J&A's Weekend Wrap Up

And a good time was had by all!  

It would be silly to say it was a busy weekend because what weekend ISN'T busy around here lately? My brief recap would include a visit from Maryann and Ayden who brought me a lovely essential oil diffuser for my birthday which was Saturday.  Usually the whole family gets together to celebrate but I told John let's just put that off for awhile.  I have wanted one for awhile as I use lavender essential oil a lot of ways and it works especially well in the puppy room. That was nice.  Ayden enjoyed some one on one puppy time.

Over in Hopkinton NH there was a training day for the upcoming fall AKC hunt tests offered by various dog clubs around New England.  Our friends Christine and Bo of Merrymeeting Brittanys were there with their beautiful Skye and stopped in to visit the puppies on the way home. Skye is a daughter of Hemi and Luna, she's full sister to Toph but is white and orange. Because of the rain we couldn't go outside to the puppy play yards but we had a good time inside.  Chris was especially attentive to Miss Toph who loves to be the center of attraction! They both  enjoyed all the pups. Chris surprised me with a beautiful beaded bracelet for my birthday which she had made. It was very thoughtful of her.

Later that evening John and I went out to eat at "Ted's Fried Clams."  I enjoyed a scallop dinner and he had shrimp.  It was a splurge for both of us as we have made major changes in how we eat and fried food is a rare thing for us.  We even had onion rings!  It was perfect.  Saturday night Toph's pups had their second full solid meal. They are doing
great on the Purina Pro Plan for Puppies.  When they go home they

will have a sample size bag courtesy of Purina along with Purina Puppy Kits full of coupons and lots of good information as well as a way to keep track of records. The puppy gift bag is full!

Weaning is actually going well for both litters.  I could say Holly's pups are fully weaned at 6 weeks of age but she will still give them a snack.  We let the mothers make the decision when it comes to a cut off point.  Unlike Toph who is still with her pups the majority of time, Holly is only with hers at night and there is not much nursing going on, just cuddling, playing and also a bit of discipline as only mother dogs can do! Especially important is for them to understand bite inhibition. They figure it out among themselves when they rough house.  I rarely intervene in their squabbles.  They learn from each other that biting is painful. They also learn it from me because I will gently correct them when I get nibbled on and I don't mean maybe.  

We de-worm at 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks.  We use Pyrantel Pamoate for all but the 4 week de-worming.  I like to use Panacur at that time.  This way we cover all bases.  Pups' stool is evaluated courtesy of our vet on a regular basis. Mother's are dewormed prior to breeding to help reduce the risk of passing any parasites on to the pups. I know, I know this is gross stuff but it's normal! 

Today John took Toph's whelping box out of her puppy area. We use indoor/outdoor carpeting as a base over linoleum that is covered with absorbent puppy pads.  Every other day a new one is put in. We power wash, disinfect and hang the one we've replaced out in the sun to dry so there is always a new and clean one for the puppies. But they were peeing gallons or so it seemed and after awhile you just can't keep up.  As Toph (like Holly) has reached that stage where "okay, they are all yours now!" our focus is on keeping the puppies and their surroundings clean.

Tonight a litter box filled with alfalfa pellets was added to Tophs side. We've been extremely successfully with Holly's pups so hopefully we'll see the same results with Toph's!

The best part of the weekend for me came early Sunday evening.  We'd been trying to figure out an easier way to get the pups to the puppy yard.  You see, we have so many eagles and hawks here where we live that it's way too risky to do the fun thing and let them run wild in the yard.  That's why we have set up things the way they are!  Nothing I love more than playing catch me if you can with puppies but we just can't do it anymore.  So tonight we introduced them to traveling in a car by crate!  It was only across the front yard but it worked and saved us a lot of time and energy.  Carrying 19 puppies back and forth in high humidity is not fun for anyone!

One side there are tunnels and mazes and an big area to run.  The other side has the fort and the activity center.  I lay a blanket down on the ground with Toph's

pups and they all came over to me. They snuggled up and even fell asleep next to me.  I could have dozed off myself!  The Patriots are beginning to wake up to the reality of how much fun life can be.

This time has passed way too fast though.  It always does.  This week brings the beginning of visits to Toph's pups and also the microchipping of Holly's puppies.  Their final health check is also scheduled as well as their Volhardt Puppy Aptitude Test after which time puppy selection will be determined. I know everyone is waiting for that! 

In the meantime, we're in good shape despite the busyness.  I believe the saying is don't be so busy that you forget to stop and smell the roses.  Well, in this case it's don't be so busy you don't stop and inhale puppy breath or make time for puppy snuggles and kisses! 

And that's a wrap!  As always take care and God bless you and yours - John, Ann and All Things Brittany