Another momentous day has arrived! First, the kids got their first real solid food today. I feed them about 4 oz. of cooked hamburger, split 8 ways, this morning.
Then, they got their first trip outdoors! We moved the pen fencing out onto the patio, and let them roam for a bit. You never heard such complaints! This floor is hard! My toes are getting cold! What happened to the walls and ceiling? That light is too bright!
Anyway, I think you'll have to agree that they are adorable.
Chris Evans and grandson came by today to look at the pups. It sounds like Chris and David will be getting one of our girls, probably Miss Ginger Snap. That was two spoken for, two we keep, and four to go. however, Erin called and said she didn't think she was going to be able to keep a pup in her first year of graduate school. Poor thing would be alone most of the time. Plus, renting a place where they would allow her to have a dog would be very expensive.The collie daddy seems to be taking quite a shine to the babies. He will get in and nuzzle and check on them, being ever so careful not to step on anyone.
Four weeks old this evening. And the rough realities of life strike. Tonight, Woody (Arrowhead) and Star (Spiral) got their first baths. Star was pretty good about it but Woody complained, a lot.
The last few days have been fairly rough dealing with these guys. They are eating rapidly growing amounts. We were using the formula plus rice cereal, but the kids were also getting constipated, and taking turns with a lot of grunting and groaning. We are about to finish our second carton of formula in a week, at $30 a carton. Tonight we are trying competing methods to soften puppy kibble for them. I'm soaking a few in milk. Winnie pulverized a few in a mini-blender container. We'll try feeding them soon and see.
The area we set aside for them in the dining room is good, but there was a problem. I had lined it with a plastic sheet, topped by a canvas painters drop cloth, topped by newspaper, and then their soft rug. I was assuming the canvas drop cloth would bead up more moisture than it did, and it was getting wet.
Our friend Donna suggested a piece of linoleum as a base. That's what she used when her dog had pups. So, we bought a 6x9 piece at Lowe's. When I pulled up the other stuff I was in for a rude surprise. The plastic drop cloth had leaked, it was damp underneath, and going to ammonia. So, first that had to get cleaned up. What a smell!
We have our first definite 'forever home' for one of our girls. They hope to come visit soon and meet every little body.
The first bowl of formula went down this morning, and they just devoured it. We had been planning on supplementing with this just once or twice a day, but maybe they are ready to accelerate through the weaning. Maybe give them just formula a couple ore times today, and then start mixing in some baby cereal tomorrow. I want to be careful, so they don't get constipated, though.Today was also a big day, as we moved them around the house to give them more room, and more contact with us. They had been in just the wading pool, and they were feeling very isolated and frustrated in there. There was a lot of whining going on. So now, they are in the dining room, with about 3 times as much space as before.
OK, they are beyond getting near to having teeth. They have teeth coming in. Momma is starting to look a little hesitant about nursing. We'll need to start weaning them on.
The weeing is really commencing, we are having to wash the liners twice a day now.
The pups continue to grow very big and very fast. It's getting hard to do photos
of them, because they are always in motion. And if not in motion, too sleepy to be
really fun! Their eyes have opened a bit, and they see us when we come into the room.
They crowd over near the edge of the pool for a pat. If it's momma, they all crowd
around, and get rowdy waiting for a meal.
I weighed the biggest (Arrowhead), and smallest (Bitty Girl) yesterday, and the
range was about 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 pounds. That's not too bad. I thought the range was
probably more, as that boy's head is about twice the size of her's.
Personalities are definitely coming out. Blaze is a climber, Bitty Girl is a
growler, and all of them are little loves. They nuzzle up to our hands and lick us, and
try to suck our fingers.
The issue of names is also being worked on. Their eventual owners can name them as
they like, but we'll use our usual "spice" scheme in giving them some sort of names to
start with. What we've come up with so far, is something like this:
- 'Spiral' - Spiral Galaxy Star Anise ('Spiral' or 'Star')
- 'Big girl' - Nutmeg Custard ('Meggy')
- ''Bitty girl' - Ginger Snap ('Ginger')
- 'Arrowhead' - Sasparilla or Sweet Woodruff ('Woody')
- 'Island' - Something something Wasabi something ('Wasabi')
- 'Big Boy' - Something something Coriander something ('Cory')
- 'Short Stocking' - Something something Basil something ('Basil')
- 'Blaze' - Blazin' Hot Chipotle ("Blaze')
We also started looking at other names for these guys. The plan was to give them spice, herb, or pepper related names. I also wanted to sneak in pastries there somewhere. So far it looks like Big Girl will become "Nutmeg" (Meg), Bitty Girl will be "Ginger Snap" (Ginger), and Spiral will become something like "Marjoram" (Margie) or Pennyroyal (Penny).
In jest I've suggested Arrowhead become "Arrowroot Biscuit". My other leading names for boys are Coriander (Cory) and Sweet Woodruff (Woody). Finally, maybe an Ancho or some such in there. I also suggested "Jalapeno Cornbread". Well, OK, maybe that is a little too silly.
