Friday, November 20, 2009

November 20th


The red I call Squeaker because she gets excited when she feeds and "squeaks" almost like a little squeaky toy. Squeaker is laying on Miss Adventure for a comfortable snooze. Squeaker is also spoken for already, and has a great life to look forward to with a former musher and vet tech. I'm happy she will have a good home.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

November 19th Nights are for Sleeping?

This puppy I've nicknamed Ace for Ace of Clubs since her marking on her head sorta looks like it. Ace is a mild tempered puppy so far and will let you pick her up and hold her. If she is sleepy, she will immediately fall asleep if she woke up when you picked her up. Most of the time, she is a deep sleeper and doesn't wake up if you are careful enough. If she isn't sleepy, she will explore and sniff until she is certain that she is hungry then she will whimper softly until you put her near momma. She is more than likely the one I will keep for show if she continues her mild manners and grows into an excellent conformation prospect. It will be a hard choice between her and squeaker though. Squeaker has a very striking set of markings, and would look unusual enough to grab attention in the show ring. For a good sled dog though, I think Miss Adventure will be my best pulling prospect as she is amazingly strong already, and has outsized the other puppies. She is a bit headstrong like her mother though, so again, time will tell. It is still a bit early to really judge their personalities and prospects, but they are all very healthy good looking pups.
Samantha has finally begun to spend time out from the puppies, of course this means she wants to spend that time being petted by me. I'm not there to pet her all day, so that means I can pet her all night, right? At least this means I don't have to persuade her to go outside to do her business.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

November 18th Crazy Days


Christmas is the pup in the bottom of the pic. The white patch on the back of her neck looks like a Christmas tree. She is one of the mid-tempered pups so far. She will allow herself to be held only after being full, but she will sleep in my arms. She can, however, make herself heard when she wants to.
Samantha has begun stepping out of the tub when the pups are asleep to get some much needed rest herself. Her weight is still good, and she is still being fed puppy food when she wants it (open feed), and she gets a wet food mix twice a day. She seems pretty proud of herself and her puppies, almost as proud as I am.

Monday, November 16, 2009

November 16th Growing Fast!


Today 4 puppies will go in to get their dew claws removed. They have already doubled in size from last Wednesday (the pic is from Saturday), and it is about time to get a larger enclosure for mom and pups. I picked up a doggy play pen for when they open their eyes, but I think we may need an intermediate step from the whelping tub.

Friday, November 13, 2009

November 13th Puppy pics

Such a sweet little girl that looks very much like momma. We have been calling her "Miss Adventure" because she is always climbing to the top of the blanket and around the bottom rim of the tub we are using for a whelping box (horse trough which was low enough for Samantha to step in and out of but tall enough not to let the puppies crawl out). They are very active puppies, and I'm hoping they will make some eager sled dogs. :)




















Thursday, November 12, 2009

November 12th Seven Beautiful Healthy Pups!

Samantha had the last one at 1am. 2 red and white girls, 2 silver girls, 1 silver boy, and 2 black and white girls. Mom and pups are doing fine!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

November 10th And still waiting.

Samantha's temperature went down to 99.5 last night, but still no labor. She is obviously miserable and doesn't eat but a couple mouthfulls of food, but begs for treats constantly. This morning there was no movement, and I'm hoping this is the onset. If she hasn't started labor by Friday, we will need to take her in.

Monday, November 9, 2009

November 9th Anticipation!

Still waiting for puppies. Samantha's temp stayed right at 99.7 all weekend. Going to check her when I get home. Her official due date acording to the vet is Wednesday, but she could whelp at anytime now. I've made sure Jim and James have instructions and have printed out an article on whelping from a respected Vet.

It makes it nice that I contract for the Government, at least I have Wednesday off. Not sure Samantha will wait that long though.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

November 5th More Igloos


My porch now looks like a herd of arctic natives have moved in. Each dog has been sampling each dog igloo, and the consensus is they are the bomb! They now seem to like them so much, they hardly come in the house at all, and spend all day lounging around in their individual igloo condos. I will try to get some pics when I get home from work tonight.

Samantha's puppies were moving around a lot this morning, and I'm thinking she may whelp them this weekend if not sooner. I've given James specific instructions on what to do when she does, IE: separate the other dogs immediately. If she goes in to labor in one of the igloos, put the other dogs inside, or if inside, put the other dogs outside and seal the dog door. She needs to be concerned with whelping the pups and not with the other dogs. I made a puppy-moist food mix for her last night and one this morning to make sure she has enough to eat before labor if she is in labor for an extended period, or refuses to eat for a day or two after whelping which I have seen both in dog birthing in the past. Poor girl, I'll end up taking her temperature again tonight. She is NOT fond of that at all.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

November 4th New Straw


Had a great run with the pups Sunday! We went our 2.5 mile route in record time with absolutely no tangles! Even when I asked Freya to "come around", she turned the team right around back towards the house with no tangles!

Up until last week, the dogs have been sleeping in my room (on my blanket when they can) and forsaking the dog houses outside. Since Samantha has been close to whelping, though, she has begun sleeping in the igloo doghouse. Since she started sleeping out there, Yukon has also decided he likes the igloo and they play musical chairs with it. Yesterday Jim picked up a bale of straw, and I put down straw in the igloo for Samantha in case she whelps her puppies in there while I'm either at work or sleeping. Well, now all the dogs LOVE the igloo with straw (except the two old dogs who still want to sleep in my room) and will hardly let Samantha lay down in it. Guess we will have to tighten the belt and pick up 3 more igloos.