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

3 week photo shoot

The Love Bugs were three weeks old this past Wednesday. I love their little faces.

Junebug

Cricket

Honeybee

Big Red

Transitions and house-breaking

Starting to interact with each other

This week, between the ages of 14-21 days, is considered the transitional week from a neonate to a dog. Among those changes are eyes and ears opening, more exploration of the world around them with their mouths, and elimination without stimulation. Sophie's ears and the other pups' legs are prime targets for mouthing. They are also licking things more. I caught Honeybee suckling on Cricket's foot a few days ago. She moved too quickly before I could get a good picture.

Honeybee suckling Cricket's paw

Junebug also thought my sister's face was a good suckling option.

Junebug

Junebug, making a run for it

As the puppies are starting to eliminate on their own, they naturally want to move outside their sleeping area to relieve themselves. So to capitalize on that innate desire and help start the house-breaking process, I moved the whelping box into the dining room with an extra space outside the sleeping area for elimination. Honeybee is my potty-training over-achiever. She goes out to the potty area quite often. Cricket is not far behind. The trouble is that they aren't quite proficient on all fours yet and sometimes will get semi-trapped in the potty area because their back legs slip out behind them. I put paper down first, but that didn't give them enough traction on their back feet. Now I've got towels there, which seem to be better. Once they can walk more steadily, I will use paper. This will facilitate the house-breaking efforts in their new homes as well because the new owners will be able to put paper in the area of the yard that they want the puppy to use in order to "prime" that space as the elimination station. After a short time, that area will smell like the place to go and paper will no longer be necessary.

After the pups are in their new homes, it will be important that they get used to relieving themselves on a variety of surfaces -- dirt, grass, gravel, concrete, for example -- because you want them to be able to eliminate on appropriate surfaces that they might not be accustomed to using. Many years ago, Lucy came home to me during the fall in Virginia. I chose an area under the trees off to the side of the yard as the potty area. I even (sort-of) trained her to eliminate on command. Months later, I was walking her on leash at a hotel where there was very little grass or dirt. I kept walking and walking and repeatedly commanding her. She kept sniffing and sniffing. I knew she had to go, but she just couldn't find that perfect spot. Then BINGO. She found a forlorn little pile of leaves along the curb and finally peed. It wasn't until that moment that I realized the strength of association these puppies form while young and in training. To Lucy, "do the macarena" meant pee on leaves, not pee on concrete. This is one of the important lessons for us to learn so that we train our dogs more effectively. To a dog, the location, body posture, tone of voice, etc. are all part of the command, not just the word that we've chosen to label an action. To really train a reliable recall, for example, we have to train not just in our own backyard, but in lots of other safe locations until "come" means "come" everywhere and anywhere.

Jeepers peepers!

Day 13 and Big Red's got the tiniest of eye slits!

The milk letdown

Here is a video from a few days ago that shows all four puppies feeding. At the beginning, they are moving around a lot, whining and grunting. Then at about 0:20 seconds, Sophie's milk lets down. You can see and hear the change in the puppies as they start gulping milk as fast as they can.

Growing puppies

Eating again??!

Today, at 11 days old, all the puppies except Junebug exceeded the three pound mark. I think that explains why she's the first one to really be toddling around on all four legs. She is the smallest of the puppies, but by no means a runt. Although they can all support their weight on their front legs already, the others just can't support their weight on all fours yet. This is typical for puppies under two weeks of age. Normally puppies are standing on all fours by about 15 days old and starting to walk at about 3 weeks of age.

During the next week, the puppies' eyes and ears will start to open. This marks their transition from neonates to dogs. They will begin to experience the world and interact with Sophie in new ways and thus start developing their canine identity. The sounds they make are already changing from mews and whines to the cutest puppy barks, growls and grunts.

Fat-n-happy

Junebug says "hi"

Cricket

Honeybee

Big Red Firefly

Puppy cam is ON

The puppy cam is now on and you can check in on the love bugs during daylight hours. Enjoy the show! 

Pedicures all around

Vizslas are a "wash and wear" breed that require very little grooming. Regular nail trims and brushing of teeth are just about all that is required, with the occasional bath after your Perfect Puppy rolls on a dead animal. (Volt's fave cologne is seasonal rotting salmon.)

Nail trimming is critical to the proper development of the foot but is too often a neglected task because time isn't taken to accustom the dog to having their feet and toes handled and getting their nails trimmed. If you take the time to make it a positive experience, it is only a 5 minute weekly task. The nails should be kept short enough that they do not touch the ground when the dog is standing upright. Here are some images of nice, short nails. http://tinyurl.com/ok8msyf

The puppies all had their first nail trim this week. Their little nails are tiny and SHARP. Right now I am using baby nail clippers (and glasses!) to do the job, but later I will start using a Dremel because it creates a smoother edge on the nails than clippers and there is very little chance of cutting the quick. (You DO have to be careful to not let the nail get hot, which will happen if you keep the Dremel on a single toenail too long. On adult toenails, I rotate through the nails, sanding for just a few seconds on each nail, and then back around until they are the desired length.) By the time they go home, the puppies will be accustomed to having their nails trimmed.

My personal weapon of choice is the Dremel 8100 with the fine sanding drum but the Dremel 7700 is also suitable. I prefer the lithium ion battery because I've found that the other batteries lose their charging ability over the years.

And now, I'm off to trim Sophie's nails... she missed her trim last week...

Week 1 (cont.)

There were too many cute pictures from the first few days not to share more. Enjoy!