Puppy Journal Born 10-12-07 This is the journal of a day in the life of a puppy at D & L Doodles. You'll get to read about the good AND the bad about raising a litter of puppies.
October 13, 2007 Yesterday was our big day. The puppies arrived via emergency c-section because Rubee was having problems. Thankfully all ended up well and we have 8 healthy puppies.
When the pups were first delivered they were wisked away, one by one, to another room. There the vet techs and Dean and I all helped clean out their mouths and noses. We also rubbed, and rubbed, and rubbed them until they were dry, but most importantly squealing! Then we were placed in them in a warming box. They seemed to like it in there, all toasty warm. They had to hang out there for a couple of hours until our Rubee was awake and able to walk before she could go home. Because I'd left home in a rush to save Rubee and the puppies, I hadn't thought to grab the ribbons to mark the puppies. So instead each pup was marked with a spot of nail polish on a different part of her body. (the little boy didn't get one.
Usually new pups eat just seconds after they're born, but because Rubee had surgery we had to wait a long time. They made sure Dean and I heard about it though, screaming all the way home in the truck! Once home they were finally able to cuddle up to Mom and have a big meal. Unfortunately her milk hadn't come in yet ( that sometimes happens with a c-section) so I gave each pup a little bit of formula to keep their blood sugar up.
This morning when I went down to check on everyone, it was clear Rubee's milk had come in during the night, as she was leaking all over the place! YEA!!!
October 16th...It's been a busy couple of days around here, yesterday in particular! It always takes me a few days to get back into the routine of taking care of new mom and puppies, so when I wake up in the morning thinking I can get myself and a kid up and out the door in half an hour...well...doesn't take long for reality to set in!
Right now the pups are easy to care for, because Rubee does most of it. In the morning I change bedding in the nursery, feed mom, weight each of the puppies to make sure everyone is gaining, and replace collars on those who need them replaced. (the out grow then in 2-3 days at this stage!)
Once puppy chores were done, Angela and I headed to dog school where I was assisting with an obedience class. No school days means Angela gets to come along. She loves it! I have to watch carefully though. Yesterday when the class went on break I found Angela trying to teach one of the dogs how to "sit for exam", and a few minutes later doing a "down/stay" with big collie. LOL I'm glad this class is all comfortable with kids or she wouldn't be able to come at all.
When dog school was done we had to come home to load Rubee and puppies into the truck. It was dewclaw day, which really isn't very pleasant. Rubee waits in the truck so she can't hear the puppies screaming. Angela and I got to go in back and watch them do the procedure. It is NOT fun. In fact, this may be the last time we do them. It breaks my heart every time. It's a controversial procedure with both positives and negatives. Anyway, these guys are done and I'm glad it's over with.
The vet checked over purple girl for us, as she's not gaining weight yet. She seems fine. She is just as active as the other puppies, (which at this age consists blindly seal crawling around the box) has a good strong suck and seems to eat well. She'll probably just end up being smaller than the other girls.
Last night I took Zurri to play rehearsal. The set is done so it was our first time using the big stairs. WOW! They're HIGH!! If you're interested, go to the Phipps Theater for more information. I believe there are still tickets available. The Phipps, located on the riverfront in Hudson, WI is the equivalent of the Children's Theater in Minneapolis. This will be an AWESOME performance to bring your kids to! (And you can see one of my dogs, as they're sharing the role!)
Today has been a little quieter. Rubee is just hanging out with the babies. Some facts you may not know about new puppies: The only sense puppies have developed at the time of birth is smell and touch. A brand new puppy can smell mom come into the nest. They can all be sound asleep in a pile, but when mom walks in one nose, then another and another will rise into the air trying to locate her. As soon as they have an idea which direction she is (this takes only a second or two) they squirm to her as fast as they can! Their eyes start to open sometime around 14 days, and when they do they're blue. They will continue to change color for several days.
Puppies are also born with their ears closed an undeveloped. Their ears open about at around 3 weeks. Once they do they will rely on their senses in this order: smell, sound, sight. It's always interesting watching their hearing develop. I can walk into the room and only one head will turn. The next day maybe 2 or 3 heads, and within a couple of days all heads will turn.
