Update on me and my dogs

You would think it would be easier to not breed a dog, but it isn’t. Raina is on a break right now, but is also in heat. I realized it was happening a couple of weeks ago when Gus started using his “hey baby” tail wag. If you saw that wag you would know exactly what I mean. The “boys” Gus and Moose have been barking their desire for a week and a half. I am not sleeping well.

Raina has reached her fertile days during the heat cycle. When they get to that point the females are aggressive about seeking a male. I can’t let her out without supervision even in the fenced yard. Yesterday Raina was humping my new 11-week old puppy. Today while Raina was at the groomer, the puppy was being humped by Gus. Now that Raina is home, Reggie who is an elderly, spayed female is humping Raina. This drive to procreate seems almost desperate. I am glad I am not a dog.

Beanie Baby is my new Yorkie puppy. She is a character. She sticks to my ankles like she is fastened there with Velcro. I originally tried to have her sleep in the puppy room but she screeched all night. I tried it for 4 nights. On the 5th night I put her in the crate next to Gus hoping the company would calm her. She screamed even louder! Now she sleeps in a dog bed on the floor of my bedroom, quietly and all night. I got one good night of sleep then Gus started howling his desire to mate. Oh well, my life would be very boring if it weren’t for these dogs.

Raina's September 2009 puppies

I should have done something for the new puppies. I plead floods since a lot of the area around me was devastated by flooding. I was very lucky and there is only a small amount of damage to my driveway from flooding. It’s amazing to see how high the water got. I applied to FEMA to see if they will help with the repair. It rained last night and more of the driveway washed away. I have my fingers crossed.


The pups are so fat and healthy. I just love picking them up. None of them has a nickname yet since all they do is sleep and eat. Only one of them has fallen out of the bed, but I think that was really Raina’s fault. They were nursing and she jumped up to come after me. The last puppy still attached held on until it was free of the bed. I don’t remember which it was or a nickname may come out of that incident.


I scared myself the Saturday after the pups were born. I weighed them to check their progress and it appeared that they had all lost weight! I almost called the vet right then. I did some checking on the Internet and of course everything said to get them to the vet immediately. I just kept thinking that there wasn’t anything wrong. They were eating. Raina was nursing them on demand. Their behavior was appropriate. Later in the day it suddenly occurred to me that they had been wrapped in wash cloths when I weighed them the day they were born. I didn’t use wash cloths on Saturday. DUH! By the way there are 2 boys and 1 girl. Green and blue are boys and the yellow is the female. This time there aren't any big differences in size. They have been about the same size since birth.


The next milestone will be their opening their eyes. It should be happening any day now. The female has been exercising her front legs already. Serious walking work won’t start until they are 3 weeks old. They do remind me of human babies. It’s just that things happen at a more accelerated rate. I begin offering softened puppy food at 4 weeks because that is when you can feel their teeth about to come in. Raina will probably keep nursing them regularly until 6 weeks and then sporadically until the age of 9 weeks. By then I have them eating dry puppy food, but why not get milk when they can? It is instinctive for the mother to offer milk even though the puppies have teeth. I knew Raina was pregnant when she was only 3 weeks along. There was still some of Wookie’s last litter of puppies here. They were about 11 weeks old but Raina’s still let them try to nurse and she washed their faces and bottoms as if they were her puppies. I wish I would have the video camera that day because the pups were almost as big as Raina. She had to stand and they would lie on their backs. It was a shame she didn’t even have milk at that point.

John Stamoose

The first time I saw Moose he was orange in color from the Georgia clay. His hair was one big mat. My daughter-in-law and I had gone to see a female Maltese and they said they had a male they would let us adopt as well. After one look at him, there was no question he was coming home with us.


Moose is healthy now and a dirty white. He is very good about being brushed as long as it doesn’t pull. The dog has the worst overbite I have ever seen on a dog. “He could eat corn through a picket fence”. It doesn’t affect his eating, but he does have a different method.


We did get the pair of dogs to breed. After trying twice we decided that Miss Squirrel was infertile and set about finding her a wonderful home. She is now pampered and really loving life. Moose misses her a little. He spends a lot of the day outside and Squirrel was usually with him. Wookie plays very well with Moose, but she is in heat right now and on a puppy break.


I love to play with Moose. He is a little shy, but very enthusiastic. He loves to tussle after a toy. Fetch is not his strong suit. The other day I carried him around like a baby for a long time. He seemed so happy and not tense at all. You can tell Moose is in his crate when you are in the basement. He bounces around in that crate so much that he moves it. If there weren’t other crates in the room, I think he would make a full circuit. He just does not seem to get tired. I try to keep newspaper in front of his crate. I think Moose lets go of a little urine when he is excited. There always seems to be a spray pattern of pee in front of his crate. I think we should called him Tigger. He is bouncy, trouncy, fun, fun, fun, fun. And he is most certainly the only one.

Busy thoughts on a rainy day

It’s raining today and I think it is the first rain that Bear has experienced. He is standing at the door watching Gus go out in the wet. Bear had his trip outside earlier and I don’t think he is ready to get wet again. I guess all of the dogs want to stay in out of the rain. Moose and Reggie are in the dog room. Wookie is in the puppy room and the others are loose with me. Gus and Moose are barking at each other and I may go mad before the day is over. I was going to scrub the floors today. I guess that plan is shot. Maybe the rain will be a good excuse for me to read today. I need to get into the room with Wookie. She took her morning dump and it is very fragrant.


