At the Vet

 

Big Day

Today was the first morning that the sound of complaining puppies woke me up. Since this was also the first cold morning we've had (in the 50s at morning walk time!), we went to double check they were all warm enough (though we had adjusted the temperature in the house to compensate). But it was just that Hannah had stood up and was ready to go walking!

This afternoon Ben and our neighbor, Joe, and I took Hannah & the babies back to see the vet at Banfield. Everyone had an exam and Hannah had a vaccination. Mom and pups are looking good so far. Barring any problems, we return in 3 weeks. The trip took about two hours total and wore everyone out, so it has been a mellow evening. The two littlest pups suffered in the weigh-in tonight, so we will make sure they get extra mom-time tomorrow.

One of these things is not like the others...

The puppy who has most consistently gained the most weight at the daily weigh-ins is a Very Special puppy around here. She is #8/Miss Navy on paper, but at our house she has been known since day one as "Fingertips" (by Ben) or "White Tips" (by Jason). In the giant pile of black puppies, she has always stood out, with her white feet and darling white-tipped tail. Since she has been the easiest by far to tell apart, and she has been the subject of the most conversation (e.g. "How's Fingertips doing today?"), and early on Jason predicted that IF a puppy ends up staying around permanently, then Ben and I will choose her. (I predict that is not true... check back at Christmastime to find out!)

Today she also had the distinction of being the first puppy to get a head and leg over in an attempt to climb out of the plastic pan they lie in after they get weighed (before they get back in the pool). This wasn't a big surprise to us, she has been a very spunky pup all along. Brains and beauty, what a gal.

Long Day

Hannah hopped right up to go on our walk this morning. She did very well, but we learned that she is a little afraid of cars and traffic.

Everyone is tired around here, so we are calling it a night. Hannah and little Mr. Purple have a head start... you can't tell from this shot, but #4/Mr. Purple is one feisty little puppy! Every night he is one of the toughest to weigh because he is so wriggly and wiggly in the bowl on the scale, grousing the whole time. When he eats, he throws his whole body into it-- banging his little paws against his mama and bumping into his siblings. LOTS of personality already in this cute little guy!

Moonlight MNO

Hannah has been the most devoted of mothers for 5 solid days now-- we can hardly get her to leave the pups for even a few minutes a day to take care of her most basic needs-- including pottying and eating. She has visibly lost weight during this heavy nursing time and is clearly tired and resting much of the time. But according to the books, a little exercise would do her some good, both in terms of energy and milk supply. So tonight we ventured out of the back yard (where the kitchen-bound puppies were so very close that Hannah couldn't even bear to leave the porch) and on to the sidewalk. And once she and I were there alone under the moonlight, there was no stopping her! We walked and walked and walked-- and really she would have liked to run I think!-- before I turned us around to come home. It was a great break for both of us. I guess Diane (my neighbor/friend/daily walking buddy) and I have a new walking partner starting tomorrow morning!

Hannah is a very powerful dog. Jason guesses she weighs 55-60 pounds. Her back comes to our mid-thigh, and she is extremely muscular. She reminds us of a Rhodesian Ridgeback or a Boxer in that way-- very short fur covering a very strong body. But she is more like a Lab in personality: absolutely a bundle of love and adoration. I sit next to her nursery pool for a while each day, and she rests her head in my arms or on my lap while I stroke her back and side. I know she is grateful for this respite in our home, and we are so very grateful to have her here as well.

The Boys

#1/ Mr. Green

#3/ Mr. White

#4/ Mr. Purple

#5/ Mr. Blue

#7/ Mr. Teal

The Girls

#2/ Miss Orange

#6/ Miss Pink

#8/ Miss Navy

I know, I know, where are the puppies?!

We are finally ready to post photos of the pups and those of you have have wondered can finally see that, no, they are not all black as the "family portrait" from Saturday would have you believe. At a mere 5 days old they already have distinct personalities and widely varying sizes. We have started a growth chart for those who are interested.

We identify the puppies by colors in the logs and charts we keep for them, and we still need the colors to tell a few of them apart sometimes (those pups are marked with a tiny dab of appropriately colored nail polish on a back toe nail to help us!). But the majority we can ID easily by sight now, a big change in only a few days.

Most of the pups are doing very well now. There were three we were a bit worried about yesterday, but today Hannah and the pups really seem to have fallen into a good rhythm and everyone did some decent growing. Nonetheless, #3/Mr. White remains tinier than the others and we attempted to supplement him today. He was having NONE of that, however, and aggressively nursed the rest of the day to show us just how wrong we were about him. Some of the big pups inadvertently knock him out of the way in their jubilant and full-bodied nursing sessions. But little #3 crawls back time after time, and is hanging in there. We give him a hand (moving him to the "good" nipples) every time we come in the kitchen. We will keep you posted on his progress-- but he has stolen our hearts already.