Recovery...

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, the pups went in to be spayed & neutered yesterday. We picked them up in late afternoon and they were a little bit subdued, but not for long. Everyone did just fine with the surgery and is recovering well. I find that they bounce back very, very quickly at this young age. They were hungry this morning, after not eating much yesterday, so we gave them a hearty breakfast to fill their little tums.

We’ll be keeping them a bit quiet today, not letting them out to run and play too much as we want the incisions to have a chance to begin healing well before we start sending the pups home tomorrow.

Of course Cupcake Kiera, who wasn’t spayed as she is destined for a breeding career, can’t understand why her sibs were such lazy butts last night. But they seem to be better playmates already this morning – though we’re keeping an eye on her so she doesn’t get too active with them. Which means, of course, that the others are jealous at her being allowed to run around when they can’t. Sigh. It’s a dog’s life…

Eight week update - the count-down is on!!

Well, whaddya know?! The pups are old enough to go to their new homes now!! Though they’re not quite 100% ready – we took them in for spay/neuter this morning and will pick them up in the afternoon. After a day or so recovery time, they’ll start heading home!!

These doods are a real neat bunch of pups. They’re already sleeping through the night from about 10pm to 6am. We feed them breakfast, iunch, supper and then a bit of a bedtime snack. 

They often use the pee pads in their puppy corner, and those scattered on the living room floor, when they’re out running around the house – and often don’t use them, too. We are sending them outside onto the “poop deck” in the morning and after eating – but lately they’ve figured out how to get through the little cracks between the gate and fence and are prone to venture further afield which could put them in danger from cars if they got onto the road, so we are sometimes keeping them in when we can’t keep an eye on them 

outside. They are experts by now in untying shoelaces. No boot or shoe is safe! 

Most of them have figured out how to go upstairs, but the view down that steep slope is daunting so once they get up they sit and cry until we come fetch them.

“Firefly” (final name TBD) is a gentle girl, very content to watch the others rough-house while she plays quietly, and happy for a scratch, pat, or lap to rest in.  She is joining a family with two teenage boys, and her new mom is very happy to finally have the chance to buy things in pink and have some girl company! She will be the first to leave on Friday morning.

Matilda is a daring cliff-descender and, of all the puppies, is the only one who dares to come down virtually the full flight of stairs, heading down unfazed, though she tumbles as much as she jumps from ledge to ledge (aka stair to stair). She will take her leave of us early Friday afternoon, joining a couple with a grown son. She will have the chance to hang out at the cottage every weekend, swim in the lake (once things thaw out!), and generally enjoy the big wide world. 

Hershey is a major cuddler who will snuggle into your arms and rest his head on your shoulder any time he gets the chance. He also just loves to chase balls! He will be heading to a family with a 9-year old boy to give him lots of love and attention.  Hershey will be the third pup going home on Friday. 

Kacey is a lively girl with a keen sense of curiosity and adventure. She is a pretty good kisser too and a sweet and cuddly ball of fluff. Kacey will meet her new family on Saturday afternoon once they from Toronto. 

Cupcake Kiera is a feisty little girl, ready to run, jump, play, or pounce at a moment’s notice. She is going to join Barksdale Labradoodles in Mississippi as a breeding prospect – we’re still working out how to get her there (crossing the Canada-U.S. border as an unaccompanied puppy is not easy!). She may actually leave before the others, on Thursday, or it may take until next week to figure out how to get her down to the deep south USA. 

Which leaves just big boy Apollo with us for a while longer (unless someone pops out of the woodwork in the next couple of days). I’m sure he will enjoy having a bit of peace and quiet and more time to interact with the big dogs, Auntie Phoenix and Grandma Momo. Or maybe he’ll miss his brother and sisters. But he’ll get more attention from the humans in the household, once we don’t have so much poop to clean up all the time (that’s one aspect of having new puppies that I’m very happy to pass on to the new families!!) 

Well, smell ya later!

Just one left - slight change

We do still have just one puppy left for adoption – but it’s not the chocolate female. Rather, it’s the big chocolate boy (yellow collar). The family who had reserved him decided to take the female instead as she is smaller and has a softer coat. So she will be going home this Friday and big boy still needs a home of his own.

