Main thread: Five months in the life of a breeder

[Bruce H]

1/14/06

Sorry I haven't posted to the journal in a while, I have been swamped at work and to make things more fun I have an awful cold! Oh well, enough whining.

Puppies are 6 weeks old tomorrow and they are getting absolutely WILD. But only for about an hour or so, then it's back to sleep for a few hours. They play and fight with each other (you should hear some of the little puppy growls!) and the adults. We still haven't let all the adults out at one time with the puppies, just too many to keep track of. Those goofy puppies have no qualms about attacking one of the adults, so they are getting disciplined quite a bit. What is really interesting is watching the adults (not just the moms) occasionally being submissive to the puppies; all a part of the teaching process.

The puppies have moved out of their raised pen and down to the floor and both litters are together all the time now. They are in an x-pen set on a piece of sheet vinyl. Right now we are using just 1 x-pen to make a 4' x 4' area. Later, when they get a little bigger, we'll add another section to give them a 4' x 6' pen, which is as large as we have room for. The sheet vinyl makes clean-up a breeze and believe me, there's a lot of cleanup! The puppies are being weaned off the moms and are eating solid food (actually kibble soaked in Esbilac mostly, with just small amounts of dry kibble), so the "honeymoon" is over; there is now pee and poop all the time. The moms are no longer in the pen with their puppies, other than for some occasional nursing, so we are doing all the cleanup. Amazing how much of a mess those 9 can make; sometimes I wish they could go to their homes at 6 weeks. Well, OK, no I don't, not a bit; I want to keep them all!

Our puppy people have started coming to the house to visit their puppies. I really wish you could see the faces of the people as they see their puppy for the first time. We happen to think it's very important for people to visit their puppy and we strongly encourage it. It gives the puppy a chance to remember them and it makes the transition to the puppies new home a little easier. It also gives us a chance to talk to the people about the proper care of their puppy; we give everyone a written list of instructions with their "puppy packet" when they go home, but there's no substitute for just talking and answering questions as they come up. We tell people they can come as often as once a week, but we draw the line at making up the guest bedroom LOL. I really enjoy talking with people that are visiting; they are some of the most interesting people from all different backgrounds. And we have become very good friends with a couple.

Something else I wanted to say, I know that in other areas some breeders let their puppies go at 6 weeks, but I sure don't see that as a good idea. As well as this litter has been doing, there is no way I believe they would be ready to go to a new home. Just my opinion.

 

[Bruce H]

1/21/06

Puppies are 7 weeks old tomorrow. They continue to be very active and very playful. It's so much fun watching them play and fight and test each other. We have been watching for the alfa puppy to develop, but hard to tell just yet. They come out of their pen at least twice a day and sometimes 3 times a day and have the run of the living room and dining room. We keep both litters together since they're the same age and they come out together. When they're out, the Moms get no peace. And it doesn't matter which mom; they will happily try to nurse on either mom. The moms are pretty much trying to wean them and I don't blame them; those little puppy teeth are really sharp. In fact I got a bloody nose the other day when I was on the floor playing with them and one of the puppies got a little too playful.

We have stopped giving them the liquid Esbilac now. Their meals consist of a meal in the morning of a low residue canned food and a meal in the early evening of dry kibble. We are trying the low residue food to see if it makes a difference in the cleanup. It's amazing how much of a mess these guys can make in such a short time. And we have to really keep up with it or the house starts to smell bad. They are all drinking out of their water dish now and, for the most part, keeping their feet out of it. The water would last a few days, but it gets changed at least daily because the will occasionally step in the water after walking through pee or poop.

The puppies are getting washed almost every day now. Sometimes it's a clear water rinse and sometimes it's with shampoo. We try to limit how many time they get the shampoo because we are concerned about their skin getting too dry. Because they don't know enough to stay out of their own pee and poop, they can get pretty stinky in a big hurry.

It only took us a couple days to figure out the 4' x 4' pen they were in was too small. We now have two x-pens set up to form a 4' x 8' pen and that seems to work well. They have two plastic beds with their bedding in it for sleeping, but it's not unusual to see all 9 puppies from both litters crowded together in one bed, stacked on top of each other.

