Changes

             

Morning and afternoon ears today

*****

More often than not teething will affect the ears, but by 5 - 6 months the ears should really be upright and will continue to strengthen as the months go on. 

As we approach 12 weeks to 3 months the puppies will soon start teething. Puppies begin teething at around 3 weeks, and by approximately 6 weeks, they have all of their evil baby teeth.  At around 12 weeks, these  teeth begin to fall out, and the permanent teeth begin to erupt. Normally by 6 months of age the bite should be complete, with only minimal changes after that as the jaw continues to grow. The horrendous chewing of teething may continue beyond this as the teeth set into the jaw. 

The new coat will soon be starting to show, usually a ring of shiny hair halfway along the tail is the first thing that's noticeable. That always fascinates me, that followed by the hair on the wither and down the spine. So many fascinating changes to come now over the next few months.

Thankfully Siska is better today. There has been no blood in her stools and she's "going" a lot less. Maybe still a little more than normal .. but nothing like she was the last 2 - 3 days. Hopefully now she'll continue to improve. 

Another Date With Ross

You can see what going to happen can't you?

Little minx!

He's such a good boy!

Doing A Kiri

 In this house coming home from a walk in this state is called "Doing A Kiri."

I must admit I wasn't impressed but there you go! Ziva is a very similar type of bitch to Kiri and she reminds me even more of her when she's in this state!

For those of you didn't know her

 and for those who wish to be reminded,

this was Kiri 

Kiri and Louis 

Lovely Walks

 

Lovely day for walking, surprisingly not many people about. The guys had lots of freedom and lots of running time. Orin is glued to Kaiah now, at least Ross gets some peace! 

Ahhhhh

An end to the video for your imagination, but I did stay upright!

 

A Surprise Visitor

Siska was over the moon to find someone sitting in the yard, big excitement and a lovely greeting. She had never met Jackie before, hopefully now we can all meet and greet a little more. Orin hadn't seen anyone sit in the yard since last Summer either and to be fair he coped very well. All the Blanik gang know Jackie but because of the covid regulations Orin had met her once as a young puppy. I do look forward to more days of catching up with friends - even if it is in gardens or on walks.

I had to zoom in and crop this photo.

Siska Update

I went to Tesco first thing and kind of expected the vet would have called whilst I was out. I gave Steve a list of what to say ... they hadn't called. I was seething and Steve offered to call as I quite emotional, and I generally hate confrontation anyway, so I let him do it. All he said was we've been expecting a call back for 24hrs and the receptionist put him straight through to the senior partner. Steve says I shouldn't ask to speak to particular vets, but I need to be comfortable with whom I speak to. Anyway I went through it all and he thinks Siska's bowl has been aggravated by what she ate and she needed antibiotics and provita to help it heal. Of course it was the logical conclusion and we had already come to it, but we are not vets and I can't but help overthink and worry about things. Conformation of  that yesterday would have helped. I've been to pick up the meds and she's had the first dose with her lunch. I'll add some photos later, just thought I'd update now as I've had so many messages asking how she is. Thank you it means the world ... 

No Call.

As you know I rang the vets at 9am, I rang again at 12pm and again at 4pm ... on the last occasion a very rude receptionist told me that there was a message for the vet to ring me but they were busy. She was so abrupt and short that I came off the phone feeling quite teary. Now I know it's not an emergency, but still this is my baby and I felt out of my league and needed advice! I know what to do with a puppy/dog with diarrhoea but this is not just simple diarrhoea. Since I spoke to them this morning she had had some terrible gurgling noises in her stomach and then vomited once. I didn't get a chance to clean it and inspect it as she ate it before I could get to it .. dirty pup! 

Anyway it's now after 6pm and no one has called me back. What is going on there? They are getting lower and lower in my estimation, since Roger retired the organisation really has turned into a crock of shit! 

I decided to give Siska some yudigest in her meal at 4.30pm ...  we'll see how she is tonight and tomorrow now. 

Waiting For The Vet To Call

Now I don't want to be considered a neurotic puppy owner but I'm still not happy with Siska. I know puppies poo a lot, believe me I'm pretty experienced in cleaning it up .. but this is too much. She seems to spend time trying to poo as if she's constipated, but what comes out is quite normal really, other than it comes in huge quantities. After she's been straining I have spotted some red blood, which is minimal and I think is quite normal when they are straining to go.