Last night I could feel Raina’s puppies. They are just undefined, quiet bumps in her belly right now. They are due September 18. By then they will be a squirming mass. I love to feel the little heads and feet as they exercise their legs. Raina will get a rest after this litter. She is a good mother and deserves this break. She will turn 4 next March. I am considering retiring her from breeding by her 5th birthday. I just can’t imagine how anyone can have a dog produce puppies 2 or 3 times a year for years. I guess to them the dog is simply an asset and the puppies are inventory. Raina is my baby. She will be with me her entire life. When I retire her, she will be spayed and still sleep in my bed. Her babies are so precious to me. I am with Raina through her labor and delivery. I stand by to help if necessary. I take notes and record the times of the births. I try to weigh the puppies on my postage scale. It’s a little difficult with them still being wet and slippery. I fret over them being able to nurse and making sure they are warm. I put little colored neckbands on them so I can tell them apart. Yorkie puppies all look alike! The puppies grow so fast at first that I have to check the neckbands daily to see if they are too small and need to be replaced. I don’t leave the house for 2 weeks when I have a new litter of puppies. They cannot maintain their own body temperature until then. If there are trips to the vet during that time, mother and puppies all go. The Yorkies are easier to carry than a Shih Tzu mother and litter. I worry about the babies and can’t sleep well. I wake when a baby falls out of the bed and the mother needs help getting it back in. The washing machine runs 2 to 3 times a day with puppy beds and towels. I did this much laundry when my own son was a baby.


A woman on Twitter treated me as if I were some sort of criminal and blocked me. I don’t care that she blocked me that is her prerogative. I was upset by the way that she characterized me. I do not run a puppymill. I have rescued dogs like Squirrel and Moose. Squirrel never did get pregnant. She did not go to a shelter or get dumped out of the car somewhere. She has a new home with a family member who will love her and dote on her. I am careful about the people who buy puppies. I really want someone who has had dogs or has dogs now. That way I know they how to treat a pet. If this is their first dog, I want them doing research and asking tons of questions. We placed a Cocker Spaniel with a family that had never had a dog. The mother sat here for 2 ½ hours asking questions and taking notes. I know this dog is safe and well loved.


Maybe the rain is affecting my shunt and making me introspective. Time to get busy, I still have to clean up after Wookie.

Cutest Dog Competition

This is one of Raina's Twitter pals. She is a beautiful Maltese and we want her to win!

The Flirtacious Miss Raina

It is Yorkie mating time at my house and I am so sick of it. Females are not receptive to mating when they first come into heat. Once they are ready they signal the males and all hell breaks loose. At least they haven’t mated on my bed this time. Males are ready to mate all of the time, but especially now. Gus displays his frustration by letting out this constant shrill bark. I feel like my hearing is suffering. Moose is also in “lust” right now and is barking. At least his voice is lower than Gus’, but he howls too. After a day of Gus’ “yarking” at Raina and Moose scratching at the back door, I put them to bed and retire to my room. I take Raina with me, but the boys still vocalize their yearning. Sometimes they decide to compete with each other and bark ferociously at each other from the safety of their crates. It’s hard to believe that those two used to play together. Since the first stirring of testosterone in their systems, they have to be kept apart or someone’s ass is going to get kicked. I am just too soft-hearted to let them injure each other.

Raina does not help things either. She will play coy and fetching with Moose just as quickly as she will with Gus. Monogamy does not exist among dogs. I had to pin Moose to the floor with my grabber tool the other day. I forgot Raina was not gated into the living room and let Moose in to be fed. As soon as I saw them sniffing each other, I went after Moose. Fortunately he is a little skinny dog and the grabber fit around his neck long enough for me to grab him with my hands and put him in his crate. He may have had nightmares about that grabber coming at him.

At least I know that all of this will mean little Yorkie babies coming in September. Raina is acting pregnant already. Two weeks ago if Wookie’s puppies were loose, Raina didn’t want anything to do with them. She would nip at them and growl. A few days ago that all changed. Now she washes them like they were her puppies and even lets them attempt to nurse. It’s a good thing it doesn’t bother Wookie. She is done nursing them anyway. I saw her on the couch staying out of their reach a little while ago. I don’t blame her, those little teeth are sharp.

Miss Wookiee-licious

Her name was not Wookie originally, it was Ewok. Her face looks exactly like the little Ewok that finds Princess Leia. It was a perfect name, but she would not answer to it. She likes Wookie. We have noticed that some dogs prefer names with a long E sound at the end. Maybe it is pleasing to the canine ear.

Wookie was just a baby when she arrived in my home. I didn’t get to know her then. She was my daughter-in-law’s dog. Wookie even worked as a demo dog at PetSmart for a while. Some of the folks there still remember her and ask about her when I go into the store.

I really got to know Wookie when she was pregnant with her first litter. I moved her into my bedroom with me. She decided that also meant that she slept on the bed. It was OK with me but she is a bed hog. She would wake me during the night and tell me it was play time. Maybe on her schedule it was but it wasn’t on mine.

I was a little worried about Wookie becoming a mother. Truthfully I did not think she was the brightest dog. That’s fine; sometimes a so-called dumb dog is the best pet. If you have read “Marley & Me” then you know what I mean. Wookie fooled me. She just likes being outside, so I just had not gotten to know her. She was and is the best mother. She has also turned out to be the best companion. She asks to sit in my lap rather than just appearing there like Gus. She is not demanding of attention but enjoys every moment of it that she gets. The only thing she and I disagree about is grooming. It is hard to brush a dog that is chewing on the hand holding the brush! So periodically she gets very extreme haircuts. Her topknot is very unruly. I try to keep it banded so that it does not fall in her eyes, but she rubs her head on things to remove the band.

