Big Day for Little Pop!

It was a big, big day for little Pop (of Snap, Crackle and Pop). He was the one who got to come outside and help me with my chores today! It was his first time outside and his first time without mom or brothers within hearing distance, but after he got over the initial surprise, he took the yard by storm! He got to meet the shepherd puppy through the fence. He got to frolic in high grass and run with the chickens! He also did very well finding me no matter where I walked in the yard. No small feat when you legs are that short.

Here's our cutie in action!

Pups feeding 8-28-09

SNAP

CRACKLE

POP


Meet the boys!

Snap is the oldest by at least 5 minutes. He has a tiny stripe on his chest which will likely disappear as he nears 8-10 weeks old. He has monster sized paws and is a big ole cuddler. Fromt he beginning, he has gravitated toward me. Toward my breath, my touch, and now toward my voice. He loves his cuddles and snuggles from wherever he can get them, and now that he's more mobile, he was the first to try to climb out of their whelping box. So Monday night they got moved to the larger whelping pen! He reminds me of his Papa. Cooter was the largest puppy in his litter, but he turned out to be a very nicely-sized small adult.

Crackle is the middle boy. He loves lazy days, Momma Rizzo's tender care, and plenty to eat. He lolls around, rolls over slowly, yawning, giving ample opportunity to tickle him and kiss his belly. Life is good for ole Crackle.

Pop is the smallest came out full of vim and vinegar. Within hours he had discovered that his tiniest sounds would gather the attention of everyone around, waiting to meet his every need. For the first week he really used this to his advantage and I thought he might turn out to be quite demanding. But already he has mellowed out and is kicked back like his brothers. He doens't roll on his back as much as the other two, preferring instead to tuck all his paws underneath him into the cutest little fluff ball. But when there's loving to be had, he'll expose that belly in a heartbeat.

All 3 boys are moving around pretty good now, getting up on their feet to eliminate on their own. They are starting to interact with each other as more than just mutual aid heating pads. They are more snuggly than playful, but the play will develop over the next week or so as they become even more mobile. They are starting to make things out with their eyes and soon we'll start testing to see how well they're tracking.

Rizzo has turned out to be one of the best moms ever! She was VERY good about not smothering them the first two weeks (a frequent hazard with pug moms, unintentional, but usually requiring constant supervision). She tells me when she needs something, or something extra. She gets saved the best treats and gets the best meals and loves the extra pampering!

Rizzo's Pups

The dog formerly known as Rizzo (she has been known to change her name on numerous occassions, the most recent two selections being Delilah and Madonna), is announcing the birth of her wonderfully cute and cuddly little boys. It was a tough delivery. Her due date was on a Thursday, but early Monday morning, I got a call from an intuitive friend at 3:30 in the morning and all he said was "your dog needs you." I pried my eyes open, and found that Rizzo had been in labor. A few minutes later, the legs from a breech birth came out of the canal, but nothing else. We've had plenty of breech births go fine, but this guy was very large in size, and he was good and stuck. It's very tricky with puppies because you can't grab ahold of the body or the legs that are presenting without causing harm, so you have to help up along the sides of the birth canal, but he didn't make it. We lost him, but then 3 more males were born in rapid succession. A couple of hours later, the only female was stillborn, with her umbilical cord and afterbirth wrapped around her as it had been en utero, preventing her from surviving.

But the remaining three boys are full of life, love and energy. Their temporary names are Snap, Crackle and Pop, and they are keeping my life busy and full of joy. Delilah is an awesome mother, attending to their every whimper and every need. They were born around 4am on August 3rd, and now have their eyes open and are just shy of having their ears open. They are very mobile, and their fur is plush and soft.

Will try to keep everyone updated on this litter better than I did the last one! Where does the time go??

September Fun - Mum Festival!

