7/13/2018 0 Comments 2nd week of JulyPuppies went to the park on Sunday and Monday.
Sunday Rey and Padme had a walk off leash. Monday all pups had walks on leash. Anikin - did not walk well at all, went about 5 feet then stopped, 5 feet then stopped, etc. Padme - walked like a pro, went for a decent walk with kids, got tired. Kids reported the cars bothered her. Leia - walked like a pro Rey - wanted to fight over being on leash, but walked like a pro other when not arguing Luke - walked like a pro, needed encouragement in the transition of surfaces(pavement to bridge), then did fine, Slightly reserved. Monday ended in thunderstorms, pups were fine. To be clear, being puppies, some encouragement to keep going was needed to get them going and on occasion during the walk. Park is planned again for Friday/Saturday/Sunday.
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7/7/2018 0 Comments First week of JulySaturday (30th) it rained. Puppies had another visit to the park on Sunday; a party going on meant tons of attention for the puppies.
A pleasantly unexpected surprise showed up: Lily, a Cavalier-Cocker cross, that I obedience trained as a tiny puppy, four years ago. Plan was to socialize the pups at the park on the 4th, but we got rained out. Rey entered the first fear period on the 2nd; Padme did the same on the 5th. Puppies, except Padme, celebrated 9 weeks by getting their first big groom. (Along with yet another nail trimming and deworming.) They handled the clippers very well and were more interested in playing with the grooming tools. Weigh ins: 9 lbs Anikin 8.5 lbs Padme 8 lbs Rey 7.5 lbs Leia 7 lbs Luke Puppies finished off another 14 lbs bag of food on the 3rd. Padme is a roly poly chunky monkey. She'd be on a diet if she wasn't a puppy. (Weighs are approximate; I got a new scale but it doesn't seem to be very accurate at such small weights.) Big grooms consisted of clippering between toe pads, sides of neck, throat, insides of ears, upper part of outer ear, sides of head, and sides of face. (There is no reason to shave the backs of a cocker spaniel(or other double coated breed), further there is a 75% chance of each puppy having an easy care back coat, meaning removing the undercoat during heavy shedding with a comb, about 2 times a year, is all that will be needed.) Thinning shears were used on the sides of the neck and head(crown) for blending. Regular scissors to shape the paws and remove the heavy before the pads were shaved. Puppies squirm/want to play so it's a "chop job", but the exposure is the important part. I try to keep the adorable whiskers and eye lashes, but Rey lost her whiskers due to moving. All pups got baths on the 5th. Rey trembled the whole time. Leia trembled briefly after the bath but before the shower. Luke and Anikin objected slightly. Padme did great. Luke and Leia attacked the new hair dryer. Rey joined in to a lesser extent. Anikin was mildly interested but didn't join in. Padme hid in fear and squirmed and screamed bloody murder when it was her time to be dried. Neighborhood fireworks have offered great exposure for the puppies. With the exception of tiny Luke, puppies are starting to hold potty needs. Car rides are another story(the movement encourages potty needs.) Mom is now playing with the puppies(play mouth fighting with noises, pinning down)-- an important socialization step. Photo of Lily: 6/27/2018 0 Comments Summer rainy season is herePuppies had a nice time at the park on Saturday meeting lots of people. I think the difference in the crowds week days is stay at home parents are more apt to be there on week days. I could be wrong. Sunday it down poured so we went again on Tuesday at the request of the boy sitting in the pen(video below). The puppies getting used to the storm noises at this age is wonderful. Puppies just had baths. They have matured a lot in the last week. They cry less in general. None of them cried during baths, however Rey shook. They all gave a stink at being in the crate after the bath, particularly Luke. Taking a break to clear out the memory card then I'll be taking their 8 week photos. 6/21/2018 0 Comments Puppies in the parkYesterday went so nicely, I had to go again. The park crowd is very different on weekdays, seems like parents are less in a rush.
The puppies got tons of attention. In small world news, there was a black cocker named King being walked. Being well worn out, puppies got their nails trimmed. Rey did well then got squirmy on the rear feet. Padme was having none of it. Leia fought even harder then Padme, but her nails were much shorter. Luke stayed calm. Anikin was a smidge squirmy, but calm. 6/20/2018 0 Comments Puppy Aptitude Test and Weigh-insBig thank yous to the person whose name I didn't get, Jasmine(and sister), and Dillon(and sister) for playing the role of "stranger" for the testing.