Wookie’s favorite thing is eating. If we didn’t control her diet, she would look like a blimp. She also has a fondness for eating dog droppings. Yuck! Sometimes she and I race to clean up. Unless the dog that left the droppings behind has parasites, it isn’t harmful. Some dogs just have a taste for poop. She is also one of my best cleaners of accidental food spills. She has to compete with Reggie for those.

Spotlight on AsparaGus

Gus is my leaping dog. He will stand next to a gate and jump straight up. If he went forward, he would clear the gate. He did jump one of the gates when Wookie was in heat. I missed seeing him do it, but it is the only way he could have gotten into the room.

Gus is very affectionate and he thinks he owns me. If another dog is on my lap, Gus has to climb on but higher. He has also decided that his spot on my recliner is between my calves on the foot rest. If I have my ankles crossed, he will poke me with his nose to let him into his favorite spot. Gus uses that nose a lot. I am beginning to think this nose bumping is a Yorkie thing. Raina has always bumped my legs with her nose to get my attention. Gus will poke Raina in the ribs pretty hard. She will usually put up with it, but when she is not in the mood Gus will get a sharp correction from Raina.

When one of the dogs ignores him or has a toy that he wants, Gus’ voice becomes very shrill. He will “yarp” repeatedly until he gets what he wants or gets bored. That’s when I want to choke him!

He is a handsome fellow with a beautiful long coat. The only problem is that he hates to be brushed. I am going to have his hair cut short. I hate to do it, but he runs if he sees me with a brush in my hand. At his last grooming, I had to pay for over an hour of mat removal! It is easy to prevent mats in a Yorkie’s hair. The trick is that it needs frequent brushing. Even with it shorter, I am going to have to come up with a way to restrain him so I can brush him. What a monster!

Gus is now a proven stud dog, but I think he will always remain a puppy at heart. He was so gentle playing with his own puppies and seems to like playing with Wookie’s pups. If another dog or puppy has a toy, he wants it. He also has this crazy thing about squeakers. He just can’t leave them alone and will remove them from toys. I have to take the squeakers away from him or he will eat them! He also does not seem to believe that the stuffing belongs in toys. I get tired of retrieving polyester stuffing from the floor.

After a day of pissing me off, Gus will jump up on me and get into his cuddle spot on my left arm. That’s when all of the things that bothered me are forgotten and my Gus becomes my buddy.

Reggie and Me

Reggie is sitting there staring at me. Now she groans to make sure that I know she is there. I can’t figure out what she wants today. Usually she is a dog of simple desires. She wants food, treats and to be let outside. If I ask her if she wants to go out and she trots off to her crate, it means “no”. If she trots to the door and jumps on it that is an enthusiastic “yes”. That is about as enthusiastic as she gets. I almost forgot; the question “are you hungry?” will actually get her running. She runs straight for her crate, hops in and squirms around making her mooing noise.

I just checked and she has put her head down. I have the feeling I am being stalked. If I were to stand she will jump up and charge at me. I will still not know what she wants. I thought she could tell time by the position of the sun or something, but then I realized she knows that bedtime is after dinner. It should be 3 or 4 hours after dinner, but Reggie just knows that she has had her dinner and is waiting for her bedtime treat. She does not seem to care if it is only 10 minutes later or even last night as long as she gets a treat.

I want to take a picture of her, but the camera is in the kitchen and I know she will move if I move. This is a battle of wills.

We don’t know how old Reggie is. She came from the local shelter in 2005. Her heritage appears to be hound and dachshund. (Oh oh, she is sitting up again. She is getting aggressive, for Reggie that is.) She bays like a beagle on those rare occasions when she goes outside and something engages her hunting instincts. If she is feeling frisky, she will even do her vocalizing atop a tree stump. Her nose and face are grayer now and sometimes she seems to be feeling her joints. She is good with the puppies. She will bark if they get too playful with her. I have never seen her even try to hurt one. If they learn to wash Reggie’s face, the old girl will sit there forever.

I think she gave up on me. She has left the room. I am betting she is in Gus’ crate. She always seems to go in there, even when I take his bed and give it to her. Gus has the best vantage point for the door. It looks like she is still stalking me. I try to sneak up on her with the camera and Wookie is in Gus’ crate! After I disturb Wookie, Reggie practically pushes her out of the way. At least I got a halfway decent picture of Reggie.

She followed me back out to the living room. I ask the “outside” question and she trots to the door. That’s it for Reggie’s day until it is dinner time again. Like I said, a dog of simple desires.

Due to technical difficulties...

It seems that every time I have computer problems it takes 3 to 4 days to get things the way I want them. I learned the hard way about backups since I have now lost the pictures taken with my digital camera. Fortunately I can recover some of them from emails and my website. I am also lucky that my sister gave me a laptop. I am using it to write this while my desktop goes through a complete wipe of the C drive. This is the computer I use when pain forces me to stay in my recliner or in bed.


I received some wonderful pictures of one of my babies! Rina’s new mommy is a professional photographer and she has magical ability to photograph dogs. I had seen pictures of her Golden Retriever when she first came to see Rina. I loved those pictures and knew that Rina would have a wonderful home. I will post some of the pictures of Rina with her big brother on my “Earlier Babies” page. They look great together.


I have only one of my March babies left. She is so sweet and so good. I need to update the ads online. She has been sleeping in a crate since her brother left. Every morning I check and she has not messed in her crate. She runs to a newspaper to urinate when I let her out. She is timid about new things but does explore and will get comfortable quickly. Her daddy is being groomed next Sunday so I made an appointment for her to get her cleaned up and have her pretty face trimmed. Mouse will look so pretty!

