Ear Up?!?

No, not really.

Soon.

Several times today I've looking in the whelping box and Red Girl has had an ear up. It quickly flops back over, but she's getting close to having it up for good I think.

This is Really Gross.... But....

.... those of you who have been reading this blog from the beginning, and the previous ones, know that the thing about this whole "puppy thing" that fascinates me the most is the instinct the mom dog displays.

How does she know what to do and when to do it?

In past litters I've had mom dogs who, when the puppies reach a certain age, go out and catch "varmints" and bring them back (or try) to their pups. Aliy is the champ, bringing back literally dozens of ground squirrels. Raven tried to bring her kids a baby skunk. [Edited to add: The mom dogs try to feed their kids this way, but trust me... I don't let them!!]

Kelly has never been much of a hunter. Just not something she enjoys. She'll take her meals in a bowl, thank you very much. So I had wondered what she'd do when she got to the point where she no longer wanted to nurse, but knew her kids needed to be fed, and maybe didn't realize I'd take care of it for her.

I have suspected the answer for several days now, based on "evidence" found in the whelping box. LAst night I saw the proof.

She is regurgitating her dinner for the puppies. I told you it was gross. And am I not kind that I did NOT provide pictures?

I've been seeing some spots on the bedding in the mornings that looked like possibly someone had thrown up. And they were big enough spots that I didn't think it was one of the puppies. Last night I caught it happening.

Like I said, gross. But very very natural and to me, very fascinating. Also given that the food was adult sized dog food nuggets and not digested and the pups were all over it, I guess I no longer need to put their little tiny puppy kibble thru the blender to turn it into mush. And now I know why sometimes they are totally not hungry when I think they should be.

Hey, when you read my blog you get the WHOLE story.....

5 Weeks Old! Super Size Me!

5 weeks old already. In another 5 weeks most of them will be in their new homes. Hard to believe.

This week in addition to our regular size "mug shots", I'm displaying pictures 4 times the size so you can see how cute these guys really are!






Bigger!!!

Red Girl

Yellow Girl

Green Boy

Purple Boy

Blue Boy

Orange Boy

Black Boy

You Want Pictures? I Got Pictures!

Sorry I didn't get these posted sooner.. my ISP was down AGAIN!!! That's why the Kelly-Cam was down too, it all comes from the same place.... and now the FTP server is down.. so I've uploaded the pictures to Blogger directly. I hope it works....

The puppies have had a BUSY couple days! As I mentioned in the last post, they entertained their first visitor, my friend Tracy, on Thursday. Then on Friday, my friend Brie spent the day with them and today they met two more people, Lance and Sandy from Gallup New Mexico, who stopped by to say Hi Puppies!

They also got introduced to the litter box yesterday. As expected, in the beginning they think it's something to play and sleep in, but they'll start to get the idea soon... I hope!

So.. How many puppies fit in a litter box?

Two...


Four....


Five!



The puppies continue to grow and change every day. Orange is now over 6 pounds. Yellow is the smallest at just over 5 pounds. Of course their size now means NOTHING. In Ravens litter, Max was the biggest from the beginning and now at 20 months, he's the smallest of all 5 puppies!!


People keep asking me who the cutest puppy is. I really can't answer that as they are ALL cute. Actually the truth is that it changes on a daily basis. Today, Sunday, November 26 I'd say Blak is the cutest. As far as the girls go I was absolutely postively certain on Friday that Yellow was cuter than Red. Today I think Yellow looks like a ferret! Yes, they really change that much every day.


People also keep asking me if they are for sale. The easy answer if yes, six of the seven will be sold. But it's not as easy as picking one out and taking it to the checkout at Wal-Mart. I screen my homes by asking lots of nosy questions. I make sure the puppy's personality matches what the new owner is looking for. Once I know where each puppy is going I'll be sure to tell you!


A couple puppies may still be available. I'm waiting to hear back from people who were interested, but have not committed. If you think you might want to get on the list for one of Kelly's kids, let me know!


I can't believe they are 5 weeks old. How time flies.

What's New?

The puppies have now passed the "head cold" around thru the ranks and all are doing well. Very little sneezing and almost no more runny noses!

They are finishing off a full plate of mush 3 times a day with a yogurt chaser. Still nursing a bit, but I have to convince Kelly to do it.

They now play with other all the time. I need to try to get pictures of the interacting, maybe even a mini movie!

They had thei first visitor today! My friend Tracy came over for Thanksgiving dinner and got to meet the puppies.

4 of them are over 5 pounds! Orange Boy seems to be running away with the title of "Biggest Puppy". Blue Boy is no longer the smallest, having overtaken both Black and Yellow.

What's Next?

Sometime in the next few days I'll be introducing them to the litter box. Maybe on Saturday or Sunday afternoon.

I'll stop blending their food up in the blender soon and instead just soak the puppy kibble in water.

If we get some more nice days (it was in the 60's again today!) the pups may get a taste of the great outdoors next week.

Another visitor tomorrow! My friend Brie will get to meet them. And in about 4.5 weeks one of them will even get to go home with her!

Pictures tomorrow!

Clavamox.

That's what the vet prescribed for little Yellow Girl.

Yes, I said "vet prescribed". Yes, I took her in.

So much for not worrying about her.

OF COURSE I was worried. I worried all day Saturday, all day Sunday and just could no longer take it today. She was running a slight fever (102.9) and I just flipped out. [edited to add: just took her temp again (5:00) and it's 101.8!]

