EEK, a mouse

When I had the puppies outside yesterday afternoon, they kept digging in  the flower bed along the fence at the back of our yard (we back up to a canal leading to Lake Houston). I brought them back to the sand box several times but they kept heading straight back to this one spot to dig. After several rounds of this dance, I started bringing them back into the house (I am trying not to let them self reward with behaviors that may not be acceptable to their new families). When I picked Prim up, I noticed something hanging out of her mouth. On closer inspection, there were actually 2 small grey legs and a long skinny tail hanging out of her mouth! Luckily my husband was out in the yard with me. I won't tell you how loudly I screamed for him to come get that thing out of her mouth:-). Scared me to death. I contacted my rescue coordinator to make sure there wasn't anything I needed to be concerned about them catching from the mouse. It was a tiny baby. I hate the thought of them having killed it (I guess it may have already been dead but I don't think so).

Then last night, they all started to have loose stools. I am in a panic thinking they have eaten something that has made them sick. Called my rescue coordinator (yes, I am a very high maintenance volunteer) and contacted a supervisor as well. We finally decided that perhaps it was a reaction to the wormer I gave yesterday morning especially since all of them seemed to be affected at the same time. The good news is that they all used the litter pan to go poop. I was changing it out quite a bit but it does show that they are really getting good at understanding where to go.

This morning, they had all gone poop (in the litter pan again) and everyone had firm stools! Yea!!!! Hopefully whatever it was is through their systems now. They never acted like they felt bad. Kept playing and tussling with each other.

Collars

Yesterday I put collars on the puppies to start getting them used to wearing them. I just put them on for an hour or so. At first Gael acted like nothing was going on but after running around a bit (and perhaps noticing that all the other puppies were scratching at their necks) he started scratching too. I don't know if I'll have them long enough to begin leash training as well but I am going to try to get them used to the collars at least. I only have 4 so need to get a 5th. The rescue gave me 3 and I had one from when my dog was a puppy that is the right size. Well, they can be shortened to the right size but they are so small that the collars have a great deal of overlap where they are adjusted. Here are a few photos.

Gidget slept the entire night (well, she didn't get me up at all. I'm not sure she was asleep all that time) outside the puppy pen. Yesterday morning she got me up scratching at the bedroom door. She still doesn't want to come into our room to sleep at night but maybe soon. I'm keeping a onesie on her when she is with the puppies so they don't nurse. They will get their 1st shots on Monday.

Gidget and all the puppies got wormed with Droncit today. They come in a capsule and I was afraid that they would choke the puppies but they took them like champs. Gael did cry but swalloed it real well. The others didn't blink an eye.

Here's a shot of Prim getting her beauty rest. They will sometimes all cuddle in this bed together. Not sure how they do it but a lot of layers are involved. Will have to get a shot of all of them soon.

Sandbox fun

Gidget spent most of last night out of the puppy pen. She wouldn't come into our room but stayed loose in the family room. In fact, I came out around 3:30am afraid of what I might find as it was so quiet out there (I still have the puppy monitor on so I can hear them). They all woke up and Gidget had to go in and clean up where one puppy had pooped in the litter box (good puppy!!!). She went outside herself and then settled back down until I got up at 6.

They were all posted to PetFinder last night. I hope we find really fabulous homes for these spectacular babies!

The puppies are really enjoying the sandbox. Here are a few pictures.

A lovely Sunday

This morning I took the puppies one at a time into the living room and worked on charging the clicker. I tried using ground beef as a treat. The only one who really liked it was Gael. The others took the beef but it wasn't something they seemed to regard as a treat. Gael actually pawed at my hand and chewed on it to get at the hamburger. They may be a bit immature for this but I'll give it a shot again tomorrow and see what happens.

They were all comfortable being separated from the rest of the litter and explored a bit. I'm really pleased at how confident and independent they are.

This afternoon when I took them outside, I was amazed when they jumped right in the sandbox and started digging. Now, a couple of times tehy did dig a bit in the flower bed but when I moved them to the sand box, they went right to it. I think they wil be pretty good at learning where to dig. I was really impressed with them.

China, here we come

I got some video of some of the puppies using the sandbox this morning. These are Fox Terrier puppies and they seem to be displaying what I understand is a breed characteristic, a strong instinct to dig. I will continue to redirect them to the sandbox. Boy are they intent on digging:-)

The adventure continues

The puppies are getting more and more adventurous. And another added bonus. We have diggers! My husband is out as I write getting sand and hopefully some kind of container so that we can set up a sandbox for them to dig in. If you are reading this and are interested in adopting one of these puppies, please note that you will want to set up such a place for them. I will begin working on teaching them that there are places they can dig to their hearts' content and places that they should not dig. Boy were they filthy when they came in this afternoon. But they all had smiles on their faces. They had tons of fun:-) 

I also put a doggie bed in the pen this morning. The seem to like snuggling up in it. I'm not sure if they will transfer to sleeping in it from the whelping box. It would be great to get that thing out of the pen. Not only does it take up a lot of room but it is a real pain to change the bedding now that the puppies are so mobile. I've thought of putting them in a crate when I clean up and may try that tomorrow. 

Today everyone is over 2# each!!! What a milestone. They seem to be very different sizes, even though there is only about 7 oz difference between the smallest (Haymitch) and the biggest (Prim).

I sent a rough draft of biographies of Gidget and the puppies to my foster coordinator today. Weekends are super busy for rescues so I don't expect to have anything set to go before next week but they will all go on PetFinder soon. They aren't ready to go to homes yet but it won't be long. I will miss them terribly.

My husband also built me an enclosure for their potty area. They were using it to play in and Gidget was trying to lie down to nurse them there (although she is not nursing them very much at all anymore and mostly just stands still for a few seconds and they try to grab a snack as she passes through.). I have also switched to using the comercial pee-pee pads. I had read not to use them as it kept things smelling to nice but I have found that they seem to go in the proper place better with them. At any rate. The enclosure helps contain the paper (which they like to chew and shred all over the place). With this frame, I can weight down the edges and they seem to be using it ok. I think they are getting better although I still find a few pees and poos in the play area. I also found a small pee in the whelping box this afternoon. Not sure who did it. It's been days since I found any spots in their bed. If they continue, I may take it out of there. They seem not to sleep in there very much anymore so may not view it as bed now.

I got some photos of Gidget playing with the puppies this afternoon. She's such a great Mommy. I am always amazed at how well she plays with them at her age.

They are starting to eat fairly well. I think I have stumbled on a combination they like. It's Royal Canin starter for small dogs and Innove canned puppy food mixed together. Gidget doesn't seem to be nursing them very much. They may be on track.

They seem to be doing better on their potty training. many times I go in there and find that someone has peed or pooped on the paper. I do need to come up with a better set up though. I took the litter pan out as they really didn't seem to want to go there. The do want to play on the paper though. I've seen somewhere that I may need to put up some kind of barrier so that they have to enter to go potty. Hopefully I can get my husband to help me this weekend.

They turned 6 weeks old today. I just can't believe it. They got wormed again.

I'm working on getting photos of everyone so that the rescue can post them on PetFinder. I am able to get good shots of a few but not all. Here are some that I like (I won't repost the ones of Prim).

This is Gael

This is Haymitch

Here's Katness

Here come Peeta