Velvet is puppyish

Velvet has been frisky and getting the zippy zoomies for the last several days. I've been having to take her outside at work more often just to let her run circles around the yard. A couple of times the last couple of days she has even zipped up and down the halls at work a couple of times. Even like this, she is still very well behaved. This is just odd behaviour for her. Thank goodness she hasn't run when/where there have been residents. That would be terrible if she knocked into one of the folks. Anyway, I wonder what is up. I've gone back to feeding Velvet and Rosie all raw food. Maybe that is agreeing with them very well.

Velvet had the zoomies for a few minutes at work again today. One of the residents and I took her outside for a couple of minutes and watched her run laps around the gazebo. She looks so puppyish when she does that. It only took a few minutes until she was back to normal. What a goofy girl.

I've heard from several of Mera/Meeko's puppies the last few days. They are going through coat change now.

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Ah Ha!

I had an "Ah ha!" moment at 5:00 this morning when I was lying in bed not sleeping. For the last two nights Velvet has kept me awake. She does one single bark-woof about every 1 to 1 1/2 hours all during the night. When I got up to take her outside, she just would take a couple of steps and just look intently in the fields by our house. She doesn't seem to want anything, doesn't need to go out, has food and water, she just wants to go outside and look. Hmmm, the friskiness, the zoomies, the wanting to go out during the night...then it dawned on me....that is exactly the way she acted when she was in heat. It is that time of year for her too. She has gone through this for a few days about every six months even after getting spayed. This is bizarre.

Name that Theme

The puppies have their temporary names and they got their microchips today. It is so much easier doing it early. Here they are, now see if you can Name That Theme:

Ben


Adam


Hoss (I'm holding his head up so you can see the white on his neck and front)


Joe


Ponderosa


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Rosie and the puppies are doing super well. She has a spring back in her step already and is not even dripping blood. The puppies are getting bigger by the hour and haven't needed any help at all. I removed their dew claws, but not sure if I got deep enough. If I didn't go deep enough they will grow back.

No more puppies

I confess, I was secretly hoping Rosie would pop a surprise puppy out for me. I was holding out hope for a girl. Man, I really really wanted to keep a girl out of this litter to breed. Although the contract I have with Rosie's guardian family stipulates I can breed her for one more litter, I'd like to go ahead and spay her. Now I'm torn. What to do, what to do... Rosie comes from great lines, carries a deep red, and has great hips. Francie is the only girl I have from her since I was planning on keeping a girl from this litter. Francie hasn't gotten pregnant and what if she can't. Red is really "in". I'll have to think this over for the next four weeks.

Puppies

The puppies have started coming. Rosie/Mars have one red boy so far. I better get back in there with her. She has been practically sitting on my lap.

3 boys so far.

4 red boys so far. Come on everybody, chant with me...red girls...red girls...red girls...

5 red boys. I think she is finished.
Rosie had five puppies in the early hours this morning; all red boys.

Just look at these sweet little faces

All is well.

Jane S
http://www.lincolnmanor.com

Oh Crap!

Francie is not pregnant! Man! I really needed this litter. What am I going to do? I could just puke about his. Rick came over last night and helped me set up a budget and look at my bills. I had no idea what kind of financial position I was (am) in. I am a full paycheck short of being able to pay my bills each month. That doesn't even include saving anything or taking care of unexpected expenses. This means I either have to get a second job, or quit my current job and get one that pays a lot more, or move in with Rick. Crap, now what?

Seriously, Rosie is in labor right now. She is on the chair and is very restless. She is panting and has the tremors, and her temperature has dropped two degrees. She should have them tonight.

Rosie is in labor

Rosie started looking like she was in labor this morning when I was getting ready for work. I called Teri to have her come check on her every couple of hours or so and let me know.

We had an all-staff meeting at work this afternoon. There must have been at least 40 people there in the dining room. Just as the meeting started and it was quiet, my cell phone rang. My cell phone never rings. It was Teri so I had to run out of the meeting to answer it (good thing I'm a boss). She was just letting me know Rosie is fine and no puppies yet. O.k., just as I got settled back in my spot at the meeting I noticed Velvet was roaming around the dining room looking for me. I tried to very discretely get her attention. That wasn't easy to do and I didn't do a very good job of it. Now that I had sufficiently disrupted the meeting and most eyes were on me and Velvet and not on the speaker, Velvet picks that very moment to go into the kitchen for the very first time ever. I could hear plenty of gasps and giggles as I had to bolt from my spot again and run to retrieve Velvet from the one place in the building in which she is not allowed. Have I mentioned that I am supposed to be a professional and a leader there? Velvet and I left the meeting and hid in my office. I didn't even get in trouble.

No puppies today.

20th Anniversary

Today is our 20th wedding anniversary. We went out to lunch and had a nice time.

Lacey went home today. She is all done with her cycle.

The old cat boys went to their new home today. Of course they went together. I wouldn't even consider splitting them up. It is so sweet. The couple that came to get them said everybody wants kittens, but they want to give the older cats a chance. Now all the kitties have their forever families.

Rosie came back this evening. She is here until after she weans her puppies.