September has been a very busy month! We started off with a bang by going to the Dog Splash at the recently closed water park. At the same time, we were battling fleas. Yes, the fleas this year were horrendous. Last year we made it through our first flea season holistically with a bit of diatomaceous earth and some garlic tablets. This year, we knew by the way the summer started it was going to be harsh, so we added essential oils but ran out of garlic tablets. Right around the end of August, beginning of September, I knew we were in trouble. I located some more garlic tablets and added them to their diet. They worked wonderfully, but the problem was that the fleas were jumping off the dogs and onto me! That first night I found a flea in bed, off to the vet we went. The first vet we visited had actually sold out of Frontline (does that tell you how bad it was?) and so we got a bottle of bulk spray at the second stop. Now we've got them back under control, but it was touch and go there for a while! Bet I won't run out of garlic tablets again... Especially since Petunia had a horrible reaction to Frontline (like a chemical burn) and I only sprayed her 4 times (according to the bottle, she could have anywhere from 20 - 40 sprays per her weight). I wish they had remained with their original flea-inhibitor formula instead of going to a pesticide.



This is a 3 generation picture. Daisy, on the right with Rizzo, her daughter, on the left and Kentucky Lilly, the spoiled and headstrong granddaughter in the middle. They had tons of fun wresting every day. Lilly went to her new home two evenings ago and she is terribly missed, no matter how much trouble she caused :) She is busy trying to figure out what she can take over in her new home, I'm sure. She has lots of people there to give her undivided attention and slather lots of love on her! She and Rizzo are products of what we've been breeding for in our lines, with the combinations we've chosen and we're very, very proud of both of them, and of the rest of our crew. Not only is Lilly beautiful and strong, but she also has a strong immune system. She showed symptoms of parvo at 4 weeks old and recovered from it beautifully in very short order with the help of parvaid and colloidal silver. I will always have these products on hand for my litters now that I know exactly how effective they can be, especially when given at the onset of any symptoms.

We also got out for a day of sunshine and fun when delivering a quad runner to my friend's sister. It was a beautiful day, and we ran the quad runner up into an area where he hunts. I got to see beautiful land and dream of living out in the hills and forest. At the end of the day, a storm ripped through while we were driving back (hauling a trailer, no less). It was Hurricane Ike running into a fiercely set high pressure system. The meeting of the two caused a funnel-like reaction bringing hurricane like winds to the Miami Valley. We saw road signs bent over in half. There was actually a tree down on I-70 itself. We saw everything blow across the road in front of us except a cow. The damage was widespread. Even as it was happening, we saw a convoy of 17 Ohio Edison trucks on the highway off to try to repair the damage. In trying to get gas, we had to watch for any signs of electricity at the exits to even pull off. When I finally saw a lit sign, only 2 of the 8 gas stations were operating and they had long lines. And half their pumps were empty already. On returning home, it was shocking the amount of damage. I'm not sure there was anyone that didn't lose limbs from their trees, even if they didn't lose whole trees. In one yard alone, I counted 7 downed adult trees. The wind came through on Sunday, but the main roads in town were still without electricity till Friday and Saturday. Thanks to the help of some neighbors and Tony's ingenuity, the freezers full of meat were saved. With the cost of gas, maybe at an expense close to what was in them!! We have mostly recovered from the event, but there is still a tree in my mom's yard that needs to be cut up and removed. What we suffered was nothing in comparison to the folks in Texas. Our prayers are still with those who are battling the ravages of the hurricane!



Normally I don't post if we've had a visitor or not, but we did have the lovely miss Buzka visiting last week and she was delightful. I couldn't resist posting this picture of her (left) with Fabio. And if you're wondering, she really was giving him a dressing down. Buzka's mom was on her way to pick her up when we learned about a Mum Festival in her area, so we packed up and went there, instead.

Representing Pugville were Petunia and Ellie Mae. They had the most energy to burn that day and boy did they get their money's worth. We walked the vendor's booths for 3 hours! We had a blast. I forgot how many steps you can take between people wanting to pet the dogs. I think it's 3. Sometimes 5. But that's ok. We had fun and the dogs LOVED all the attention they were getting. They had just had baths that morning and were all spruced up and ready for a day out! And, yes, they slept very soundly that night!

