I brushed
Doodlebug out in preparation for her hair cut (she doesn’t have a show coat
right now but her legs are still pretty long) because I haven’t brushed her
since the puppies were born. That’s
definitely the longest she has ever gone without being brushed and we had a few
showers and lots of food drips in her leg hair, etc. I was reminded again what Good Hair she
has. There were a couple of small
knots/mats on her legs but they brushed right out. Even when she went through the puppy coat
change, she was easy to keep detangled (I oiled her coat once in preparation
for a visit to dog Cindi’s so she wouldn’t have to keep up with the brushing
and that was a waste of time. She didn’t
know anyway.) Her coat was very profuse
but stick straight at 8 weeks and we worried a little about how it would turn
out. Obviously, not only was there no
need to worry, we should’ve been thrilled.
If any of the puppies get her coat, someone is going to have an easy
life.
A vet friend came today (I LOVE the
mobile vet. Great since I can’t drive) to
get some samples to see if we can tell what it up with Jack’s urinary
tract. (Nothing contagious, he’s just
had a couple of instances of high urine volume when he’s been playing in the
pond/lake enough to drink a lot) but I am not one to let things go (I’m sure
that surprises all of you doesn’t it?)
She didn’t flinch at my precautions but I didn’t make her don the Tyvek
suit. If she had come from the clinic, I
would have. She saw the puppies but didn’t
hold them this visit. (It’s all about
Jack, the girls say.) Doodlebug did come
out of the puppy pen to make sure she did Jack’s exam correctly. He got to retrieve before and after. For all of you future (and current) dog owners,
just another reason life is SOOO much easier when you teach your dog to
eliminate on command.
We discussed the schedule for the
puppy vaccinations, microchips, heartworm, etc.
We will be doing vaccinations when the maternal antibodies will have
expired so we don’t have to overload their little systems for no additional
protection.
They seem to continue to move away
from the sleeping zone to eliminate. I just
need to keep fostering that behavior.
They can definitely see things
now. There are 2 water buckets by the pen
and Jack went to get a drink today. A
couple of the puppies saw him and went over to see what was up. I know they know their mama by smell so they
had to see him.
And they can find the weak point in
the defenses. I moved the tiny ex pen
and put it around them so I could change out their linens and clean the rubber
floor underneath but I didn’t latch it closed.
The only way to get them to stay in was to get Doodlebug to stay there
with them. Nice to have trained dogs
(Jill is not obedient, Jill is the Queen so she did what was best in her
judgment. She has good judgment about
what puppies need but not necessarily helpful about keeping them where I’d like
for a moment or two.) Not sure who got out first but it wasn’t just one puppy.
I shopped for the magic whistles to
go home with the pupsters. It won’t be
long before I need to start using the Magic Word and Magic Whistle with them so
I better get them ready.
The puppies seem to recognize me or
maybe they just like people in general.
I like that they stretch and yawn (so I can sniff puppy breath) and then
cuddle in when I pick them up. They don’t
fight or get stiff when I hand them to Bruce or when he hands them back. It’s going to take a lot of time to teach 10
puppies to nap while I hold them. It’s a
rough job ;-)
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