News on the Cocker Spaniel puppy

I was wondering the other day how the Cocker Spaniel puppy was doing. We had not heard from the Buckholts since the day they picked her up. I received a lovely email today. Besides that we have another squirrel in residence. Someone walked into PetSmart with another baby squirrel that had fallen out of its nest. I will have to take a picture-it is UGLY! I got to feed it twice today. I never fed the first squirrel. This little guy (my guess) eats better than the first one. I had to make him pee and poop after he ate and he produced so much urine that it got on my clothes!

GOOD MORNING MAMA MARTA!

WE WERE SO GLAD TO GET AN EMAIL FROM YOU-----THIS IS ACTUALLY A PRETTY GOOD PICTURE OF ME, MOM SAYS!

BUT THEY HAVE BEEN TAKING LOTS OF PHOTOS OF ME TO PUT IN MY ALBUM, SO MOM ASKED DAD TO MAKE THEM SO THAT SHE CAN SEND THEM TO YOU AND SHANNON TO LOOK AT!

MY WT WAS 8LB WHEN I HAD MY 9WK SHOTS AND CHECK UP----IT WAS A GOOD ONE, JUST THE FACT THAT THE PATELLA, MY KNEECAP IS A LITTLE SLIPPERY, BUT SHOULD NOT CAUSE ANY PROBLEM, BUT A SURGERY IF WHEN I GET OLDER AND I SHOULD NEED IT----

OF COURSE MY EARS HAD MITES AND MOM AND I HAVE BEEN HAVING FUN USING THOSE DARN DROPS 2XDAY, BUT LOOKS LIKE WE GOT RID OF THEM------I GO TO THE DR TODAY FOR MY 12 WK SHOTS AND MOM SAYS SHE KNOWS I HAVE GAINED SOME LBS-----I AM HEAVIER TO CARRY WHICH I LOVE TO DO----

I AM EATING WELL, JUST HAVE A FEW PUPPY PROBLEMS THAT WE ARE ALL TRYING TO WORK THROUGH-------WITH SANITY!!!!!!

LEXI, MY SISSY AND I LIKE TO GO AT SOMETIMES OVER NEW TOYS AND LOTS OF BONES MOM GETS US-----SHE MIGHT BE SMALL BUT OH MY, SHE THANKS SHE IS A GREAT DANE!

I THINK WE ARE LEARNING TO LOVE EACH OTHER AND SHE LETS ME KNOW SHE IS THE ALPHA DOG HERE, BUT MOM SETS HER STRAIGHT THAT, MOM IS ALPHA!!!!

I SLEEP IN A HUGE CRATE AT NIGHT BESIDE DADDY AND DO WELL----

I AM USING THE PEE PADS GREAT! ONLY A COUPLE ACCIDENTS BECAUSE I MOVED MY BUTT OVER TO FAR AND KIND OF MISSED THE PAD!!!

I LOVE TO RIDE IN THE CAR ON OUR DRIVES AND I LOVE THE NEW BOOSTER SEAT----

NOW SISSY HAS ONE TOO----

I HAVE GIVEN MOM SOME NICE MARKS ON HER HANDS AND ARMS WHEN I WANT TO PLAY AND MOUTH BUT MY TEETH ARE VERY SHARP, SO WHEN I GET ROWDY AND OUT OF CONTROL OR EXCITED, I NOW HAVE A MUZZLE FOR TIME OUT

AND IT HELPS ME CALM DOWN AND BEHAVE----

WE WENT TO THE PARK AND I WALKED ON THE LEASE VERY WELL---ALL THE KIDS LOVED ME AND SAID HOW CUTE I AM----I WAS VERY GOOD WITH ALL THE PEOPLE!!!!!

WE WILL GET THE PHOTOS OFF TO YOU ASAP

AND YOU WILL SEE HOW I HAVE GROWN

MOM GOT MY PEDIGREE AND HISTORY, BUT NOTHING WAS WRITTEN ABOUT MY MOM-----

DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT WHERE SHE CAME FROM? LOTS OF STUFF ABOUT MY DAD

IT WAS VERY INTERESTING

I LOVE YOU ALL FOR ALL YOU DID FOR ME AND FINDING ME A NEW HOME----

WE'LL GET BACK SOON

"LILLY LEE" AND MOM!

