Category: Puppy Updates

I’ve had a couple of potential puppy parents ask me what I’m feeding our litter and what are my recommendations for them.  Rather than post my response here in the Puppy Updates blog I’m going to put that info in the Feeding blog on my website.  I’ll be listing several products and if I post it here it will look like a paid advertisement.  Plus, it’s like my philosophy on wearing a shirt emblazoned with a brand or logo: if they didn’t pay me to wear it why should I do their advertising for free?  Oh, but wait!  They want me to pay extra for the privilege of wearing their brand?… I digress.

In short, there are products I add to specifically chosen kibble to make it safer to feed kibble occasionally.  Otherwise, I go raw.

It was ‘Operation Exposure To Children’ weekend. 

Barking puppies and squealing children were last weekend’s mode of chaos.  At first, the puppies didn’t know what to make of tiny human beings that made strange noises.  We had my granddaughters sit on the floor and be as calm and quiet as possible – which isn’t actually very quiet at all.  By the end of the weekend we had children bouncing around screaming with delight while puppies chased and barked with enthusiasm.  It was a sight to behold …if only it had a mute button.  

And when all the fun and games ended, we had some exhausted puppies.

It was also vaccination weekend.  The puppies got their first round of DHPP, and no one even cried.  Next week, the puppies will be able to visit the big outdoors for the first time.  We will venture into our backyard for exploration, to learn about pottying outdoors, and to discover CATS.  I’ve got quite the variety from which these puppies will learn about cats.  We’ve got one that will run when chased (fun!), another that will hiss and spit (kind of scary), and a third one – the only one we purposely meant to own – that thinks he’s one of the pack (weirdo brother, Brogan).  ‘Bro’ used to spar with his canine brothers, Bosco and Winston, before they crossed over the rainbow bridge.

 

He’s tried sparring with Jackie and Zoey, but they only see him as a confused cat rather than a member of the canine pack.  I’m hoping the puppies will form a fondness for Brogan.  He’d like that.

And what would you think if I attached a picture of two pee spots on the floor?  TWO PEE SPOTS are all I came home to today, y’all!  I’m so proud that MOST of the time the puppies are using the litter box.  We started with pee pads in the whelping box and then once they moved downstairs to the Puppy Palace we introduced the litter box with compressed wood pellets.  Okay, I’m trying not to brag but today when I had them running loose in the dining room I saw one puppy turn circles in a little panic and then bolt back into the Puppy Palace to go use the litter box.  I was so proud!  And while I was clapping and cooing “good puppy” someone pee’d on the floor behind me.

Next week, once they’ve discovered the great outdoors, I’ll leave a scented layer of the wood pellets in the litter box but over the pellets will be a nice new square of sod.  Operation “Potty on the Grass” will have begun.

And as if the weekend weren’t already filled with enough ‘firsts’ the puppies also had their first solid food.  Who would have known how they would devour a piece of hardboiled egg white?  I now have a wonderful training tool.  Eggs are very heavily scented (stinky!) and the puppies love it.  We may play some games like “let’s go,” “come” and “sit.”  Nothing too challenging, and there are no wrong actions – just lovely, stinky rewards for playing thinking games.

Expect more pictures and videos.  We’re having a blast and we want you to share in the fun.

 

The other day my Miss Zoey just seemed awfully down.  She didn’t want cookies, she wouldn’t wag her tail, her head hung low – I’ve never seen her like that!  Postpartum?   Exhaustion? Sick?  I took her temp – normal.  I gave her extra yummy toppings on her supper, but no, she wouldn’t eat.  Then it occurred to me that the girls and I have not been taking our morning walks since the pups were born, and Zoey is an athletic likes-to-be-outdoors kinda girl.  So we leashed up and headed out for a walk that was about 1/4 the speed we normally go and a distance of about 1/10th our typical 2 mile route.  Hey, a girl can’t go too far or too fast with distended mammaries!

We did it again the next day, and the next, and I’m happy to say that everyone is happy again.  Physical activity is so important to Zoey that sometimes when I’m on the treadmill she volunteers to hop on with me.  She’s even done that since she had the pups so I had to slow the treadmill down to a snail’s pace to accommodate her current condition.

