Winding down with Chloe and her pups
Well, this puppy group is finally ready to move on. I know it as I see them play more and more with each other and less with Chloe. They still try to nurse but their attempts are half hearted and easily redirected. For her part Chloe is continuing to show herself to be a sweet, loving mother. I will miss watching her mother these little guys. She is so gentle as she tells them to stop nursing, carefully biting their muzzles away growling under her breath. They respond by climbing on all over her, chewing her ears and tail and nuzzling up to her and drifting off to sleep. It is a wonderful, heartwarming thing to see.
calling in the puppies
They come to me now as I call them into the puppy room in the afternoon. I clap and say in a high pitched voice “Pup pup pup pup pup” and they come running. Last night after I walked into the puppy room and woke everyone up I put them outside to potty. Usually after dark I just let them pee in the room on the newspaper covered floor but I’m trying to get them ready to be house trained by their new families. They did great! First they were a bit disoriented but after a bit they all spread out to do their business. The adoptive families will have an easy time of training them I think.
Chloe’s puppies ready for their new homes
So the end of Chloe‘s group is upon us…the puppies have all been spoken for and I am so thrilled by our group of adoptive families. They are a special group and I feel like I’ve made some good friends in the process – I’m that comfortable with them! One family even watched the pups for me while I walked the dogs! Everyone’s willingness to be supportive of me has meant a lot too. So, to all of you I say thank you and LOVE your puppies forever. That will make my work worth it.
Now, deep breath, on to more puppies!
This will be the first time we’ve done a group of pups back to back and I must say that I’m feeling a little hint of anxiety about it. Chloe’s group has been SO easy and has gone so fast yet the last two weeks of every litter, weeks 6-8, are always SO much work. I literally fill two large garbage bags full of wet and poopy newspapers each DAY now. Two bags a day – think about it! It is crazy. Our garbage man must think we are so odd. So anyway, the end of the process is always so much work that I usually relish the quiet house, the clean puppy room and the grass growing back in the puppy yard, not to mention all my free time! I was looking forward to it, I must admit. But these things have a life and a process of their own. I have said “no” to taking on a litter before and I will again but this time I just sort of knew that another one was coming. I wasn’t surprised to see Michelle from H.E.L.P.‘s email saying that there were not one but two pregnant dogs needing a foster home. We can’t take more than one…can one of you? Let us know.
The puppies are piled up by the door crying to be let in so I must answer their calls…
Chloe shows her pups how to play
In possibly our best video yet, we see mama dog Chloe showing her pups how to play! I think there is a subtext to her play as well, that she is about ready to be done nursing. Enjoy this video – Mike laughed each time he saw it in the editing process.
Watch this video on YouTube.
Quiet time with Chloe and pups
Catching up on video we haven’t published yet, here is a beautiful clip of mama dog Chloe quietly lounging and nursing her seven puppies. This video was shot on the evening of May 30, 2009 when the pups are about 5 weeks old.
Watch this video on YouTube.
Puppy Play Time video
Here is some video shot last weekend of Chloe and her 7 pups at play in the yard. Warning: some mighty cute stuff here, so prepare yourself!
Watch this video on YouTube..
Muddy puppies will grow into dogs
Yesterday was a rainy, humid, day. But puppies don’t care about muddy feet, floors or food bowls – they just want to play! And so, against my wishes but in line with my instincts I let them out when the rain had let up a bit. They had a blast! They were rolling around with Chloe and chasing each other and basically getting into the best kind of puppy trouble – the dirty kind. And I noticed something, how much Chloe seems to really enjoy being a mama.
Now we’ve had a series of mamas and each has been different; Bella, our first, was a strict mama, her tag line would be “now cut it out all of you and behave!”. Sweetie, our mama from last year would have the tag line, “Here’s how to be in submission, and here, and here and here…now get me out of here!”. And Annie‘s would be, “Where’s my KONG? Where is it? Oh, you want to nurse – FINE, hurry up I have to find my KONG!!” But Chloe’s would be “Hi you guys! How are you? Wanna wrestle? OK! I love you all.” It is heartwarming and so sweet to watch. I can’t wait for a warm sunny day to get some video on it to share with all of you.
Puppy adoption interviews are going well. I’ve met some wonderful families full of love and eager to share it with a puppy. Watching them choose a puppy makes me wonder what is it exactly that we respond to in a puppy? Mostly I think it is looks and what those looks tell us about the kind of dog we hope it will be. But what most people don’t realize is that the description of the kind of dog the puppy will be is really just a story – an invention made up of what that puppy represents, how it reminds them of a past pet, or is the opposite of a past pet, that sort of thing. Most people don’t really chose based on temperament (though, with this group you can’t go wrong – with a mama like Chloe) or energy level match – though some do go into the process with those ideas in mind. But I tell you, I can tell a family that given their set of criteria one puppy would be better than another but most don’t listen once they have gotten their eyes on a pup – they just fall in love and the story line begins.
