Day 51 (Updated)

BREAKING NEWS

I heard a puppy being murdered (this happens several times an hour when they are awake) and looked in to see THIS:

TOPAZ ON THE SLIDE!!!!! He got on it all by himself. That feels like a miracle to me. 🥹 He really is better. 🙏😭

Also, no puppy was actually murdered — they are just really dramatic and loud.

(A Bit Later)

Busy morning of visiting so quick pics of each puppy and more later ❤️

(Later)

Sapphire and Topaz are both so much better! 🎉 Topaz SCAMPERED and Sapphire trotted!

Star Garnet went ball shopping and picked out this nice pink one.

This apple toy has been in the family for 12 years. I do not leave it out anymore because the puppies are strong enough to bite off pieces of the leaves but it still makes occasional appearances, and Star Garnet always treats it like a long lost friend. Every.Single.Time.

We had fun visitors today, including Jennifer and her son, Jakob.

Tomorrow is going to be another action-packed day around here. It should be SO fun!

🩷💙💙💙

50 Days

This is from last night — I am teaching the Gems how to walk on a leash.

Where is the leash, you ask. There isn’t one. We do not teach leash manners by starting with a collar and leash. Instead, we begin by helping the puppy know that walking with us is reinforcing.

I am working with each puppy individually in short little sessions, helping them understand — using ONLY positive reinforcement — that paying attention to the human is super fun and cool.

What happens if a puppy runs off to check out a leaf?

I just try harder to be more interesting than a leaf.

This Woof Pupsicle is a big hit.

We have a vet appointment early this afternoon and all the Gems are going 🤯

🩷💙💙💙

(Later)

Summary of the Vet Visit: Good News.

Topaz is much improved. He is still gimpy but doesn’t seem painful like he was a week ago.

Sapphire, unfortunately, started with the same symptoms as Topaz late on Tuesday and by yesterday afternoon, he was quite painful. He is better today than he was yesterday — thank goodness.

Topaz’s urine sample was unremarkable.

Fecal – normal. No internal parasites. These puppies have not had routine deworming because they do not have internal parasites.

We did blood work on Topaz, Sapphire, and Star Garnet to compare an unaffected puppy with the two affected. Numbing cream was used to reduce burden on puppies. Results – nothing interesting. Very similar results.

We are waiting on one more result – Creatine Kinase – but the vet said she expects it to be normal. Fingers crossed.

Physical exams – all puppies have similar bone lengths and “feel.” No swollen joints. No differences in range of motion between affected and unaffected puppies. Muscling is similar and fine. Puppies are cheerful and engaged – all of them.

Topaz is markedly better from last Friday. Sapphire has pain on palpation of his limbs but not his neck or back; that is unlike Topaz, who did have pain in his neck and back.

The vet said that Topaz’s improvement with no treatment except the warm water floats we do each day make the terrible things less likely, and it seems like some version of “growing pains” has risen on the list of possibilities.

Could it still be something random, strange, and awful? Sure — but I doubt it. 🙏

We discussed nutrition – this vet agrees with our MT vet that nutrition is not the issue. What the puppies are eating is just fine. It might be different than the highly processed diet people are used to feeding dogs, but the Gems’ diet is smart, evidence-based nutrition for large breed puppies, and has the veterinarians’ stamp of approval.

To slow growth a bit, the puppies will not be getting a third meal each day – they will stick to breakfast and dinner, and nursing. This might not make any difference but also won’t hurt anything to try it.

Star Garnet and Jasper are racing around like two crazy dogs – no sign of anything amiss. My hope is that Topaz and Sapphire will join them in this important puppy work very soon 🍀