The one thing I seem to have to do every day is scrub a floor somewhere in the house. I actually scrubbed all of the rooms except the living room yesterday. I need to get off my butt and take care of it. You see I am writing about it just to put it off a little longer. Silly me!

Bambam is now Hobbes

Everyone asks me how I can let my puppies go. I do it very carefully and sadly. I like for the new families to have at least one dog already or have had one recently. That way I know that they understand the responsibility of being a pet parent. I know I have made a good decision if I get pictures, even if it is just a few or hear nothing at all. I would love to hear that my babies are thriving, but in this situation I believe that no news is good news.

I have had 2 puppies leave in as many days. I now have only a female Yorkie available. So that she would not be alone last night, I put her in the crate next to her father’s. She did not cry or fuss. This morning when I let her out, she ran to the nearest newspaper to urinate. Unfortunately the BM went on the floor. I think she wanted to be near me and I was in my bathroom. I don’t keep newspaper in my bedroom so that the dogs will not go there. I think Mouse just wanted to be able to see me and would have gone on newspaper if one had been available. I checked the crate she slept in and it is clean. I am so proud of Mouse!

How do I let them go? I know from the moment they are conceived I am responsible for babies that will bring joy to another family. I know that someone out there loves Yorkies or Shih Tzus or Maltese and wants to find a puppy they can afford to add to their family. Even though I am with the puppies from the moment they are born, I know I must detach at some point. That is why I give them nicknames. Nicknames are not permanent to me. Even though the pups may begin to respond to their nickname, dogs will adjust to a name change very easily. They attach to the person who feeds them, talks to them and plays with them. I think it is more recognition of the person’s voice. Wookie’s 4-week old puppies react to my voice already and will come to the gate on their room when I talk to them.

Dogs have been a loving and wonderful presence in my life since I met my first dog as a toddler. I got my first dog when I was 5. Casey was a family dog, but I always considered him my dog. I think he did too. There have been a few gaps without dogs, but I think the longest may have been 5 years. I started introducing my son to my dogs before he could walk. I started with him inside the house in a highchair where the dogs could see him. I moved the highchair outside and then moved my son to a playpen. Eventually my son crawled on the patio in a diaper while the dogs sniffed and licked him. Luckily I had captured that moment on a Super 8 movie camera. When my son graduated from college, I created a montage of his art that included that clip of him crawling with the dogs. When he got married in 2006 he and his wife included their Corgis in the ceremony. My daughter-in-law’s dream is to have her own dog training and pet boutique business. I hope she will realize that dream. She is very talented at training dogs. We are just a family of dog lovers.

Star has a home now

Little Star is the latest of our babies to get a home. It was a contest between her and Whitey. Whitey was tired and did his usual hiding under the baker's rack to get away from the other puppies. That tipped things in Star's favor. But I do have to admit Star had claimed her mommy because even after a nap, Star was more outgoing and pretty much told her brother that she had chosen this person. Whitey's time will come.


Wookie's illness cleared up quickly. So quickly that if there were a way to fake diarrhea, I would think she did fake it so she would get to eat chicken and rice. Her pups continue to grow. I need to go back over my records on previous litters to see if they really are giants. I could not resist taking this picture of Bear on his back. He looks so comfortable. The puppies are creeping a lot. Their front legs are very strong and every once in a while I hear one crying because it followed Wookie out of the bed and now is lost. It was the sound of one of these lost babies crying that got me out of bed this morning. They are working on their hind legs and I expect we will have some stumbling around in the next week. It still amazes me how much their development is similar to a human baby.

Sick dogs are not fun or funny

Poor Wookie, I gave her something to eat yesterday that did not agree with her. I saw the diarrhea before I went to bed, but woke to Wookie barfing in my bedroom doorway at 4:30 a.m. I did some cleaning, but did go back to bed. It can really ruin a day by being awakened in that manner. Wookie was not eating or drinking by the time I got up at 8:00. I made a call to the vet and even though he was slammed with appointments. It appears that there was not bacteria in the food I gave Wookie, but we needed to make sure she would eat and not be sick. So one shot later and 3 prescriptions for home, I got Wookie to eat some boiled chicken and rice. If she were a kid, I would wonder about her faking it to get the chicken and rice. I am still tired since I didn’t get a nap and still had some cleaning to finish.

I didn’t have to take Wookie’s babies with her. They are 2 weeks old today and fat. They are so fat that some of them have rolls of it. One of them looks like Alfred Hitchcock to me. SHE may end up with the nickname Alfred or Hitch even though they are not very feminine. The nicknames have to be something that describes the puppy or they make me think of when I look at them. Hitch’s twin brother may be called Bear. He has a face like a baby bear. I try not to think to hard about the nicknames otherwise it is too difficult to remember them.

There are still 2 Yorkie puppies and 2 Shih Tzus here. The fear I have now is that I will become too attached to them. The last puppy from Raina’s first litter was here for a while and I called him “Little Man”. The day he left, I was so devastated that I cried for 2 hours. I almost called the man to tell him to return my puppy! Only my logical side stopped me. I try very hard now not to become attached. I have enough dogs that I am attached to, like Wookie and Raina. Right now I am not sure how attached I am to Gus.

Squirrel is in heat and Gus is in lust. He did manage to mate with her once. I have kept them apart since then. There have been several matings with Moose. Now the question is will she have all pure Maltese puppies or Maltese and a few Morkies? At least it will make the birth even more interesting since there is the possibility of surprise.

