Unbearable Cuteness of Being

If there's anything more fun than 5 and 6 week old puppies, I don't know what it is. This is the pay-off of weeks of work and worry, months of planning and paranoia, sleepless nights, endless laundry and hope.

The Dva puppies are 6 weeks old and although I've kept their webpage current, somehow the blog got neglected. Sorry about that - guess I was distracted!

Anyway, the puppies met the tunnel this morning. They had the buja board in their play area for several days, and took to romping on it like it wasn't even there. (Somewhere there *are* pictures, but I can't find them right now!) I love buja boards because they MOVE and MAKE NOISE and seem UNPREDICTABLE - all of which teach puppies that these things are NO BIG DEAL and in fact FUN.

On our daily adventures and evening walkies they encounter all manner of obstacles - railroad ties marking off an old garden area, drainage ditch, big dirt piles, cactus - our property could hardly be called "groomed". Puppies learn that the ground is uneven, holes happen, falling down is normal, getting up and having another go is the only way to fly.

As their adult baby-sitter is rotated each day, it has become necessary to ensure the adult dog doesn't steal all the puppy food. So an old section of wallboard with a small dog door is set up to block the in/out of the x-pen barricade. A few days of this - puppies have to find the opening and navigate the hole to get into the big paddock - and they are zooming in and out with ease (in for water and food, out for a big playmate and more room to run).

"In" has other perks - Ripple sez MY rabbit skin.

This morning I simply set the tunnel on the "out" side of the puppy hole - they had to go through the tunnel to get into the big yard.

Four of the little stinkers were out before I had my camera turned on.

Hm, I'll stop and have a sniff.

This isn't a real agility tunnel, but a kiddie version. The real things are heavy, opaque, and expensive. Not what I want puppies exploring with their teeth - which of course is the next thing they do, followed immediately by jumping on it.

Why go around? Over works just fine.

Pretty soon they were running in and out like pros, which is exactly the point.

In.

Out. Repeat.

In the puppy paddock (about 3000 sq ft) they can run to their hearts' content. And explore - the big dog-door into the kennel

Moose (r) peers inside; Chip (l) changes directions.

and the big dog house (room to run in there!)

Hey, whatcha doin' in there?

jump on / run over whatever is lying about

The inverted pool was covering a critter hole; these pups are gamey!

and just generally run like fools.

Dulce (r) in hot pursuit of Vanna (l).

Just another morning in puppy playland...

So I guess this is a Coven?

We are back to Vampires - particularly now that TEETH are coming in! Between toenails and teeth, it's no wonder Tigress sez "how much longer am I gonna do this?"

This is what 42.5# of puppies looks like!

How on earth do puppies go from 1# to 5# in just three weeks?!?! Mama's on a steady diet of unlimited fresh water and Evo, an incredibly calorie-dense kibble. She also gets an assortment of ice cream, cottage cheese, yogurt, eggs, tripe - and last night she asked for a bit of cucumber from my salad. I figure, she can have whatever she wants, as this coven of vampires suck her dry several times a day.

The puppies made many other advances this week, and we got some clarification on colors - with some intriguing possibilities. See their webpage for details. Walking - forwards and backwards - is pretty coordinated on good footing, but on slippery surfaces resembles a game of Twister.

One of the things most good breeders try to follow is the "rule of 7's" - and I think it would be hard not to hit 7 of everything by 7 weeks of age. Take for example, surfaces: laps (different kinds of clothing), plastic bottom of whelping box, piddle pads, newspaper, rag in weighing box, blankets (rough and smooth sided), climbing on toys, climbing on dam, grass, dirt, gravel... I find it impossible that any puppy could not be on 7 different surfaces in a matter of days. I like the "rule of 12" and suspect that with just a bit of conscious effort that's quite doable for most puppy raisers. Though I for one will not discourage borzoi puppies from chasing ;-)

Not our usual sunset...

The horrifying smoke of the past 10 days has, thanks to favorable wind directions, abated for the present. Here's a photo of last night's sunset. The sun's color is creepy (due to the smoke haze) but at least we can see the mountains. And the stars at night - I really missed those.


However the frequently hazardous breathing conditions put a damper on visitors - three new people this week. That makes 17 since birth, still a respectable number.

Papa Py has sniffed them and gently wagged is tail - I have no reason to think he knows they are his, but his gentleness with these new members of His Pack is unmistakeable.

Py gazes fondly at Bruno, Dulce, and Ripple.

The paper over the insulation is missing in several places.

And in unrelated news... Anthony is now sharing the shower in the master bath, as there's a wee problem with the tile in his bathroom... We are a cozy threesome these days!

As my friend Susan is coming to help do puppy evaluations in 5 weeks, we have a very clear deadline for getting this all put back together.

Chew Thoroughly Before Inhaling

No doubt everyone with a TV or access to a newspaper is aware of the out-of-control fire in Arizona. As of this morning, the smoke was reported visible in Iowa. Not hard to believe... but it is hard to breath.

A few pictures for those having trouble imagining what it's like:

The usual view of South Mountain (with the Sandias in the background; looking west)

Same mountain, seen driving north on Hwy 344 this morning, just after the smoke moved in.

A perfectly ordinary sunset (taken last month), as seen from our driveway.

Grey does not photograph well.

A photo taken last night, from the same spot in my driveway. See the mountains? No? Well, you're right. They are completely obliterated by the smoke.

The sun isn't usually that color (a surprisingly accurate photo), and as the evening progressed the sky changed from a thick grey to a sickening yellow - similar to a tornado sky.

Before bed, my husband went outside with a flashlight. He said there was ash falling like snowflakes. I have to wonder: will embers travel this far, too?

And, the obligatory puppy picture. My client Becky was kind enough to come in after her agility lesson, and cuddled every puppy.

Shown here with Vanna.

You may be wondering how the puppies are faring with this weather. This has been a source of major concern for me the last couple of days, and I've talked with friends in NE and TN about evacuating Tigress & the puppies to cleaner skies. Thanks to a home-rigged evaporation cooler for the whelping box/play pen and a HEPA-quality air-filter, the family room is currently comfortable.

All the dogs are indoors full-time, exercise and road-work schedules are at a stand-still, and our thankfully cool tile and brick floors are littered with bored dogs. Better safe than sorry, however, no heavy breathing allowed at this time.

We have our fingers crossed the monsoons arrive sooner than later - because rain (and lots of it) is the only chance we've got.

Ch-ch-chaaaanges

Yesterday was a big day! The puppies went on a field trip and moved to bigger quarters.

Friday night one of the puppies escaped from the whelping box - exactly 2 weeks old and made it over the pig rail, over the wall, onto the tile, and almost half-way across the study floor. Tigress was sleeping in the hall bathroom, apparently finding the tile in there cooler than in the study. (The weather has been horrifying the last few days, more on that in a moment.) It is normal for the puppies' mid-night screaming to wake me up, and if it goes on for several minutes I will investigate. You can not imagine my shock at finding a puppy so young, so far away from the whelping box! Tigress was utterly non-plussed, the puppy was hopping mad but quickly got over it, and I recovered as well. They both went back in the whelping box, and I put up the box's door.

So yesterday we moved them into the family room; normally I do this when they turn 3 weeks old but in order to attach the playpen I need more space than my study easily allows. This project goes in several steps. One, the corner of the family room has to be emptied of furniture. Two, the puppies had to go "somewhere" while the whelping box was taken down, moved, and re-assembled. (The design of this thing is utterly brilliant, incredibly easy and fast to move.)

The fires in Arizona have sent smoke into New Mexico the last few days, and the air quality has been unspeakably bad everywhere in our part of the state. Yesterday afternoon we got a shift in the wind that lifted the haze and revealed blue skies for a while - so the puppies went outside to enjoy the cooler air.

Silly ranch puppies - who needs the towel? We like dirt!!

Tigress laid down next to them in the shade, keeping careful watch. She remained calm and vigilant while her brood moved to a corner for a puppy-pile nap.

Twice the size makes Tigress smile.

Once the new set-up was complete (about 10 minutes), everyone moved back inside to check out the new digs. Tigress promptly clean all the "outside" off her babies and they settled down for a nosh.

Now in the family room, the puppies will get exposure to all manner of sights and sounds - the front door, the TV, laundry activities - and even easier to get cuddles on the sofa with us!

This also means I'll be spending less time on the computer for a while, as the study is far away from their new accommodations.

While the puppies are now better confined, Tigress can hop in and out at her leisure by using the love-seat next to the playpen. This arrangement makes everybody very happy!

And now: Zombies

Watching puppies learn to walk is not just adorably cute. It is also, if you have two teenaged males in the house, a horror-movie analogy opportunity in full swing.

Wait a minute, some of you are saying - two teenaged males?

Well yes. One is 19 and one is 58, but behaviorally they are both teenagers. My husband recently started watching The Walking Dead, yet another re-make of a UK show done for US television. (This is another Netflix recommendation. Sometimes they hit it, sometimes they miss.) So between True Blood re-runs (we're eagerly anticipating the next DVD release) and this new show, you can understand how The Boys have zombies on the brain.

What does this have to do with puppies? Not much really, but puppies do stagger about on their legs (two weeks old today) and moan with half-seeing eyes... so... zombies. Get it?

I don't know if zombies sleep, but if they do, it might look like this:

Dulce napping.

The puppies also sit, climb, and cuddle. For more adorable pictures, see their web page. For thoughts on socializing young puppies and long-term consequences, see Sophia Yin DVM's excellent article.

From leeches to vampires

The puppies are growing, oh my how they are growing! Weights are 3 - 4 X birth-weight, and watching them drain Tigress dry is something to behold. She enters the whelping box fully "bagged up" (a horse term for full udders), and exits an hour or so later trim and svelte, cute waist and proper tuck-up restored. The puppies' appetites are so voracious they remind me of vampires, though the life-giving body fluid is puppy-appropriate. Tigress's appetite is correspondingly voracious; I couldn't calculate the number of calories required to support 800-1,000 grams of puppy-weight increase every day.

Today, 11 days old, eyes are opening. So pardon the fewer photos, but the use of flash isn't allowed for several days.

What is allowed, in spades, is visitors. The puppies have met 11 people so far, men and women, ranging in age from 19 years to early 70's. I can't begin to imagine how many smells they've encountered, as everyone I know has dogs or horses or both. Some basic sanitation precautions are strictly enforced (shoes stay outside, anti-microbial soap, a towel over the lap) and volia! socialization in spades. Anthony and I are routinely around clients' dogs, and have perfected the strip-in-the-garage-mad-dash-to-the-shower relay; cooties just aren't allowed into the house. Thankfully we have no neighbors to terrorize with our streaking.

Tigress also has a routine - beginning with proper greeting and fawning over her before her offspring can be handled:

Sarah pays respects to mama Tigress for raising such excellent babies.

Doug and Sarah cuddle Dulce and Chip.









Becky and Diana will be regulars, they come by our ranchero every couple of weeks:

As the puppies eyes open, seeing people with hats will be as normal as those without.

Vanna (L) and Ripple (R)

Throughout, Tigress keeps a polite eye on everyone.










Our other dogs quite got a nice compliment this week, as some visitors want to meet the other adult borzoi we have. "Your dogs are always so friendly and well-behaved!" While I may not always agree, I do greatly appreciate the compliment. It is worrisome however to think that not all borzoi - indeed, not all dogs! - can be described that way. Socialization must start as early as possible and continue for life, and I think that is especially true for a large and powerful predator. We live in what can accurately be described as "the boonies" and work hard to ensure our puppies meet a huge number of people and are exposed to as many things as possible while they are young and impressionable. Actually, work is the wrong word... we make it a form of play!

Meanwhile the puppies just know what is normal: plenty of love and attention from their mother and a parade of kind people, with lots of smells and tender cuddles. They open their eyes and find their legs and are entirely too much fun to watch.

Tigress carefully cleans her babies and tends to their needs.

Pix, Picks, and Picking Up

Once again, I have become overrun with puppy laundry and neglected myself.

You'd think I'd have learned my lesson last week when I ran out of clean socks, but... no. I had to have NO clean pants - jeans or sweats - to drive home the point that I really need to do one load of people laundry every couple of days. Thankfully there's a pile of clothes headed to Goodwill; I picked sweats out of that and started the washer.

The puppies are a fat and glorious 10 days old; weight gains range from 126% to 165% over birthweight - I'd say they are thriving! This is however a tough time photographically - no more flash pictures until their eyes are open for a couple of days, so there will probably be fewer pix this coming week.

Skype has enabled co-breeder Sandra to see the scoops a couple of times. We've had fun speculating about colors and admiring their markings. We will be splitting this litter at about 9 weeks of age, and I'm sure she noodles over which puppy to pick first as much as I do.

There are as many ways to choose as there are breeders, and I always find it interesting to compare processes. Some "pick 'em wet" and given how unique each puppy is, in appearance and behavior, at birth I can understand this temptation. There were three in this litter that - let's just say made an impression - when they hit the ground. I will confess to having made mental notes on them.

Some breeders go on color, or markings. No matter what drives that - sentiment, preference, flash, easier to show or keep clean or spot in the field - this is also understandable. And I for one find it easier to tell them apart (not that I keep names straight, oh no).

And then there's sex. Many, many breeders only keep bitches, so only select from the girls in a litter. I suspect this contributes to the noticeable quality difference, overall, that is seen in borzoi, between dogs and bitches. It is widely agreed that there are more good bitches than dogs, and in fact really great males (no matter how "great" is defined) are very hard to find. On the other hand, I know at least a couple of breeders that prefer to keep males...

Some make selections based on which sex they need out of a given breeding, which may change from litter to litter. Others just pick the "best" puppy for their needs regardless of sex or color.

I had a fascinating conversation a couple of years ago with a long-time dog man, an icon with 50 years of hunting and breeding experience in his head. He said, in brief, that he lets whoever wants a puppy, come and pick whatever they want, and he keeps the one or two left at the end. He said that most people go for extremes - most flash of color, most pushy personality, most size or bone or angles, most whatever - and what's left is moderate. And moderate often does best in the long run, holds up to years of field work and is easier to live with. Words to pay attention to.

And sometimes there are a few that are so afraid of making the wrong choice, keep an entire litter or wait until they are adults to start placing them. Sometimes there's a good reason to keep an entire litter, but I would think it's awfully easy to get over-dogged doing that.

No matter how picks are made, it is usually done with a certain dose or two of second guessing and hand wringing. Thankfully I've got several weeks before we get to that point.