Splash Day at the Dog Park

Today was one of the bestest days, ever!!! The new city pool splash park teamed up with the dog park and they had a dog splash day now that the pool has closed down for the season. Truth be told, I didn't make it to the park during its inaugural year as a human to swim, but now that I've been there, I'm very impressed.

The lucky candidates to go with me today were Isabelle, Rizzo, and Rizzo's pup, Kentucky Lilly. Lilly, being only 8 weeks old, and one of the cutest pugs EVER, stole the show. She worked the crowd, following this person, chasing that dog, getting total strangers to ensure her every need was met. She could spot a "rescuer" from across the water park and make a beeline for him/her and give them the "help me, help me" look and they would sweep her up in arms full of cuddles. If I was following her, she barely knew I was there, but if I wanted someone to watch her while I went to do something, she was right behind me with them chasing saying "I tried to pick her up!!" Goofy puppy.

Rizzo was the first to try the water. They have a wonderful little ramp-type area. Humans weren't supposed to be in the pool with the dogs, but several were breaking the rules, so I went in to my ankles with her. She wanted so badly to be brave, but she ended up putting her front paws up on the back of the legs and slowly we waded out together, with her on my leg the whole time. She did ok, though, and kind of swam back a few strokes till she realized she could actually walk back out. Isabelle didn't go out that far, but she did get wet. When we started off for another area, Rizzo lost me in the crowd and ran out into the water searching for me. She found herself in way too deep in a circle of women and she was on her back legs pirouetting. They thought it was cute, but I knew she was panicking. As soon as I saw her go out, I started after her, so as soon as I was within ear range, I was asking people to pick her up. They did, thank goodness. She was in no real danger since she could still stand on her back legs, but she was definitely worried, and didn't really want to go back in the water after that, even though it turns out she's a fine swimmer!! She might have gotten over it if we had been able to stay out there with them for any length of time, but I was trying to be as good as possible for the sake of the health department :)

We continued on around the complex and watched the big, brave dogs. Their owners were throwing all sorts of things as the dogs fearlessly threw themselves into the deep end and gleefully retrieved whatever object it was. They would shake off so much water that it would drench Lilly - lol. She didn't care for that...

On the backside of the pool, where it was deeper, I tried to see if they would like to walk out onto a step where it was shallow and (for the moment) no other dogs. The adults weren't very interested, but Lilly fell into the pool. I immediately reached to drag her back out, but to my surprise, she was swimming very well. She was panicked, but she was swimming. So I held my hand over her till she got to the edge (about 4 inches and 8 puppy paddle strokes) and then lifted her out. Hoping that she would realize that she can swim and that she was ok. Well, she was pretty miffed about the whole thing. First the big dogs shaking on her, then getting her feet wet, and now her whole body??? Where was a rescuer when she needed one? Obviously this isn't what the princess had in mind.

We got to see lots and lots of other dogs. Some of our favorites were the 14-month old springer spaniel siblings, an awesome cutie scottie terrier named Duncan, a 5-month old puppy dachsund who tried really hard to keep up with everyone who ran by, a gorgeous german shepherd who enlisted me to throw his ball into the water, some beautiful golden retrievers, and many others I'm forgetting at the moment. We had a really wonderful time. The girls were totally exhausted after our 2 hour excursion and they settled into deep naps on the way home. And with all the excitement, I forgot to take pictures :( But Lilly kept me very busy with her antics and her frolicking. You just never knew which direction she was going in next. A representative from the dog park asked if she could take a pic for their web page, though. If I find it later, I'll scarf it and post it here for you all!