Wookie gets a bath

Friday was a busy day here. I got up early to get everything together for Miss Olivia to go to her new home. She also needed a bath which means that I got a bath too. I worked around the house for a little while in a wet nightshirt until it was time for a shower. This was one of the few times I have not cried when one of my babies left me. I think it is because I knew she was going to a loving home. I have already received pictures and she looks right at home. I need to give a birthday shout-out to Olivia’s new buddy Grayson. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than with a new puppy.


Wookie’s babies are thriving. They are so beautiful, fat and sleek. I need to weigh them today to see just how much she has been feeding them. They are very strong. One woke me at 4:15 a.m. by crying. It had crawled out of the bed after Wookie. Wook does not seem to know what to do except keep the puppy warm until I can rescue it.


Poor Wookie, her pups weren’t due until today. We thought we had time to bathe her and give her a haircut. Since the puppies surprised us by coming early, Wookie was already dirty and stinky and then it just got worse from giving birth. Last night my daughter-in-law took the clippers to Wookie in an extreme makeover. She does not even look like the same dog! I have a bag of hair big enough to stuff a small pillow, but I would not want it. Wookie then got a bath so now she looks good and smells sweet.

Surprise puppies

I am tired tonight. I got a surprise this morning with my third cup of coffee-puppies! We were expecting Wookie’s puppies to come this week, but not until Saturday. I should have paid attention last night when Moose kept digging on the side of his crate closest to Wookie. When I went in to get the dogs up this morning, Wookie was vomiting. I was a little freaked out when I checked her bottom and saw an amniotic sac protruding from her nether end. I texted my daughter-in-law the news and she woke my son to come and help me in case Wookie needed to see her doctor. Luckily Wookie handled everything and the first puppy was born at 7:57 a.m. It took a while, but in the end Wookie became the mother of 2 boys and 2 girls. One is black and white and all of the others of variations of Wookie’s own parti-color.


I got some other news later when things had calmed down. The people who had put a deposit on the female Yorkie that they had name Mia, changed their minds. So I guess we are back to the nickname of Mouse and she is available. My only regret is working so hard to teach her the name Mia.

Hardy goes home

The first of the puppies left last night. Hardy is going to a good home. His new mommy had a countdown on her calendar to the day she could pick up her little guy. Now the morning after, I realize that I should have gotten a picture of them together. She was so excited. I had given Hardy a bath in the morning so he was looking good and smelling nice. He had a chance to play with the Yorkie puppies while I was cleaning their room. He did very well playing with strange puppies. I did notice that both he and the male Yorkie kept humping the other pups. It amazes me how soon that testosterone gets into their systems!

I am hoping for a quiet day today. I feel like my life has become scrubbing floors daily, washing dog beds and toys and feeding puppies. I feel like I am running a day care.


Wookie is huge now. Based on the date of her mating with Ozzy, she is due June 2. I don't mind having another litter coming along while a litter is leaving. Having the 2 litters within a week has really worn me out. I am excited to see Wookie's puppies. She had 4 last time. Two of them were so similar that they were almost twins. She is due for a hair cut which will make things easier for me. Wookie is a bit of a wild child. I really mean she is ditsy. The funny thing is that when she has pups, she calms down. It is an amazing transformation. Right now she is just tired from the load she is carrying. She spends most of her time just resting. I seem to remember doing the same thing late in my own pregnancy.

First baths

Yesterday I bathed 9 puppies. I was very wet by the time I finished. At least they smell better. This is the Yorkie puppy I had called Mouse. Her permanent name is Mia. Mia's mom is planning to visit her this weekend. The Yorkie pups are also getting their first puppy shot this weekend. I am also going to start worming treatment on the Shih Tzu pups. I am really looking forward to this, not.

My babies are growing up

All of the pups are eating solid food now. The Yorkies have even tried to eat their mother's kibble. I would give them dry puppy food, but their teeth haven't even begun to erupt. The Yorkies are beginning to get their shaggy faces.

Two of my Shih Tzus have families already. Apollo and Spot have chosen their mommies. Spot really did do the choosing. He sniffed the lady over thoroughly and then bestowed a puppy kiss on her. I hope she can stand the wait until he is 9 weeks old.

Today I am going to try to puppy-proof the room the Shih Tzus are in so they will have more freedom. I don't like restricting my pups to cages. When they are about 6 weeks old, I will begin having them sleep in crates so that they become accustomed to the nighttime restriction.

I have a live webcam on the Yorkies. It only gets them when Raina is nursing or they are sleeping since they have started exploring. I put new videos on the available puppy page so the viewer can see how cute my babies are. I do my breeding to make good pets for people, but I still miss each one as they leave. It's even harder now with Apollo and Spot because I know approximately when they will leave. I will need to get my time with them now.

The Weekend Ends

I think Gus and Squirrel have worn each other out. They have been playing. They chase around the living room from dog bed to dog bed to the couch and around again. The two of them have become good friends and frequently will nap in the same bed. I think this friendship will last until the next time Squirrel comes into heat. Then I will be keeping Gus away and only allowing Moose access to her. Gus is going to want her, but I am not ready to try a Yorkie/Maltese mix.

My back is killing me this morning. I am waiting for the Darvocet to kick in. I was awakened shortly after midnight by my weather radio. I had been asleep for about an hour. It took me a while to realize what was going on. Then I heard the county’s emergency sirens going off. I checked the TV and there was one of the infamous “hook” formations coming this way. I packed the puppies into laundry baskets and made 2 trips to the basement. I could not do anything about the other dogs which made me feel badly. I am glad that I hooked up a TV in the basement bedroom so I could check the weather. My sister had come to visit last week so the bed was made. I got the mothers and their pups settled and then got into bed. I fell asleep with my glasses on and a flashlight in my hand. I woke a little later and checked the TV. Since the weather crew was no longer on, I figured it was safe to go back upstairs. So as a result my back is killing me.