Well, shoot, the picture is out of focus. I have got to spend some time learning to use this fancy camera!

"Breakfast time, we LOVE breakfast time!!"

 

[Bruce H]

1/24/06

OK, it's official, I am REALLY tired of puppy poop!!! With both litters together, those 9 puppies can really produce a lot of poop. And to make it worse they have no concept of staying out of the messes. Doesn't bother them a bit to walk through the mess. No wonder we are washing puppies every day now.

We still have them out of their pen 2 to 3 times a day to play with each other and the adults. The older adults are not nearly as interested in the puppies as they used to be. Now the puppies seem to be those "pesky little critters" that won't leave them alone. The younger (9 months to 1 1/2 years) dogs are much more interested and spend a lot more time with the puppies. One interesting thing we have noticed is that the puppies are beginning to figure out how to play and chew on each other without hurting so much. Used to be that there was a lot of crying as one puppy would start really biting another and actually shake. That is significantly reduced now and we have to break up fewer fights. Another good argument for keeping puppies together longer.

Anna is pretty much out of milk (as is Star), but the puppies still continue to try to nurse. Anna puts up with it for a short time, then it's up on the couch, out of their reach. I've also figured out that the couch is my best friend; those darn pups seem to like toes and those little teeth are really sharp!

 

[Bruce H]

1/24/06

OK, it's official, I am REALLY tired of puppy poop!!! With both litters together, those 9 puppies can really produce a lot of poop. And to make it worse they have no concept of staying out of the messes. Doesn't bother them a bit to walk through the mess. No wonder we are washing puppies every day now.

We still have them out of their pen 2 to 3 times a day to play with each other and the adults. The older adults are not nearly as interested in the puppies as they used to be. Now the puppies seem to be those "pesky little critters" that won't leave them alone. The younger (9 months to 1 1/2 years) dogs are much more interested and spend a lot more time with the puppies. One interesting thing we have noticed is that the puppies are beginning to figure out how to play and chew on each other without hurting so much. Used to be that there was a lot of crying as one puppy would start really biting another and actually shake. That is significantly reduced now and we have to break up fewer fights. Another good argument for keeping puppies together longer.

Anna is pretty much out of milk (as is Star), but the puppies still continue to try to nurse. Anna puts up with it for a short time, then it's up on the couch, out of their reach. I've also figured out that the couch is my best friend; those darn pups seem to like toes and those little teeth are really sharp!

 

[Bruce H]

1/29/06

Well, my frustration with puppy poop on my last post must have been a bit more noticeable than I intended. Someone sent me a PM and asked if the romance was over LOL! My response was, it's not over, but it may have dimmed just a bit! No matter how troublesome these puppies get, I still love them and don't ever see quitting breeding until I get too old to be able to do it. In fact, once we retire, our plan is to devote full time to the dogs and puppies and do something we really love and are passionate about.

The pups are 8 weeks old today. I can't believe how fast the time has gone! It seems like just a few days ago that we were breeding Anna and praying that it "took". That means that the puppies will be going to their forever homes soon. We normally wait til they're about 12 weeks old, but we may consider 11 weeks because they have done so well. We'll just have to wait and see how they are doing at the time. As usual, I'm going to really miss these guys.

The pups went outside for the first time today; temperature was about 35, very mild for this time of the year. They were very timid for the first few minutes, but it didn't take any time at all for them to get busy exploring. We kept them on the deck by themselves the whole time, but in a couple weeks we will be taking them down to the ground along with the other adult dogs. Got to get them used to being outside since it won't be much longer and they will be at their forever homes. BTW, notice the 3 low horizontal rails on the deck rail. These are what keep the puppies from walking through the railing (and they will, believe me) and falling to the ground. If you bring a new puppy home, it's a good idea to at least put up something temporary, like chicken wire, til they get older.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.

