Paws Press

And Then There Were Four

The puppies (and I) celebrated their six-week birthday this past Saturday, April 28.

The adoption floodgates have officially opened as a result, even though they won't be ready to be neutered for several more weeks. If you are interested in potentially adopting one of them, please email Lucas County Pit Crew Co-founder Jean Keating at canineadvocate1@yahoo.com.

All of the pups have been eating very well on their own for several weeks.I think they nurse Nellie more out of habit and as a comfort rather than a necessity. Kind of like that bag of chips from the vending machine. You could definitely live without it but it's nice to have once in a while.

Eight puppies (and all their poop) are a lot to handle. They have become increasingly needy and cry to be held, which is good. It means they like humans, which is kind of key to the socialization process.

In order to make sure that all eight continue to get adequate attention, Jean graciously offered to take four of the eight pups for the remainder of their foster period, which is about 3 weeks.

I let Beckham, Ciara, Aiden and Keegan (pictured above) nurse for the last time Saturday before we left to meet Jean in Ann Arbor. It's been interesting to observe how different people interpret the look on Nellie's face in this picture. I think she is saying "Seriously, are we done with this yet?" Others have observed that she looked proud, patient, or weary. It's probably all of the above.

Jean reports that initially her adult dogs seemed to scare the pups a bit, but they quickly recovered and started eating. I'm sure it's strange for them to meet other dogs. In my house they have only been around their mom, two Chihuahuas and various cats. Jean's dogs are much bigger so they must seem like giants to them.

It's good they are getting exposed to new people and new dogs. The more a puppy encounters as they develop the more easygoing they will be. Good temperaments are definitely affected by how well a puppy is socialized.

The best thing is they are getting lots of attention from Jean's girls. Keegan in particular has been acting just a bit shy. I told Ciara to dress him up in teddy bear clothes as much as she could.

The remaining four at my house have been crying a bit more the last few days. At first I thought they missed their siblings, but now I think it's just because they want to be held by me. They stop crying as soon as I pick them up. It's a good thing there are only four because when I hold one, the other three cry.

I let them run around the nursery when I'm cleaning and they seem to enjoy it. But they must be very carefully watched. They have a penchant for chewing on electrical cords. And they also go potty without any warning or concern for where they do it. Why hasn't someone invented diapers for puppies? They could make a fortune.

Nellie Tells Puppy: The Kitchen is Closed

Nellie and Cassidy

I shot a video this morning of Nellie letting Cassidy know that she is getting tired of nursing. Before I could get the video going, they did a little dance for about 5 minutes where Cassidy tried to nurse and Nellie turned in circles as she tried to pull Cassidy's head away from her teat. Cassidy finally got the hint and went over to the food bowl to eat some kibble. Don't feel too bad for her, she had just finished eating her morning canned food so it's not like she was starving.

All of the puppies are eating well. We split two large cans of Canidae grain-free dog food between the eight of them three times a day. So each pup is getting about 3/4 of a can of food a day, plus all the kibble they can eat. (There are two bowls which are refilled as needed.)

What a difference 10 days makes!  I hadn't weighed them since April 15 and they have all gained substantially.

Liam, the runt, is up to 5 lbs. 3 oz. from 2 lbs. 14 oz. Ciara, the second smallest, is up to 5 lbs. 13 oz. from 3 lbs. 5 oz. Cassidy, the other little girl, is at 6 lbs. 11 oz., up from 4 lbs. 2 oz.

On the other end of the range is the brute of the bunch, Fergus, who tips the scales at 8 lbs. 1 oz.  He was 4 lbs. 14 oz. just 10 days ago!  He is going to be a massive dog. He is very muscular and solidly built -- it's not baby fat. He is the one that is all white with the black ears and nose. I love him and am going to be very particular about who adopts him. OK, to be honest, Jean Keating and I are going to be very particular about who adopts ALL of them.

Beckham, the one with the gray patches, is very close behind Fergus, weighing in at 8 lbs. even. He was 4 lbs. 8 oz. just 10 days ago.

In the middle of the pack are Aiden, Bono and Kegan. They are respectively 7 lbs. 14 oz., 7 lbs. 7 oz. and 7 lbs. 3 oz., up from 4 lbs. 14 oz., 4 lbs. 6 oz. and 4 lbs. 8 oz.

I am trying a new setup with the X-pen where it is clipped together away from the wall. Gross alert: The other way I had it (where I incorporated the wall with the pen) they kept pooping on the wall. Don't ask me why or how. I'm just hoping to prevent it. We completely change out the papers and wash the floor twice a day. In between, we thrown down new layers of newspaper as needed. If you tune into the puppy cam and see poop, I apologize. But we are doing our best (without taking a leave of absence from work to constantly monitor them.)

