J&A's Reckless Love

All Things Toph

The Patriotic litter has gotten off to a great start. I think we've finally caught up on the sleep we missed those days up to and immediately following their arrival. Oh what a night! Now, in just a few days John and I have been able to help Toph adapt to her new role and at 5 days old she's doing a great job.  Pups and momma have been seen by our vets and are doing well.

They are gaining nicely and are very beautiful and sweet babies. Toph has a great appetite and is totally focused on the pups. In the beginning as is often the case she would not leave the whelping box even to eat though so we would sit on the floor and bring her food dish and then her water.  It was hard to even get her to get up and leave to go outside to relieve herself.  I bought her a small dog bed and she has figured out it's okay to sit down on this just outside the box.  It gets her out from under the heat lamp thus becoming much more comfortable. We've been giving regular updates to Maryann about how pups and Tophs are doing and they hope to be able to spend some time with them soon.  Our girls are so spoiled when they have pups when it comes to special food. So far their favorite has been pure natural vanilla whole fat ice cream!  They've also enjoyed cottage cheese, yogurt, steak, chicken, liver and of course nursing mother's pudding.  I plan to make my 3rd batch of that today.  Right now the puppies are demanding the most out of their dams so it's so very important to feed them as much high calorie, rich in calcium foods.  The third week is when the demands are the greatest which is just about the time we begin to introduce pups to solid food and the weaning process will begin.  Toph and Trues pups are just beautiful, smart, agile and active.  By the third day a couple of them had figured out how to maneuver themselves up onto her back.  I love to watch as Toph falls asleep with one of her babies curled up close. Shades of her grandmother Pippin (who becomes a great-grandmother with these puppies!)


All Things Holly
The Timeless Treasure pups are 19 days old.  And just like that their eyes are open, their weight has more than doubled, they can hear, and they are up on all fours. Two days ago I started to softly say 'puppy, puppy, puppy', make a little smoochie sound, and gently clap my hands as I approached the whelping box.  I didn't get much of a reaction the first time. That changed today as I walked in singing to them the chorus to a song I absolutely love called 'Reckless Love' .

"Oh the overwhelming, never ending, reckless love of God.

How it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leave the 99."

Suddenly several little heads bopped up and looked curiously around and I continued to sing this to them. They are truly awake!

Later on in the day I took them all out of their whelping box and set them out onto their mother's dog bed. This is a continuation of their early learning experiences as they are placed upon a variety of surfaces and touches in the coming weeks. Their little noses were buried in the fake fur covering as they detected their mother's scent.  A couple of them moved off the bed and onto the linoleum covered floor, the first slippery surface they have encountered so far. Their individual reactions were priceless.  Some wanted to turn around and get back on Holly's dog bed.  A couple others buried their head in the corner as if to say "make the world go away!". And there were a couple who just climbed off and walked unsteadily in the direction of the open door.  That is until they ran out of gas.  Pups of this age have brief, short energy spurts and when the energy runs out they just plop wherever they happen to be.

We've been blessed to have a "puppy
nanny" this week.  One of our granddaughters has been here to sit with the pups while we catch up on sleep or errands. Ivy's help is two-fold.  It helps the puppies get use to a different voice and being handled by other people while being part of our own going socialization. Late this afternoon Holly's puppies were introduced to fresh air as we continue to prepare each one for the first day of the rest of their lives.

Later on the pups were also visited by two more grandchildren and I look forward to more of these visits on a regular basis to see both litters of pups in the coming weeks.  I just can't believe how quickly time is going by.  The near reverent atmosphere of awaiting the birth has turned into a little more activity as the pups go from neo-natal to toddler stage.

ALL THINGS PUPPIES
This has turned out to be such a wonderful time of year for puppies.  I was very pleased to receive a compliment from one of our vets who makes house calls about the set up that we have and the health and well being of the pups. I hate poopy puppies and I hate having odor surrounding them.  This means it is a full time job to sanitize, disinfect, deodorize etc.  It is nice when our efforts are recognized!  I always say we are 'nothin' fancy here'.  But we do our best especially when it comes to the pups we're responsible to bring into the world.  In a week or so we're going to use roomy outside pens in the grass for the pups to enjoy on summer days.  I was looking for Lil Tykes outdoor toys and someone gave us for free one of their little forts with stairs and a slide. Can you imagine all these puppies scrambling and playing with that?  I also really hope to make one of those PVC activity centers. The thing is, the clock is ticking and the pups are developing.  I probably can never do all the things I hope to do but I will do as much as I can.  Already Hollys pup show the benefits of following the S.M.A.R.T. puppy program and I am doing the same with Toph's pups. I'm spending this summer exactly the way I want to spend it despite how very much work it involves!

The rest of the crew are doing very well.  John brings several to the field throughout the week and runs dogs with our friends.  They all enjoy a quick trip down to the farm pond for a quick dip and laps around the edges.  It's very low right now but it's just right for them.  The pups will get to check this out when they are older.

Something cute... our oldest grandson was asking if I was going to keep a puppy. I told him I wasn't sure and my main reason is because of Treasure having canine cognitive dysfunction. I don't want to take time away from her.  My grandson told me that I really should because most of our dogs are now in double digits. And he said when he gets his driver license he can come up and help out.  I'll think about this logic, Callum, I will think about it.

Thanks for your interest as always!  Take care and God bless, John, Ann, and ATB