Willow and pups romping in the yard
Here is a video of mama Willow and her eight pups playing in the yard on a beautiful July afternoon.
See this video and others on YouTube.
Willow is ready for adoption
Willow is a sweetheart! The vet has her age at 2 years but I strongly feel she is under 1 year of age. Either way she is full of playful puppy energy. She looks to be a golden/yellow lab mixed with some sort of setter or hound – she has a long nose and droopy ears that she has to get from one of these breeds. She walks beautifully on a leash with only a buckle collar, is house trained, and is one of the most patient dogs I have ever come across. She will wait for me to clean up the puppy room for nearly an hour just standing quietly, watching me. She loves everyone she meets, especially children. She would love a family who has time to spend with her as she really likes being with people. She would also like an active family but she deeply appreciates cuddle time as well. Willow has is up to date on all her shots and has been microchipped.
Willow is ready for adoption from H.E.L.P. via HelpingAnimals.org
Cleaning up for the night
Ok, back now…That must have been the fastest ever clean up! Things are getting better. I picked up all the papers, swept the room, changed all the bedding – put the old in the laundry and the new in the beds (3), cleaned and refilled all the water bowls (4), cleaned and refilled all the food bowls (3), pottied all the pups (put them all outside where they cried and hopefully pottied), pottied Willow (nasty runny poop – oh well), repapered the entire room, and then gave each puppy and Willow their medication for the night….whew. They are all eating happily and quietly and I am off to bed. Hey, it’s before midnight! That is always a good thing.
Pups on the mend
Well, things are a little less messy over here these days, thanks to the marvels of modern medicine. I don’t remember if I wrote about how the pups and Willow ALL came down with a nasty case of squirting diarrhea over the weekend but they did….yikes. The vet, as you can imagine, wanted to see the whole group and I simply said I would not do that. I said, “We have to figure something else out, I am not willing to bring the entire litter to the vet’s office again.” Yeah for me!
So, I compromised and brought the sickest pup, the smallest, and the largest (to get a weight range) and I was surprised to find out that the range went from 7 to 10 pounds at only 5 weeks!!! These pups are big ones! Anyway, the nice people at Meadow View Veterinary Clinic (Geneva, IL) fixed the group right up and now, just two days later, things are looking up. In fact, I am just now going to go into the room for the final clean of the evening…wish me luck.
Puppies plump and getting named
The puppies are HUGE. Really, I can’t remember a group being so heavy and big at such a young age. They aren’t yet 5 weeks old and already they are topping 6 pounds. I tried to weigh them on the little food scale I have and failed – they kept error-ing it out because they were too heavy. So, I stood on my scale and then stood on it while holding them and subtracted my weight and basically ended up with just a general weight for all of them of about 6 pounds. It was stressful for someone like me who likes precision, especially when it comes to measurement and administering of medication (I had to weigh them in order to dose them correctly with their roundworm medication). Add to that the fact that the majority of them look so similar I can’t tell them apart!! I wasn’t exactly sure if I gave everyone the medication…did someone get two doses? Yikes. It was a stressful event.
I think I have 4 of them identified as individuals…there’s a red one with a red nose (got pics of her under the chair, a series of them) who I LOVE and I’m calling her Red Bud. There’s a male who is white with BLUE beautiful eyes, what a pretty boy he is! I’m calling him Oak. The only other male is also white but smaller and I’m calling him Ash. Then there is a small, white, (whiney) female with a red nose I’m calling Birch (notice the name theme?). The remainder are all female, all roughly a whitish/reddish color and all with a black nose…I think. It is so confusing! I am going to have to get a hold of some fingernail polish and paint their toe nails so I can tell them apart! Crazy.
Does anyone have any fingernail polish I can borrow?? Sadly I am not a girly girl.
The pups are eating about 3 times a day – moistened food with formula, and free eating dry food all day/night. Willow, the mama is learning how to jump up onto the platform to get outside and how to jump back in. That’s a relief. And she is finally got a cleanish bill of health…has roundworms (yuck) but that’s it. So, she can finally spend time outside with the pups in the play area. Life is getting a little easier…a calm before the storm of puppy applications/interviews. I have to get these girls and boys posted on Petfinder!
