Their Third Week

The 3rd week already, time flies with these pups in the house and keeping us busy!
At the end of last week my dear friend and rescue colleague Vicki Pearce of Shedd Rescue came to visit us and brought of tons of goodies like food, bully sticks, wee wee pads, toys, doggy litter and NorthWest Naturals raw meat.

Pups are eating a raw diet, in the morning they still eat their Solid Gold kibble, soaked, but they are slowly transitioning to raw. They’re going wild for the NorthWest Naturals Salmon and Turkey Dinner Bars. I had some left in the freezer from our Gwen who was crazy about fish, salmon especially. I decided to see if the pups would be interested in eating it, it’s so easy to feed. You just defrost it in their bowl and it’s ready to eat. All veggies, minerals and vitamins are added no need to worry about feeding the right amount. I sure hope prospective adopters will keep on feeding them raw as well, it has so many beneficial points. Of course I can’t force them to but I can put it in my list of what kind of home I’m looking for for these pups. They are at the start of a long healthy life we hope and feeding a good raw or no-grain diet will certainly help. In the long run one saves on vet costs because raw fed dogs and dogs who have been fed a no-grain diet do not see a vet as often as other pets do. Very few develop allergies or hot spots, and I haven’t seen a flea on my pets in years.

At the moment their schedule looks like this.
7:00 AM wake-up go outside potty and get breakfast, Solid Gold soaked kibble, being fed by Dad
7:15 AM Play time while Dad cleans up the pen and put down clean wee wee pads and cleans the doggy litter box.
7:30 AM Back in the pen with a chewy and play while Dad is having breakfast himself and goes to work from home with conference calls that we interrupt with heavy puppy whining, that's our job.
9:00 AM Mom gets up and takes us outside for play and potty while she has her first espresso in the yard, after that we’ll stay in the family room where they can run around and play and interact with the cats and Lotte for a while.
10:30 AM Back in the pen for a nap
12:00 Lunch time, NorthWest Naturals Dinner Bars and outside for potty and play. We again play and learn in the family room while mom works on her laptop.
2:00 PM Back in the pen for a nap while mom also goes for her nap till 5:30 PM.
5:30 PM Outside for potty and play in family room while Mom makes afternoon tea and wait for Dad to come home. Play with cats and Lotte and the agility tunnel. Watch the cats having dinner but we can’t reach the counter tops.
6:30 PM Lie in the kitchen in a circle like good little Border Collies to watch Mom preparing our dinner.
7:00 PM Dad’s home!
7:15 PM Dinner time! NW Natural Dinner Bars with a little bit of Lotte’s Sojos veggies because we’re crazy about them.
7:30 PM Potty time outside.
7:35 PM Nap while Mom and Dad have dinner.
10:00 PM Outside potty and play time with all family members in de family room! What fun we have!
10:45 PM Snack time, we get an apple, dried fruit like apricots or figs or cottage cheese with banana, YUM! We LOVE apples!
11:00 PM Last potty break and nite nite, sleep till morning.

Below:
Four pups and a ball; play time in the yard.



We decided that their pen was not working for me, I needed to bend over every time I had to clean or pick up a pup, and part of my illness is something called Orthostatic Intolerance, which makes me faint if I bend over, get up or turn too fast. Fainting and falling in the pen was not an option ;-) We cleared out our den, put the dining table in the living room and make a double fence from the pen units. The den and living room are an ‘open plan’ type of thing, and the den is reachable by sliding door from the kitchen. So now with the den fenced off and the crate in the den the pups have a wealth of space to play and lie wherever they want to. They have 2 doggy litter pans with a wee wee pad in front of it to catch anything that doesn’t make it ;-) I can walk from the kitchen into the den and sit on a chair and do whatever needs to be done. They also have windows now to look outside and that can open. They love it and when we’re in the living room working or watching tv they still can hear us.

Below:
Pups in their new pen.



Fynn asleep in the crate, Lass and Liam on the bed and Erin, of course, next to it.



Double fence!