The little kitty boy went to his forever home at 10:00 pm this evening. He went to an 8th grade girl. She seemed thrilled with him. Awww, *sniff* that was the little kitty that didn't have good odds at surviving. Now he is all grown (well, not all grown) and healthy and has his own family.

Today the ad for the kitties came out in the newspaper. It is really time to find homes for them.

Yea! A gross poopy story!

Seriously guys, this is super gross so don't read it if you have a weak stomach.

As usual, Velvet was following me around at work today. As we walked by one of the rooms, a lady was standing in it and called out "hey! hey!". When we stopped and turned toward her she asked "Hey, what's that?" She pointed to something on the floor. As I was walking into her room I quickly noticed a brown puddle on her bed, her pants had a brown stain, and there was a rather unpleasant odor in the room. Um, it really didn't take a close inspection to know what was on the floor. As she was at this time, this lady is typically confused. I couldn't just suggest to her that she go to the bathroom and change her pants. I had to take her by the hands, coax her to follow me to the bathroom, and help her. I was trying to go fast so I could clean the floor of her room before any visitor would happen to walk by and see it. As soon as I could, I slipped out of the bathroom to clean the floor. ooooo, noooo, there was nothing on the floor when I got there. As much as I would love to give my co-workers the benefit of the doubt, I know none of them would have slipped in and cleaned it and slipped back out. Velvet was standing there looking happy. Ooooo nooo, errp, gag, coff, puke! She had poopy breath! Thank goodness, just then one of the nursing assistants came in to take over for me. I hurried Velvet over to make rounds of the different office people who keep treats for her. I wanted to get that taste out of her mouth. First stop was the office manager who gave her a leftover muffin. Next we went to the social workers office. One of them gave her some doggie treats. The other offered breath mints. Velvet would eat them, so I put them in her mouth and held her mouth shut. Ugh! It still didn't help. Later on I ate lunch in the office with the other RNs. For some reason, nobody wanted Velvet sitting by them as they ate.

Teri (my sister) took the kitty girl home with her. She has been planning on taking her but left her with us for awhile to keep her kitty brother company. Teri decided she had waited long enough and took her today.

Poor Kingston, Poor Lacey

Lacey is in heat and hanging out here with us so she and DaVinci don't do it. Kingston is our little 11 pound fully grown and tested F1B stud boy. He hasn't had a job yet, so I figured "what the heck", and invited him over today. If he would get Lacey pregnant they would have all chocolate little puppies. It was kind of funny and sad at the same time, watching them. He comes up to about her knees. I think Lacey felt ripped-off. She acted a little excited but confused. She would dance around a little and sniff him, then look at me like "No way, what is this? Where is my man? I want a real stud, not some little toy". Kingston would make a little half-hearted attempt to do her knee, then dance around a little more. His guardian mom (who is my friend Connie) and I backed Lacey up to the coffee table which was just the right height for him to stand on to reach her. Then I made a little attempt to help them mate. I guess I didn't want this litter badly enough to do what it takes to ... um... help him as much as he needed. So we let them loose to play in the back yard for a bit, then Kingston and Connie left. No puppies for Lacey this time around.

Rosie went home this evening.

Dave Thomas Celebrity Cook-Off

Guess who cooked our supper tonight? Jeff Burris, former Colts football player, and Ryan Thompson, former NY Yankee #33. Ooh laa laa, nice eye candy. I was invited to the Children's Bureau silent auction and celebrity cook off this evening. It was held at Benihana's, a Japanese restaurant with hibachi grills. I got Ryan's chef hat, apron, and name tag (all are autographed). It was so much fun. Anyway, what does this have to do with doodles? bunches. I donated a future pup to the auction. Since Jill is adopted, this charity is dear to our heart.

Three of my guardian families came to my rescue today. Thanks so much Aly, Liz, and Tiffany. I've known for weeks this event was coming up, but did I do anything about it? Noooo, of course not. I waited not a week before, not even a day before, but a mere hours before I had to be there to find doodles to take. Well, actually, I did try to find some puppies to take. The person I contacted never called me back and I just kept waiting hoping she would. I also had already made the arrangements to take Rosie since it was going to more than likely be one of her pups that would be donated. Now wait a minute, wait a minute. I need to stop and explain what I'm talking about. Dang, I've already written so much. Hang on while I erase it. There. I'll start a new paragraph and tell you what is going on.