Puppies, Nellie Get a Visit From a Kid

We established early on that Nellie loves everybody she encounters. We can now say with certainty that includes kids.

Nellie and her puppies got a visit from 5-year-old Jack and his mom Kristen April 21. Nellie actually met Jack for the first time when the pups were just a few days old. But it almost doesn't count because at that point she was preoccupied with motherhood and didn't pay much attention to him. This time, though, he was the apple of her eye and they got along famously. She is a very gentle and sweet dog. But watch out, she does have quite the tongue and will lick you as much as you allow her to. (She does understand "enough," thankfully.)

The puppies also got exposed again to Jack and they definitely were a lot more engaged with him than the first time around, when they were tiny. They also had a visit from 10-year-old Ciara when they were smaller. It's important to expose puppies (and adult dogs, too, for that matter) to as many people as possible. The result is a confident, well-socialized dog that likes the attention of people.

Of course, such visits should be carefully supervised. Puppies are delicate and kids must be taught to be gentle. Jack has been around dogs and cats (and guinea pigs, hamsters, rabbits, and fish, for that matter) his whole life. He's really a natural, but his mom still keeps a close eye on him and gives him pointers on how to best hold the puppy.

The pups celebrate their six-week birthday this Saturday and in honor of that, four of them will be going to live with Lucas County Pit Crew co-founder Jean Keating. They will get lots of love and attention from her daughters Ciara and Maddie. This way we can give more attention to the remaining four pups that stay with us. (And also not have quite as much poop to clean up!)

They are all eating LOTS of solid food and hardly nursing at all, so the timing is perfect. It's time for all of them to be weaned and get ready to go live with their new adoptive homes.

The Pit Crew will begin taking adoption applications this weekend, as well. Their adoption fee will be $175 which includes neutering, microchips and their first set of shots. Please email canineadvocate1@yahoo.com for an application.

I'm going to be sad this weekend when four of them leave and even sadder when they go to their new homes. But it's time for someone else to get a share of all the cuteness and puppy breath we have been privileged to have bestowed on us these past six weeks (plus one week with Nellie before the pups were born.) And I know there will be more that need help so in order to make a space for them, I must say goodbye to these guys.

Motherhood Takes Its Toll On Nellie

Nellie is tired. You really can't blame her. Taking care of eight puppies is exhausting.

Lucky for her, she has me and Jim to help out. If you've never fostered puppies before, it's a lot like having babies. But instead of diapers, you have lots of newspaper to change out and puddles to clean up.

It's exhausting for us, too. But unlike actual babies, we'll be saying goodbye to these guys in a couple of weeks. It will be bittersweet, like every time we foster. It's nice to see them move to their permanent homes where they can get lots of attention, but I always miss them, at least at first. I always tell myself, "There will be more."

We even had to baby proof the room the puppies are staying in. I noticed that there are electrical outlets near the exercise pen. So we went out and bought a pack of the plastic plugs that you stick in them to block them. Sure enough, I saw the puppies pawing at them the other day. Good thing it was just the plug and not the open outlet.

If you watch the puppy cam, you can see the outlets I'm talking about under the windows.

The funny thing is they only sell those things in packs of 50. Anyone need to baby proof (or puppy proof) your home?

 

Nellie, Puppies Go To The Vet

It's been a crazy week for me, covering the "other" famous Toledo puppies, the Suitcase Six. But don't think that Nellie and the babies have been neglected. I come home every night and give them hugs and kisses and tell them how glad I am that they never had to endure what those poor puppies did, locked in a suitcase for who knows how long.

Fergus, pictured to the left, has become the house favorite. Each of them is really turning into their own dog with a distinct personality. He is adventurous. He pushed his way from behind the exercise pen Sunday and could not figure out how to get back in. He yelled at the door for someone to come rescue him and instead, we brought him into the kitchen for some snuggle time. He quickly fell asleep in my arms.

Nellie had been scratching her ear so we decided a vet trip was in order. I already had an appointment for Martha, my Chihuahua, to see the vet for her annual checkup. So we just added Nellie to that appointment. We decided the good folks at Warren Woods Veterinary Hospital could probably use a puppy fix, so we brought the whole gang.

It's a good thing we brought her in because she had a major yeast and bacterial infection. Here's Dr. Julie Cappel cleaning her ears with an assist by husband, Jim. Nellie adores Jim and she was fixated on him and so was a very good patient for Dr. Cappel. Nellie has been a champ about having the Animax ointment massaged in her ears twice a day and the infection is clearing up nicely.

The puppies were a huge hit and got lots of attention.