Well, that got me thinking.  Why should those pups get to be lazy while the rest of us are trying to get fit?  So today we started their exercise routine.  I open the door to the Puppy Palace and let them spill out over the gate.  Then I “run” into the dining room and do laps around the table calling for the pups to follow me.  They toddle along behind – some following, some cutting through the middle, some going the opposite way.

Zoey got in on the activity and after a few laps around the table Drill Sergeant Zoey leads them off to the stairs and tries to get them to climb!  …game over.  A little too much too soon.  But, we had a blast and I snapped some pics of the pups that I added to the website.

I know!  I know!  Everyone thinks I fell of the planet, but I’m here!

These puppies are growing and developing at lightning speed – and they’re workin’ me!   Four weeks old already, y’all!  They’ve got growls, they’ve got barks, and they’re getting some mighty big attitudes.  They’re in a development phase where they’re challenging each other and trying to establish their positions in the pecking order.  Of course, Mama trumps all.

This week we moved out of the whelping box and downstairs to the puppy palace.  It was bliss for the pups because they now not only have their 4’x4’ sleeping den but also a 10’ x 6’ play zone.

Zoey wasn’t as comfortable with the move since she felt like she had to guard multiple doors from potential dangerous intruders – the cats, her BFF Jackie – these were trusted friends just a few short weeks ago!  I have baby gates up keeping her and the pups safely separate from our other pets, but she didn’t even want them looking at her pups from the other side of the gates.  Such a protective mama!  Then, within just a couple of days of being in the new palace, both Zoey and my husband, Craig, conspired to make life more difficult for me by encouraging the pups to escape the palace.  They were so proud of those pups for their achievement in vaulting the gate!

Now that they’re downstairs they’re learning to what it’s like to be in a regular home environment.  People come to the door and knock/ring; we come and go; the TV is on sometimes, other times I play music, and then there are times of silence.  I want them to be exposed to all kinds of noise and quiet so that when they go to their new homes they’ll be better prepared for a different environment.  We don’t have small children in our home, but I think my grandbabies might come next weekend and they’ll help us expose the puppies to a whole new level of chaos.  LOL!

Weaning is going well.  Zoey still feeds them but they’re getting 3 squares from the den-mother (me) too.  Can I just tell you that real food in makes for …uhm… real stink out?  Whew!  They’re so cute it’s hard to fathom that something so stinky can come out of them.  And their teeth!  Tiny needles that they just love to sink into my toes.

We’re also working on a graduation from puppy pee pads to wood pellet litter box.  My plan is to get them used to using the pellets and then after they’ve had their vaccination at 6 weeks I’ll spread some pellets outdoors to kick-off house training.  They’ll still need gentle guidance and a good potty routine when they get to their forever-homes but they should have the ‘go outside’ concept by then.

 

This week I also added to my website the Puppy Contract.  It’s in draft stage and may change slightly, but the main terms are spelled out for pet homes.  I’m working on getting the contract for show homes uploaded as well.  Basically, I want to make sure there are no surprises and that potential puppy parents know in advance what terms they’ll be agreeing to if they get a puppy from me.

Over the next couple of weeks most of my free time when I’m not feeding, cleaning, walking, playing, training dogs, I’ll be talking about dogs with the folks that have sent to me their applications.  Does it seem like my life revolves around dogs?  I like to complain in a “woe is me” way, but actually, I love it.