I started Kitty’s puppies on soft puppy kibble this weekend. They were licking my hands a lot Friday night which is the signal wild dog pups give the adults to feed them except that they lick the adults’ lips. The first time I gave them some kibble, they went at it with a lot of enthusiasm. Of course Kitty wanted at it too. I don’t know why the adults find the soft puppy food so attractive. I have been giving them puppy food every 4 hours since then. I checked last week and I can feel their teeth beginning to erupt. I decided to try Raina’s pups on the kibble this morning although they are a week younger than Kitty’s. They did very well. Mouse didn’t seem as interested as the other two, but then she is the smallest.

Raina received 2 packages in the mail on Saturday. She got prizes from attending the #pawpawty on Twitter in celebration of @BrewskiButt’s 5th birthday. She got a beautiful art print from Brew’s Mom. I claimed that since it will look good in my bedroom. She also got a flappy toy from DogToys.com. It’s perfect for a terrier. She likes to shake it. Gus managed to get the toy and now it no longer has a squeaker. Gus has some problem with squeakers that I am at a loss to explain. The toy is still intact and can be used, it is just silent.

Puppies growing so fast

This little chubby Shih Tzu I call Starbuck. I picked her up today and there were her eyes looking back at me! The Shih Tzus are 12 days old today. They are very mobile crawling around in the whelping box. I checked on the other pups and most of them have at least one eye open. Next their little ears will open up, then comes walking. It still amazes me that by the end of the next 7 weeks they will be barking, running and even have their teeth. I really love raising these little critters. The Yorkies are also doing very well and growing. The male is the largest. They are also getting very mobile and crawling all over the bed.


I have been making new beds for the dogs which leaves me with a lot of scraps of the fleece fabric I have been using. I have a pattern to make tug toys by braiding strips of the fleece together. I made a couple of those and they are a big hit with Gus, Reggie and Squirrel. My daughter-in-law was here yesterday and noticed the toys. She asked me if I could make at least 1 for each of the new puppies. I have lots of scraps so I can make plenty of them. She had a wonderful idea. Give them to the pups to play with and then send one with each of them when they go to their new homes. That way they will have the scent of their littermates and mother on the toy. I had been giving pieces of baby blankets with the litter's scent as a comfort item. I like this idea much better.

My daughter-in-law has been checking on Jill at the Paulding County Animal Shelter. She called them today and told them Jill's story. Now Shannon has offered to go to the shelter on Saturday and work with Jill to see if she still responds to her obedience training. Then Shannon is going to work on getting Jilly adopted. I know that if anyone can do it, Shannon can. When she volunteered at the Douglas County Shelter on weekends, they placed a lot more animals. Shannon is very good with people and she knows her stuff about dogs. My son picked out a great woman to marry. This is the link to Jill's listing on Petfinder: see Jilly. Her eyes glowing red and green was a give-away to me that it is Jill. I tried to do the best thing for her and thought she had a forever family. She just may be a victim of the bad economy.


On the lighter side Raina has discovered Twitter. She spends part of her day following her friends. She has participated in a couple of events and even won some treats. Those treats were very good. I tried them myself. There is another Pawpawty this Sunday to celebrate the birthday of Brewski Butt. The pawty is also used to raise donations for Kitten Rescue in Los Angeles. Romeothecat chooses a group every month and challenges his Twitter followers to donate $1 each. It's a great way to have some fun, make people aware of the groups Romeo supports and raise some money for them. There is something good coming out of simple fun.

Why was Jill wandering loose?

I had two calls over the weekend that disturbed me. I was contacted by the Paulding County Animal Control and Home Again informing me that a dog registered to me was at the shelter. I know the dog and I did have her for several months. It is a bit of a story.

In late 2004 through to June 2005 I was caring for my late sister. During that time I had to have my 16 year old Bichon put to sleep. Muffet was suffering grand mal seizures and the cause was unknown. For his sake I made the decision to have him put to sleep because my time needed to be spent with my dying sister. I felt horrible about it, but still believe it was best for Muffet.

After my sister passed away, I felt the need for a canine companion. I went to the local shelter and fell in love with Jill. She was 10 months old and very friendly. I wanted a dog her size because my son's girlfriend had a dog she had adopted that was about 45 pounds. Jill was about the same size and age. The fit was perfect.

For months Jill and Shannon's dog Jack got along wonderfully. Jack was a female inspite of the name. In late 2005 something changed in the dogs' relationship and Jill attacked Jack inflicting several bites in Jack's legs. We thought at first that it was a display of dominance and the matter had been settled. Jack was now submissive to Jill, but Jilly continued to be aggressive toward Jack. I also have severe arthritis in my hands and arms and had to use a Gentle Leader to control Jill. She really was too much for me to handle on my own. In late 2005 I made the very hard decision to find Jill a new home.

I advertised her on Craigslist and LiveDeal, but did not have any takers. After about 8 weeks of trying to find her a home, I felt I had no choice but to take Jill back to the shelter where I had adopted her. I took along her flea and heartworm medicine. I also wrote a letter to potential adopters about Jill and what a wonderful dog she was. I did stress that she needed to be in a home where she was the only dog. I cried as I signed over the dog that I loved.

I received a call from the shelter in less than 24 hours. A family was adopting Jill! They came to my home to pick up Jill's crate. I was thrilled to meet them and felt this was the family for Jill. They even called a few months later to tell me that Jill was doing well and how the whole family loved her.