After I cried when the last Yorkie puppy left, I wanted to check on the other pups. I just need to email a couple of people. Maybe I will learn to let go of them after a couple more litters. I feel better when I know the puppies are being properly spoiled.

Everyone is doing well

I’ve got a few minutes to catch up. Raina’s pups are doing great. Two of the girls have opened at least one eye as of 11:30 a.m. They are very healthy and thriving.

Penny has become so clingy. She tore a hole in the portable playpen, so now she is in a crate in the dog room. She wants to cuddle constantly and shrieks when she hears anyone around. She did not want anything to do with Raina’s puppies. So we are making sure she is well fed, she gets her medicine and spend as much time as we can with her.

CC surprised us Sunday evening by dropping a single puppy on the floor. The pup is a healthy female. We waited, but no other puppies arrived. At first CC seemed interested in the pup. She would lick it, but every time it tried to nurse, CC would walk away. Shannon spent the night with them in case CC had more puppies and to switch the heating pads on again every two hours. Early Monday morning, Shannon came to my room with the puppy. CC would just not feed it and it was crying pitifully. Rather than attempting a bottle-feeding at that point we decided to see if Raina would accept the pup. I love that dog! She took the additional puppy without any fuss. We have been holding Raina to nurse the Cocker puppy separately since she is not as developed as the Yorkies, even though she is almost the same size. I guess we don’t really have to hold Raina; I just put the puppy down alone in a bed to look for a dropper for formula. When I got back, Raina was nursing the puppy.

I was beginning to feel like the only one on baby animal detail until Shannon brought home a baby squirrel! It looks to be only days old. She is feeding it kitten formula with a dropper. Shannon has a great touch with animals. The little thing is perking up and eating like crazy. When it reaches the point that it can lap up food on it’s own, we should be able to take it somewhere like Yellow River Game Ranch.

Shannon suggested we try getting Penny to feed the Cocker puppy. She held Penny while I held the pup. After a few minutes of nursing, Penny calmed down and even stopped the shivering she has been doing for days. We returned the pup to Raina for bathing and will try letting Penny nurse her again later. A big hoorah for Penny!

Puppy Update

Raina and the puppies are doing great. She is a very devoted mother. I have been able to take her outside off-leash and she always heads back for the pups.

I was worried that Raina was not eating. That's where my books save me. The mother could be tired enough to not be interested in food for a day or two. I tried offering her canned puppy food and she is very happy eating that. I am also giving her some puppy formula to supplement her calcium intake. I guess I am doing it right. I weighed the puppies this morning and all of them have gained at least 9/10 of an ounce. I am using my postage scale to weigh them. It works.

On Monday I am taking the pups to the vet to have their tails docked and dewclaws removed. I almost hate to do it to them, but Yorkies are supposed to have shortened tails and no dewclaws. Three of them have rear dewclaws. Two have 2 hind dewclaws and one has only one.

One of the girls is spoken for already. We don't know which one yet because the request is for the smallest of the female puppies. I believe another is also taken. I will be picky about who gets my baby's babies!

Penny is due in 8 days. I have my bag of supplies ready for her delivery. We are keeping her inside and taking her out when she has the need to go. I'm excited we are going to have another litter. At least Boston Terriers are born with short tails so we don't have to go thru that again until C.C. has her puppies.

Raina is a mother!

It’s 11:20 a.m., The View is on and we are waiting on Raina’s sixth puppy to be delivered. Six puppies!! I am so amazed that her first litter is so large. Her belly looks like a deflated balloon. The puppies are beautiful and perfect. We have 3 girls and 2 boys so far. I color-coded the pups with neckbands. Sean could not understand why I wanted to band them immediately. The second time I said “Because I need to” with my teeth clenched, he backed off. I don’t think he understands it yet, but I don’t care. I know why I did it.

It’s now 1:06 p.m. and number six has not yet appeared. There definitely is a sixth puppy. About 20 minutes ago I called the vet to see if I should be concerned. He says that Raina may just be taking a rest. She may rest for a few hours. We are supposed to give the vet a report on her condition at 5:00 p.m. They may want her to come in for a shot of oxytocin to restart her labor. Hopefully it will restart on its own. When she is in active labor, she digs in the bed and bites the side of it. I think that pink bed is going to become Raina’s birthing bed. Once everything is over, I’m going to wash the bed and all of the towels I’ve used this morning. We still have 2 more litters to deliver.