Siska is completely fine in herself but since it has been going on for a few days I rang the vets this morning. They had no available appointments but I could get a phone consultation - well they said before lunch - we'll see! 

Since I phoned she has also been sick, unfortunately I walked into the room to catch her gulping it back down. 

My other concern is that since she was weighed at the vets last Wednesday she's not put on enough weight, to be honest for the first time ever she looks a little thin ... which I guess she would be if the poo is passing without her getting the nutrients she needs out of it. 

I'll update later ... 

Siska Visiting

I'm not putting this on Facebook, Mum would not be impressed with her lockdown hair. She didn't manage to get an appointment till the second week of April for a haircut. Unlike me she cares about these things, my hair is a law  unto itself. Still it means hacking it with scissors makes little difference! 

My poor dad is in so much pain and has been for weeks now. He looks so ill and some days is unable to walk, wash, dress or sleep. He has plantar fasciitis, though from what I've read it's an extreme case. To add insult to injury there are also issues with his prostate which is a worry for all of us.

Little Siska brightened their day, maybe they were pleased to see me too? LOL  She was so confident wondering around the house from room to room like she owned the place. I'm so pleased with her confidence .. here's hoping the weather improves so we can continue seeing her explore the world.

Her belly is still not settled. I am concerned, as I would be. Maybe coincidence that she was fine till she had her Vacs on Wednesday? Certainly she's not been quite right since, though she's not ill at all, just her belly is unsettled.

Callan And Siska Meet Again

                                       

Don't they look fab 

Eyes Again

Orin and Siska

*****

I have to talk about eyes. I know I'm encouraged not to, but I must! I have no idea why Orin and some of his siblings have lighter eyes than I would have expected. If either litter were going to have slightly light eyes you would expect it to be Kaiah's kids. Kaiah herself has the most amazing dark eyes, but her father does not. Had her kids had light eyes then the conclusion would have been easy, it comes from Merlot! So were does Orin get his from? Ziva his maternal grandmother has eyes that are lighter than his mothers, but they are still darker than Orin's, and with her colouring her eyes blend in perfectly. Everyone else here has pretty dark eyes really. Fransisco also has dark eyes, but I've never seen his mother so that could be a possibility. There is no doubt that under some judges Orin's eyes will do him no favours, other may not consider it to be so distracting.

Orin's eyes were already starting to lighten by about 10 weeks. I'm reasonably confident that Siska has inherited her mothers dark eyes, certainly at the moment there is no indication of change. Here's hoping. 

Orin Teenage Tantrums

Someone is currently really pushing my buttons. He is behaving so oddly and I can only put it down to hormones, age and testing the water. Believe me mate, test it all you like but you push me and I'll throw the bucket and the bloody water over you .. lol

Generally Orin is a lovely dog, affectionate and obedient but like I said I think he's trying to see if he can push any boundaries. There is tension between him and Ross on a walk, all his own doing as he bites Ross in the back when they are running, or he grabs at his tail. (Look at the bottom photo) This is now a work in progress, and going back to what would be considered "old-fashioned training methods" no doubt  I think we are getting there. I can't risk Ross being pushed to his limits and turning on a teenage Orin, he may well now respond with aggression. Keeping an even keel is paramount, I am all for reward based training, but dogs need boundaries and in this case I think Orin needs to discover the consequences of his unacceptable behaviour. What may not help is that he's now Kaiah's blue-eyed boy, she's dumped Ross for the younger model. Obviously this makes Orin feel very important. Saying that maybe it's her way of controlling him, he does now follow her on walk instead of biting Ross. I do set Orin up for a fall by picking up the kong and pretending that I'm going to throw it, if he grabs Ross then I take charge of the situation, if he backs off he's praised.  I know I'm repeating myself but I really do not believe in only praising the positive and ignoring the negative. Imagine if I'd done that with Ross? OMG!

Orin's aggression towards Jezi was building, again another work in progress. As much as I'm aware that Jezi has issues which all the other pack members pick up on, I will not have her bullied. She has to pass Orin's crate to get to her crate and his aggression coupled with my dissatisfaction at his behaviour meant she could not pass comfortably. Again I'm working on it daily, but Orin needs reminding every time for success. 

