I wanted to blog this morning. I’m sitting at the vet with Maggie’s litter. They are getting their shots, exam and microchipping so they can start to go home today. It’s always bitter sweet. I cried last night when I turned out the lights knowing it was their last night with me. I know they are ready for more attention and individual time but it’s bitter sweet. 6 out of 8 will be leaving by Saturday. So I will be moving roxys litter to Maggie’s litter pen and moving dollys to roxys pen. This gives everyone more space and more toys and activities to do. I will also start outside playtime with roxys pups. I’m starting to see some personality with roxys pups. They are going to the bowl well to eat but not all hop out to feed. Some are a little shy. They cry instead and have me do it for them. So we are learning to problem solve right now. Dollys are still blobs and other than eating and sleeping that’s it. So moving them will force them to get up to go potty and get up to go eat. It should help thin them down too.

I’m sitting here playing with the pups like I do every afternoon. We do a long play session in the afternoons. As you know I introduced them to outside already. I moved them to their bigger pen already. I did all this early because honest I’m not seeing much difference in each one. By now usually I can just look at the behavior and know who’s doing it. This is one of the most consistent litters I’ve ever had. As soon as I start to say something about one everyone is doing it. I just hung a toddler swing up to play and guess what they are all on it. No one is scared. They all follow me around. For the most part the blacks are still the ones that play with the toys more. They are more independent. The Merle’s cluster together and play together. From what I see the blacks are built like Marni. That stocky build. A heavy frame. The Merle’s seem to take after mom and have mire poodle build. A thinner frame. There is absolutely going to be a size difference. This is my guess.
pink 30, purple 28, white 22, yellow 23, green 25, grey 32, and blue 35. I’ve taken a lot into consideration when doing these guesses. The size of each ones frame and build. They are all chunky right now. Little butterballs. But the blacks are definitely fatter than the Merle’s. Once they stop nursing the weights will slow down a lot. Most likely that will be early next week when I send mom home. She is still playing with them so for now I have not separated her. I have lots of other girls to help socialize. And Becca and Marni love playing with the pups. Mom and the older ones just do a better job at teaching manners. Mom was scolding them this morning for too much biting I feel bad that I can’t give you guys more about personalities. They are just all so much a like. Not one has been scared of anything I’ve introduced. They all play and investigate. Not one runs when mom barks. No one is glued to my lap. They all play at the same time. I don’t have anyone that is up all night not sleeping. I also don’t have anyone that sleeps a lot. Blue and grey both do the Marni belly rub. Flip over to be petted. But a couple of the Merle’s have started that too. That’s a classic maggie move that Marni does too. If they are uncomfortable or think someone else is dominate they flip over on belly like look I’m not a threat. I retreat. Which I love instead of running or hiding. And it’s not really submissive behavior. It’s I’m no threat. Anyway I keep hoping I can tell you guys more but this litter is very much a like. I’m not seeing anyone extra mouthy either. They all have about the same demeanor. Over all blue has the least energy. He is a little more laid back than the rest. Grey likes to follow me when ever I walk. Orange and green are like twins. Playful. Always in a group playing. White and yellow both are observant. They notice when roxys puppy door is open and both love to go in a peak at the babies. Purple and pink always have a toy or are finding a toy to play with. They both love to carry something around. They love to be on the toddler swing playing.

Can’t believe tomorrow is week 5. I’m really starting to see personality. Blue is independent like mom. Always exploring and following me. Very brave litter guy. Keeps his self entertained. The blacks are playful. Always playing with the toys. They love to sit and chew on one or play with the jungle gym. The Merle’s play with each other. They like to get in the crate and play. Or they go play on the rug at the door or under my desk. They love each other’s company. More to follow in the next couple days.

I know I said I’d go out of order. But this is really out of order. As I see posts on fb I think of things to blog about. Someone just posted that they picked up their pup (7 hour car ride) he vomited most of the trip and now it’s been 3 hours and he won’t eat or drink. Everyone is telling her to go to the vet. The last thing I will tell you when you walk out my door with your pup is that everything will be brand new to the pup when they arrive home. It’s not uncommon for pups to go 3-4 days and not eat. Don’t panic. Car sickness is also very common. I send a bag with you and paper towels and a special blanket just Incase. Trust me. I’ve sent 100 puppies home. This is all very normal. The pup is is scared. They were with me and litter mates for 8 weeks and as much as you love them you are a new person they don’t know. You spell differently. Your house is not familiar. No other pups are around. In just a couple days they will have relaxed and forgot all about me and littermates. But those first couple days they will sleep a lot. Not eat much. And not play. It’s ok.

One of the most important things you can do when you get your pup is formal training. I will send you home with a book. This is a great resource but does not replace formal training. I recently partnered with a company called bella and Baxter. If you have not saw me post about the free podcasts, go download them now! They are free. They are short. They are easy to follow and touch on real life stuff. This is the link for iOS. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-puppy-training-podcast/id1458176724

Bella and Baxter also have a formal training class. It’s done online. It’s very reasonable. And you can use the code curly to get 25% off! Which is amazing. They offer one on one training calls if you need help with a particular situation. I really like their setup. I like how easy the training is to follow. And I love the support. If you have an area you need extra help with don’t hesitate to call me and I can help you as well.