Now, I was going to give my applicants an assignment to go watch “Blackfish” documentary and be prepared to tell me why I would have asked them to watch it, but my husband advocated on their side and asked me to stop giving out homework.  So I’ll just say that I have long held the belief that most dogs – and especially Standard Schnauzers – are too intelligent to be expected to thrive in an environment where they’re kept penned/confined for long periods of time.  These are smart dogs that need mental stimulation as much as physical exercise – especially when they’re puppies full of wonder and energy.  When I watched ‘Blackfish’ a few years ago, it really exemplified how sad it is that we can do so much damage to an intelligent, sentient creature by not allowing them to have the stimulation, socialization and environmental enrichment they need.  Yes, we need to crate our pups at times so they rest and so they’re not left unsupervised with the many dangers in our homes (like plugged-in cords, non-edibles, etc.) but hours of solitary confinement is just absolutely unacceptable.  Our fur-babies will go to homes that have a plan, toys/tools, and a routine that will help the puppy grow into the great dog they want.  …I didn’t mean to get preachy, but it’s one of those topics I feel strongly about.  Don’t even get me started on meat by-product!

Hey future puppy parents!  Just want you to know that I’m taking good care of these little guys and gals, and spoiling the heck out of ’em while I have the chance!

I finally captured some video to share with you.  Truthfully, I will probably end up watching this thing over and over.  They are so stinkin’ cute!  Their personalities are just starting to come out.  I’ve got a couple of little guys that have learned to growl already, and it is hilarious to see such a tiny little spud of a dog put on his ferociousness!

Hope you enjoy.

Almost time to graduate from the whelping room to the puppy playpen!  We’ve been camped out in “the whelping room” for 3 weeks.  It’s actually a spare bedroom that I use as my exercise room which is then converted to an under-water themed play and sleep room when my granddaughters visit.  Now it’s a whelping room.   I started sleeping up there the week before Zoey’s due date and have been tucked away up there with her since.

This being Miss Zoey’s first litter she’s been extremely protective.  Our poor cat can’t even get near the stairs, and poor Miss Jackie – Zoey’s BFF- made the mistake of putting her paws on the baby gate just to have a peak into the whelping room.  Zoey charged and slammed into the gate scaring poor Miss Jackie (and us) half to death.

But that was more than a week ago and she’s starting to calm down a bit now.  She made a big stride today when she let our friend Jared come into the bedroom and sit by the whelping box.  She loves Jared, but even for him it was a slow progression from the bottom of the stairs to the top and then eventually into the whelping room – lots of reassurance along the way.   We sat and talked for almost an hour before Zoey finally decided he was trustworthy enough that she could nap or leave the room with him there.

We’ll see how it goes over the next few days, but I’ve got the new play area set up downstairs in our entryway just waiting for some puppy chaos.

Oh!  And, as promised, I took videos!  And guess what?  My camcorder is so old (12 years) that there seems to be no possible way to transfer the video to the PC.  No support beyond Windows 8.  Used up most of my Saturday morning figuring that out and trying every work-around I could think of.  By Saturday afternoon, in a huff, I went and bought a new camcorder.  I WILL have videos of the pups this week.

Like any good project manager, I made meticulous plans around the decision and timing to breed Zoey.  The project I’m running at work was scheduled to be complete on June 15th – the same date Zoey was due to have pups.  Perfect timing.  Nothing would be left to do at work but take bows and accept praise for a job well done while I devoted my considerable amount of newly acquired free time to new puppies.  Buuuut… (you know where this is going)  The project ran over – and not by a little.  So much for best-laid plans.

I’m back in the office this week trying to transform chaos into order.  And while everyone is running with their hair on fire, I have a secret weapon that keeps a smile on my face.  I have a webcam – and it has a live feed of 9 beautiful little squeakers and their mama.  I can almost smell the puppies.

Yesterday, several of them got up on their wobbly hind legs and took a few all-four-feet-on-the-ground steps. When I got home I discovered that a couple of them had opened their eyes too.  I was star-struck as I gazed at them.

I doubt they felt the same way staring back at my giant face as I gushed over their accomplishments.  I plan to capture some video this weekend and post it to the website.

 

First off, know this: the names I call the puppies today need not follow them to their forever-homes.  In fact, when they leave my home they’re likely to think their name is “Don’t Chew That,” “No Bark!,” or “Who Pooped Over Here?”

That said, I will tell you that I’m calling each of the puppies by a name associated with Flag Day since that’s when they were born.  So, we have: Banner, Bennington, Wilson, Renner, Quincy, Fremont, Glory, Gilly, and Bear.