Another of his current odd and out of character behaviour is to refuse to do a recall when out on his own. With the pack there are no problems. This all started last week after I used the blaster on him. All I did was put him on the lead and make him face his fear. Following that he decided that I was not one he could trust. This is a behaviour I am happy to ignore, sulk all you like mate, I will be using the blaster on you when I need to. 

The most annoying of the changes of behaviour has been Orin's early morning calls. This all started because I was feeding them at 6.30am whilst I was sleeping with the litter. They all had an early breakfast, Steve got up and I went to bed. Since then Orin belly is telling him it's time to get up, I guess coupled with lighter morning he is just confused. He barks one woof, he's silent for about 20 seconds, he does it again over and over. A"Shut Up Orin" scream from the bedroom helps, but only short term. I'm unsure what to do about this one to be honest. When Dexi was doing the same we got black out curtains,  it is an option, as is covering more of his crate overnight. I must find a solution though as he is driving us insane from about 6.30am every day.

Now one thing I can categorically say is that there is no jealousy from Orin towards Siska. He is besotted with her, he adores her ... Ross on the other hand is a little jealous, as is his nature. I have no concerns regarding Orin's long term behaviour, he's just at an age where he's finding his feet, growing up and just checking out where, as a young adult he belongs in this pack. 

Siska - 11 Weeks

Little Miss S is now 11 weeks old - I get her at dead on 8kg this morning. Like I've said she's behind, we accept that but she is still putting on a consistent amount of weight - an average of a KG a week. I did kind of hope she'd been a little heavier as she was 7.3kg last week, but her belly hasn't quite been right since I gave her the drontal. Hopefully things will settle down for her now. 

Siska's Adventure

This is a captured image not a photo so it's not as clear but I like it.

You couldn't wish for a better "Teacher" than Ross 

Just love this, and I'm luck to have got a photo with no one else in it. It was so busy there.

Just after this photo was taken a young Cocker bitch ran straight for us. We had seen her and owner go left after the bridge a few mins earlier but there was no sign of them. She threw herself on the floor in front of Ross, you can always guarantee that he will be lovely, and he was but what if he hadn't have been? What if we'd had Jezi? What if the Cocker had attacked Siska? Lots of ifs and buts and of course as Steve pointed out a thief could have grabbed her and ran .. her owners were way out of sight by then! 

Lovely Mid-Winter Day

 Oh, hang on, it's Spring!

Ziva

I take photos most days, since 2015 making and saving memories is what I do. With my lovely models and wonderful location I get some stunning photos, and of course I also get some pretty average photos regularly too. Sometimes, just sometimes I'm really lucky to get a special photo ... I think this is such a photos of Ziva. No one really knows Ziva, her hatred of dog shows has kept her out of the limelight, that said she is no less important in the home and in the breeding line. 

Look at your pedigrees - This is Blanik Hippy - This is Ziva.

Three Walks And A Toddler Toddle

Siska Needs A Hand

Well little Miss S has had me worried over the last 2 days. Most of us must remember that Noya almost died after swallowing part of a toy. Of course lots of dogs never have issues from swallowing what they shouldn't, but you are always scared that you may have a minority! Hopefully our scare with Kiri years ago has been that minority for us! 

Anyway whilst I was cooking two nights ago Siska was playing happily with her toys. I confess I was busy and not giving her any of my attention so I was horrified when I found this. 

After two days of worry and the wonderful job of examining what was coming out I was really pleased when her poo came out waving today. I'm sure only dog people can understand my joy at such a thing. Honestly to god it was in one piece, I could have washed it and stitched it back on if I'd wanted to.. Yeuk

It's a month at the weekend since she was wormed so I decided to give her a dose of drontal puppy today, hopefully there will be no after affects this time .. but needs must. 

Has Asha Got SIBO?

I've just been chatting to a lovely gentleman who was on my list to have a dog puppy from Kaiah. Sadly there was no puppy for him here, but his day has almost come and he too will soon have his Fransisco son. He has taken on board everything that we discussed but rang for clarification as he was concerned because the breeder of his puppy had told him that she will not be vaccinating the pup before he has him. She suggested one vaccine at 10 + weeks, he had then googled it and was extremely confused and upset at what he had been reading about the L4 vacs. Anyway, as I told him, I agree fully with the advice given to him from the breeder but I could only tell him what I do and why and hope he comes to the same conclusion. Anyway, he asked me why we had all used Fransisco and was shocked to discover that the boy is 9 years  old. He said, "I though that was about the longevity of the breed" - I laughed and said, don't tell Asha!