Urfer Family Park was very busy and the puppies got socialized in the process. Despite being exhausted, they still have energy to cry at being back in their den. Mom nursed them. (Yesterday I got out almost 40 ml so she's producing a good amount still, nursing them about 2-4 times a day.) An hour later, she nursed them again. After 4.5 hours to get the testing done, you'll have to forgive me but I'm beat and photos won't be posted tonight. A thunderstorm delayed the testing yesterday, so I'm behind a day. I'll try to get photos up by tomorrow. Test results will take a few days to process. In small world news-- Dillon's mom used to breed Cavaliers. Deworming day, weights are: Leia 6 lb 4 oz Padme 7+ lb Luke 6 lb 0 oz Rey 7+ lb Anikin 6 lb 8 oz (I killed my nice new digital scale and the back up scale maxes out at 7, I'd guess Padme weighs more than Rey.) That's a gain of 20% of body weight in a week! So cool! The 5 of them currently consume about 2 cups of food in a sitting. As of the end of today, they've eaten 1 entire 14 lb of food in the last 2 weeks. (Yes, 2.) 6/14/2018 0 Comments Photo timePuppies get messy within an hour(particularly any white fur) so baths and photo sessions(which last up to an hour per puppy) were broken up over a few days. They were given time to romp around before the baths in the hope they'd be tired and stay still for photos(wishful thinking on some).
Post bath and blow dry remarks: No one had an automatic response of swimming at being submerged in the tub. No one liked the blow dry, particularly while doing the ears. Leia attempted one brief mouthing at the hair dryer. Padme was not willing to submit to any part of the process(bath nor blow dry). Luke did a good amount of crying between not liking being alone in the tub as opposed to being held and did not like being blow dried. Rey is squirmy but not overly so. She was well tired out by photo time. Anikin is a bit timid and shoke from the blow dry. Post photo session remarks: Leia is an absolute cuddle bug and made my heart melt in 3 seconds. She wanted to be close and play next to me rather than play a few feet away. Padme has more personality than all of the other puppies combined. Luke was well exhausted. Rey was well exhausted. Anikin was well exhausted. 6/13/2018 0 Comments Weigh insLeia 5 lb 4 oz
Padme 5 lb 8 oz Luke 4 lb 8 oz Rey 5 lb 8 oz Anikin 5 lb 8 oz Despite the three weighing the same, how they carry it is entirely different between bone thickness, bone length, and stored fat. 6/2/2018 0 Comments Second socializationRemembered to take a couple photos. Puppies met over 25 people of all ages. Padme is on the left and Leia is on the right.
Thanks to everyone for handling the puppies and particularly the local kids that posed for photos! 5/26/2018 0 Comments The Toy is a Hit!All of the puppies have been observed playing with or mouthing the toy today. Success! Black tri even tugged back when I was playing with him!
Puppies were de-wormed tonight. From largest to smallest: Weights 3 lb 1.6 oz Brown parti 2 lb 14.9 oz Black white nose female 2 lb 14.8 oz Black white face female 2 lb 13.7 oz Black tri 2 lb 3.5 oz Black male 2 lb 0.1 oz Buff The four larger puppies are all pretty on par with each other. Both blacks have a bit more fat on them at the moment. Depending on how much food/waste is in their system at the time of weighing, each weight is a little off. Puppies generally go from one day of a small increase then the second day a large increase, repeat. Buff started getting behind the runt and has been getting supplemented feedings as of the 23rd. It's like feeding a human baby--half of the food comes out from the swallowing coordination issues and the end result is a sticky mess. Due to Alberto, socialization this weekend was canceled, so I'm making up for it with extra handling time. For my efforts, I got pooped on three times and peed on once. Nails get trimmed again tomorrow. Happy Memorial Day weekend. 5/25/2018 0 Comments First Baths, Blow Outs, and ToyWhile the puppies have had 3 sponge(wash cloth) baths already, today the puppies had their first baths and hand held blow dries.
Part of the bath process was to relocate them until it was their turn. Brown particolor, black tricolor, and black male did not like that at all. They sang and sang. For the record these three usually are the ones singing, with the black male regularly enough to be noticed but not often(every few days), the black tri routinely(~2 times a day), and the brown part in between them. Black white nose doesn't make noise. Buff sings when being held. Black white face makes smaller sounds for mom when she comes by or when she gets out of the den then is left alone(which has been about every other day.) During their separate baths,... Black white face was tolerant. Fell asleep after and stayed asleep. Brown parti didn't like the blow drying part. Black tricolor grumbled complaints the entire time. These three did not have any automatic response to being partially submerged other than holding their head up. Black white nose was fine, then wanted to play with the towel during drying. Her automatic response of swimming movements was very brief but present. Black male grumbled complaints a bit less. His automatic response of swimming movements kicked in almost immediately. Buff was half asleep. (Did not test auto response.) Puppies are playing longer than just seconds now, it lasts a few minutes at a time. Canine teeth are no longer little bumps but rather sharp, well erupted points, so it was time to introduce a toy. It's a rope tug with a rubber plastic case around the middle. All of the puppies were teased with the fluffy rope end and smelled it or mouthed it. |
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