meal in the light rain or to seek shelter in the dog house or under the canopy of the run. They chose to continue on with their meal.
I broke down and advertised Purple. I've had some interest but she's still in search of a proper home. Kind of surprising actually. She may end up being the first pup since my first litter that remains homeless at the 8 week mark. Not sure what to think of that. But as I always say, everything happens for a reason. One of these days the reason will become apparent.
Now... on to the subject I touched on earlier and the title of the post. Some of you noticed, Adelle and her hubby originally chose Black but then after talking things over in the car, called within a half hour or so of leaving to inform me they wanted to go with Tan. Since no selections had been made since they'd driven off it was an easy switch. Now the monkey wrench I mentioned. Sunday night when I got home, I walked through the pup room greeting the pups and then carried on with my chores by first letting Majestic and Galtero out for a romp before dinner. It's not unusual for the pups to have a few flakes of shavings on their coats when I get home but by the time I return to them they've generally done a great job of shaking themselves clean. For that reason, I found it odd to see Tan still had a flake stuck on his snout. Unfortunately, on closer inspection it wasn't a flake of shavings but a crusty lesion thought at this point to be some form of fungal infection. While I don't think it's an issue that will be ongoing, I called to let Adelle know what was going on with her chosen boy and that I would be treating it as a fungal infection with what I had on hand until I could get to the Vet for verification. A short time later, she called back to let me know they were uncomfortable with the new development and requested to instead choose a pup from those remaining. They chose Blue.
As a result Tan is once again thrown back into the pot for selection and Blue is no longer available. I suppose under the current set of circumstances Suzie and Ashley would have an opportunity to re-select but I think they're both happy with their current picks. I considered calling -just now as I'm typing this but after looking at the clock decided it was too late in the evening. Maybe, if I don't receive comments by mid day tomorrow, I'll make the calls to let them know what's going on. As for the rest of you, as far as Tan is concerned, he will need a clean bill of health in order to gain his certificate of health which I generally get during their cropping appointment. The blemish on his snout I'm thinking already looks somewhat better... different anyway. The crusties gone but a hairless area remains as a result of the topical I've applied. We've got an appointment to see the Vet at 10am tomorrow. I've got just over a week to continue what ever course of treatment is recommended before his scheduled crop and hopefully enough time will pass and enough healing will occur that he'll receive his certificate on schedule. I know no one wants to hear of any issues but as per our agreement if I can't produce a pup with a valid health certificate our contract essentially becomes null and void and deposit returned. Honestly, I don't believe Tan's condition is much of a problem but I can't guarantee there won't be a slight delay in the issuance of certificate. That being said, I'm a fair woman of my word and the ball's in your court as far as "Tan The Man" is concerned. Gotta love a monkey wrench!
Tomorrow I'll begin the process of weekly photos once again and will try and get some to show what's going on with Tan. When speaking with Adelle she said she noticed a bit of a raised area on his snout when they were here to select. I actually recall her mentioning something but there was so much going on and since I hadn't noticed anything unusual I guess I'm guilty of not really paying close enough attention to what she said. In hindsight, I wish I had. I'd be that much farther ahead of the game. :-(
FYI... the little "f" directly below will take you to the Facebook page mentioned earlier in the post. I learned something new today...
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