New homes, new names

The Love Bugs are 10 weeks old tomorrow. The transition from the feeling that I bore the sole responsibility for the future well-being of Sophie's puppies to knowing that their new owners would love and care for them in the best way was an unexpectedly difficult and emotional one for me. In large part, I think this is because this is the first litter I raised. At least I hope it will be easier the next time. Now that the puppies have been in their new homes for a few days, I am at peace and truly thrilled with the bright prospect of their futures with their new families. (Not to mention that there are fewer piles to pick up in the backyard.)

Honeybee, Pooh Bear, now "Sylvie", was the first to go home about 10 days ago. She is going to have a full and wonderful life with Dan and Robin in the Sierra foothills, "puppy paradise" as Dan put it. She is already training for the circus, and I understand she is wearing out her sister Ollie, a 10 year old Boston Terrier.

Sylvie (was Honeybee, Yellow)

Big Red, Firefly, Not-so-big Red, now "Riley", went home with my brother Paul this past weekend. Riley is a superstar student and already sitting to greet new people. He is also adjusting to the cooler temperatures as long as he is wearing his "potty cozy".

Riley (was Red)

Blue, Cricket, now "Duke", is settling in with the Joyce family and his big brother, Cooper, a 12 year old vizsla. Cooper is a very sweet boy and taking good care of Duke. I am so happy that we are already setting up a puppy play date to visit Duke in a week or two.

Duke (was Blue)

Junebug, Junie B., Mouth, Slim, now "Juno", is staying home with me, Sophie and Volt. I think Volt is relieved that there is only one little monster now, but Juno and Sophie have definitely missed the rest of the puppies, as have I. (Sorry, no "go, er, staying home" picture. Juno is asleep and not cooperating for a good selfie.)

Juno (was Junebug, Orange)

8 week mugshots

The puppies are actually 9 weeks old now, but here are their 8 week mugshots.

Junebug (Orange)

Blue

Honeybee (Yellow)

Red

Foxtail season is already here

My nightmares consist of foxtails. Every year, between about May and November, the invasive foxtail plant drops dry seeds that are easily inhaled by vizslas. This year, due to the drought conditions here, they are drying out much earlier than usual. Because of their arrow-like shape and microscopic barbs, they are a one-way seed. The first sign that a foxtail has been inhaled is repeated, violent sneezing. Sometimes there is blood. But rarely are they sneezed out. More often, they lodge in the sinus cavity and cause an infection if not removed immediately or they are inhaled into the lungs. Several of my friends' dogs have inhaled foxtails (or other similar grass seed) into their lungs and ended up undergoing major surgery and losing part of the lung to remove the seed and damage caused by the seed. Other times the seeds can get into the ears and cause other major problems there. Even if it is just lodged in the sinus cavity, it is an expensive vet visit to get them removed. So, to avoid that inevitable scenario, I use the OutFox Field Guard on my dogs (size medium). Before I found this amazing product, every single one of my dogs has had to endure an inhaled foxtail. They might look funny, but it saves us all pain, time and money in the long run. With the goofy mask on they are still able to drink, see, and even fetch sticks and balls (although that wears out the seams on the mask sooner than usual wear). I highly recommend this product to anyone running their dogs in areas that have foxtails.

Sophie in her OutFox Field Guard

New pictures and lots of outside time

I added new pictures to the photo album, but the puppies are changing and growing so fast now that even the newest photo from four days ago seems outdated. Enjoy!

Al fresco dining

The Love Bugs had lunch outside today, followed by a little siesta.

Red

Honeybee

Blue found a shady spot

Mr. Blue

Beautiful weather & puppies outside

Red catching some rays and a good snuggle

It was a gorgeous day here, so the puppies had their first outside time today. After a busy day of visitors, the remaining people and puppies settled in for a snooze outside in the shade. Even Volt joined in (although he stayed on the other side of the x-pen). He's gotten bolder about being near the puppies but he's still a little uneasy about them.

Volt enjoying the pack time outside

The puppies are completely out of the whelping box now and have a great setup with a small crate, a litter pan (that they all use very consistently for pooping and some-of-the-time peeing). This really keeps the mess down overnight. They also have an awesome play structure that I've strung up with lots of objects of different shapes and textures. This gives them things to explore by hearing, seeing, tasting and bumping into them. Tugging on them is another fun game. I expect that as they get stronger, they'll be pulling the whole contraption around very soon. They have also started the weaning process, which is in line with Sophie spending less time with them during they day. But it is also changing her role with them from just the milk bar into a playmate. This really makes her happy! I was very pleased to see Sophie's excitement when she realized she could start playing with her puppies. There was a visible shift and change in her facial expression. Like an "aha" moment. She has been busy stealing their toys out of the pen whenever she can and likes to try to play tug with them.

This next week will involve lots of socialization with new people, more outside time, and new things being added to their environment. The goal is to teach them that new equals fun and exciting, not scary.

I have added lots of new pictures from the last couple of weeks to the photo album. Here are a few of my favorites. Mr. Blue aka Cricket seems underrepresented in this set of photos, but I think it is because he's been sleeping a lot lately. But he is one very good looking pup and getting more cuddly by the day.

Brody & Junebug

Honeybee

Junebug & Red

Handsome Red

Mr. Blue

Moving to new digs

Things have been busy this past week for me and although I've taken pictures and videos of the puppies, I haven't had a chance to publish them. Bear with me. Puppy cam is also offline while I move them out of the whelping box completely and into a larger area with a crate and puppy play gym. Cricket (Mr. Blue) was the first to go in the crate and the girls were the first to actually sleep in there! Honeybee has a new nickname -- Pooh Bear -- because she is the biggest one and always at the honey pot. And I can't call Red "big" any longer as he weighed the least at yesterday's weigh-in.

Honeybee, Junebug, Cricket and Red