Archive for November, 2008

Chronic Happy Tail

Since Annie has been with us, the tip of her tail has been a topic of conversation. When she wags, it whips around and smarts quite a lot when hit by it. As she has grown more comfortable in our home, she wags more and more to the point where the tip of her tail bleeds. Upon closer examination, it seemed as though a piece of bone was exposed, which we thought was why it hurt so to be whacked by it. Odd, though, that it didn’t seem to phase Annie a bit when she smacked it on a wall or similar object. She never seemed to lick it, or show any signs of protectiveness of her tail. So we began to think perhaps the wound caused nerve damage?

Kristin called the vet to have her examined. When she returned she said Annie suffered from “chronic happy tail“, to which we all laughed. But in fact, that is exactly what the vet wrote on Annie’s chart! Seems that she had developed a callus that needed to be trimmed and bandaged to heal properly. So that’s where we are – our foster dog has chronic happy tail.

November 30, 2008 • Tags: , , , • Posted in: Annie • 1 Comment

Puppy Pictures on Day 13

Some of the pups are showing signs of soon opening their eyes!  Once they have their vision and hearing the real fun begins. They will be romping around, learning to walk and to play, and they will become much more photogenic. For now, they lay around and sleep a lot.  So here are photos taken today, Saturday November 29, 2008 – they are 13 days old

 (click for larger, un-cropped photos)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 29, 2008 • Tags: , • Posted in: pups • No Comments

Day ten update

Annie is becoming a part of our family like our summer mama, Sweetie, never could. Sweetie was so sick the entire time we had her, only really getting over her giardia and coccidea near the end of her time with us.

Annie loves to chew her Kongs. She loves you to throw them and she loves to chase them and then to chew chew chew them. She is surprisingly good with all people. Even though her pups are only 10 days old today she allowed my friend Cathy into her puppy room to look at her babies! This is unheard of. Of course Cathy knows dogs and loves bully breeds so that was probably part of it. But Annie has been friendly to anyone she’s met. If she gets a sniff first then she is all tail and butt wags! She especially loves all the kids she’s met, showing immediate friendliness toward them. She loves to run, she walks well on a leash and she loves cuddling. When it is her time for a forever family, she will make someone a great companion.

About the puppies – they are 10 days old so their eyes are ready to open any day now. They are still all closed but I suspect that soon they will open. The ears follow a few days later. Once eyes and ears are open puppies get really noisy! These puppies are getting really big, but there are two who are smaller then the rest. I’d call them the “runts” but they are thriving along with the rest of the litter.

November 26, 2008 • Tags: , , , • Posted in: Annie, pups, Sweetie • No Comments

Annie Gets Her Groove Back

Just a week removed from whelping her 8 pups, our foster dog Annie is getting her groove back! She loves to play, especially with her Kong bones.  She has two plug type and one bone-shaped Kong and loves chewing and fetching. We have been increasing her play more and more and she tells us when she’s had enough by plopping down and chewing. Its’ good to see this dog come into her own. We can no longer see her ribs and hip bones. She has a graceful prance to her stride and sure loves to play.  You go, Annie!

November 25, 2008 • Tags: , , • Posted in: Annie • No Comments

Video of Annie and pups

Here is a video taken November 20, 2008 of foster dog Annie nursing her eight 4-day old puppies!

November 24, 2008 • Tags: , , • Posted in: Annie, pups, video • No Comments

Good Books and What They Don’t Say

I love my books. I have used two to help me understand what things to expect as I work with my foster mamas. Neither of these books are the definitive, must-have reads that some of my books are to me. But they are sound books with good advice and they are books I happened to have around or were able to find on a quick run to the bookstore. They are:


Breeding a Litter, by Beth J. Finder Harris

However, there are some things that they don’t tell you in books:

• Mama dogs have loose stools, like soft serve ice cream (sorry, sort of gross) especially if you’re feeding them a rich diet. Expect this and don’t assume there is anything wrong unless it is clear that the mama is lethargic or unwell, or if the poop stinks to the high heavens of if there is blood in the stool. All of these are signs of illness (likely parasites) and need to be addressed by the vet. A good rule of thumb is to get a stool sample tested by the vet right when the mama arrives and another a few weeks later. Don’t assume a clear sample is really clear. Some of these parasites take awhile to show up. And don’t assume that you can’t catch what the mama has. Many parasites are transmittable to humans. Something I learned all too well over the summer when I caught giardia from Sweetie. The treatment was effective and I’m fine now but the medication was so strong it literally took me months to feel normal in my gut again.
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November 24, 2008 • Tags: , , , • Posted in: Annie, Bella, Lollie, pups, Sweetie • No Comments