New picture of Rizzo's pup

It's been a while since any updates. So much has been happening, not enough time to tell it all. But here is a picture of Rizzo's baby girl taken today. She is aware of the world now, and been getting some new experiences. Today she was outside going potty and a truck came by with a whoosh. It scared her, so she jumped back behind the coral bells and peeked out between two leaves. Too cute! Wish I had a camera for every cute moment with these precious pups. But here is one of her trying to sleep while I was in the mood to take pics.

An accomplished nester?

Rizzo during childbirth. Can you see the pug?

And her singleton daughter:

McD’s at midnight = BACON

5-30-08

So we had this tractor show at the Village. This means lots of work and preparation. And even though everyone's been working on it for a week, the day before still ends up with lots still left to be done.

With things looking like they might drag out till 1 or 2 in the morning, I finally go on a burger run at 11:30 pm, even though no one has eaten supper around here till then. McDonald's is about the only thing open, but the girl at the counter LOVED dogs and Petunia and Rizzo made a huge hit.

You know, I like Tim Horton's and they're sweet when they hand out a timbit for the kids when we go through for coffee, but the dogs know what real food is. And they usually take it out of kindness and dump it somewhere on the floor or in the car seat for me to find weeks later. But not the lady at McDonald's. Maybe it's because there weren't any managers there that late at night, or maybe they had some extra food already made that they probably weren't going to be able to sell, but whatever the reason, that girl comes back to the window with BACON!!!

Oh yeh... it was a good errand run for the girls!

The Laundry Detergent Bucket

I went to Sam's Club and stocked up on some of the necessities. Because we go through a lot of laundry, I got two of those big pastic buckets of laundry detergent, but only have room for one of them beside the washing machine. So the other one ended up in the middle of the kitchen and seems to get kicked around from place to place since we're both burning the candle on both ends and haven't taken time to find it a home till it gets used.

The dogs love it, though. It has made a really cool pedestal that one pug at a time can sit on and beg while someone is fixing food. And if they catch your eye as you pass by them and tilt their head *just right* then they might even get a tidbit of your yummies.

Well, that bucket made its way over near the stove. I was home at lunch and busily preparing a sandwich. I opened my bread on the stove, put some mustard on and went over to the sink to grab a knife. That little stinker Rizzo climbed up on the detergent box, stretched her little body as faaaaaar as she possibly could and with the edge of one of her toenails, she barely snagged the crusty edge of the bread. But it was enough! Down came the bread and she was the temporary hero of the day according to the other pugs who helped her scarf it down. I would have given her some MEAT if she would have been a good dog. They don't need bread, but try telling them that with their mouths full of contraband!

So I shook my head and kicked the bucket away from the stove, not realizing it landed near the 33 gallon trash can. Until the next night. When I heard... noises. And I heard a yell from the kitchen, "Get out of there!" Fabio had taken the opportunity to jump up onto the bucket and somehow managed to jump up from there into that trashcan. How, exactly, I have no idea. I'm not sure even he knew because he was good and stuck. All for a bit of macaroni he could smell from the floor. I hope it was worth it!!

Here we go round in circles

Rizzo takes her food very seriously. As it turns out, she has exposed my disfunctional habit of eating at the computer desk. Because when I have food in my hand, she will run past my feet and launch her body into the office chair full speed ahead, causing it to spin in circles. But she is very adept. Her little body counter-circles at the same rate of speed and she manages to continue to keep an eye on both me and my food!!

The other night when I got home from work, everyone was trying to greet me, but I was trying to change out of my work clothes into something more comfortable. With the snow outside preventing any desires of leaving the house the rest of the night, flannel jammies seemed like the perfect solution. Once I got changed, I reclined on the bed to wrestle with the dogs a bit. Petunia jumped up on my chest and started licking my face like I was a 2 year old who just ate ice cream. The paw in my throat cutting off my breath made me gently push her rear end over so that she would step off my body. In her excitement, her body continued to walk, all the way around my head and back up onto my chest while she was still licking my face in the same spot. Talented! There's no lack of love in this house!