Greta finds her forever home
Greta has found a forever home!! I don’t have many details but I do know that she has found a home where there are children to play with and people home a lot. She loves it and they love her. So, a happy ending for her. She deserves it!
Last weekend we had a mini reunion of Greta’s pups – 4 of the 5 were in attendance at the Petco puppy playtime I host. The interesting thing was, after the initial happy tail wagging greetings, the four of them fought like madmen!! We literally spent the entire hour pulling little bully puppies off of their sisters and brother. And it wasn’t like there was one who was trouble. It seemed like all of them have learned to “play” that way. I gave it some serious thought and came to the conclusion that their time in my puppy room confined their movements, and Greta’s young age caused her to react like a peer rather than a parent, so they had no choice and weren’t discouraged from acting out their urges to practice social dominance.
Most of my litters have been in the summer where the group spends the majority of the time outside, in a big fenced space with trees and rocks to hide in. They can romp and run if they want, or wrestle, or just get away from the group. But stuck inside in one room, with a mama who not only allowed the fighting but participated in it created a little group of monsters!! The funny thing was, they reacted with submission to puppies not of their group. And one little dog helped the group realize there were other ways to play. She taught them that running and chasing was a game worth participating in. So it seems, Greta’s group has some learning to do – they need to learn other methods of interacting and playing that don’t involve fighting and wrestling.
Puppies first day outside
Today the puppies explored the outside world for the first time and loved it. Their resemblance to their mama’s personality is evident – these puppies are outgoing, happy, and friendly. Nice combination. Afterward they were all exhausted and crashed out. Then as I went it for the last time tonight and fed Chloe most of them woke up and were climbing out of their bed area to see what their mama was doing. I put some dry food into a few bowls and all of them were very interested. I always wonder how much of these first dry food meals actually make it into the puppies tummies…mostly they seem to just mouth the kibble and spit it out again. But everyone was very excited, with much tail wagging going on. And them, by a happy accident as two puppies were wrestling, they discovered that some of the bowls hold water! They lapped at it as they’ve learned to lap their formula.
I always love this time because it signals the move from formula and soaked kibble to just good ole dry kibble – making for a much easier to clean up meal time.
What is interesting this time around is that I’ve found myself SO much less stressed than usual. It took me awhile to remember my routine but now it is very doable and I find myself enjoying just sitting and looking at them more than I remember at 4 weeks with the other litters. I have let go of a lot of my perfectionism, as silly as that sounds. For example, I no longer change the papers immediately when a pup pees – now I wait till the papers are pretty well peed-upon and then change them. Don’t get me wrong – cleanliness is still a priority, but I don’t worry about things as much. And therefore I seem able to get a lot more done. That is a good reminder for me.
Sad to See Annie Go
Sigh. So sad right now.
Annie left today. I was all business but kept trying to keep her new family at my house, I only realized this near the end, in order to prolong my time with her. As they walked to their car Annie was running around outside. I said, “call her” and she did and Annie, hearing my voice, came running up to me as I stood in the doorway. Her new owner called her again, “Annie, come on Annie” and I said, “go on” and Annie turned and ran toward her and jumped right in the car. Just like I knew she would. And the door shut and she was gone. I didn’t cry right away – I waited till my door was shut. And I am crying now. She is SO trusting. I think that’s what really got to me. I said, “go on” and she went.
Everyone says that the puppies leaving is so sad. But the puppies are just that, the puppies. My feelings for them are more diffuse. I will be sad when the lump sum of them is gone. But Annie (more…)
Puppies everywhere
Puppies puppies everywhere! They all walk around the room now, exploring, playing and peeing. Every time I enter the room I have to laugh as they all stop and look, just like little kids you burst in on and startle. They look like they’ve been caught doing something wrong.
They are well into the solid food now and are taking more and more from me, and less from Annie. This is good as she wants less and less to do with them. Tonight, for an hour during feeding time, they had a babysitter! My friend, Maria, came by and played, fussed, and held them all. When I came down to clean up the meal mess they were all zonked out. They continue to enjoy human contact, wagging and crawling over one another to get to the people who visit them. There are going to be a lot of visitors soon. We plan to post their pictures on Petfinder next week. Look for them either by going directly to Petfinder or through the HELP website . They will be named after Santa’s eight reindeer – Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comit, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen. The brown one is Blitzen.
