Taking Advantage of Every Opportunity

I came home from running a few errands Saturday afternoon and an electric company guy was in my back yard playing with Lily and Lulu! Normally, I don't leave anyone outside while I am gone, but it was such a nice day and I was only going to be gone a short while. Lily and Lulu where mauling the poor guy. Of course, he seemed to be enjoying himself playing with them.
The electrical problem was at the neighbors, but he was just making sure that all my lines where ok before they turned the power on. I think he volunteered because of the dogs. I am not sure where that crew was from, but I have seen several in the area from Georgia and Alabama. He said they made him miss his dogs. I was just glad I had not left Cinders outside because she would not have allowed him back there. He said she had been barking at him through the window and he was glad she wasn't out there.

He was a grizzled husky guy with a hard hat, uniform and some equipment on, so I thought it was an excellent opportunity for some socialization. I told him I had some pups and asked him if he wanted to see them. Of course he did! I knew he had to go back to work, so I brought out two bullys first. One was the boy ( I thought he would like him) and the other was Molly. While the 2 bullys were being loved on, I went in and got the purple and red pups. All the pups took to this big guy very well. The red pup did not want to wait her turn and was trying frantically to climb up his legs. Too bad he had to go back to work or I would have brought everyone out.

I am very happy the power is back on and the weather has improved. I let the pups run in the yard for an hour or so and I took some video. All together during the power outage I took an hours worth of video that needs to be uploaded and edited. So for those of you that got the first installations, that was about 30 min of video cut to 20 min. I still have another 30 min to go and I am already thinking about taking some more. Likely I will create another agility course this weekend. I am already thinking about it. However, I believe I have one on video that hasn't been uploaded yet.

Still no electric

We have been with out electricity since the ice storm nearly 2 weeks ago. I have been taking pictures and videos of the pups, but have no way to upload them. I moved everyone (dobes and bulldogs) into the x-pen in the living room near the wood stove. Right now it is our only source of heat.

Cinders and Lulu have both been allowing each others puppies to nurse. Cinders is a little more picky and prone to getting on to Lulu's pups if she thinks they are being too rough with her baby dobes. The puppies get out a lot and its not uncommon for me to find some of them running around the house when I get home. Thank goodness all my floors are hardwood and tile.

The good news is that the lack of electricity has allowed me to spend a lot of time with the puppies. I have gotten to know their personalities really well. This is going to help me find the right home for them. I am pretty sure that Purple is going to be Tessa and live in MI. She is a really nice middle puppy and I think she will be very happy in MI. She loves to play, but right now doesn't seem as dominant as the pink puppy or as high drive as the red puppy.

I have been creating puppy agility courses and videoing the puppies on the "equipment". I am very pleased with everyones reactions. The Checker/stripe puppy seems to enjoy the equipment the most and is the first to explore and climb on everything. She is real confident puppy and loves toys and people. I think she would do well at agility or pet therapy or make a nice family dog.

Pink is a monster and the largest puppy. She constantly tries to dominate the other puppies. She loves people and when she gets out of the pen she runs straight over to try to be with me.

I have also started taking the dobes on small car trips. Either individually or in pairs. Yesterday I took the Pink puppy with me to wash the car and run a few short errands. Pink whined some and explored some. Friday, I took checker. Checker is the easy going puppy. Hardly fussed at all. Monday I took purple and Red. Red is also pretty easy going and started exploring the car. Purple was a little more fussy. Its not to surprising though. Purple and Pink are the more vocal of the puppies. They let you know when they want something. Checker and Red are quieter in a way, but I think they will be "talkers" when they get older.

Also, since the snow/ice has been melting I have been taking them outside for short walks either individually or in twos. Yesterday, I let pink walk in from the car. She was very interested in exploring her environment.

Next week I plan to take them to my friends house for individual pictures and some kiddie play time.

I will send out new video and pics as soon as the power comes on.

Puppies Everywhere!

The Dobe puppies are becoming more and more active everyday. They have moved from the whelping box to the pen in the living room. They have started eating moistened food. They have had several visitors lately. A family came and visited them on Saturday. The puppies enjoyed spending time with and playing with everyone. There was someone to hold and play with each of the puppies all the time. The father seemed to be the resting spot as each time he got a puppy she decided to take a nap!

The girls are changing so much every day. They had started escaping the whelping box. Now their mom lets them out of the x pen in the living room. Its not uncommon for me to wake up in the night or come home from work and find dobe puppies quietly exploring the house. Nothing seems to faze them. Once the plastic baby gate fell on a couple of them. No one cried or anything. They just quietly tried to wiggle their way out. They climb on everything and sometimes I will hear a clunk or see one fall off of something it climbed on, but no one cries. They are pretty tough and only squeak when their mom squeezes them too tight! She is one of the best mothers I have seen, but ultimately she believes in tough love and has always been a little rough with them. I think that's why they are so tough. I was even quicked one of them when cutting her toenails and she jumped but didn't cry. Very quiet pups, but the bulldogs make up for it.

