Puppy Prep

Sparkle got a fun gift yesterday.

Renee sent a box of those perfect and adorable cookies to Sparkle to thank her — Sparkle was the Virtual Specialty’s Vanna White, and Renee won cool prizes one day when Sparkle pulled her number.

Numbered balls in a wading pool with water — like bobbing for apples only different.

Thank you, Renee! Such a fun and kind surprise.

Daisy was dragging a bit at the end of the one-mile walk yesterday and so she will just do an easy 1/2 mile walk every other day now — until she says that is too much. I have no idea how much weight she has gained as that would involve an unnecessary trip to the vet but she is really big.

We also will not be x-raying for a puppy count for the same reason — there is no reason to create even the mildest of stress-responses in a pregnant dog because those responses involve stress hormones/physical responses that developing puppies do not need. We will count puppies as they come out.

The results of Daisy’s nomograph arrived yesterday. This tells us two related things. First, Daisy has continued immunity from her puppy vaccines — four years later.

This is normal — annual vaccines are not needed and even every three years is too much for most dogs. We run titers to know when/if to vaccinate adult dogs — Sparkle is at almost seven years with Distemper and Parvo immunity provided by a single puppy vaccination, for example.

The nomograph also tells us when maternal antibodies are expected to be sufficiently low in the puppies such that a vaccination will be effective. A vaccine given when the maternal antibodies are still in play is ineffective, may provide a false sense of security, and represents an unnecessary vaccination burden.

I am not anti-vaccination! Vaccinations save lives. Rather, I am a fan of targeted and effective vaccinations — not unnecessary ones.

We started the process of locating and washing puppy linens yesterday — given the reality that we still have reconstruction going on, that was no small feat! In addition, I nominated the litter for the BMDCA Futurity yesterday. This has to be done before the litter is born and so I checked that off of my long To-Do List.

We hope to have a productive Friday here at Puppy-Prep Central — I hope your Friday is all things happy and healthy.

Dialing Back

This is the view I have this morning as I sit here in my dining area/work space…

I finally finished grading yesterday and can now begin to catch up on other things.

I am working through emails, need to watch some videos for people, make a couple of how-to-train-this videos, and so on — I have a list, of course.

And then, I will begin to shut things down and limit my commitments.

Life in a Pandemic is hard stuff. It just surrounds us — like persistent low fog — demanding a certain number of Little Soldiers just to navigate through it. This means we wake up with only 40 - 50 Little Soldiers each day instead of the usual 100; the rest are on Pandemic Duty.

We must not expect those 40 - 50 remaining Little Soldiers to do the work of 100, and so that means we MUST dial back and lower expectations of self and others. Nobody is helped when our finite coping resources are collapsed in a sobbing, exhausted heap.

I intend to not simply say that to others but also model what that looks like. I believe we can be kind, compassionate, and loving to others only when we do the same for ourselves.

In about ten days the long awaited K Litter is due.

Daisy Rey

Most of my available Little Soldiers will be happily on duty at Puppy Central. This includes, of course, sharing the Puppy Love with all of you — every single day.

After all, who cannot use some Puppy Love in a Pandemic?

Growing!

Daisy moves to four meals a day now from her usual of three. As you can see from this photo I took minutes ago, things are getting crowded in there…

That is Harper behind her — normally, they are similar in size.

I am a fan of variety when it comes to feeding dogs because I am not convinced anyone has the right and true answer, and yes — sometimes discussion of how and what to feed dogs feels a bit like which church one should attend.

Food is more than simply calories and nutrients — the gut microbiome needs to be considered as well, for example — and so I do my best with the available and changing information that exists about healthy eating. Our dogs eat cooked homemade food and different kibbles and sardines once or twice a week and so on — a variety of foods, including whole foods, in moderation.

A healthy and sound puppy starts with a healthy pregnancy. In addition to a good diet, Daisy has been taking a quality fish oil supplement and enjoys regular walks. However, all vigorous activities — like agility — stopped when she was bred and because we know stress impacts developing babies, Daisy’s life is easy and happy.

And speaking of happy, this is Claire from this morning’s walk…

Anything wet is Claire’s Happy Place.

I hope your Wednesday is wonderful!