The gang celebrated their four-week birthday on Saturday and are getting huge. Fergus and Aiden are the big guys at 4 pounds and 14 ounces. Keegan and Beckham aren't far behind at 4 pounds and 8 ounces. Bono is slightly lighter, weighing in at 4 pounds and 6 ounces. Next is Cassidy, who is steadfastly holding her own against her brothers. She is 4 pounds and 2 ounces. Ciara and Liam bring up the rear at 3 pounds 5 ounces and 2 pounds 14 ounces, respectively. But don't count them out. They have embraced the canned puppy food with gusto and will catch up eventually.

Here's Beth taking pictures of the pupppies for her husband, who would love to adopt one if Beth would let him.

And Bobbi got some snuggle time with Aiden. Everyone loves Aiden! He has the sweetest brindle markings. He is going to be a very handsome dog. Heck, they are all going to be, if you ask me!

Puppies 'Moving On Up' To New Digs

My faithful co-foster person (Jim) and I have been on the hunt for a puppy pool for a couple of weeks. What I had in mind was the solid hard vinyl kind, but Meijer only had the small 36-inch versions. They just didn't seem much bigger than the big dog crate I have been using so I didn't see the point.

After subsequent trips to Toys 'R Us, Kmart and two Family Dollars, I finally settled on the one above from Family Dollar #2. It's not hard vinyl, but it's not "blow-up" either. Whether it stands the test of time is yet to be seen. The biggest problem I see so far is that momma Nellie is a bit of a klutz going in and out of the thing and seems to be knocking the walls down a bit. It was only $10 so if it doesn't work out, life goes on.

The nice thing is it's 5-feet across so there's plenty of room for mom to stretch and the babies to roam a little. That is, once they are ready to roam. They still mostly puppy pile together when they aren't nursing. However, I did see some action today between Fergus and Ciara. First they cleaned each other's face and then after they settled down, Fergus wrapped his paw around Ciara's shoulders for quite a while. It was very cute.

I'm hopeful the pool will be a good in-between place for them to stay until I put up the puppy pen in a few weeks. They are all growing like weeds -- Aiden is the first to hit the three pound mark. He's now 3 lbs. and 1 oz. Beckham and Ferguson aren't far behind at 2 lbs. 12 oz. and Keegan is close at 2 lbs. 10 oz. Bono is 2 lbs. 9 oz. and Cassidy is 2 lbs. 7 1/2 oz. Little Ciara is just over 2 pounds and the runt, little Liam is lagging behind at 1 lb. 11 oz. However, he continues to put on weight at every weigh-in so I think he'll be just fine. He's up 5 ounces since Sunday!

Pet Idol Contest Deadline Today

April 3 (today) at 5 p.m. is the deadline for The Blade's Pet Idol contest. Since we all have cute photos of our critters stashed on our desktops, that shouldn't be a problem, right?

If you'd rather go the video route, the deadline isn't until June 6.

The coolest thing is all proceeds of the 2012 Pet Idol contest benefit Planned Pethood, Inc., a Northwest Ohio non-profit organization that finds happy homes for adoptable animals.

All eligible entries received will be posted in The Blade on  April 15 and on petidolcontest.com as updated. Readers will vote to narrow the pool of pets to 40. Top 40 votes will be posted on May 13 for a second round of voting. Votes will be tabulated and the Top Ten winners posted in The Blade and on petidolcontest.com on May 27.

The Pet Idol winner will be announced on WTOL Channel 11 between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. June 9 and also at the MetroBarks Festival the same day, as well as in The Blade and on toledoblade.com June 10.

Prizes, besides seeing your cute animal online and in the paper, include 11 gift baskets for the Top Ten pets and top video winner including pet supplies, gift certificates, and MetroBark membership with a total retail value $100. 

One Grand Prize gift basket including pet supplies, gift certificates, and MetroBark membership, with a  total retail value $150 plus one pet portrait package from JC Penney Portraits, retail value $29.99.

All eligible entrants, regardless of voting results, will receive an 8” x 10” pet portrait compliments of JC Penney Portraits.

If you want to read all the rules, go for it, but fyi, the contest is not open to employees of JC Penney, The Blade, Planned Pethood Inc., the Toledo Metroparks and WTOL Channel 11, webART, their respective Pet Idol contest sponsors, affiliates, subsidiaries and advertising or promotional agencies, and the immediate family members of and any persons domiciled with any such employees.

And The Winner Is...

This little guy is nameless no more!

The winner of the "Name The Puppy" contest was Tammy Davis with Aiden.

Many votes were cast on Friday at the Lucas County Pit Crew Spay-Ghetti dinner and silent auction. In a close second was Shawna Webb-Lisowski with Tristan. Tammy received a Lucas County Pit Crew T-shirt for her efforts in helping give the little guy an identity.

Aiden is currently the biggest puppy, tipping the scales at a whopping 2 pounds and 10 ounces. The name means "little fire" or "ardent" which seems to fit him since he's definitely got a lot of spunk. His eyes are the most open of all of his brothers and sisters. I think he's anxious to see the world!