I send home all pups with their first set of vaccinations. They will need 2 more boosters. And elect shots if you choose. So there are lots of vaccinations on the market. Things like Lyme and influenza. You will need to Decide if you want to vaccinate against everything or just the minimal. I can see both sides. I have done both. Over vaccinating has its issues. Linked to all kinds of things including seizers and death. So you along with your vet need to decide what is important and what is not. Are the risks so great that you should. Or should you skip that one. Each elect vaccination should be looked and figured out yes or no. Don’t just say yes to everything. See if you have a need for that vaccination or not. The only one not elective is rabies. Some holistic vets will titer test. Check levels before just giving vac. Mine vet is costly to do this. So we just do yearly boosters after all puppies shots are given. I recommend coming up with your game plan for shots. Your vet will most likely recommend boosters at 12 and 16 weeks. Then yearly.

I just can’t believe we are to week 4 already. I know the weight chart looks like the black ones are huge but in person it appears they are just fat and not really that much larger. They are all active. Eating well. And starting to drink water. I’m starting to notice some personality. I will start to comment about each one over the next 2 weeks. All are sweet and doing great. But some are definitely more outgoing. Others more shy by noises. Some love more attention than others. Some are independent.

Today’s post is going to be about tick flea and heartworm medication. In light of one of our pups passing from ihma I thought this would be a great topic to cover today. Ihma can be brought on from tick diseases. Not always the case but it can. The rest of the cases they just don’t know why it happens. If you missed the post, daisy age 7 passed away this week from ihma. We are very saddened by this. So I wanted to take the time today to talk about prevention. As a breeder I’m limited to what I can use on pregnant dogs. Very few medications are safe. Actually most are linked to formalities at birth. So we strictly use revolution. However we have had diagnoses of Lyme and ehrlichiosis because of tick bites. Revolution is not great with ticks. I really like bravecta and serresto collars. Those are my 2 go toos. They work well with little side effects. There are others on the market. I recommend discussing with your vet the best recommendation. Because of age not every product can be used. You will also need a separate heartworm medication. Revolution covers all 3 but most do not. I recommend doing a snap test every year at your yearly exam. We will discuss shots/vaccinations tomorrow. But at each yearly vaccination appt I recommend doing a snap test, a fecal, script for flea/tick/heartworm meds in addition to your vaccinations. This allows one appt to cover the entire year. A yearly check-up. A lot of meds for fleas/ticks/heartworm are cheaper if you buy a yearly supply at a time.

Enough of the serous stuff. Let’s do a fun blog. Did you know pups are born with eyes and ears closed. They can smell. That’s how they find mom. Around 2 weeks of age their eyes open and they can hear. A dog doesn’t have great eyes sight like you think. They see movement more than actual definition. That’s how they recognize you. It’s by the way you move and smell and sound. A dogs brain is 90% developed by 14 weeks old. So any nutritional improvement you can make have to be done before that point. When a pup is first born it doesn’t even know how to defecate on its own. Mom licks to stimulate them to go. Studies show hip dysplasia can be linked to slippery surfaces in the whelping box. We use a vet fleece for traction. Pretty cool facts and finds.

We confirmed pregnancy on dolly yesterday. That’s a drive! It takes all morning to go up and back. Don’t fear, I left my son sitting beside the box while I was gone. I had 2 video cameras pointed at the box. Well one in the box, the other outside the box. And a microphone so I could yell if I wanted him to do something like move a pup or straighten out the bedding. Lol. He did very well. Like always. Anyways it was a long day so I didn’t blog last night. So I’m doing it now. I want to talk about making a plan prior to pup coming home. A plan is the do’s and donts that everyone agrees on. Like pre marital counseling. You talk about all the things that are acceptable and not acceptable when the pup comes home. Are you letting the pup on furniture? Where is the pup sleeping at night? Who is feeding the pup? Who is walking the pup? Who is in charge of training? At what age are you altering the pup? Have you selected a groomer? A vet? Barking? Jumping? Are you going to allow any of this? I like families to talk through the plan. I always tell the story of my son. He wanted curly to give him kisses when he got home every day. Curly was the first pup that he helped raise all the way to adulthood. Ok so he taught her to stand up and kiss him. Now that doesn’t sound so bad in a 10lb pup. But at 30lbs her jumping up to kiss is a pain. Now he took it a step forward. She would jump up on his lap on the sofa and kiss him. Now as an adult it’s pretty gross to be trying to have a conversation and she jumps up and sticks her tongue in your mouth mid sentence. He taught her this. So have a plan that everyone is on board with what is ok and not ok for the pup to do. You need to be consistent. I always hear the stories of oh I thought so and so was going to be the one walking the dog. Or feeding the dog. Be realistic. If you have young kids they can help but don’t expect they will do it consistently. So I try to incorporate it into our chores. If you do this, this and this for the day then you can enjoy xyz. Game time or tv time. I teach kids like pups. Everything is earned. If they don’t do the xyz that’s ok, then they have not earned the reward. No argument or yelling or even saying twice. My pups love earning a reward. Either a treat or a belly rub or head pat. Kids love earning rewards too like doing something they want to do. Just make sure what ever your plan is that you have a plan and can stick with it.