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Paws for Puppy Tales - March 2021
Updated: Mar 29, 2021
3-29-21 One last bit of news before closing out my March blog posts. This is the month that Dolly turned 8 months old, and knowing that the possibility of her first heat nearing has been on my mind. I would check her now and then as well as watching for any other signs as in changes in her behavior or between the two girls, Winston, or whatever. Finally one day as I was on the phone with Kathy & watched them playing on the patio I noticed that Winston was trying to mount her. Not totally surprising as he recently came home from a house full of girls in heat, and when I checked her I didn't notice any obvious changes. However, a day or two later on Sunday 3/28 I checked her again and definitely found blood, verifying it wiping with a tissue. So we have it. . . . Dolly is having her first heat 11 days shy of turning 9 months old. I assume Skye will follow within a month or so as she is coming up on 8 months in April.
Leaving home tomorrow for the 5 day dog show in Claremore, OK! Looking forward to it and hoping Winston will come home an AKC Champion! Jim will be home with Dolly, and Tina and her pups and when he comes back to Kathy's to pick me up the week after, will be bringing Tina and the pups with him, ending my "job" raising this litter. Only Phoebe will stay so that Suzy LeGrant and family can pick her up from here. In another couple of weeks we are hoping to do it all over again with Rosa, who is hopefully pregnant with Winston's puppies. And after her, maybe Ella too. We will see. .. . . . . . .
3-26-21 Well, 2nd covid vaccine in the books. Got it yesterday morning at 9-ish and was basically fine all day. I pre-treated any possible symptoms with Advil every 4 hours, and Gatorade. A time or two I felt that feeling you get when you think you might be coming down with something. Between 10-10:30 pm I definitely felt a slight fever, body aches, and headache, but was able to sleep normally (waking off and on. as usual), keeping up on the 4 hour regimen of Advil. This morning I believe the fever has subsided and am left with leftover slight body aches and dull headache, but certainly functional. All in all I am please with these "light" side effects and happy to be on the way to more normalcy when going out.
Other than that, same ol', same ol' stuff. Pups are fine and I am still looing forward to when they go home to Kathy. Tina had a seizure like episode the other night but is back to normal now. I'm not sure what caused it (and another she had when the pups were around 5-6 weeks). I'm curious if her ear infection (I assume she has) or her very bad teeth could be the cause. I don't think it's anything related to her pregnancy or post whelp. Kathy is taking Rosa in to her vet next week for an ultrasound to see if she is pregnant. I sure hope so; want to see some Winston babies!
3-20-21 Happy 1st day of spring! High in the mid 60's forecasted for today and promise of milder weather to come with the spring season. Yay!
Kathy was on spring break this past week and came to visit with the puppies and me on Thursday. After watching the puppies play for a while and we decided to hold on to the little male (Major) and my (our) favorite of the girls (calling her River, for now). Crystal the little white faced girl was sold/reserved earlier this week, so Kathy told me that I could offer the other bigger female to Suzy LeGrant before any of the others on her waiting list. Suzy has been a friend of mine since Yorkie Talk years and has been wanting a pup from me "sometime" for years now. She had two Yorkies; getting up in the years and one passing away last year makes this a good time as she has been inquiring lately when I would be having a litter again. Though this technically is not MY litter, I am the one that has raised them since birth. After talking with Suzy, she and her husband decided that YES, they would take this girl. The litter and Tina will be going home to Kathy after the show in Claremore on April 5th, except for this female who will stay with me so that Suzy can come here to pick her up in mid April. I will also be taking this one to my vet soon for her first shots, while the others will get theirs from Kathy's vet. One litter down. . . . . ..
. . . . . . and hopefully 2 more to go (for us). Winston was a busy boy since the Des Moines show, going home with Kathy and being bred with not one, not two, but three females!!! Originally going to be bred with Rosa who was in heat already before the show, then after being at Kathy's, another of her girls came into heat (Ella), so he was bred with her as well. Also, Dale Hunsberger's girl Faye came into heat and plans had previously been made to breed Winston with her. Stud fee for this breeding is "first pick of the litter" that Kathy & I will co-own, as a keeper or to sell. So hopefully that breeding will be successful as well. If all goes as planned, Rosa's litter will be due at the end of April, Ella and Faye within a week of each other come early to mid May. Excited to see our first Winston babies (especially from Rosa; I always did like her). For now, whelping Rosa & Ella's pups are planned with me again as they are due before Kathy is on summer vacation from school/work, but the litter(s) will return to her in June when she is back from her vacation in Disneyworld. Tina's pups are now going on 9 weeks and STILL nursing from Tina! Thankfully I suppose, as I am still not totally comfortable with the amount of kibble/wet food I've seen them eating. One of the girls even lost an ounce between 7 and 8 weeks; something I don't remember happening ever before in all the litters I've raised. They all seem happy and healthy, play like normal crazy pups, pooping and peeing. . . . . . . so I guess they must be getting nourishment they need. It still bothers me though. Still nursing at this age is new to me and I don't ever remember worrying about how much they are eating at this age before in all the litters I've raised. For these reasons I am getting to the point of looking forward to when they go back to Kathy in a couple of weeks. Hopefully by that time they will be eating more like hungry growing puppies.