Now I have had these calls about Jill being picked up by animal control. It distresses me terribly. I don't have a phone number and can't even remember the name of the family who adopted Jill. I can only hope that they are looking for her. I wonder if I should go and claim her myself, but I still have other dogs and the arthritis is worse. I can only hope that this family loved Jill as much as I did and are looking for her.

Raina's puppies

Raina gave birth to 4 puppies on March 26. Unfortunately we lost one the next day. It was pretty hard for me. This is the first puppy we have lost. I felt personally responsible for it. That somehow if I had noticed that the puppy was in distress sooner, I could have done something. Oh well, we have 3 puppies to raise and they are thriving. I take them to the vet on Monday to have their tails docked.

Kitty's puppies are growing so fast. They are very mobile considering that all they can do is crawl. They crawl out over the side of the bed chasing after their mother. Sometimes I find all of them out of their bed and sometimes under it. This ought to be fun. I have not had 2 litters born this close together before. There may come a time when I can put all of the puppies together after they are weaned.

Update on the pups

Kitty's puppies are growing like weeds! I weighed the one that I nicknamed "Starbuck" and she is 13 ounces today. She weighed 6.9 oz. at birth! That is almost doubling her weight in 1 week. The pups are creeping around enough to get out of the bed to reach their mother. I don't think they can go the other way yet since I have to put them back about 6 times a day. You would think that with the puppies to worry about, Kitty would ignore Raina. No way! She still has to snarl when she sees Raina go by. I hung a blanket over the baby gate to give Kitty some privacy. I already have a blanket over the gate on Raina's room.

Raina has been in early labor since yesterday. Now it's getting really serious. She drank some puppy formula a little while ago, then barfed it all up. She refused to eat some boiled liver which is a good sign. I want to bring her into the living room to deliver so that I can be comfortable. When it gets close, I am going to put the other dogs in their crates. Of course it has to be raining hard today and all of the dogs are inside. Hopefully I will have new puppy pictures before bedtime.

We have new puppies!

Whoa am I tired! I’ve been trying to get used to a machine that helps me with my sleep apnea and it doesn’t seem to be helping. I was fatigued already, so spending the night as the dog midwife has been the cherry on top. I fell yesterday and then fell again this morning. And I still have a Yorkie who is due to have her pups in the next few days. The good thing is that I love these little critters so much that I don’t really mind the fatigue and bruises.

Kitty Cat is a real champ. She was in labor most of the day. There was a lot of panting and pacing. She was also very irritable with the other dogs. I tried to stay awake with her, but faded out after seeing President Obama on Leno. I woke to the sound of Squirrel barking repeatedly. Then I realized that I was also hearing the cries of puppies. Kitty had 2 of her babies while I was sleeping! I called Sean and Shannon to let them know that the puppies were being born. I stayed with her for the rest of the delivery. She drank a couple of bowls of puppy formula to fortify her. When I was sure that Kitty and the pups were OK, I climbed into bed to sleep. Just as I was dozing off, Shannon called to see how things had gone. It didn’t take much time to get back into my slumber.

The puppies are beautiful. I didn’t manage to make my usual notes during the births, so I had to sort of fill in the blanks later. There are 4 black and white pups and 2 brown and white. Four of them are males and 2 are females. I weighed them finally at about 6 to 8 hours after they were born. Of course by then their little bellies were full of milk. Kitty had a fit every time I took one away to the scale. I had forgotten how attached she was to her last litter. She did leave them long enough to empty her bladder. I had to hold the bowl to get her to drink and she did gobble up some boiled beef liver. She will be fine. Then I can look forward to the birth of the Yorkies.

Waiting is awful!

What you are looking at is Kitty's belly. There are 6 little puppies in there waiting to be born. Our vet was wonderful in helping me get the best pictures I could of the x-rays. Raina had her picture taken too and she is having 4 puppies.

I am now a basketcase. I do not wait well and having 2 pregnant dogs is making me especially ansty. Kitty has managed to wake me during the past two night and ended up sleeping with me. I am such an easy touch.

Both dogs are resting a lot. I guess I would be too if I was carrying around that much of a load. I check their temperatures daily waiting for the drop to occur. It's not easy taking a dog's temp without assistance. Kitty is easier with more tail for me to grab. I am giving them extra formula and yogurt right now. The calcium is crucial for them since the puppies are taking a lot of it. I am just trying to keep busy sewing and taking care of the house. My delivery supplies are all ready and I feel better that both dogs were seen by the vet this week. Now it is just a waiting game.

Happy St. Pawtricks Day!

It's Raina, I get to blog today. Mom loves St. Patrick's Day. She is a genealogy nut and has traced her family back as far as she can without leaving the U.S. She has Irish ancestors on both her mother and father's sides. She hasn't been able to find records of them entering the country, so she may be descended from illegal immigrants!

Mom has also discovered Twitter. The details of my daily life are being spread all over the world! It's fun to follow the other Anipals on Twitter. They even get together for parties. I have a picture with my St. Pawtrick's Day bling, but it won't show up on Twitter, so I decided to show it here.

Kitty and I are going to the vet this afternoon to find out how many puppies we are having. Too bad we don't get ultrasounds like humans so we would know the sexes of the puppies. Mom could be thinking up nicknames ahead of time. Kitty's first due date is tomorrow and Mom has been getting her stuff ready. I will just be glad when these little wiggly critters are wiggling in a bed instead of wiggling in me!

Squirrel was supposed to go to the vet today, but she is still skinny. She may not be as far along as Kitty and I are or maybe she didn't get pregnant. Mom says we just have to wait.

