Kitties

Fabuke still hasn't returned, so I went to the humane society and the kill shelter looking for him today. He wasn't at either. The cats at the humane society were in rooms with cat trees and toys and windows and they all looked healthy and happy. I went to the kill shelter second and those cats were in little steel cages and were not all nice and happy and cozy. I told the guy that I wouldn't mind taking the oldest one he has. He took me over to these two cats that were beside each other in separate cages. These two guys are 7 years old, littermates, have lived together all their lives, and their owner died. Now they are in the kill shelter, in separate cages, and will likely be put to sleep because nobody will adopt them over all the cute little kittens. Of course I took them.They are both neutered boys. They have their claws. They are huge, used to children, and not fazed by Velvet.
Cloud
Axle

Peek-a-boo I see you
Somebody catch me
Phil

Bessie's puppies are out having fun too
You can't get meTeeheeeheeeThat Souprize tells the funniest jokes.
Get that stuffed bunny
No, I'd rather get this bad 'ole weed

Another family came today to see the puppies. Ah, now this is more like it. They stayed for 2 1/2 hours and seemed to love the puppies. It was fun. Their daughter is allergic to dogs, so they needed to stay a long time to make sure she would be o.k. She was fine. They will be back in a couple of weeks to get their puppy.

Buki is not back yet. I'm getting worried.

I'm late I'm late for a very important date

A family was scheduled to come over this evening at 7pm. I was planning on getting off work at 4:30 pm. That was going to give me plenty of time to get Jill, get home, get supper, and get ready. One thing after another kept happening at work and I just couldn't get out of there. Finally at 7pm I put my hands up to shield my eyes, told the others "I'm not here. I have to go. Don't even talk to me." Then I left.

The family arrived right after I got home. The mom and kids seemed to like the puppies. The dad appeared so totally bored and unimpressed. I'm sure I'll never hear from those people again.

Mera didn't do it this time

Lacey is always acting like she is just going to starve to death. I find myself caving in and giving her my leftovers (in her bowl, never out of my hands or on my plate). Well, yesterday I put a roast in the crockpot before I went to work. I totally forgot about it and on my way home from work I stopped at Wendy's and picked up supper. I ended up giving Lacey the roast. Boy did I ever pay for it. The only carpet she was able to get to was my bedroom. She went out of her way to go in my room and had diarrhea on my carpet. Peeeyouuuuuueeee. That was nasty. I opened the window and put a fan in front of it to try to blow the stink out. Oops, Fabuki the cat jumped out the window. Oh well, he has escaped a couple of times before and was always back within a day or two.

So what does Mera have to do with this? I used to write about every little thing she did. It seemed like she got blamed for everything. She is spending the week with us but she didn't do this.

Weaning

Lacey is getting serious about weaning her puppies. She doesn't lay down for them. If they are able to grab a snack, it is on the run.
That is how mama dogs do it.
Her puppies are enjoying some fresh air.

No laughs today

Souprize and Squirt are not laughing today. They are getting neutered

Guess who is the litter clown (like a class clown)

Hey youCome hereI wanna tell ya somefinSOUPRIZE!!
HAHAHAHA I'm so funny.

A doodle in disguise

Bessie and Bear have such cute puppies. They don't exactly look like doodles though.This is Buttons. He is so fluffy and cute.
BB does look doodley.
Hey! Who stuck this German Shephard puppy in the litter? Souprize really is a doodle. Honest, I saw his parents do it and I revived him at birth.
Aww, Squirt is such a...a...a squirt.

Chamois/Tucker pups have all flown the coop

Geoffrey was the last of Chamois' pups to go home. It is really interesting to see in what order the pups are chosen. In this litter, the pup that ...uh...wouldn't win a beauty contest was the first chosen and the one that I thought had the best coat and was the prettiest was the last to go. It is just a matter what the family wants...wool vs fleece vs easy to maintain hair coat; boy vs girl; big vs small; black vs chocolat (or whatever is available); outgoing vs laid back, etc. Sometimes the last to go in one litter would be the pick of another litter.

