New collars  

I got the new collars in today. They are not quite what I imagined but we'll work with it. I will attach a picture as a guide so you can know who is who   Click here to see new COLLARS 

Ugh, diarrhea. Not fun at all! It's messy & smelly. I took a sample to my vet for a culture to make sure we have nothing serious. It came back with a large amount of bacteria. They need to be given Flagyl & Bismupaste liquid twice a day. The puppies HATE it. Poor little ones gagged, foamed at the mouth & spit up.  I am going to try mixing it with yogurt to see if that helps the taste. What a chore this is going to be for the next five days! Always, always appreciate a firm stool 
 

Prayers for Lola! 

Sparta's beautiful half sister Lola is going into labor tonight. She is headed to the vets for a possible c-section, so I am asking for all healing thoughts & prayers to be sent to Lola, her puppies & the Wise family. I know the pure anguish of going through this all to well. Go Lola! Here is her lovely owners site Wise Ridgebacks 

Spiders! 

I hate them. I know they are smaller than me but they freak me out. The reason I mention this is because a HUGE (did I say HUGE) red one was in the whelping box!   Of course this was at around 4:30am & I couldn't wake up my husband or son to save me. I couldn't let him attack my babies, so I did what I could & nailed him with a fly swatter AND drenched him with cleaner that I had in the room. I couldn't bring myself to grab him with a paper towel to throw him away though. Yuck. 

The puppies are moving around much better. Their little back legs are trying hard to catch up with those front legs. I heard one of them actually bark! It was the cutest thing ever   I did more toenail trims, which now they act like it hurts but I have yet to hit the quick. They also got their first dose of a wormer. Carol, future owner of the orange boy helped hold each puppy (thank you Carol). They did great & it didn't seem to bother them when I squirted it in their mouth.  

Ahura's swelling is pretty much gone now...yay! 

I have also ordered new collars for all the puppies. That ric rac just doesn't stay on & the velcro ones I made aren't much better. Once I get them, I will let you know which color goes to whom.   

Last, Sparta is still being a picky eater! I think she is the cause of most of my gray hairs 
  

We have eyes!  

They are still a little shut, but most of the puppies have them open...so cute! I think they are starting to hear also. They react to the sounds where they did not before. Sparta is not happy to lay in the box with dirty blankets, so guess I will be changing those more frequently. All the pups are over 2 lbs except the orange boy who is over 3 lbs   

Vet visit 

All went well. Little Uhuru didn't make a peep the entire time! Sparta checked on her baby constantly while we were there. The swollen area is much better today anyway & my vet Dr.Wingert (the best by the way) said it is just fluid & should all be gone soon. He also removed her stiches, not a sound did she make....  He also took out Sparta's staples which was not easy. Several of them had moved around & really dug themselves in. He said he prefers stiches to staples for that reason. It takes longer during the surgery but it is well worth the effort. Good to know for next time around! As a bonus, he didn't charge me for this visit. Such a great guy! 

Day 11 

Our little post-op green girl is having some swelling above the incision site. I have an appointment tomorrow for her to see my vet & Sparta will get her staples removed. Those are more than ready to come out as I have found two staples already on the bedding. Back to little green girl. A wonderful family will be taking her home when she turns 8 weeks old & they have chosen a beautiful name for her.... Uhuru, Swahili for Liberty and Freedom, with her registered name being Regiment's Bless her Heart. That name makes me teary every time but is just so fitting. So let's all say prayers & healing thoughts for our little Uhuru to continue to be strong & overcome her post-op woes. I attached an adorable picture of her that I took this morning   Side note. All the pups are continuing to gain weight. The orange boy tops out over 3 lbs!  

We made it through the first week! 

I can't believe they are a week old already. It's been a busy blur. Last night, I managed to get all the nails clipped minus one paw on the orange boy. Not to shabby : ) Today was a fun day. Friends Carol, ML, Lee-Anne & Shannon stopped by with yummy food & coffee...thank you ladies! Sparta did wonderful with all the comotion. The pups were given fresh new collars & plenty of gentle touches.

I also made a mad dash to the repro. vet for a collection of Gane. We are doing a very exciting breeding with Tji-Wara kennels. Now the anxious anticipation for the results of Aja's breeding. Thank you Carol for babysitting the puppies while I was gone.

Sparta made me laugh last night. While changing the bedding, I put the pups in the warming box. Once I moved the pups back to the whelping box, Sparta though she would enjoy the warming box as well. Pictures attached


Goats Milk 

This morning, Angel & her son Brandon came by to drop off fresh goats milk for Sparta. What a nice thing to do  Angel also made us some wonderful homemade granola, which I love! It was great that they could see the puppies & Sparta didn't seem upset. We didn't touch her babies, just talked around her & she did fine. Gane got some much deserved love & hugs, so he was happy too.  

All the pups are gaining weight. The biggest right now is the orange boy. He is huge & heavy at almost 2 pounds....wow

Day after surgery 

Little green girl is doing great! She's been nursing like crazy & there is no swelling to her surgery site. I may have to call her "Bless her heart"  The other pups are doing well with the dew claws also. Some of the stitches have fallen out but there is not any bleeding. The bone was removed as well as the dew claw so the stitches were needed. Sparta doesn't seem to notice them, which is great. I want her leaving those & her own staples alone. Sparta also ate chicken last night, this morning & also some scrambled egg. She didn't love those though. She had her usual goats milk mixed w/pedilyte which she lapps eagerly. I've also been giving her something called Mother's Pudding. It's a mixture of egg yolk, sugar, goats milk & vanilla pudding. She LOVES that. It's the one thing she still likes so I'm sticking with it.

I actually got some sleep  I still checked the puppies often but what a nice relief!

The collars keep falling off the puppies. I made ones with velcro but they are still a tad too big to use. I also decided to weigh the puppies in the whelping box w/Sparta. She did much better with this than taking them 1 foot away to the table. The vet wants me to help stimulate the puppies to poop. She suggested taking them & running warm water over their little butts & rub them with a cotton ball at the same time. Sparta was NOT a fan of me doing this with her babies. Again I will move the warm water & cotton balls to her neck of the woods...sounds fun doesn't it