Cinny is showing a new problem. I've noticed for a couple days she had a lot of
bloody crusts in her ears. It comes right out with a Q-tip, but we are concerned
she might have ear mites or some such thing.
Anyway, for all the good that that did. I was up with her again at 11pm (another oops), and at midnight (oops, again). Finally got the procedure down then, and got her out at 1, 2, and 3 without further incidents. Except, of course, for my not getting to sleep. When I put her out at 3, I lay down on the couch and was out for an hour. When I got her back in, she finally slept until wake-up time at 5:30. 
She did get 1 1/2 cups of regular kibble for breakfast, but pooped indoors twice more during the day. This evening I've gotten 2+ cups of kibble into her, with no gross results. Hopefully laying off of the liver has fixed this. 
Well, everybody is a week old tonight, and doing well. It seems to me that some of them can almost be called walking. Not stably, but they are up on their feet. It's getting so that Cinny can hardly get sat down before someone is trying to crawl into her lap. I'm going to have to start watching them very closely, as they might soon manage to get out of the wading pool. Then it's only a few feet to a staircase. 
Our two problem children from yesterday, Island and Blaze, made up for no weight gain yesterday by putting on 3 and 4 ounces respectively.
I'm feeling a lot better about Bitty Girl, too, as she is now 5 ounces bigger than the biggest of the pups was when they were born. She's still down a half pound from the largest, but that's OK.
More visitors today! Dave Gauthier and Erica Westcott came by. They aren't really looking for another dog, but are buying a house on a half acre up county, so if we need a temporary home for anybody...
* Pup #1 - 'Spiral' - 23 ounces (+1)
Pups had a visitor tonight; Julie Herman came by to see them. Like us, she had never seen newborn pups. Only after they were a few weeks old. Winnie has been concerned enough about how small Bitty Girl is, that she tried to give her a bottle of instant puppy formula today. "Ewww, what's that?" was the only response she got.
Here at 1pm Cinny is getting a nap. Thank goodness. She was nursing pups continuously last night for about 6 hours, as best as I was able to figure. It started around 11, and she didn't get them all off to sleep at once until about 5 am.
Didn't take any pictures today. Cinny is definitely getting the hang of this. She nurses when she needs to, and then comes down and joins the rest of the family when she can. She was much happier as a result.
Here are today's weights. You can see how they are growing, some of them being up 2-3 ounces in just the past 24 hours.
I got back to work this day, so didn't see them much. In the evening, we did take Curry in to see them for the first time. He was interested and quite gentle. Cinny was cautious but not aggressive. Very good, for them both!
We took advantage of the quiet evening to sort out and weight all the pups again. They now range from 12 to 17 ounces. So everybody has gained one to two ounces since birth. That's good news. All their little umbilici have now fallen off, too.
So that we can sort them out, we've started putting names on them. Mostly, they are based on patterns we notice in their ruff markings. These should stay constant as they grow up. They are:
By evening, things had settled down a bit. Then, just at 10pm, we had company. Winnie and I had both sent out e-mails announcing the pups, and Chris Evans and Donna Grusha came by to see them.
Here are some photos from the evening the puppies were born. What a night that was. Cinny knew that things weren't quite right in her tummy. I found her hiding behind the bed in the small bedroom after dinner. I could smell something wasn't right. Literally. I got a hand behind her, and found a pup half delivered already. I backed her out of that spot, and we got her laid down on some towels.
Then for the next 5 hours we delivered puppies. The first couple worried us, as they weren't breathing properly as they came out. Winnie got their airways drained, though, and blew on their faces, and they started to squeak.
The fifth pup was a surprise. We had just delivered the fourth, and had the first three down to suck, when there was a squeak from behind Cinny. Now how did one of those pups get back there. But this one was all wet, having just come out unannounced and unnoticed. we'll be keeping a watch on her though, as she is the smallest in the litter.
The eighth was a surprise, too. The x-rays at the vet had only showed 7 pups, but we were unconvinced, so we waited. Sure enough, just after midnight on the morning of the 17th, we got an eight pup.
We were pretty happy she let us help. Some dogs don't want any interference, but she seemed happy to have us there to help get the amniotic sacks off, and to get them cleaned up. She also seemed happy to have someone there to tell her she was a good girl, and she was doing a good job.
In all, we got 3 girls and 5 boys. They ranged in weight that night from 11 to 16 ounces. we tried to keep track of them by marking them with strings around them. We were afraid to tie these too tight, though, and by morning they were all off.
Funny (or gross) moment of the night. - Dogs like to eat the afterbirth. Both as a hormonal thing, and to clean away the scent of blood from any predators. After the first two, we didn't want her eating any more of them, as they can also cause an upset tummy. So, I got a trash sack, and started dropping them in there. Of course, I didn't watch where I put it, and at a crucial moment sat down to help with a delivery, right on top of the sack. There was the ultimate POP-SQUISH sound as the garbage sack broke and the afterbirth exploded all over the seat of my pants. Eww!