In non puppy/dog news - I will get my 2nd covid shot this coming Thursday, hoping I am one of the lucky ones that do not have the rough side effects of fever, chills, body aches, etc for 24 hours or so. So far with my sisters, only 1 (Mary Jane) of 4 had that problem. She mentioned that she also had fever/chills after her 1st vaccine. Barb and Dodie had none to speak of and Virige said she felt chills & fever but only for 2-3 hours. Hoping to be a "lucky lady" (as my screen name was for a while pertaining to my sweet Lucky boy), with little to no side effects, but excited to get this 2nd shot and fully vaccinated against this virus.
3-10-21 Just a quick note that more shows are coming up that we will be entering. Kathy messaged me with info on a weekend of shows on April 17-18 in Grand Island, NE that is already accepting entries, and also the show we've been going to each year in Seward, NE. in early May. Entries for that show begin tomorrow, March 11. So happy to be getting back into the swing of things especially with Skye & Winston doing so well.
Made an appointment for Skye set for tomorrow to have her two baby canines pulled. since we've had no luck having them fall out chewing on the Himalayan chews. With her being 7 months old tomorrow, I'd feel better getting them out rather than waiting.
Tina's pups are 7 weeks old today and I believe Tina is close to wanting them weaned. I see them eating kibble and/or some wet mixed with kibble enough that I know they should be fine once Tina let's them know she's had enough of nursing them. They are all gaining an ounce or two each week so even with less nursing they are still gaining. Giving them 3-4 free run playtime in the bedroom each day and they are loving it. Just removed tape from their ears for the second time this morning and "knock on wood"/fingers crossed, I think they will stay up this time.
That's it for now. . . . .
3-7-21 hmmm, forgot to mention in my previous post that on 3/3/21 Jim and I received our first covid vaccine! It was a great feeling after the fact, knowing we are on our way to being better protected from severe ill effects from this disease. This first dose was a breeze with no side effects; it's the second dose that people are more apt to feel flu-like symptoms (headache, chills, fever, etc) for a day or so. As it turns out, with the 28 day wait for the second dose, it would put us at 3/31 which is when I will be out of town for the dog show. Because of this I was given the Pfizer vaccine (rather than the Moderna which is what they were giving everyone else that day). The time between doses is just 21 days for the Pfizer vaccine, so my second dose will be 3/25, giving me a few days to recoup (if need be) before going out of town with Kathy. I'm hoping my/our side effects will be slim to none (brother Paul & sister Barb had no side effects), but would rather deal with what comes rather than contracting the actual disease. Two weeks after the second dose and we will be in the clear. Hallelujah!!!
Just saw today that AKC has the points recorded on their website showing Winston having 12 of his 15 points towards his CH also with 4 majors. Skye's shows having 6 of her 15 points, with 2 majors, and also saw 2 POA points. After checking to see what that was, I learned that POA is Puppy of Achievement. . . . a certificate award given to 6-12 month old puppies that win their class and/or BOB or BOS. Ten (10) POA points are needed to receive this award. She's on her way!!!
3-2-21 it's March, the month spring begins!!! So much snow and cold the first couple of months of this year, so we are looking forward to the better weather that spring will bring.. This weeks' weather is predicted to be in the 60's which will be a welcome change to what we've had lately.
Good news in that yesterday as I was getting ready to call the vet to have Skye's missing teeth issue checked out and x-rayed, I decided to check her teeth before I made the call. Lo and behold, I noticed that the two teeth had erupted from her gums, though still barely noticeable. . . .but they are definitely coming up!!! I kept re-checking her numerous times yesterday and again today to make sure my eyes were not deceiving me, but yep they are there. What a relief! Decided to give her another week to watch them come up further and to give her Himalayan chews often this week to see if she can get her two remaining upper canines loosened to hopefully fall out on their own, before deciding whether or not to make an appointment to have them pulled.
Kathy and I have another dog show trip planned for March 31- April 4 in Claremore, OK. Five days of shows will hopefully get Winston the remaining 3 points needed for his CH title. We found out that Michele Lyons' handler will be there and bringing a class dog,and a class bitch, and her "specials" (Championed dogs). We are assuming the class dog will be Whisky since Christine sent him to her to show. We're hoping that even though he is with a professional handler, Winston will still take Winners Dog over him. We will see. . . . . .
Tina's pups are doing good - 6 weeks old tomorrow. Still nursing from Tina for the most part; don't seem to have to much interest in the mush I've tried giving them, and though they do nibble on the dry kibble I don't think they are eating enough of it to mean much. Maybe soon they will really begin wanting to eat more solids.
Kathy took Winston home with her after the Des Moines show so that she could breed him with her dog Rosa. They had one successful tie and also were AI'd 3 times in her cycle. So hopefully there will be puppies in late April. Yesterday Kathy mentioned that another of her girls was in heat (Ella) so she will be breeding them as well. She asked if I would again be willing to help with the whelps if need be with Rosa's due before she is out of school for the summer and with Ella, will be out of town for a week in late May. Once school is out and her vacation trip is over with, she will take the mom and puppies back home. Seems there is a good possibility she and I will be busy, busy with pups this spring.