October 17th... The puppies are 6 days old today. They're all doing well, and all are gaining well, including Purple girl. She's up 2 ounces since Monday which is a nice gain for her. Not much exiting to post tonight, except for some pictures that I know you'll all love. Oh...the day the puppies were born I took a short 30 second or so video of each puppy. This weekend I'll try to get those on the individual puppy pages, then each week just add to them so by the end of 8 weeks you can watch the puppy grow on video! (Hey, I can dream big, can't I?)
Click on the pictures below to see them bigger. Oh, and of course, would my post be complete without a video? Healthy puppies move constantly in their sleep, and make little sweaky/sucky noises. Here, have a look for yourself.
October 21st UGH! Some days I hate computers! I spent 4 hours yesterday updating the website, only to have it freeze on me and I lost all the changes! Oh well, they're done now.
You'll notice each puppy has new pictures today, along with a video located near the top of their pages! Notice that on the videos the puppies never ever ever stop moving? Yeah...those are the same moving, squirming, squealing puppies I try so hard to get pictures of! For every clear picture I get, there are 10-15 more of EACH puppy that get deleted. LOL And then there is the cropping, and uploading, and not getting them mixed up.
So about those puppies. As you can see by their page updates they're all growing nicely. They have hair on their faces and feet now, and some of them are just starting to get a hint of wave to their hair. Most of them will be light apricots, a couple might be mediums, and the pretty purple girl I'm hoping will stay dark red. Just an FYI, the purple girl is the one we will most likely be keeping back for our breeding program. We had one just like her (in color anyway) from our last litter and kicked ourselves for not keeping her!
Rubee is doing well, although last night she started bleeding again. I'll have to watch her closely today. This morning she certainly seems spunky, and was initiating play with Dudley and Zurri. She's eating well and everything else so I'll just wait and see. Tomorrow morning she'll go to the vet to get her stitches out. I'm sure she'll be thrilled with THAT! Oh, and here's a video for you. You know those video's I've put up of quiet puppies sleeping in a pile? Like this one? Well here's what happens when Mom walks in!!!
October 27th....Can you believe the puppies are two weeks old already? A few days ago they started trying to walk, which is always interesting when they can't see yet! On Thursday Yellow Girl's eyes started to open, and by Friday everyone's eyes were little tiny slits. (they open from the inner corner first) I'm working on getting 2 week old pictures tonight.
Rubee's incision looked great the first week after surgery, and appeared closed so I wasn't paying much attention to it anymore. Just a quick glance each day. It's in a very moist/sweaty area with puppies crawling on it, so difficult to keep clean. Still it looked great. On Tuesday I called the vet's office to make an appt for Rubee to get her stitches out. Later I the day I was doing something with the puppies when I noticed an odd smell, but I couldn't figure out what it was. On Wednesday morning the smell was stronger, and not at all pleasant! By Wednesday afternoon I figured it out! Rubee had an infected spot about the size of a quarter on her incision. It was in a hard place to see as it's covered up by LOTS of mammary tissue. The smell was horrific! Dean and I got her into the tub so we could get it rinsed off well. On Thursday morning I brought her into the vet where the cleaned it out. The smell by that time was unbearable for me. You would never know by watching Rubee though! She's been just happy as a clam, smiling and wagging her tail, playing with the other dogs, etc. She's such a great dog!
It's been very busy here as the play Dudley and Zurri are doing is now rolling into dress rehearsals every night of the week with performances every Friday, Saturday and Sunday in November. My daughter had some medical tests this week, plus dog stuff...life is BUSY!
November 5th... Did you think I fell right off the earth? I sure FELT like I did! WOW! Life has been very busy. Between taking excellent care of your babies, and of my human baby as well, plus the rest of life, there just hasn't been much time to update the site. But it's done now. There are LOTS of new pictures (60 +!) , and each puppy's video has been updated as well.