I’m so proud of Raina. She is being a very good mother. When we take her out of the playpen, she gets frantic if she can’t see her pups. She is cleaning them and nursing them. I know it is instinctive behavior with dogs, but not all dogs are meant to be mothers. Kippy proved that.

Now its 6:04 p.m.; around 4:30, the vet’s office called to check on Raina and recommended she be brought in for an injection of oxytocin. Dr. Morgan examined her and said he felt that there were no more puppies to be born. Raina may have retained a placenta. She showed some signs of increased labor, but it has calmed down and she is busy caring for her 5 babies.

For myself, I am pooped. It has been a very long day. I think it was the adrenalin rush that has me worn out. Shannon had been in the middle of baking dog treats for the dog park fund-raiser and had to stop to transport Raina, the puppies and me to the vet. He did say her puppies looked very good and Raina seemed to be taking good care of them.

Well, Raina finished up with 5 puppies. I took her out for a short walk. After she finished the business part of the walk, she kept looking up at me as if to say “I’m done, can we go back now?” When I turned around, she almost pulled me all the way back. She just wanted to get back to her puppies. This really was a good day.

Waiting on puppies and a new ferret

Yesterday was Raina’s first official due date. I admit to being nervous. On Friday my daughter-in-law had trouble finding Raina and nearly freaked out. It turned out she was in a very small corner of the room sleeping. We thought maybe it was the big day. Poor dog, we have been taking her temperature twice a day. We need to get an idea of her normal temp so that we can tell when it drops a couple of degrees. I hope the puppies come soon, I think she is miserable. I remember my due date passing by and still being pregnant. At least I really understood what was going on.

Even though it was Raina’s due date, Shannon and I spent most of the day on ferret matters. Miss Bourbon, Shannon’s ferret, has being acting very bored lately. She even figured out how to open her cage. I had found an article about 2 ferret rescue groups. I had no idea they existed. We visited one of them to introduce Miss Bourbon to some other ferrets in hopes she would choose one as a friend. Hooray! She liked one young male named Reuben. We promptly changed his name to Goose and brought him home. When the ferrets started bothering Sean and his friends, Shannon and I made a fast trip to Home Depot to make a ferret-proof gate for the living room. Luckily Sean took pity on me after I had whacked my thumb for the second time and finished nailing up the quarter-round strips that hold the gate in place. The next time I saw the ferrets, they were romping around the living room.

We are positive Penny is pregnant. She should be due in about 2 weeks. We think she will have a small litter this time since she only mated twice. C.C. may have a small litter too having only mated once. I let Raina and Ray mate 6 times and I am beginning to think that is why she is so huge. I am so excited about Penny. She is a brindle color and the male was also brindle. It will be interesting to she how many of her puppies will be brindle. We have been keeping her inside during the day lately. If a dog fight breaks out Miss Penny in always in the middle of it. She usually has scabs on her face and ears.

We had a small dog visit us for one night. I was returning from the convenience store and saw a couple of neighbors out walking and being followed by a small dog. I stopped to say hello and they asked if the dog was mine. He was adorable! A purebred Shiztzu or Shiztzu-mix with only one eye and he was very well groomed. Sean and I ended up driving around showing that face to everyone we could find. Finally we gave in to defeat and brought him home. I made up signs with his picture and put them out Sunday morning. Another sign showed up shortly thereafter, “missing: dog with one eye”. It turned out the dog is the pet of one of our neighbor’s grandchildren. I’m glad we didn’t just turn him over to Animal Control. Just what I like a happy ending.

Welcome to Monster Puppies

We are dog lovers and endeavor to produce good quality pets. We have chosen our mothers very carefully. They are also special because they are our pets. My Yorkshire sleeps in my bedroom, frequently in my bed with me. She curls up in my lap while I am watching television. We choose our stud dogs carefully and do not keep studs ourselves so that if we notice undesirable results from a litter, we can choose another father or retire the mother. We care for all of our dogs as any responsible pet owner would. They all receive good quality food, veterinary care and preventive treatment for parasites and fleas.

We’ll be posting news about our dogs, our mothers, litters on the way and any puppies we have available. Please contact us if you have any questions.