 

[Bruce H]

2/4/06

Puppies are going to be 9 weeks old tomorrow. My little babies are really growing up! They are now doing our "All dogs out" with the adults. That's when the dogs have to go out, we call "All dogs out" and everyone runs for the door to the back yard. The puppies are now in with the adults for the race to get to, and out of, the door. They also tend to get run over a bit as the adults are usually in a hurry to get into the back yard to chase off any trespassers. The only difference with the "All dogs out" now is that they are still afraid to go down the stairs from the deck to the ground, about 6 steps. They want to go down the steps in the worst way, but are really very afraid; we have started showing them how to go up and down (hanging on to them all the time), but they are so small and the steps are so high. As usual, going up is a lot easier than going down; it usually takes much longer for a dog to go down steps.

The puppies are eating like little pigs, twice a day. I wish you could see them when we put a bowl of food in their pen! They literally attack the food and it goes everywhere. Once they finish all the food in the bowl, they go to work and finish all the food on the floor. Which is why we clean the floor very well before we feed them. A couple days ago we started feeding them one meal per day by themselves in a crate in the "puppy condo". They are doing very well in the crate for eating, although we aren't leaving them in for very long. We want them to get used to being crated gradually and to think of a crate as a good thing. The have pretty much stopped trying to nurse on Anna, for which Anna is very grateful!

Both litters go to the vet Monday afternoon for their last checkup and their microchip. That should be interesting getting all 9 done in one trip; our vet is going to be busy! Our latest thinking is to put them in 2 large crates for the trip to the vet and then put them in individual small crates as they get their checkup and chip. That way we don't have any mix-ups. We also don't want them to play together for about 24 hours (or so) after they are chipped to avoid having the chip migrate. BTW, interesting thing happened about a year ago: one of the chips that ws inserted didn't work (they scan right after the chip is inserted) and they had to insert a second one. They said that was the first time that ever happened.

 

[Bruce H]

2/4/06

Puppies are going to be 9 weeks old tomorrow. Weighed the puppies today, here are the puppy number, birth weights first, then today's weight.

#1: 8.1oz birth; 5#11 oz now
#2: 6.5 oz birth; 4# 6 oz now
#3: 7.1 oz birth; 4# 15 oz now
#4: 7.9 oz birth; 5# 2 oz now
#5: 7.0 oz birth; 5# 9 oz now

Interesting that the smallest birth weight is still the smallest now and the biggest birth weight is the biggest now, but the in between ones have moved around a bit.

 

[Bruce H]

2/6/06

Well, we just got back from the vet.

Both litters had their checkup and got microchipped. They all got a clean bill of health, which didn't surprise us. The only problem we had was that the vet techs kept threatening to take puppies home, so I had to stand guard while Kris shuffled puppies, one at a time, into the procedure room LOL.

In order to keep track of who was who, we ended up putting puppies in individual crates for the trip to and from the vet. The crates were identified by T1thru 5 (for the 5 tris) and B1thru 4 (for the 4 blenhiems). That worked out very well. It took about 1 1/2 hours to do all 9 puppies and the paperwork. The pups were very happy with the checkup (all that attention, of course) but were less than enthusiastic when they got the microchip. Even though they got a topical anesthetic, they still cried a little when the chip was inserted; my poor babies!! If only they could understand how important that chip is to them.

Oh, and we ordered a new "toy"; I know, boys and their toys! It's a microchip reader that is advertised as a universal reader that will read all brands of chips. We'll see what the detailed instructions say when we get it.

 

[Bruce H]

2/8/06

We have started serious crate training with the puppies. We feed them at 6:00 PM in their crate, then let them out 1/2 hour later to pee and poop. The night they got their microchip was the first night the spent by themselves in a crate. We had to keep them quiet for 24 hours to keep the chip from migrating, so that was a good time to start them on spending the night in a crate. At about 10:00 PM we took them out of their crate, one at a time, to pee and poop, then put them back in the crate. We arranged the crates face to face so they could see each other. They all cried to begin with, but after about an hour they had all settled down and went to sleep. When I got up at 4:00 AM, they went out again to pee and poop, then back in their crate til Kris got up.

That is now their night time routine and will remain that way til they go home. We have had a few accidents overnight, but that's to be expected. They are together all the time during the day. The hope, of course, is that they are used to being in a crate when they go home. We added another "toy" in their pen. It's a5 gallon pail with the bottom cut out. They had a ball with it! Kind of a miniature agility course. Because it's unsteady, we think it helps to develop their balance and confidence; they just think it's fun! Here's a couple pictures of them with their new toy.