I then went onto a GSD advice page on Facebook to discover a post where people were discussing how their dogs had slowed down and become "So middled aged" at around 6 - 7 years old. What? I thought again, don't tell Asha! Seriously, if mine started slowing down at that age I'd be concerned. There is no doubt Asha has slowed down these last 6 months, but she is not middled aged ... she's old! None of my other "Veterans" have slowed down at all, Nico will be 10 in 3 weeks, Jezi and Ziva are 10 in August, Sammi was 7 last Xmas and Loki will be 7 in September. None of them have slowed down or are struggling with their mobility, I'd be upset if they were ... though of course I'm well aware that with old age there will be changes. 

Asha has been chewing at that area where she had the sebaceous cyst again. I've no idea why after leaving it alone for weeks she gets it into her head and makes such a mess of it. I've had to clip the hair back again, and it'll be hibi scrub and wound powder twice a day again then! 

Asha's digestion/bowel problems are really well controlled now. The vet wanted me to give her 2 metronidazolel twice daily for four days on and four days off, but within 48 hours of coming off them Asha would have diarrhoea again. They told me giving them to her long term would cause issues, I don't have long term and quality of life is paramount. Anyway I continued to fiddle with the dose and by Xmas I was giving her one tablet a day, (Tablet not dose) but every day, now she has one every other day and it's working. I recently discussed what I had been doing with Katrina and she said it sounds like Asha has "Antibiotic-responsive diarrhoea" (ARD) which is caused by an abnormal proliferation of bacteria and/or the change in bacterial species present in the small intestinal lumen. She said that is was more than likely a small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) which is common in the breed. "The bacteria cause damage to the absorptive surface of the bowel so digested food cannot be absorbed through the bowel and into the body, resulting in malabsorption of nutrients." Well finally a diagnosis that makes sense. Katrina said that I was doing exactly the right thing by giving her the metronidazole at a low dose, this was the correct treatment for SIBO in dogs, well hell what shall we say, luck not judgment. All I can say is that since Xmas Asha's bowel problems have been well under control and I do feel now that if things go pear shaped again then I can just increase the tablets. 

Asha is now also eating dog food again, because things were settled I tried her on a Salmon and potato food. She's on her third bag, all in all we are doing well, on the digestion front anyway. She still enjoys her daily walks and is as excited as she's ever been to get out, though of course the walk is shorter and slower .. which gives her more time to eat sheep shit.  Ahhh!!!!!

Picking Up Archie

I'm not good when I don't get any sleep and this afternoon I was not up to the drive to the vets to get Archie. Steve wanted to go in the car, I much prefer my van but there you go. Little Miss S travelled on the back seat with me, if I said it once I said it a dozen times .. I'm not doing this again. She was an absolute pain in the bum. Fidgety, and to quotes someone who was aiming their remarks at Ross she was loud and annoying! So from now on it's either the van or he has to put a crate in the back of the car.

Archie is fine, he's as happy to be home as we are to have him back. Here's hoping he doesn't have to make another trip for years to come. I initially shut him in the kitchen when I got home, but I forgot that Jezi can open the door when she wants to and she let him out. I went to see where he was and he was pottering in the garden, he was happy and affectionate so I left him to it. Of course he's eaten! 

Out In The Sunshine

 If only it was a little warmer, it would have been perfect 

Vet Day

I dropped off a very upset Archie Stanley at the vets this morning. He'll be coming home later short of a couple of bits that he went in with. The vet thought he was beautiful and found it hard to believe he was from a feral colony, she really thought that he was a pedigree "something." It's so ridiculous but I'm a nervous wreck about it all. I hardly slept last night .. they do thousands of these operations, but when it's your own it's hard to be relaxed about it. 

Siska had her DHP vaccination. Beth was not available to see to her but I'm always happy with Malan. Such a kind compassionate person, though I did correct her when she told me to take her back for the booster in 2 - 4 weeks.  I'm really chuffed that Siska is now 7.8kg. I know she's still behind her siblings but having almost doubled in 3 weeks she's not quite the tiny tot any more.

Whilst I was there I had Orin weighed too. In my opinion Orin is an ideal weight for his age and size at 37.7kg. 

I'll update the blog on Archie later. 

Puppy Update

Callan

MalaKai

Larry 

Elka

Siska