Archive for June, 2009
Puppies start to walk and open eyes
Well tonight (Monday) it was clear that these pups are out of the woods. And I am relieved. I noticed two days ago that some of them had little slits opening in their eye lids and today about half of them have their eyes almost completely open. We won’t be having photos for a week as the flash is harmful to their developing eye tissue. I may try on a sunny day to get some but not tonight. In addition to their eye development, they are starting to walk! It is only for a few steps, and they are very wobbly, but they are walking!! They seem to be right on schedule, so their bout of kennel cough didn’t set them back, developmentally, at all. In fact, as I watched them nurse tonight I was struck by how vigorous they all are. I think they are really hungry now, and I’ve noticed Daisy‘s food intake increasing (finally). Yes, it seems the consensus is for the name Daisy so Daisy it is. I may be supplementing their nursing sooner than I had planned…I usually wait until they can stand (duh) to introduce them to lapping formula from a bowl and that usually happens after week 3…but here we are at 2 weeks plus one day and already they seem ravenous. If Daisy can keep up, then I’ll let her.
I also gave them their first worming today and from about 1.5 pounds at day 3 they are up to 4 pounds!! Yeah. I am really proud of this group. Also, I cut toenails tonight. They were crazy long and really scratchy. You are welcome, Daisy.
8 Tiny Puppies Nursing
As promised at the tail end of Mama Dog Gets a Bath, here we have an amazing video of eight 12-day old pups nursing their mama. TURN UP THE SOUND to hear all of the precious puppy grunts and slurps!
See this video and many other CanineFostering.com videos on YouTube.
Mama dog gets a bath
Well, today was SO hot that I figured if I bathed Sandy? Daisy? Angie? (still haven’t found a name right for her) outside she wouldn’t mind the cold water and she’d dry off in a snap. Plus I figured she’d like the time outside. Boy was she freaked out by the water! It could be that it was spraying at her from the hose (I tried to be gentle but there isn’t that gentle a way for one to spray another with a hose) or that it was cold, or that she’s never had a bath or a hose bath before – I’m not sure which it is. But once she realized that all I was doing was hosing her down and that she couldn’t get away from me, she submitted. It sort of was humbling to me, how dogs let us submit our will on them rather easily. Now I know what I was doing was for her own good and she ultimately seemed to really enjoy being clean (you know how dogs do that rubbing thing on the carpet once they’re clean? She was rubbing herself along the garage door!!) but it sort of hit me how I could have been doing anything to her and she would eventually give in. How trusting, and how sad that so many people betray that trust. It just really hit me today for some reason.
But anyway, hopefully she will be ok with her next bath and hopefully I didn’t teach her to be deathly afraid of them…I think not as, like I said, she clearly got into it after a bit. And it is nice to have her clean!! Birth is a yucky business and that first week continues to be a bit yucky. Add to that her bout of whipworm and the poop that goes a long with that, and her pups crawling all over her and THEIR loose stool and… well, you get the picture. The dog needed a bath. (more…)
Bauer update at 7 months old
An update on our winter puppy, Bauer. He had his first “sleep over” recently and here’s what his owner had to say:
I was playing around with my Picasa photo editor, and made a “collage” of Bauer, from puppy to well, big puppy! 🙂 I thought you would get a kick out of seeing how fast he grew!
I thought you’d enjoy some of the pictures I had a chance to take this weekend….Oscar spent a couple days with us…
I was a little worried at first, because both Bauer and Oscar are used to being the main dog around, but so far everything has gone well with Oscar staying over. We’ll be sad to see him go home tomorrow! N- dropped Oscar off shortly after I got home from work, and of course he and Bauer had a blast playing right away. As soon as N- left, I leashed both of them up and took them for an hour walk. I figured this was the best way for Oscar to learn how things are run in my family, and I think this truly did help! Bauer an Oscar walked so well together…..when we’re out walking, I feel like I’m the local dog whisperer or something. At first, I thought it was weird that so many people were staring at me and commenting on the puppies and me walking both. Then I stopped to think about it and realized that to an outsider, I was walking two “ferocious” looking dogs. This made me laugh, as this is not the case…they’re merely two 7 month old puppies (I keep saying 6….I just realized Bauer is 7 months!!) so full of energy they don’t know what to do with themselves.
