Archive for the ‘Annie’ Category
Good Morning Puppies
Here is a video of how the morning starts. Annie greets me at the door – tail wagging – and the pups stir and yawn and stretch…
Puppies First Solid Food
So, this morning I’m hanging out with the puppies and they seem to want to walk around so I take them all out of the bed area and put them into the puppy play room. They wander around, crying less than usual, and Annie is eating and they all walk over to her food bowl. Instead of nursing, they all crowd around her bowl and start trying to eat her dry kibble!! She was tense and growling at them but stopped when I (more…)
New teeth and play area
After wondering for a day why Annie’s teats seemed excessively full (yes, you are supposed to check them daily for obvious reasons) I realized the pup’s teeth must have come in and sure enough, all their little razor sharp teeth have erupted! No wonder she is less eager to nurse them. So last night for the first time in their lives I supplemented their diet with formula. They cried and cried. No one likes to grow up I guess. But a few caught on perfectly and lapped up the formula like they had been doing it for ages. I will introduce it again tonight and once a day for a bit. They are still unsteady on their feet so they can’t really manage eating (more…)
Learning the ropes
Annie’s tail bandage is holding, so the chronic happy tail is no longer bloodying up the walls of my basement. The one from the vet dropped off almost immediately, but mine has held for two whole days!!
Annie continues to be a joy, learning many commands. So far she sits on command, drops her Kong (!) to the word “drop,” knows her name and comes when called. The only problem is that she doesn’t seem to really understand the whole entire concept of not eliminating in the house. But she is learning. She clearly knows when I am NOT happy with her, and slinks around with her happy tail way down between her legs and goes and hides in her crate. All this just because I said in an old lady shaming sort of voice, “OH Annie! What have you Done??” when she pooped near the door while I wasn’t watching.
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.
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.