A later update..One of my friends on Twitter has been putting together everyone's pictures with their St. Pawtrick's Day bling. It's is really neat!

Terriers can be a "pain"

My cousin calls her Jack Russell a "terrorist". I had been calling Raina simply a Yorkshire Terror. Today she proved that she is all terrier. For some reason several months ago Raina decided that she no longer wanted the friendship of Kitty one of our Shih Tzus. At first I thought I would let them fight it out and settle who was going to be top dog. When they started to draw blood, I had to break it up. Fortunately I have baby gates all over the house, so it is possible to keep them apart. Today I was shifting them around to let Raina have some time with me. I put Kitty in her room, but forgot to close the gate in the hall to keep Raina as far away as possible. Even though there was a gate between them, they were snarling and snapping at each other. I leaned over the gate to give Kitty some water. I had commanded Raina to back off, but she decided to override that, ducked under my legs, snapped at Kitty and BIT ME! I only have a bruise. I even needed a moment to realized that she really had bit me. My feelings are hurt more than anything.

I know it is not necessary to be bitten to be a pet parent, but I think it does help to at least be nipped so that you can know what it feels like and that it is nothing to fear. A couple of years ago I learned the correct way to break up a dog fight (grab by the rear legs, not the collar). Because I did it the wrong way, I spent New Year's Eve in the ER. The bite was not serious because I remained as calm as I could. I saw my hand in the mouth of a Boston Terrier and thought "don't pull, don't struggle". I went to the ER to get a tetanus shot. The scar barely shows.

My daughter-in-law and I were discussing the housing of our dogs once she and Sean buy a house. She suggested that since Raina and Kitty were getting along better I should keep the Shih Tzus with me. Maybe we need to reconsider.

Gus is in trouble

I get just as worried when the dogs are too quiet as I did when my son was a child. I was on the computer when I turned to see this mess. I woke up a little congested this morning and grabbed a roll of toilet tissue since I didn't have kleenex. I made the mistake of leaving it on the table next to my chair. Ever since Squirrel got on that table to nab a piece of pizza crust the other day, all of the dogs seem to think it is OK to explore in MY territory.

Gus was having a grand time when I saw him. He was tossing the roll into the air and tearing pieces off. I would have tried to get a video, but he stopped as soon as I stood up. He knew he was in trouble and kept nuzzling my hand as I was trying to clean up his mess. He even jumped up in my lap while I was uploading these pictures. He started licking the keyboard. I wondered if he was planning to rebut anything I reported on his behavior.

Maybe I need to move the chair and couch farther away from the table. Reggie gets into my coffee cup if I leave it for a few minutes. I know caffeine is bad for dogs, but she seems to love coffee. She even went after a glass of OJ. No wonder I am so tired all of the time. I am constantly cleaning up after the dogs and watching out for them.

News on one of my babies

I love hearing from my puppy parents. This one made my day yesterday. Bailey is such a pretty little dog. She has mask markings over only one eye just like her mother Kitty. Bailey is obviously well loved and very well cared for. I can't ask any more for one of my babies.

Winter is still here!

Snow is rare in Georgia which is why I moved here from Ohio 30 years ago. At least here people stay home and I don't have to dig my car out every morning. The dogs enjoy the snow so of course they had to go out for a short play. Squirrel disappears in the snow with her white coat. The play session didn't last long. After all they are southern dogs. Fortunately this all took place before the pregnant girls had their bellies shaved.

We are getting ready for 3 deliveries. Unless we have a false pregnancy, it looks like Kitty, Raina and Squirrel are pregnant. Kitty's first due date is March 18, Raina is due March 21 and Squirrel is due March 25. My daughter-in-law shaved their bellies and "toots" for the sake of nursing puppies and hygiene. I have one whelping box in place and cleaned. The other needs to be brought up from the garage. One dog will have to give birth in the living room! Some time after the 14th we will be making a trip to the vet for x-rays. I feel more secure about safe deliveries when we know how many pups are coming. I have all of my supplies in one place. I need to cut down some of the colored neckbands for the puppies. Yorkie puppies all look alike and I assume the Maltese will look alike too. Shih Tzus are much more interesting in all of their colors and markings.

These days when people ask me what I do, I don't say that I am a retired systems analyst. I am now the caregiver, housekeeper and midwife to a pack of dogs that allow me to live with them!

Waiting and anticipating

These are the new dogs Moose and Squirrel. She may be pregnant. I don't know what they did behind closed doors, but they mated every time they were with me. I am so tired of witnessing doggy love.

Since we are familiar with Kitty and Raina we are sure they are both pregnant. Squirrel seems a little rounder than she was when she arrived, but then she was so skinny what we may be seeing is just healthy weight gain. I hope not. I may be really crazy in wanting 3 litters of puppies all coming within a week and a half to 2 weeks of each other. Kitty should be first, then Raina and finally Squirrel. I just told my son that if two of the dogs come into labor at the same time, I am calling for help immediately. And I mean at 3 a.m. if necessary.

I am always excited by the impending arrival of new puppies. By the second week of March I will know for certain how many litters are coming. I will have to prepare the whelping areas for each dog. With the Yorkies and Maltese I'll need my colored bands to identify the puppies since they will all look the same as their litter mates. I will have make sure my camera batteries are all charged up and ready to go. I need to order supplies for puppy kits too. I have pink leashes, but no pink collars! I decided to figure my "worst case" scenario of litter size and prepare for 15 puppies. I could wait until the puppies come, but then I may run into the situation that I did with the pink collars. Bring on the puppies!