Once Upon a Time
Once upon a time, we fostered a mom and her litter of puppies.
http://fosterpuppies-sue.blogspot.com/
I say ‘we’, but it was really me. It was my idea, I did all the hard work and actually, I got all the credit. So karmically, it all works out. We also ended up with one of the pups. That’s made this year largely about raising one little brown puppy. Of course, lots of other things happened along the way.
But…. we’re at it again. Or should I say, I’m at it again. We have another litter. This time, the mom is a doxie mix – only about 15 pounds and there are only 7 puppies. (In case you haven’t taken the time to read the other blog, I’ll give you the short version: German Short Hair Pointer (big hunting dog) and 11 puppies).
This time around, things are so much easier. For one thing, the poop is much smaller. That means less to clean up. That means the pups can actually have a den inside of a big crate. So they sleep in the crate/den and don’t poop in their den! So awesome, I can’t even tell you. Each time I walk downstairs, I’m greeted with happy, waggy puppies who have not just walked through their poop.
And this time around, all of the puppies look unique. With the last litter, every single one of them was brown and basically the same size. The only 2 that I could really tell apart from the rest was the runt (Einstein) and the biggest (Chief who now lives with us). These current puppies look different so I can start to see their different personalities.
Black Betty – she’s the biggest female and feisty. She doesn’t eat a ton, but tries to pick on everyone. And she stays awake longer than anyone else. She’s all black, with brown feet. Very soft and silky. But lots of attitude.
Gizmo – the biggest male is tri colored and keeps up with his huge sister, but just can’t do it. He’s goofy and prances when he walks.
Stripe – the tri-colored female with a white stripe down her face is pretty even. She hangs with the big guys, or goes back to sleep quickly with the littles.
These big 3 were all just 1 pound 3 ounces, 1 pound 4.5 ounces and 1 pound 9 ounces at the last weigh-in. Big by comparison to their litter mates, but at the same age, the other litter was 4 or 5 pounds at this age. Can you begin to appreciate the difference?
Chocolate is a beautiful creamy light brown colored puppy. She has a a white blaze on her face and a white tip on her tail. She likes to play, but is still just trying to eat and sleep.
Sandy – loves loves loves to eat! This little male eats, poops, eats, sleeps, eats. That’s it. He has ears like his mom which means that he will eventually look like the Flying Nun.
Rudy is a carbon copy of his big sister – black body with brown feet. He was only 11.5 ounces when he first came to us, but now, he is a whopping 1 whole pound! He’s learning to pick on everyone too. But is really too small to have much impact.
Pippy is the runt. She’s dark brown with a white stripe on her nose and is still only 12.5 ounces. She eats slow and steady, then heads back to the comfort of the den to conserve her energy for the next meal. If one of her bigger sibs picks on her, I’m right there to stop it. She needs all the help she can get!
Such a different experience from last time. I love it, of course. These little guys have no idea how close they came to not making it. And that’s just the way I like it.