About instincts – Mine and the mama dog’s
Daisy May? Angie?
Tonight I tentatively let out a sigh of relief…it seems our mama, Daisy May? Angie? has again decided to act like a mother. Her pups seemed content and are quietly sleeping when alone and vigorously crawling when she’s nursing them. They seem cleaner and as I watched her tonight she is attending to each of their elimination needs. although somewhat frantically. So it seems whatever derailed her a few nights ago is past us, that she’s back on track.
So, thinking this, I took her out for her last potty of the night. And I see her sniff and squat and I think “FINALLY” and then she sits down and watches the fireflies…sigh. But sooner than usual she gets down to business and potties…hurray. These little steps, like her realizing that she gets only a few times outside and that is the time for her to do her business, are huge accomplishments for her. As I was scooping up her liquid poop with a plastic bag in the dark while trying to hold onto her leash the thought hit me, “do veterinarians really know what they are talking about? Really?” I was told that whipworm is extremely contagious and that I should pick up all the poop immediately. As the vet told me this I said, “really? How?” and then as if an after thought they say “do the best you can” But when I ask abut how to protect myself and my family they say “make sure you wash your hands with soap and water.” SO, this highly contagious parasite that can live in the soil for FIVE years is adequately done away with using common soap and water. Why then can’t I just carry a spray bottle of the stuff and after unsuccessfully removing the poop blob just spray the whole thing with the apparently toxic bathroom staple?? Something doesn’t jive; either the parasite’s virulence is overrated or the merits of soap and water are. Either way, I think it is clear that NO ONE IN MY VET”s clinic (and I have to say I like these people a lot) have had to deal with a dog with whipworm or her poop lately – otherwise they would never advise me to remove all the poop, they’d say, “get the majority of it up and then NEVER WALK ANY ANIMAL ON THAT STRETCH OF LAWN FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.” Right?
Whatever.
So, the puppies are all sounding snotty and nasally. Sigh. I also feel sort of duped by the vet for bringing them all in and then getting no advice (or treatment) on how to stop what I knew was going to be an outbreak of kennel cough across my entire litter. I also suspect that the vet visit was a major contributing factor in making mama Angie or Daisy May or whatever we are going to call her feel like rejecting her pups….Sigh. Should have followed my gut there. Next time.
Now don’t get me wrong. I like medical advice. I also like medicine. But we need to always listen to our instincts and not follow other people’s advice without checking it out with ourselves first. Lesson learned, again.
Mothering doesn’t come easy to some dogs
It has been awhile since I last wrote. I’ve been in a very resistant place regarding this new mama we’ve got. I now think that taking on another foster so soon is extra difficult because the comparison between the dog and puppies that are leaving and the new group isn’t fair…one set is used to your routine and are a known entity, all fun and cuddly and ready to go to their new homes, and the other set is clueless to what you want and skinny and needy and frail…
So, needless to say this transition has been difficult on me. Added to that this new mama… the name Angel doesn’t fit, I like Angie better, or Daisy May. Anyway, this new dog is really young and doesn’t know what to do. So I was full of resistance to what is…I wanted her to be like Chloe (who I really miss and who was such an amazing mother) and she’s not. She’s not like any of the dogs we’ve had but she isn’t all that bad…but just as I was sitting down to write this, about how our stories cloud our true vision and how when we stop resisting what is, we get all this new energy for dealing with what is…she started drinking the mop water…with bleach in it! So, she is sort of really stupid on some level…or really clueless, a real Daisy May…very sweet and skinny and cute but DUMB.
Ok, no more stories… Here is what has been happening… She seemed to be gaining her mommy legs after the tragic death of her puppy, nursing them well and all that, but then something (more…)