Anyway, I'm really excited and pleased at the placements of Chamois' puppies. One went to a retired school teacher(s) couple, another to a family with the mom/wife who works at a nursing home and will be taking the pup with her to work; another will be a companion to a stay at home disable husband. The others went to equally wonderful homes.

Geoffrey, a Chamois (Shabbi) x Tucker boy, got neutered. He is such a good looking boy

Look at what a good boy Bear is. He just lets Jill sit on him and poke rubber chickens in his mouth. He is a funny boy. In the morning he will bring a toy to me and "talk" to me and tell me to throw it for him. It isn't a bark, but more of a talk. When people don't know what he is doing, they think he is trying to growl or something. Nope, it is definately a happy noise.

Here are a couple of Lacey's pups.

That's a Croc 'a puppy

Peyton went back home today. Before he left I took a picture of him with the same shoe he had his picture taken in as a newborn.
Payton is one of those guys. He was about 7 ounces then.
Here is he is now. He is 12 months old and 15 pounds now.

Lacey is on drugs. Can you tell?

Lacey the mom

Bessie came to the rescue yesterday and took care of the newborns. Bryony stayed up all night with them. She said at some point during the night Lacey started taking care of her own pups. See how big they are? They look like one week old puppies.

Lacey's Cesarean Section

Poor poor Lacey. She continues being in labor. The odd thing about her labor is she isn't pushing. She doesn't seem in distress, just uncomfortable. She is acting famished, and she follows me around. At this point I'm letting her go (hang out, not "go") wherever she wants. She was on the chair for awhile and acted like she was trying to have her puppies there.

This morning I took a couple of Shabbi's puppies to the vet to be neutered. I asked if the vet would give me some doses of pitocin so I could give it to Lacey. They said that since Dr Baker wasn't in today they (two other vets in the practice) didn't feel comfortable with it. They said Dr Baker would be in tomorrow and he could help me. Uh, no way I'm going to let Lacey go that long. She is in labor today and needs help today.

I went back home and alternated between sitting with Lacey and getting some things done. I kept an eye on the clock. Shortly after noon o'clock I called my vet's office and said I had a dog in labor that likely needs a C-Section. I said if the vet is too busy I'd be glad to take her to Northwood. That is the vet hospital and surgery center where I've taken several others. (Ellie the cleft palate puppy, the original JR, Rosie with her second delivery, and a couple others). That is also where Lacey and Da Vinci's guardian family takes them, so they are her regular vet and know her. Anyway, she (vet tech) said the vet is out to lunch right now. Whew! I was off the hook. I could go to Northwood guilt-free. I just kept thinking about Velvet's C-Section and how she lost 5 puppies. I've been wanting to go to this other hospital if I ever needed another emergency C-Section. So, I loaded up Lacey and took her to the hospital. The vet there checked her cervix (I checked her cervix at home and thought she was completely dilated but wasn't sure) and said she is completely dilated. He said he could give her a dose of pitocin and see what she does. He gave her dose and after 1/2 hour she hadn't started pushing at all. He gave her another dose, gave us some blankets, and turned out the lights. I sat under the table with her in the hopes of her being calm enough to have the puppies. She didn't push at all but I could feel she was having contractions. After 1/2 hour the vet said she needed a C-Section. I saw that coming. I didn't get to go back with her. Lacey's guardian mom works just a couple blocks away. I went to see her, then I went to the grocery store. When I got back to the hospital I had to wait only a few minutes before the surgeon came out to talk to me. He said Lacey was full of big puppies and that was a big load for her. She had 9 puppies and they are all healthy and beautiful. She has:
one chocolate girl
one black girl
two chocolate boys
five black boys
They are all wool except for two of the black boys.
As soon as Lacey was able to walk I loaded them all up in the van and took them to her guardian mom's work so she could see them. After a few minutes I took them on home. Lacey didn't know why in the world I kept trying to show those puppies to her. She didn't want a thing to do with them. She looked dazed and confused and danced around to keep me from holding them up to her. Bessie, on the other hand, was dying to see and lick the puppies. Finally I had Bessie lay down and give the puppies their first meal. She did great. Thank goodness for Bessie.

I had to get up and go to work in the morning so Bryony stayed up all night keeping an eye on the puppies and on Lacey and Bessie.