Rushed her in under an "emergency appointment". The vet is not worried. He listened to her breathing, he listened to her heart, he listened to her breathing again. He said it sounds like the whole mess is in her head and she'll probably be fine in a few days. No sign of anything in her lungs.

No vomiting, no loose stools. She's not interested in eating mush or yogurt, but boy when Kelly gets in the whelping box, she's first in line for the milk bar.

The Clavamox drops (twice a day) are "just in case". And probably a placebo for me :)

She's the only one getting the Clavamox, but if anyone else starts having a runny nose they get to start on it as well.

Y'all did such a good job sending postive thoughts out for Tiffa (She is expected to make it! Yay!!) that I'm hoping maybe a few good thoughts can come Yellows way now...

Four Weeks Old

Most of the sniffles and sneezes have disappeared except for little Yellow Girl who is continuing to snuffle a bit. But she's still eating well so I refuse to worry. At least not too much.






It's hard to believe they are 4 weeks old already and getting so big. Orange hit 5 pounds over the weekend! They are now eating mush 3-4 times a day and following it up with a yogurt dessert.


How big are they?

Compare this picture taken last night:


To this one taken when they were less than a week old:



Quite a difference!

Sniffles

The puppies have the sniffles. Sneezing and runny noses. I'm not sure how or where they might have picked something up.

So far I'm not too worried, they are eating well, both from Kelly and the mush I'm feeding them several times a day.

I did consult a vet earlier today, I was not sure if I needed to take them in or if just keeping an eye on them for now was enough. I mean the last place you want to take pups with depressed immune systems is into an animal hospital (potentially) full of germs. I was told as long as they are eating well and their breathing sounds generally good, that watch and wait was a good tactic.

Meanwhile out in Oregon Tiffa's platelets have climbed to 18,000, still low compared to the 100,000 they should be, but a whole lot better than almost 0 as they were 6 days ago.

We had an escape tonight. A very agitated Kelly came to find me and let me know her son, Green Boy, was wandering around the room outside the whelping box. Guess I need to start putting the side of the box up!

Babes in Toyland

Last week I bought the puppies a few toys. They didn't really seem to like them very much, so tonight I bought them a few more. Very small, very soft stuffed toys this time.

They went over much better!


Red Girl tries to carry the sheep that is almost as big as she is!


Green Boy loves the frog toy!


You can't tell from this picture, but Black Boy is chewing on the sheep's head.


Green Boy thinks the toys are good for sleeping with.


Purple Boy just thinks sleeping is good :)

Tiffa update: She's still at home with Ken and slowly continuing to improve!

Pretty Boring Puppies

They sleep.


They eat.


They sleep.


They eat.


Sometimes they interact with each other or Kelly, but really it's all about sleeping and eating.


Pretty soon they will start to play more with each other and their toys.

No new news about Tiffa, and I do think this is a case of no news is good news. When I get an update, I'll post it here! [Tiffa update: I just heard Tiffa is at home with Ken, not out of the woods yet, but gaining strength bit by bit. Keep sending positive thoughts... it's working!!]

3.5 week weights will be posted tomorrow morning!

Tiffa Update

I know this blog is supposed to be about Kelly's puppies. Well they are all fat, healthy and happy and pretty boring right now. So I'm going to update you all with the latest information on the puppies big sister, Tiffa.

Last night and this morning things were looking pretty grim. As of this afternoon the vet is giving Tiffa a 50/50 chance of pulling thru, which, while still scary, is a big improvement.

She's still not producing any platelets but she is stable. Here in Ken's words is what happened:

"Tiffa at the end of her pregnancy had two life threatening conditions happen almost simultaneously:

One, the uterine horn flipped to the other side blocking the puppies from passing and cutting off blood supply to the uterus, and when the puppies die it sends toxins to the liver and poisons the blood supply...

The second thing is something called Purpura, it is something that happens in humans.. it is low platelets and elevated liver enzymes.. also poisoning the blood.

Both of these things happening at the same time threw her system into total shock... and caused her to go into shutdown... Her blood was battling itself and has stopped producing platelets which the blood needs...

By transfusing her yesterday with Trooper that helped the red cell count dramatically and helped stabilize that area of the blood.. she is also been put on 2 different types of drugs they use on human cancer patients to help stabilize the blood counts. We now have found 2 sources of platelet rich plasma and have it standing by if we don't see improvement in the next 24 hours with the current drug regimen and will do plasma exchange. Her response is looking up and she is now awake and not in so much pain."

If things go as planned, Tiffa may go home tomorrow night. She will still require 24 hour care, IV fluids and meds, but the vet feels that no one could do that better than Ken.

Keep sending those positive thoughts out to Oregon!

Good Thoughts Needed....

Tonight as I write this, the puppies half sister Tiffa (BIS BISS Am/Can CH Snow'tr's Rap'd N Rhythm O'Snobast'n), owned by my very good friend Ken, is in criticial condition after losing a litter of four puppies this morning.

Tiffa has already undergone a blood transfusion and the word is she now needs a bone marrow transplant. [update: I think what Tiffa actually needs is a platelet rich plasma transfusion. But they are unable to locate any on the west coast so the search is expanding nationwide today.]

Please send prayers, good thoughts, positive vibes, whatever you believe in, out to Ken's little princess in Oregon tonight.

Three Weeks Old!

My ISP is having problems again. This time I am unable to access the server via FTP to upload any pictures. So I'm trying blogger's picture hosting facility. Let's see if this works....

Each week there is one puppy that doesn't want to be photographed. This week it was Red Girl.





They look like puppies now, don't they??