7/31/2016 Feeding and foodi noticed a really good article today on top 10 canned foods. I feed hard mainly because of teeth and poo. Soft food and cause tarter and runny poo. Sometimes you have to feed soft. When they are picky. When they just won't eat hard. Or if they are sick. Sometimes there are reasons you just have to. Anyway the article rated merrick as number one soft. I screen shot so you could see.
Years ago we had a German Shepard. He had more hair than 20 dogs have. He would shed everywhere. Plus he had allergies and hot spots. Now this was not just any Shepard. He came from champion bloodlines and was a working dog. So it was not poor breeding. We tried everything to help him. Many diets and addictives. One thing that seemed to help was fish liver oil. The reason I'm telling you this is because after having puppies all dogs shed their coat. Bella is shedding so bad right now. Usually I shave down. But I hate the look so I decided to add some cod liver oil to her food. Wow. She is in love with it. She has been literally gobbling down the hard kibble right away. So I'm passing the info along. If down the road you find the pup is not as interested in the hard kibble anymore try a little fish liver oil. A teaspoon on top. It's great for them and can help boredom with the food. Doodles are food snobs and get tired of the same thing. So this is a nice treat. Remember only a little. It's high in cal count and can cause over weight issues. Most of our doodles have stomachs of steel. But if your pup has a sensitive stomach consult your vet first. Remember I blog what works for us. Always consult your vet before you make major changes to your diet. 7/30/2016 Settled downafter our ordeal with the mudd and the rain and baths they all slept for awhile while I scrubbed and scrubbed the floor. I turned the office into a play zone and they had a blast. Over the last couple days we have been outside a lot. On and off over 18 hours a day. They have become very comfortable with outside. So inside play was something new. I let them race around the office with toys and balls and sticks. They played on the jungle gym too. I taught them how to use the puppy door to get in and out of the play pen. So they would come out and play and go back in to get a drink. We will probable be separating the pups from now on for outside pee breaks during the day. I need to discourage the behavior of digging. I think this is the best way. At this age they need to learn that outside is bathroom time not just play time.
7/30/2016 Cleaning upi made the mistake of letting them out this morning around 10am right before it rained. For some reason this litter wants to dig holes. With so many of them the follow what each other does. So all 9 were digging holes when the storm hit. I just finished cleaning up the mess. 6 hours later. It took 17 buckets of clean water to finially stop getting a dirty rag. Each of them also got a quick bath in the tub to rinse the mud off. By no means are they clean but at least the floor is. I know they are restless and want back out but at this point I'm making them use the pee pads till I figure out a way to keep them from digging holes. Here are a couple pictures of before and after and them all in crate after the bath.
7/28/2016 Week 9 weightsi posted week 9 weights on current puppy page. At bottom of page I wrote an estimate of adult weight. This is only an estimate. It's a chart I use online. It does not take into account body structure. Some dogs are heavier boned and weigh more than they look. Others are lanky and look thin. And this litter has all body types. Some are lean and lanky. Others are stocky and solid. So take this estimate as only a rough guess.
7/27/2016 I think they are tired of the heatthey are all stretched out in different areas. I think they are sick of this heat. 2 are outside playing with mom but the rest are done.
7/27/2016 9 weeks oldim sorry I have not posted more. I am use to being down to 7-8 by this point. So we are working out kinks. They all have their quirky things they do. I know instantly who is who. Brown literally never leaves my side. He is fine to just hang out with me. Instead of going outside to play he will lay and watch me clean the floor. I learned the hard way not to make him go out. He squeezed between the deck railing to get back in to help me. Blue is always last coming in. He gets so caught up in playing that he doesn't notice everyone is inside. Purple loves the crate. I thought she was sick and not feeling well. She was fine. She just wants the best spot in the crate to nap. She rearranges the blankets to suit her. Green loves to bring in pine cones and sticks. He is so proud of himself for finding something. Black tries to hide whatever green brings in. He knows he is smaller and can fit behind the crate so he steals the sticks and hides them back there. Yellow will for ever be my bowl digger. She loves to wash her feet. Especially if the water is cold and fresh. Pink has really chilled and lays and watches the rest. She sacks out on her stomach with feet behind her and watches everyone else. White loves to play with toys. She will grab a toy and run as hard as she can. Orange is my explorer. He is covered in pine sap from the trees. He will explore the entire yard just sniffing everything. Red will find any chance she can get to sneak out the puppy gate to lay with the girls. She gets so excited that her whole body wags.
7/25/2016 Playing insidewe have been outside and inside playing. I tried the sprinkler again but not much interest in it. So we are playing with toys inside mostly. They are having fun. The heat does seem to have played them out. Or some of them. Others are still wound tight.
7/24/2016 Brushingi thought I would share some info tonight about brushing. I get asked a lot about brushing. Groomers recommend the slicker brush. The one with pin needles. My girls hate it. Poodle breeders recommend a metal comb. My girls hate it. I use a regular hair brush. You start my pulling up a section of hair and brushing below that from the root to end. Brush in sections. If you have a matt using a de matting tool only on the Matt. It cuts out the matt with its razor sharp teeth. Brush pups mainly after they have gotten wet. This is when they will mat. You will need to start seeing a groomer around 6 months old. You can scissor cut them yourself up to that point. And you will need to do toenails about once a month or so. Right now I have been using dremel on toenails about every 4-5 days. I hate long toenails on pups. It hurts when they stand up and scratch your legs. The more they walk on concrete it grinds them down however until they are 6 months you should try to walk them in grass when ever possible. Too much walking on concrete can impact hips and cause future problems. As adult coat comes in you can switch to a different brush like the slicker brush or a metal comb. But get your pup use to a nice brush they don't hate. Make it fun to brush. Give treats. Brush backs of legs both front and back legs. And brush behind ears. Doodles also get mats at their mouth. Watch for these. I'm also sharing a picture of what happens if you don't brush enough. This is Bella 3 years ago after her first litter of pups. She had to be shaved. While she had pups she wouldn't let me brush her enough. I'm hoping this is enough shock for everyone to realize how fast it can happen.
|
Categories |