Okay, so Bear is a little different.  …The Bear Flag Revolt occurred the same date as National Flag Day (June 14th), and calling him “Bear” is an affirmation of my hometown history.  Also, this little guy is a bear when it comes to muscling his way in to get a teet.  He wasn’t the first born, but he is the biggest.  Maybe I’m letting my imagination run wild and reading too much into his demeanor, but I’m telling you this little guy has a calm, top-of-the-food-chain confidence about him.  He pushes his brothers and sisters off the teet with no real malice intended – just a slow, methodical “sorry, but you’ll have to get out of my way” approach.  And he sleeps like he’s in hibernation!  The other pups squirm and whine when I pick them up to weigh them, but Bear just yawns and indulges me with his patience while I go through my ritual.

Gilly?  Namesake for Mary Pickersgill, maker of the Star Spangled Banner flag, and Elizabeth Duane Gillespie, a direct descendant of Benjamin Franklin and the president of the Colonial Dames of Pennsylvania, that tried to get the city to call June 14th ‘Flag Day.’ Resolutions by women were not granted much notice, however, and it wasn’t until 1937, that Pennsylvania became the first state to establish Flag Day and is today the only state that recognizes it as a legal holiday.

“Glory” is kind of obvious.

Renner is short for Rennerdale.  You’ll have to look it up if you’re curious how it fits with Flag Day.  Same for Quincy.  Bennington (Benny) is easy if you’re up on your flag history.  And Wilson was our President that proclaimed Flag Day.  …though I’m still having trouble NOT hearing Tom Hanks cry for Wilson in my mind.

Fremont is interesting because his namesake was prominent both in national flags and the Bear Flag Revolt.  I specifically attached the name Fremont to the pup that seems to do the most exploring of the whelping box.  Granted, he’s only 3 days old and not a lot of exploring can be done, but let’s see if over time his early appetite for adventure holds true.

All are doing well.  They are well cared for by super-mama Zoey – who would have killed a possum last night had I not made her drop him, and tonight considered taking the head off our beloved cat when he made the mistake of jumping the baby gate to join us in the whelping room.  As with all jobs, she takes this mama job seriously!

Wow, let me set the scene for you:

I’m working from home after a long night of very little rest. Zoey was panting, pacing, and nesting all night long and neither of us got much sleep. I knew the puppies were imminent. I had just hung up from one conference call and was two minutes into the next one when BOOM, her plug is blown (water broke). Nevermind that she happened to be standing on the one tiny part of the floor that I DIDN’T have covered up.

I wasn’t concerned because I had arranged for professional, been-there-done-that-a-bunch-whelping-midwife help coming to assist. But noooo, Zoey didn’t wait for reinforcements. Number one pup was on it’s way, and I mean NOW. I used the few minutes available to cancel and reschedule all my workday events and the rest of the day and into the evening we were whelping pups.

Nine of ’em folks! Nine beautiful, squeaky little wiggleworms. Seven boys, two girls.  All nice, healthy weights – and gaining quickly.

And my girl Zoey? I just love her to pieces! She’s strong willed and independent (one of those Schnauzer traits I love) and yet the trust she places in me is so evident and heart-warming. This was her first litter and she was clearly scared when the first pup was coming. She pressed her head into my chest and leaned against my body as she pushed that first pup out. It was really sweet. A Kodak moment that only she and I captured in memory. …well, that may not be completely true. I had turned on the video camera and set it inside the whelping box. If I captured anything worthwhile I’ll post it for y’all once I get rested up and caught up on work stuff. In the meantime, this pic sums up how we both felt at the end of the day:

Today is Zoey’s first possible due date.  She is so huge!  And clearly not comfortable.

Tick, tock, tick, tock; we’re just waiting for the big moment.  It seems like there must be 10 in there!

I had someone ask me if any nesting behavior had started.  I told her, “Oh yes!  It’s extreme!  You should see how much effort and expense I’ve put into the nursery!”  She laughed and said, “I meant the dog.”

Seriously, I even added a webcam …with sound …for when I have to go back to the office.