 

[Bruce H]

2/8/06

Puppies are 10 weeks old today. They continue to play-fight and make huge messes. Kris put a cardboard box in their pen with them the other day and they proceeded to tear it to shreds. Amazing how quick these guys can tear apart a cardboard box! Told Kris: YOU put it in there, YOU clean up the mess!

We were having so much trouble keeping puppies clean lately because they would pee on the vinyl and then walk through it. Multiply that time 9 and you get the picture. So we bought a plastic grid to put down on the floor. Now we put puppy pads on the floor and put the grid over those. That has helped tremendously. Now we only wash puppies every 2 to 3 days, although 3 days is pushing it a bit. We still have to wash the grid every day, but it's a lot easier than washing puppies.

In the picture, the puppies decided it was a good idea to pull the towel out of their bed. Didn't seem to bother them, though, that it meant that they had to sleep outside the bed. Don't know if the instigator was one of them sleeping on the floor or not. Oh, and the puppies are still stacking; doesn't seem to bother the ones on the bottom at all to have someone on top of them.

Saw one of the funniest things yesterday when the puppies were out. Star (the blenhiem litter mom) was playing with the puppies. She would put her nose under the puppies and them flip them over; and over and over! And the puppies LOVED it! At one point she had all 9 puppies around her, and she was flipping them as fast as she could go!

Had a real scary thing happen yesterday that reminded us that we have certain rules for a reason. One of the couples came over to visit their puppy in the morning. Our rule is: if you want to hold a puppy, you have to sit on the floor. Well, the mom was standing up and decided to hold her puppy; puppy decided she wanted down and literally shot out of her arms and on to the hardwood floor. The puppy was dazed but after about 10 minutes seemed OK. We kept a close eye on her the rest of the day, but she seems none the worse for wear. The poor woman was an absolute wreck, crying and shaking until she saw that her puppy was OK. Thank God puppies are very resilient.

 

[Bruce H]

2/17/06

MY BABIES ARE STARTING TO LEAVE HOME! We are down to a total of 5 now, 3 of Anna's tris and 2 of Star's blenhiems. It's looking like I am going to go through major puppy withdrawal. Seems way too quiet around here now. The rest of the puppies will be going home toward the end of the month, to fit into our puppy people's schedules. Everyone is scheduling time off to be home with their puppy, which I think is great. I haven't seen any evidence that the remaining puppies miss their wayward littermates or that either mom realizes there are fewer puppies. The only time I have seen a mom miss her puppies in the past is when the whole litter goes over a couple days. On the plus side, clean-up is taking a lot less time.

Well, we got an agility tunnel/chute yesterday and had it out in the living room. The puppies were a little apprehensive at first, but it didn't take them long to start going through. Then again, we'll se how they do when we turn it so they can't see the other end!

 

[Bruce H]

2/19/06

Another of my babies went to it's new home yesterday evening. She was supposed to be here til the end of the month, but they changed their schedules so she could go home with them earlier. Now we are down to 4 puppies. And I can see I'm going to go through serious puppy withdrawal (as usual). As usual, the puppies don't seem to miss the littermates that have left. Heck, they probably enjoy the extra room! And our adults seem to be tolerating and playing with the puppies more than before. Maybe it's because there are fewer puppies and they are getting less pesky.

This truly is the hardest part for me; somehow I manage to get attached to these guys every time, even though I know I shouldn't. But how can a person spend so many hours every week and every day and not get attached? This is another of those litters where we tried not to give them temporary names thinking it might help. Tried that before, though, and no such luck. So what do I do? Well yesterday evening, after these people left, I fell asleep in front of the TV with one of the puppies. Yeh, that REALLY helps.

On the bright side, we have already heard from two people who brought their puppy home last week. They are absolutely thrilled and both said their puppy adjusted in a matter of just a few hours. That's what I LOVE to hear! Kris and I really look forward to hearing about our guys; we are like a couple of grandparents watching the mail for pictures of our grandchildren. We have a requirement in our contract that we get pictures at least once a year; I once told Kris we should change that to visitation rights :lol: