More Photos

                                  

Amber and Opal 

Amber swears she has nothing in her mouth, and Opal doesn't see the problem.

Jet considering his options

This Afternoon

                                        

  Having fun in Linda's caravan 

Woohoo Poo

No one celebrates solid poo like a dog owner, and I doubt no one else discusses it over breakfast either! Before taking them out to the garden, one of us goes on cat poo patrol .. as you do! 

More photos later! 

Visiting Day

 

The bellies are not right, but so much better. Though they get 4 meals of rice or sweet potato with chicken, egg or fish a day, the poor buggers are hungry. Opal got me up again last night, if she needs a poo the whole world hears about it. It is fabulous really that both girl will scream to go out, though there is something to be said about a boy who's happy to poo on a puppy pad in the middle of the night!!!

Today we went to visit Sharon, she had put her dogs in the van and used Safe4 throughout the house. After the initial shock/horror the pups had a great time running alone the path down the side of the house and in the kitchen. They were not allowed in the garden, though Sharon thought they'd be Ok, I wasn't happy though as the girls get through every gap. They also go in opposite directions so watching them all is impossible.

More Poo!

Sadly we are back to square on with the diarrhoea, now they all have it. They were almost right, maybe I should have left the panacur and extra day? I felt like I was damned if I did, damned I didn't, but I did. No one is ill, but they are back on fish and rice with pro-kolin and bio pot yogurt. I think we are more upset about it then they are, Steve is already suggesting they stay another week to get their bellies sorted. I'm really hoping they will be OK by the weekend, and then they can leave on Monday as planned, to be honest they are mentally already ready to go. What benefit is there for them to be here now? As I've said before, they will only learn to fight harder and eat poo/rubbish, lol. Honestly they are really ready to go their separate ways and start bonding with their families. Of course from a selfish point of view I'm glad I have them here for a while longer.  They have been an easy, adorable litter, a pleasure and a privilege. 

You Cow!

Bloody things, I'm not opening the gate for anyone till they've gone. Cow shit everywhere outside the top gate now. The law on free roaming cattle really needs an update. 

7 Weeks

To keep me on my toes the photos have gone on in the wrong order 

Ah well!!!

Opal - 4.25kg

Amber - 4.9kg

Jet 5.25 kg

Vet Day

Well the kids are 7 weeks today and it was vet day for the pups. They all did very well and had a clean bill of health. Jet's family came to give him support, and we were all pleased to hear he had both his boy bits and pieces as and where they should be! As required by law, the microchips have been done, but no vaccinations for a few weeks. I firmly believe that early vaccinations can have a derogatory effect on the puppies' immunity. An 8-week-old puppy should be well covered, they should have high immunity from their mother's milk. Vaccinating before 10 weeks is simply pointless. When referring to early vaccination, it clearly states on the leaflet given with the vaccination to vets "maternally derived passive antibodies interfere with the response to vaccination and a later vaccine should be given at 10 weeks or older, one vaccine give at 10+ weeks is sufficient to cover." 

So no rush to vaccinate here, but careful socialising will of course continue for the family on their last week together, and then in their new homes.  Sensible socialising without flooding them over those early weeks is paramount, the socialising period may well be over by12 weeks, but it's all a balance and there are plenty of things we can do to give them the best future.

Hips

 Interesting post from Louis Donald on his breed page on Facebook. 

"Why is hip dysplasia virtually unheard of in Greyhounds? All puppies are born with perfect hips, yet some breeds are prone to HD and others are not. Is it associated with the skeletal form and musculature of the hindquarters, and within that parameter, is there a susceptibility of some breeds to slipping on the floor while weaning, impacting their still developing hip joints."

There are no doubts in GSD's H/D is a mix of both genetics and environment. Hips are normal in baby puppies, but if the ligaments, tendons or muscles are not sufficiently well-developed, the joint becomes unstable as the pup grows and the hip adapts to compensate. If the parents have good hip scores, they must have inherited sufficiently strong soft tissue to keep the hips in place and hopefully that will pass on, even if you do get throwbacks occasionally. 

"Puppies raised on slippery surfaces or with access to stairs when they are less than 3 months old have a higher risk of hip dysplasia, while those who are allowed off-lead exercise on soft, uneven ground (such as in a park) have a lower risk" (Krontveit et al 2012) 

When I first started breeding (1995/6) I was told to never give puppies bedding as there was such a high risk of suffocation. Puppies were raised on newspaper under a heat lamp. Now I look back at that with horror. Puppies scrabbling to get about and their back legs slipping and sliding when feeding. (And they always slept in a pile meaning they were cold.) Despite advice, I soon realised this was wrong and vet beds were a game changer. Warm, content puppies who get about that box fantastically. I have to say, that if I didn't sleep with the litter then just maybe I would have lost a puppy in the K litter of 2020, he had got under the bedding and mum and 8 other pups were settling down to feed on top of him. Thankfully I was there, as I feel is my duty!

We do everything we can to produce healthy puppies, generations of low scoring ancestors, but in nature there are no guarantees. H/D is about 40% genetic, the rest is environmental and of course the occasional bad luck of the general make of the individual dog. 

Pic of the Xray of Orin's hips - as close as it gets to perfect with a score os 2/2.

Before The Rain