Lacey is in labor

Lacey is in labor and is definately going to have those puppies today.
Everything is ready for her. I even wrapped her tail to keep it clean.


Uh, no, she didn't have them.

Due date

Today is Lacey's due date. They had already scheduled this day off for me because of that. She is looking mighty close to having those puppies. But alas, she did not have them today.

The Good Fairy

I have a good fairy. This is as neat as peanut butter. This morning I left a note on the kitchen table of what I wanted done, went to work, and when I came home that stuff was done. The puppy areas were clean, the pups were weighed and dewormed, and other stuff was done.

Poor Lacey is looking miserable.

My first full day at work

Yucky, I had to set the alarm again and get up early again. This makes two whole days in a row. whine whine

We have a lotta doggies here now...Velvet, Bear, Bessie, Lacey, Peyton, Shabbi's puppies, Bessie's puppies.

My first day and our Doodle Romp

Today was my first day on my new job. I need to learn the names of about a bajillion people, residents and employees.

We (Bryony and I) hosted a doodle romp this afternoon. I took Lacey because I was afraid she would go in to labor and have the puppies at home alone. This is her first litter. Oh, did I forget to mention that her guardian family brought her over yesterday morning? They are thinking she is going to have the puppies soon.
This is LaceyShe is a Velvet/Koby daughter. She is pregnant by Da Vinci. They live in the same guardian home.

The romp was o.k. There weren't as many people as usual. In a way that was nice. I was able to talk with nearly everybody and spend time with people who were just doodle shopping. Peyton, a Duchess/Rusty boy was there. I brought him home with me and will be puppy sitting him for the week.

I'm oriented

Today I had the general paperwork-and-learn-the-rules orientation. I'm a Supervisor for a local nursing home. I'm not exactly sure what I'll be doing. They said the main part of my job is to put out the "fires". They are animal lovers and are going to work around my puppy business for right now. She (the director) understands that I have a litter of puppies due anytime now and will let me go/stay home when Lacey goes in to labor. My schedule is going to be somewhat flexible. I have to work 8 hours a day but the times are not set in stone. I can show up sometime around 8 or 9 or even 7 or maybe 9:30 in the morning. I'll be working every other weekend. On the weekends it totally doesn't matter when I show up as long as I get in 8 consecutive hours in the same day. That means I can't do 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. It has to be sometime between 12:01 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. Now how cool is that? I'll be working 4 days a week. Luida is going to come here four days during the week now and Bryony will work for me on my weekends to work.

Today I had the pre-employment physical for my new job.

Carlton (Chamois/Tucker boy) got neutered today.

Bessie's puppies are so dern cute. Buttons. Squirt is doing great. He is smaller than the rest but doesn't seem sick or sluggish.

Today is my birthday

I received several job offers (when it rains it pours) and accepted one of them.

Happy Birthday Sweetie

A family came today to meet Carlton and to see if they want him. Just look at thisof course they want him. They will be back for him after he gets neutered and when he is old enough to leave the nest.

Chamois retires

Today Chamois aka Shabbi got spayed and went to live with her guardian family. The timing is just right for them. They are moving to California this summer and looking forward to taking Chamois with them. Thank you Chamois/Shabbi for the five beautiful puppies.

Poor Chamois, she was puking sick after her surgery today. The pups, on the other hand, are doing great and up and playing like nothing ever happened. The adults always do so much crappier than the puppies.

In Loving Memory of Baby Junior aka Riley

Baby Junior aka Mac aka Riley 7/31/2005-5/26/2007

3 weeks of age
5 weeks
2 months and much smaller than the others
4 months and finally getting bigger
Riley at almost a year
Riley is all grown up.

Good bye Riley. May you rest in peace.

Your life was short but sweet. Although I'm glad you didn't have to suffer long, I'm sad your mom is sad.

Beauty Queen

Look what Jill did today. She was a Little Miss 500 contestant for the Little 500. Yup, she's a princess.

Today is when Bessie was due to have her babies.

Jill the Graduate

Look what Jill did todayShe graduated from preschool! Sniff sniff * my baby is growing up. The silly girl covered her face with her diploma just when I snapped the picture. The camera battery died right then and I couldn't get another shot.