The puppies were wormed at 2 and 3 weeks. Their eyes are all open now, and their ears are starting to open as well. They'll respond to loud noises with little bark that is just too cute for words. Speaking of barking, they've discovered they have one! Some bark more than others, and they are adorable. Sometimes barking makes them fall over. Who knew it could be so dangerous?
Someone asked me about the noises the puppies are making on the video. When they're very tiny you'll hear a growling type noise. This is really a noise that creates vibration so that they can find each other. When they get separated from the puppy pile they will do it almost constantly in hopes that they'll find the pile, or that their mother will and move them back with the rest of the group! You'll find that once their eyes open they don't make this noise anymore because they can see where everyone is. Instead when you pick them up they'll grunt...like it's alot of work to be held! LOL As the puppies get older in the group videos, you'll start to see lots of very aggressive looking wrestling. They are NOT aggressive!!! This is a normal part of puppy development. When they're around 7 weeks it will even sound vicious! This is each puppy vying for status within the pack and again, is normal part of puppy development.
Below are a bunch of pictures from the last couple of weeks. ENJOY!!! (remember to click on them to make them bigger.)
November 19th...Now I remember why I never wanted to have a litter of puppies around the holidays....it's IMPOSSIBLE to keep up. Well, ok, throw a play in there and some other life stuff and it's just plain crazy. And in my prioritizing, updating the website has fallen to the back burner. I'm so sorry about that, I know you're going nuts for updates and pictures. I appreciate your patience!
So what's new with the puppies? At 4 weeks we moved the puppies out into the puppy room. We were a little worried about weather or not we were going to be able to keep the room warm enough, but Dean is a handy guy, and Fleet Farm has great overhead heaters! We bought an overhead infrared heater that hangs about 3 1/2 feet off the floor and warms up the puppy area quite nicely. If they feel cool they lay underneath it, and as they warm up they move away. This also works well for drying off when they come in from the damp outdoors.
The next day we brought them outside for the very first time. Here's a video of the experience. Since then the puppies have learned that when the door opens it's time to run outside and pee, then eat, and then as soon as your tummy is full you turn around and poop. Yep! That's how the world goes round. Because it's so late in the year, this particular litter of puppies is not as fond of staying outside as my other litters have been. It's chilly and kind of damp, so as soon as they're done pooping they're at the door crying to come in. They sure do learn fast!
All the puppies have gotten quite good about using the litter box system I have set up for them. They're only let outside 3-4 times per day, so this works as a good potty spot in between trips outdoors. Purple Girl needs to learn where her back end is though. She usually stands with her front feet in the litter box, and her back feet out on the floor. Hey, at least she's in the general area!
Tomorrow (Tues. 11/20) Deb Schneider from All Breed Obedience will be coming over to do assessments on all the puppies. She is a canine behaviorist, and I thought this would be a good way to see if what I'm feeling about each puppy's disposition development is accurate. It's also another tool to help me place the puppies in just the right family. That...and it's just plain fun! Dean is jealous that he'll be working and won't be able to watch.
Here's what's coming up:
On Wednesday the puppies go in for their 6 week shots.
I'm hoping by Saturday to have puppies matched to their families. I may not do them all on the same day, but as my decisions are made, each puppy's family name will be posted on their individual pages. Please know that I put A LOT of thought into the future of each puppy. It's not something I take lightly. I want the best for them, and I want their family to be happy also. A couple of the puppies are going to be tough decisions. Not because they're hard to place, but because they're so much alike, that I'm not sure WHICH family to put them with...A or B. (this is why it's helpful to bring in an outside person.) Other puppies I've known since early on where they're going. This may sound strange, I know, but sometimes it's almost like they're telling me what they need in a family.
Then on the 27th they go in for their spays/neuter/microchipping. Before you know it, they'll be ready to go home! I know a couple of you have asked if you can visit this weekend. I can arrange that, but I also need to keep in mind that my family isn't celebrating Thanksgiving until Saturday, so I have to work around that. Also, the last performance of the play is Sunday. It's been a wonderful experience but I'm ready for it to end. Please remember that when you visit the puppies, you'll be visiting YOUR puppy, and not the entire litter. Unless the weather is super nice, we'll be inside in our kitchen area and we're not set up to have the whole litter running around the kitchen. (prior to our remodel we were, but we lost a wall, which means loosing the ability to put up a gate.)
