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.
144 Puppy Toes!
Pups are worth the work!
Today’s big event was nail clipping!! Fun fun. I got around to nearly all of them, which is a lot of toes if you think of it…5 on each front foot, 4 on each back makes 18 each pup x 8 = 144 toes. Yikes! Don’t ever break it down like that, it seems overwhelming. Like, for example, I’ve done at minimum 2 loads of laundry a day since the pups were born so that makes 28 loads of laundry in two weeks. With about 6 more weeks to go that means I’ll have at minimum 84 more loads to do until these guys leave…and that doesn’t include MY household’s laundry, just puppy bedding!!! Like I said, don’t break it down. Best if you take it one day at a time, one growth milestone at a time, one warm, wet, wuffily nuzzle at a time…
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.
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)
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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.
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!