Its going to be interesting watching them grow. I am curious if the toughness carries over to the Schutzhund field. Cinders has never been particularly sensitive and I think her babies are the same way.

Its fun having them around. I have been holding and playing with two at a time when I watch TV in the evening. If the weather would improve, I think I can already start housetraining them. They seem really smart and most of the time even when they are running around the house, they go back to the middle of the x-pen to relieve themselves.

Weights

Burgundy/red 7.02lbs

Pink 8.07lbs

Purple 7.85lbs

Checker/stripe 7.32lbs

Explorers

I took the puppies into the kitchen tonight to take their first real individual photos. I basically have a little table set up in there with a carpet on it for traction. Its interesting to see the difference in breeds. I took the Bulldog puppies in first. They have done this before and are 8 days older than the Dobes. For the most part they were scared and even though hey have been walking for a few days, the would only crawl and were obviously stressed. Personally, I don't believe that a little stress in a puppy is a bad thing. After I finished with the Bulldogs, I took the Dobes in by themselves to the kitchen. Other than a couple trips to the vet and sitting on my bed near the whelping box they had never really been out of the whelping box. The Dobes didn't seem stressed at all and immediately began to "walk" (they are really wobbly). I had to constantly keep bring them back where I wanted them. They each kept trying to explore their environment and I had to monitor closely so they did not fall off the table. Its amazing how early you can see solid temperament in puppies.

I truly don't think my Bulldogs are abnormal. I had the same type of responses from my Dane litter. None of my dogs would be considered shy or weak in nerve and I would never breed to any dog (regardless of breed) that was in any way shy or fearful. The difference is that the Dobes are so solid and such brave dogs. Cinders isn't scared of anything and neither is Arras (ok maybe Chris when shes mad, but I would be too;) I only wish Cinders was scared of me when I get mad at her. I am very pleased with these puppies. I think they are all going to be exceptional and have lots of nerve. They didn't miss a heart beat when put in a new environment on a raised table with a surface that they have never been exposed too. Little monsters are going to be into everything!

Its hard to see drive right now. I truly believe that Cinders goes and feeds those girls the minute she hears them move. Spoiled!!

Weights have moved to lbs

Burgundy 4.14

Pink 4.81

Purple 5.16

Checker 4.14

Last Nights Puppy Weights

Everyone has their eyes open now. They are starting to get more demanding. For the most part they are very quiet puppies, but last night purple was throwing a fit. She was barking at Cinders. She wanted to make sure that Cinders knew she was hungry! Cinders seems to have recovered from the loss of Peanut. She went outside a lot and started jumping on me and trying to play. I think its almost time to put her back to work. My goal is to get her Sch 2 and 3 this year. Then maybe next year we will breed another litter. Cinders is such a good mom and has remained very vigorous and healthy throughout this litter. Maybe we will get some boys next time.

Burgundy 57.1 oz
Pink 59.9 oz
Purple 67.7
Checker 50.7

Loss of Peanut

I had begun to call the only little boy of this litter Peanut. He seemed to gain just enough weight every day not to put me in a panic, but not as much as he should have. I had been making sure he was nursing every time I walked in the room and had found that Cinders would often do the same thing. She would move him to wherever she was in the whelping box and set him down near her tummy to nurse. I took Peanut to the vet because of his lack of gain. He had pneumonia. He received an antibiotic and vit B shot and oral antibiotics. He didn't respond to the antibiotics and continued to weaken. I syringe fed him every 2 hrs all night Saturday and Sunday. Sunday afternoon he passed away. It was very sad. Cinders knew he was in trouble and would barely leave the whelping box. She had him between her paws and would gently lay her head on him in a sort of hug. It was sad. He died there in between his mommy's paws. Cinders was upset when I took him away and began to search for him.

I lost one pup in my Dane litter this year. It was much less dramatic as I just found her dead at 14 days. The mother didn't care when I took that pup away and never seemed to notice her loss. This was much more difficult. Cinders is a much more involved mother. She takes such good care of her babies and she loves them so much.

Eyes Starting to Crack Open

Purple's eyes are starting to open. I also caught Checker being very demanding to Cinders. She was basically barking (as close as she can get at this age) at a standing Cinders and following her around the whelping box because she was hungry. She wasn't crying. It was more like she was chewing her out. I think being hungry was a novelty to the poor pup. I changed the bedding and Cinders insists upon digging so then she doesn't have a soft place to lay. I think that was why she hadn't nursed them and Checker felt the need to be demanding. Purple out grew her collar. i am going to have to make her a new one.

Poor Miss Kitty just couldn't fit in with the dobe pack. Cinders tolerated her, but really wasn't very welcoming. Lulu is doing better on her milk, so Miss Kitty moved back in with the bulldogs.