Unfortunately over the weekend I started to feel unwell. As very often is the case if I go out in public I’ll catch a bug and with a non functioning immune system you get ill very fast. By Tuesday I had a high fever and was crawling around the den cleaning up after the pups and having no energy to spare to play with them. I lay shivering from fever on the couch watching them. I always have to be careful not to develop Pneumonia as that could be fatal for me. Taking care of the pups was getting too exhausting taking that little reserve that I had left.
Thank God for good friends! Vicki wrote me an email that she would be happy to take 2 pups so that it would be easier for me. Of course I objected, felt a bit like a I failed these pups, but waking up next morning and feeling even more awful I called her right away and took her up on her offer.
Vicki drove over with lightning speed and took home my love bug and hero, Liam and little Miss Independent, Erin.

Below:
Liam a few days before he went to Vicki.



Below:
Erin, also a few days before she went living with Vicki.



It was bittersweet having to part with them but I know it would be better for them and for myself as well. Liam and Erin are the most active and rowdy pups, at Vicki’s there are more adult dogs at home who can teach them a lot. These pups have missed a piece of their education from their mom and I’m so happy that they will be learning that now from Vicki’s dogs. These 2 pups will be the best socialized pups ever as Vicki will also take them to work with her as well, meeting all kinds of people, children and dogs. Vicki works at Animal Crackers in Corvallis.

It is strange being down to 2 pups, I didn’t realize what difference that would make. Our home was filled with peace and quiet and in the evening I lay on the ground with my 2 cuddle bugs, Fynn and Lass. After an afternoon nap I already felt better, less to clean and run after. Lass and Fynn compliment each other so well, Lass being a bit more laid back and shy while Fynn is curious and the first to go after something and more outgoing. It will be difficult to part with them in a few weeks, especially now our contact is so much more intense.

So from now on there will be no more updates and stories about Erin and Liam, maybe Vicki can find the time between her full time job at Animal Crackers, a lot of rescue and volunteer work for GreenHill Humane Society and her pack at home to update her blog and show you how Liam and Erin are doing. Besides Erin and Liam, Vicki also has 2 other BC cross pups older than our pups in rescue. Their names are Sugar and Spice, don’t you just love it??

Thank you Vicki for caring so much and being a wonderful friend by taking 2 of my pups!

If you’re interested in Liam or Erin you can still contact me on the address listed in the file ‘Why and When I became a rescuer’ if you click on that title it will take you to that file and I will send your message to Vicki or contact Vicki directly by going to her blog Shedd Rescue here or Shedd Rescue on Petfinder.

The last photo for today, below is our resident dog Lotte(14 y.o this year), she a real grandma who every now and than still plays a bit with Liam and Fynn.



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Their Second Week

A week has gone by and already they seem to have doubled in size!
I ordered a new addition for the pen so we could build a bigger one with a crate in it and more room to play. These modular pens are wonderful, you can set them up in every shape and size that you want to. We now have 12 pieces and can do a lot with that.

They are North States Superyard pen and are marketed as a baby play yard but are excellent for pups.



This picture shows 6 units but have 12 of them. I got a good deal on them at Amazon, well worth it.

Pups went to the vet this Saturday, all 4 of them in a crate, for a check up and I wanted her advice on their age and the diarrhea that worried me. I know all pups go through a transition time and they went probably very abrupt from mom’s milk to eating kibble at the shelter worker’s home but still, it didn’t look right to me.
Our vet was very generous in taking 1 1/2 hours to examine and talk about them, she and another vet at the clinic stated that it’s obvious the boys are at least a week younger than the girls making them from a different litter. They were a big hit at the clinic of course and all came in to see them. A fecal exam was done and they got their dewormer, were weighed, and got a clean bill of health.(except for the diarrhea of course) Funny thing was that they went potty in their crate, all 4 rolled through it and the vet techs generously took them and the crate to the back, gave them a bath and cleaned the crate, put them in an empty kennel where they poo’ed right away again! Quickly got them out of the kennel and into another before they could walk through it again. ;-) Yep, 4 pups definitely keep you busy ;-)

We drew up a wellness plan, at 8 - 9 weeks their first shots plus another Drontal. Our vet vaccinates less than others do, all vaccinations are given for 3 years, not just the rabies one. She advised to spay/neuter them at 20 weeks so that will probably mean they have to be adopted with a spay/neuter contract, unless I decide to spay/neuter them earlier.

