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I could dig up the old thread, but I haven't, it was getting kind of long and cumbersome. The puppies have made it to one week. Pictures are here if you haven't seen them:
I've got one runt that is still hovering between 6-7oz, but is vigorous and otherwise doing ok. All the rest are 8oz and up. The biggest two "pigs" are up to 14 oz. I just told my vet and he was surprised at how big they were!
Things have settled into a routine at home. I got 7.5 hours of sleep last night, uninteruppted, because Ciara is taking such good care of her babies. I'm not on my home computer much for obvious reasons.
It looks like I have at least 6 homes for the puppies lined up, which is pretty good for this stage. One is going to go to a jatraquero. I leave it as an exercise for the reader to discover who it is.
I'll hopefully get Steve to take more pictures this weekend and have some new pictures on the site eventually.
Lazarus has become protective of both the puppies and Ciara which is really sweet to see. He's not obnoxious about it, but he's clearly keeping an eye out for anything that might hurt them. He's not a big barker, but he "woofs" at the garbage men etc. He is doing fantastic himself. He's EATING!! This is the dog that would *never* eat I'd have to use every trick in the book to get him to eat. Now he devours his protein restricted food and begs for more. It is great to see. He's mostly weaned off the fluids too. His ribs are starting to fill back in, the first two have dissappeared. I think he's doing better than he has in months, if not years. His coat is shiny and glossy, where it used to be dead and dry.
So life goes on in the menagerie. Just call me Dr. Doolittle!
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I want to play with them! I miss having puppies around. Sounds like Ciara is better than our poodle was...she would be a great mommy, for about 3 days. Then she would get tired of 'em always wanting a drink. Posts: 5422 | Registered: Dec 2001
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That's so awesome about the puppies AND Laz. His behavior around the puppies reminds me of my dog's behavior when the cocker had puppies. He was very protective of them and GOOD with them. Almost better than the mom!
(edit to add for those who don't know, my dog was an 85 lb golden retriever english setter mix)
There is a thread about songs you cannot bear to lisen to. Well, I am in the same boat with puppies. I grew up with collies, and Corgis remind me so much of them. They are big dogs in small dogs' bodies.
I am so ready for a puppy again. It has been four years since my beloved Kazak died(Malamute-Shepherd mix)I am finally ready, the kids are clamoring for a pup, but Steve is adament in his anti-dog stance.
If I could not have a collie, I would want a Corgi. If there is one left, abandoned, unwanted, please let me know. I figure(though this line of reasoning has fallen on mean, stubborn, rational ears) that now is actually the best time to have a pup, as I will be home until the fall.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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I'm sorry I am seeing this so late. Congratulations, AJ! I am in awe - I find it difficult taking care of my 2 grown dogs.
BTW, have you ever read the book Deerskin by Robin McKinley? There's a part where she raises puppies and you reminded me of that.
Posts: 3037 | Registered: Jan 2002
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I got to see the pictures (and video!) when Paul and Dara got home last night...they are so adorable!!! When I get home tonight I'll see if my image hosting site has enough room for all of them; if not, maybe you and I can get on instant messenger and I'll send 'em over that way.
Posts: 957 | Registered: Aug 2002
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Right now it looks like I have 6-7 spoken for. If there are any left over I'll definitely announce it to hatrack. We will be evaluating them around 8 weeks for show vs. pet quality, and that is the point when I will have a better idea of who is going where. I will be asking for enough money to cover my expenses, which means they are still going to cost a pretty penny. I wish I could, but I can't afford to give them away for free.
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Even if you could afford to, asking for your expenses is only fair, AJ. No need to regret something like that - obviously, these are puppies that will have been given the best possible start through your hard work, not to mention your out-of-pocket expenses.
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Plus there's always the fact that dog ownership IS an expensive undertaking... if one can't afford the purchase price of a pup, how can they expect to deal with the significant day-to-day expenses, and the occasional staggering emergency vet bill?
One of the people on the Boxer forum I visit uses Quicken to keep track of her expenditures, and she figured she spent over $2000 on food, toys, supplies, vet visits, and the spay surgery the first year, without even needing any surprise emergency care. Another person spent that much on knee surgery alone when her dog tore her ACL.
So, yeah, I think it's perfectly fair to charge a good price for a pup, especially considering how much time and money was spent whelping it!
Posts: 1681 | Registered: Jun 2004
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This is true, and there are multitudes of worthy and adoptable dogs in shelters that aren't as expensive and still deserve loving homes. If I actually included billing myself for the hours I'll have put in by the time they are 8 weeks old, it wouldn't even be breaking even.
Let see if that link works. Stray posted some puppy pictures!
Hmm I don't know if the server is down or what... I was going to post a "thank you" response on the lj page and I cant do that either... try again later I guess.
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AJ why are they marked? Is it so you can keep better track of which one's which for weighing and such?
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Yep exactly. The little brindle girls, especially are extremely hard to tell apart. Though they are getting a little easier now it's still difficult. I needed to be able to track them easily for weighing when they were at 4-5oz. Making a mistake then could have meant I wouldn't have fed one enough and they might not have made it. I just used different colored Sharpies and marked on their white. I have to re-mark them once a day but doing so insures that I'm giving each enough attention too.
Many people tie ribbons or yarn around the necks to tell them apart, but these guys were just too tiny and I didn't feel comfortable with putting anything around their necks that could get snagged. Once they get bigger I'll probably move to collar colors the same as their original marks.
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Oh yes, I had a fabulous home fall through too. They were being responsible, and doublechecked with their condo association, and it turned out the condo association had changed the rules since their last dog, to a 12lb maximum. (She has a cat that was 20lbs so she was pretty upset.)
If they move, next year, I may be able to place an adult with her later on, but right now it just isn't feasible.
So it looks like there are only 6 spoken for right now.
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They are adorable! Best of luck finding them all homes. I spent over $1500 in vet bills on my pups (I only had 5 of them) and despite both parents being champions and 4 out of the 5 pups being show-quality, I gave them all away (except, oddly enough, for the pet, who I sold for $200.) It was impossible to find them homes. I advertised on the internet, newspaper, everything. Sounds like you're already having better luck than I was!
Posts: 1225 | Registered: Feb 2002
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AJ, they're so cute. I can't imagine taking care of 10 puppies and 2 dogs. I sometimes find it overwhelming having only 2 dogs - and Andrew does most of the work.
Those brindles are too too too adorable. Especially the green and purple ones, though of course, they and the reds are all perfectly precious. Posts: 7877 | Registered: Feb 2003
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Hey AJ, what happens when one of them has a totally pink nose? In one of the pics, it looks like one pup has an all-pink nose. Does that go away? Or stay like that?
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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When the pups were born all the noses were pink. The pigment just gradually darkens in. Some of them have had interesting goth lipstick looks at times as their lips have turned black. There's nothing to worry about at this stage, though if it is still pink, in a couple of months it would be a fault.
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I ask 'cause my dog had a big ol' giant pink nose. I always wondered about pink noses on dogs.
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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