So, The Children's Bureau has this annual fundraiser for their adoption program. Since Jill is adopted and this is very dear to my heart, I agreed to donate a pup...with stipulations. I would not bring a puppy to be auctioned off. The puppy is not to be a surprise gift for someone else. The high bidder is to fill out an application and be matched up with a future puppy to ensure getting the right puppy. The pups are not even born yet so that will give the high bidder plenty of time to prepare for a puppy. The bidder gets a choice of litters so the timing will be right for his/her family. Since Rosie and Francie are pregnant I wanted to take them to show people the moms. I also wanted to take Honey to show what a light color wool looks like. I also thought she might be the size of Rosie and Francie's pups as adults. Turns out she is just a little bigger than I thought. Still, she is awfully cute. Now back to the story:

So, Honey's guardian mom was so sweet any brought her to the gas station that was right on my way to the event. She had Honey all clean and brushed and even had bows on her ears. She is adorable (Honey). Francie's guardian mom and guardian grandmom came above and beyond to the rescue. They not only brought Francie, they went in and helped me. They stood there hanging on to the leashes and helped me talk to people. I was so not expecting that. Poor Francie was miserable. She is the equivalent of being about three or four months pregnant. She has morning sickness and just was not on top of the world like doods usually are. I ended up sending them all home. Rosie and Honey and I stayed there and worked the crowd. Honey's guardian family came and picked her up right it was time for Rick (he came to join me for dinner) and I to go inside and eat. Some of the event volunteers watched Rosie for us. It was a great time. Rick took pictures with his phone camera but I don't know how to get it to here.

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Velvet is happy. She got to go to work and Rosie and Lacey had to stay home.

Poor Velvet, she had to stay home with Rosie and Lacey today. She got excited when she saw me come out of the bedroom wearing my work uniform and ran for the door so excited-like. Although she didn't protest when I didn't let her out the door with me, she wasn't thrilled. She needed a day off work. She will go with me tomorrow.

Velvet went to work with me today. She just loves going to work. She get so much attention. Bryony and her friend spent the day here while I was at work. They played with the cats and with Rosie and Lacey.

Feeding frenzy

Wow, one would think poor Lacey and Rosie hadn't eaten in two weeks. I got a chicken out of the fridge and cut it up to give to Velvet and the baby kittens. Lacey and Rosie just went nuts jumping around and sniffing the air and hanging around by my elbows watching my every move. They acted so excited and just couldn't wait to get some of that yummy raw chicken. Well, uh, I spoke with Rosie's guardian mom specifically about this and told her I wouldn't give Rosie any. Well..uh..ehhum..*coff*sorry Linda*coff. How could I say no to that poor pitiful face? I just gave Lacey and Rosie each one little 'ole chicken leg quarter each. They loved them and did great. The baby kitties ate the wings and did well. Even one of the big boy cats came over and acted not totally disgusted. That is a start for him. Velvet got the rest of the chicken. That was a lot of chicken for her. She probably won't eat for another two days now.

Rosie is back

Rosie is here while her family goes on vacation. She came as soon as I got off work at 9:00pm this evening. She is looking great...and pregnant. I had it in my head that she is due Oct 15th, but realize she is due Oct 23rd. Anytime between Oct 17-23 would be considered term. Chant with me everybody...tiny red girls...tiny red girls...tiny red girls.

I will more than likely be spaying Rosie after this litter. According to the contract we can breed her one more time, but I probably won't. I'll probably keep a girl out of this litter to carry on in Rosie's place.

You know who we never hear from? Ruby. See, you don't even know who Ruby is do you? She is the female we kept from Mera and Da Vinci's first litter. She is cream with a liver nose and is small. She is fully health tested and has great hips. She is over two years old and according to her guardian mom hasn't had her first cycle yet. riiiiight

Lacey is back

Man, can you believe it? Lacey is in heat again already. She is such a horn-dog. The last of her puppies from her most recent litter went home only last week. She lives with DaVinci, her stud husband. They do not need to be getting together again so soon so Lacey came here today to ride out the storm of her cycle. Maybe I will call Kingston and let him come over and play. hmmmmm, they would have all chocolate mini babies...hmmmm...

The kitties played sailcat last night. I was sleeping and the 2 babies kept playing with my hair and digging their tiny claws in my scalp. I barely woke up and in that groggy-not-thinking-clearly state thought something like "I'm too tired to get up and put them in the bathroom. I'll let them play with my hair, it will feel good when they scratch my head". Uh, no. Don't be fooled by tiny kitty claws. They are sharp. It took about 4 tosses off the bed before they got the hint and left my face and head alone.

Kitties are back

So the other day I called Rick (my husband) and practically begged him to come and get the kittens and find homes for them. Bless his heart, the next day he came and took them to his friend's house. Well, over the next couple of days I was able to piece together the following information:

1) he didn't really want the kittens
2) he only took them as a favor to Rick
3) he was going to turn them loose in the fields and have them become wild
4) he had no intention of keeping vaccinated
5) he had no intention of spaying the female

Woa! Hold the phone there Nellie! No way, nunhunh, not gonna let this one go. Not gonna let that kitty girl grow up and have litter after litter of wild kitties who will grow up and have their own litter after litter of wild kitties. We have put too much time and love in these kitties for them to be happy being neglected wild kitties. They love attention and affection. Well, after several calls to Rick, he went and got the kitties back for me. He was not a camper about it. Actually I think he was embarrassed to ask his friend for them back. Sorry about that...but...

Anyway, he and Bry brought them back for me. They didn't stick around and back to their house. I packed up one of the kitty boys, this oneand took him right away to a nurse at my work. She wanted one and was so excited to get him. One down, two to go.

Anybody want a cat?

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Bear went home this evening. Wow, now we only have Velvet and the 2 big boy old boy cats. We are normal.