He is a very lovable big little guy – ready to give you a kiss at the slightest opportunity! He is a bit of a wiggler and prefers active play to snuggling, though he won’t pass up a snuggle either. He is pretty laid back, a content little dood with a generally calm disposition, a little bit shy of new situations but who adapts quickly and settles right in.

This is him – don’t you just wanna take him home?!

Just one left!

I am happy to report that the second chocolate male found his forever home last night with a family that lives in the Ottawa area, with one 9-year old son. They had fun playing with the crowd of lively pups and settled upon the red-collar boy as the one for them.

  Red-collar chocolate boy - taken 

That leaves just our chocolate female (blue-collar girl) still in need of a home – and I expect it won’t take long for her to find her family either.

  Blue-collar chocolate girl  - available 

Mama Galena is going back to her Guardian Family later this afternoon, so the pups will need to adjust to life without Mama. She is not spending very much time with them anymore, as every time they see her they just want to nurse and she doesn’t like nursing them much now that they have sharp little teeth. She lets them nurse maybe 2 minutes at a time, twice a day or so, and the rest of the time she tells them to keep their distance (“or else!”). So it’s time for her to go back to the comfort of her own home with her canine brother and loving human Mom & Dad.

Grandma MoMo and Auntie Phoenix will have to stand in for discipline, playmates, and canine companions for the pups until they head to their human families in a mere 2 weeks!

Six week update

Wow! Six weeks old already! In just one week the puppies will get their first vaccinations and veterinary check-up to make sure everyone’s all properly put together (beyond the obvious, of course!!).

Mama Galena is very much into weaning mode. She lets them nurse maybe 2-3 minutes in the morning and evening, and possibly once or twice more in the night time and during the day, but the sessions are short and she certainly doesn’t enjoy them – the pups nurse standing up underneath her and give her a bit of a rocking ride as they push up with their hungry mouths to get what good tasty milk they can. But their little teeth are sharp and within a few minutes she walks away and growls at them if they try to latch on again. During the day she most often growls at them to stay away and NOT BUG her. But when the whine and squeak, she still wants to go make sure they are okay, though she is no longer sleeping with them at night. (So when they squeak in the middle of the night and she wants to go check on them, guess who has to get up to let her into the puppy corner?)

Most of the pups are now over 2kg in weight, except for the littlest chocolate parti girl who is still only about 1800 grams. But all of them are growing and are eating the puppy kibble moistened with a bit of home-cooked broth and perhaps mixed with a bit of cooked chicken or hamburger, and a bit of canned dog food (Tripett). They already know that when I set down the large muffin tin, that’s their food and they gather round to chow down. They are drinking water and generally sleeping through most of the night (though, since we are not yet locking them in the crate at night, if they need to “go” they are free to head to the pee pad and do their business without any help). Once we start locking the crate at night – in a few days, once Mama goes home – they may very well be the once waking yours truly up in the middle of the night to “go” unless we give them a chance to do their business late at night.

The pups have now been outside every day since Saturday. The weather is still pretty good (above 0 at least) and they have a bit more meat and fur on them, so they can stand being outside for a while. We’ve taken them to the nearby parking lot on the weekend (when no one’s parking!) and let them run around, or just taken them out to the alley to run around (since the bit of yard we have is covered in snow). They also are going to the “poop deck” in the mornings and after eating to start them getting used to the idea of doing their business outside.

It is so much fun to watch them play! They wrestle, growl at each other, lick each other, pounce and run… This afternoon there was a streak of sunlight shining across the living room floor and caramel parti girl #1 was “playing” with it, going up to it and then backing off as if it were a little toy. Chocolate boy #1, on the other hand, just walked past and ignored it…

Chocolate Boy #2 (available)

Chocolate Girl (available)

 

Caramel Parti Girl #1 (taken)

 

Chocolate Boy #1 (reserved)

 

Caramel Parti Girl #2 (taken)

 

Chocolate Parti Girl (taken)

Just a bit over two weeks and the first of them will be headiong home!!