The puppies have suddenly turned into little adventurers! They are eager to explore the world outside the puppy pen and they do so at every opportunity.
They have also become RETRIEVERS! They pick up and carry small toys or anything else that is not firmly attached to the ground.
After we have fed them, they quickly run off in all directions, to see what they can get into before we put them back in their pen. When we sit on the floor with them, they clamber over us, pull on our clothing, bite our toes, lick us and try to get us to play with them.
Their house training is still going well. Even when they are loose outside of the puppy pen, they seek out the newspaper or pee pads when they have to go. All of their poops and most of the pee now lands in the right part of the puppy pen!
We have added beef to their menu and some ground oatmeal, but it is still mixed to a mush with goatsmilk.
April 26
Things seemed to be going so well yesterday and Tally enjoyed her first swim in the river in the late afternoon. But by the evening we realized that something was wrong and discovered that she had mastitis in one of her front breasts and was running a high fever. We took her in to the vet first thing this morning. Unfortunately she has to go on a very strong antibiotic and the puppies are not allowed to nurse while she is on the antiobiotics. This is going to be very hard on all of us, but most of all Tally, who loves looking after her puppies. The pups will be just fine, as they are eating heartily now. Tally is feeling quite miserable right now, but once the antibiotics kick in, she should perk up.
Last night we fed the puppies just before we went to bed and they slept throught the night quietly, even though they didn't have Tally there to feed them in the night. They were pretty eager to get fed in the morning though!
Tally is finally starting to feel a little better. The affected gland is back to a more normal size, but a second gland became infected once the puppies stopped nursing. We have to put hot packs on the affected glands and milk them down several times a day. This seems to help her to feel better.
We know when she is feeling better because then she demands to be with her puppies. We can't let them nurse, because the antibiotic causes cartiledge to break down, so this is not something that we want growing puppies to consume. But we let her visit them through the sides of the pen or by holding them up to her face, so that she can lick them.
Being a very clever dog and devoted mother, Tally decided that if she couldn't nurse her puppies, she would feed them by regurgitating for them instead. She also seems to be trying to figure out if she can encourage them to nurse through the bars of the pen. So we have to keep a close eye on her and not let her near the pen when we are not there to watch.
The puppies are doing very well and have quickly adjusted to the lack of milk from Tally. They are still getting mostly turkey, beef and goatsmilk, with some occasional oatmeal and egg. They also got a deer bone to chew on, as we thought it might help with their teething. They were very interested in it, but they were not really able to get any meat off of it just yet. They then fell asleep on it - funny thing to choose for a pillow!
The big development this week was the opportunity to explore the OUTSIDE! They all took this in stride, sniffng the grass, walking around, peeing and pooping (of course) and running back to us for reassurance every few minutes. We take them out in small groups of two or three at a time, as nine puppies is too many to keep an eye on at once!
Week 5 seems to be racing by...... The human-sleep deprivation project is going quite well though, ha ha ha! The puppies are missing their midnight snacks from Tally and they like to lodge their complaints with the management at about 5:30 am. They have us very well trained, as we leap out of bed and run downstairs to feed them and clean out their pen. The amount of pee and poop that puppies can produce overnight is quite astonishing.
This week they have been introduced to wearing collars. They are actually quite accepting of the collars and scratch at them only occasionally. Each puppy has been assigned a collar colour. They wear their collars during play and feeding times.
The weekend brought more visitors to play and snuggle with. The puppies are very people oriented and will jump into anyone's lap, no questions asked! They got a few more outdoor play sessions and they get more adventurous with every one. In the early hours of Sunday morning we had a tremendous thunderstorm, with lightening striking very close by on several occasions. We went downstairs to check on the puppies (and the rest of the house!) and they were awake, but busy playing quietly with eachother. Apparently the thunder did not bother them at all. They heard thunder again on one of their outdoor play session today. Again, there was no real reaction from the puppies - yay!
Today we put a few cookies in their pen, thinking they might just suck on them a bit. Well....within a few minutes, the little piranahs had broken them into many pieces and eaten some.
Tally is still not very happy about not being able to be with her pups, but she is feeling good and was able to go swimming on the weekend. She lies by the puppy pen whenever she can and licks them through the bars. Soon they will be able to be reunited!