At Monday early morning the vet called with the news of the fecal exam, and it wasn’t good. They tested positive for Giardia and Campylobacteriosis bacterial infection. Both bad for them and for me. I have an immunodeficiency, illness which left me disabled and any virus or infection is difficult to fight and concur, so I had to be very very careful as Campylobacteriosis bacteria can wreck havoc in humans. Bought a large pack of disposable gloves and disinfectant and Betadine hand scrub. They pups got the right medication from the compounding pharmacy in chicken flavor which made administering it a breeze, they all thought it was a treat. ;-) We could notice a difference very quickly, their stools became much more solid and they perked up even more ;-)

They play so much and so funny and it’s amazing to see how they can run and play and than drop and fall asleep on the spot like they have been shot.
The snow is finally beginning to melt and we all went outside to check out the yard. They have been very good at learning how to go potty on their doggy litter pans and wee wee pads. In the heat of a play fight they do forget every now and than but still, I think it’s very good progress for such young pups. We took a bunch of pictures again of course and I made a small video of them playing in the cat agility tunnel, can’t start too early practicing that!

Their little personalities start to show more and more, Little Miss Erin is Miss Independent, smart and quick to learn but likes to run off on her own and hide with a treat or run away with a toy. Outside she checks out the yard on her own and wanders away from the pack.

Liam is the smallest of the boys and is a very busy bee trying to become the pack leader and top dog, that doesn’t leave him much time for sleep and rest, it seems he always sleeps with one eye open ;-)

Below:
Liam and Fynn in their crate



Fynn, is just a sweet little boy, he suffered from anxiety the first few days and I guessed he missed his mom, he had also trouble eating and looked just depressed to me. I bought a small baby bottle and made some rice cereal with goat milk(it resembles dog mom’s milk the best) and let him drink the bottle. After a few days he seemed much more content and happier and is now playing just and hard and happy as they others. A simple solution to a painful emotional problem ;-)



Lass is a laid back little dog, she loves to cuddle, is easy going and is very smart. I guess we will wait and see how she develops the next few weeks.

How to keep 4 pups on a chair? ;-)
Below:
Left to right: Erin, Fynn, Liam and Lass



Below:
Left to right: Liam, Lass, Fynn, Erin



Below:
Finally at the end of the day, after play time, right before bedtime, it’s....... Treat Time!
Upper Left: Erin, Lass and at the bottom, left Fynn and Liam

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For photos of their second week click here!

For video of playing with the tunnel click here!

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They're here!

After an email from Bob the SPDR(Seattle Purebred Dog Rescue) coordinator that said that a box with 12 BC puppies were dropped of at the shelter in La Grande, OR and that they needed foster homes we volunteered and got 4 pups. On New Year’s Day we drove to The Dalles to pick them up from another volunteer who also drove about 2 hours in horrible weather to get the pups to us.

And there they were, small wee little puppies, 4 of them, 2 boys and 2 girls. Somehow we imagined the being bigger than they were. We took 2 crates along to be sure we had enough room, but they easily fitted all 4 of them in the smallest crate we had. We quickly turned around after the exchange before the weather really turned nasty and made the drive back to Portland safe and sound without a peep of the pups who were fast asleep.

At home we had set up a pen before we left so we were ready to give them a place to sleep and eat.

They are cute as a bug and now after a week run like hell on wheels!

After long thought we have given them traditional names that suited Border Collies, The boys are both smooth coats and the girls are rough coats. As far as I can see they are from different litters. The boys seem a week younger than the girls, they were smaller and a bit slower but they are catching up nicely.

We would like to introduce to you; Liam, Fynn, Lass and Erin.

On the photo below are Liam on the left and Lass on the right.



The photo below is Fynn, the smooth coat boy.



The photo below is Erin, the rough coat female.



We think they girls are 5 weeks old and the boys 4 week.
Tomorrow, Saturday they will have their first vet visit and we’ll see if she can make a better guess as to how old they are.

More stories and photo’s will follow, stay tuned!

Addition:
For photos of their first week click here!

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