October 25, 2010 by myeye
In today’s mail — it makes me smile because herding makes Chase smile. Thank you so much to Susan Shields who is puttin’ on the miles with our Chaseman teaching him to herd the sheep and the ducks. I hope to see many more of these certificates as our boy learns new skills.
Category Bluefox, Chase, Herding | Tags: | 6 Comments
October 25, 2010 by myeye
There were 8 puppies, 6 boys and 2 girls. 1 girl was red, 2 boys were red, the other puppies were brindle. All had lots of icing giving promise of great flash in the ring. There were no mismarks or visible deformities. Overall the puppies were small. Three weighed 6.5 oz., three were in the 8.1 to 8.6 range, and Smooch and Victor weighed 9.9 and 10 oz. Leidy is a small bitch and eight puppies were a bunch for her. The biggest problem we had was that Leidy was an unenthusiastic whelper. She sort of laid around and waited for the puppies to fall out. Since her mom (Inca) and grandma (Quizzy) free-whelped their litters, I had decided to let Leidy free whelp as well. That was a huge error in judgment. She delivered seven puppies in 16 hours and the eighth puppy was expelled when we did her clean out shot in the morning.
“Reba the Red” who was first born weighed in at 6.5 oz. This morning she was up to 8.6 oz. She is the devil in disguise, is the boss of the whelping box. “Smooch”, the second born is brindle and was one of the two larger puppies. She has a kiss on the top of her head. All she wants to do is eat — she can find the lunch bar no matter where it is lying. Today she weighed 14.6 oz. Udi is a pretty red boy who weighed 8.6 at birth. He is up to 13.6 oz. as of this morning. He seems to be a natural cuddler. Finally, Victor — he weighed 10 oz. at birth, is up to 14.2 oz. and looks the most like his dad. He doesn’t like to be restrained so will require remedial handling as he grows.
They are healthy and beautiful. I am so sad that four were lost, but I should be counting my blessings that I have this little group of pretty babies. Leidy is being a good mom (now that all she has to do is lie there and make milk, and clean puppies from time to time). Having the dog door off the whelping pen is making life very easy for me — she goes out into her own pen to take a break and then comes back in refreshed. I also put a dog cot in her area (not in the whelping box itself) so as the puppies require less constant vigilance on her part, she can lie in her cot and watch over them. I love the contented humming that is coming from the puppy room and it makes me happy to say “Hello, little babies” as I walk near them or the door to their room. Next on the list is getting them a little radio which I will turn to a talk station so they are accustomed to hearing human voices all day long.
Thanks to all of you who commiserated with me as I lost puppies. There is still a hollow feeling inside. Special thanks to Carolyn who hung in there with me until after midnight Wednesday/Thursday morning and captured screen shots of the puppies from the puppy cam. If she hadn’t done that I would probably not know who was who.
Category Chase, Leidy, Puppies | Tags: | 8 Comments
I am past sixty-five and still practicing law. I have two terrific sons, they have lovely wives, and I have one truly special granddaughter. At home are three Cardigan Welsh Corgis that amuse and challenge me. We participate in lots of dog-related activities. I love my camera, writing, and roaming. I live in central New Mexico because it's where I want to be. Thanks for visiting my blog. Your (tasteful) comments are welcome.