November 21st... The canine behaviorist came yesterday. This process always fascinates me. First of all, the puppies are meeting someone they've never met before, which shows a side of them I never get to see. Secondly we do this in a room the puppies have never been in before, so everything is all new. We look at how they explore the new environment, and deal with the stress of meeting a new person, and do they explore new toys or ignore them. We test pain tolerance (with a toe pinch) which is a good indicator as to how they will do with kids who might pull ears, hair, etc. It's all fascinating, and I love seeing them away from their litter mates in this new situation. I was able to confirm most of what I felt about each puppy, and learn some new things about them too. I had already kind of decided where most of the puppies were going, but have switched a couple things around. I now feel like I know EXACTLY the right home for each one!
On another note, Dean and I decided that we're not going to keep a puppy out of this litter. The timing isn't exactly right, and none of them are screaming "Pick me, Pick me!" at this point. So, that means one more slot opens up and there will be another happy family!
November 24th... Rather than retyping it all (the website editor doesn't allow copy/pasting) I'm going to refer you to my blog entry for today. I think you'll find it very fitting. Later today (or in the middle of the night like I usually do!) I'll be posting updates to the website. This will include puppy matches!
November 25th... Over the last few months, or when you were first contacting me about a puppy, many of you asked about other breeders. Or how do you tell a "good breeder" from a "bad breeder"? One of the things I suggest looking at when going through breeder websites is the number of adult dogs they have, and decide what's important to you in how your puppy is raised.
Over the last couple of days a breeder who is well known in the doodle breeding community has been in the news for neglect of her animals. (see this link) This was a breeder who was in way over her head, yet was posting daily on the owner forums as a very friendly, well-liked person. (people forget that on the internet, you don't really KNOW people.) As she was posting encouraging people to vote for my blog, there were dogs dying and starving in her basement. To say I'm disgusted is an understatment.
As you bring your puppies home, your friends and extended family are going to fall in love with them and get the puppy bug. Even if they don't want a doodle specifically, they'll start shopping for the perfect dog for their house. Please, help them learn what to look for, and how to spot the red flags.
Where're we go'in mom?
November 27th... It's sure been busy around here! Last week the puppies went to the vet for a check-up, where I found out my scale is off! LOL Everyone looks wonderful, and as always the vet was impressed with the fact we've had yet another litter with no visible health issues! It's always nice to hear your vet say, "Someday I'm going to have one of your puppies!"
Thanksgiving has come and gone, and so has the "Seussical" production. I have the feeling Dudley and Zurri will be getting many phone calls from other theaters who are looking for just the right dog for their performances.
This morning, in the cold darkness of a November morning in Minnesota, I loaded the puppies up in the truck for another trip to the vet. Angela came along to...er...help, and very gently told the puppies something that she's heard far too many times in her life, "It's ok puppies. You're just taking a funny nap, and then we'll come back home. Just a little owies ok?"
The picture to the left is from last week as we got ready to take our very first field trip to the vet!
Our sad attempt at a group shot! Notice Norman on the chair is the only one sitting still, and the cream colored lump at the bottom of the picture is a puppy on a suicide mission
December 4th... Can you hardly stand it? Several of you have been able to meet your new family members, others are anxiously waiting for "P" day (Puppy day) Light Green Girl will be flying to warmer temperature in GA. Wish I could go along! The Buffingtons visited yesterday and got to see the puppies playing in their newly expanded puppy area. I so appreciate they help they offered in the picture taking department, it was a HUGE help! (I think they got to see why taking puppy pictures is so tough! LOL) This will likely be the last update to this page. The puppies are going home in just a few days, and the rest of my week will be spent getting puppy packets ready, health certificate the traveling puppy, and just general puppy stuff. It's been wonderful working with all of you. I know that you'll enjoy your new puppies immensely! (ok, maybe not the first few nights of crying, but you know what I mean.)
