The Mini-Troopers

The last of the four, six-month old Troopers were moved out to other foster homes this past weekend. I am very glad for them because they need to take the next step in their development. I've heard from two of them that things are going well. I haven't heard from the other two so I'm working on the assumption that no news is good news.

The other reason it's good that they've moved on is because I need to start paying closer attention to the three week old pups, whom I'm referring to as the Mini-Troopers. I haven't been ignoring them, but for the first couple weeks the mother, Luna, really does it all and we've been little more than observers. They are moving into a phase where we will be responsible for more of the clean up and even the feeding.

I've been wanting to make things better for Luna too. One thing I've always wanted for the Puppy Palace is a dog door that will allow an adult dog to come in and out on their own. We shopped around for one and ended up ordering it and it arrived Saturday morning, just in time for the cooler, less humid days that made being outside pleasant again. It was easy to install and I did so on Saturday. Luna learned to use it very quickly, because she's a female shepherd, and she really enjoyed the freedom. I'm sure she was happy to have a little time away from the puppies, and it was actually nice to be outside so she was really enjoying that.

Meanwhile, back inside the shed, the air conditioners are running full time during the day to keep it comfortable for the three Mini-Troopers. They have been scrambling out of their wading pool, sometimes up onto Luna's adjacent elevated bed, and often ending up under her bed. Their walking is stronger now, although they still seem to spend a lot of time on their bellies.

One consequence of both Luna's indoor/outdoor freedom, and the pups' adventuring, is that I'm concerned if they are getting enough food. I've been spending time with Luna out there, petting her while she nurses. I had to do that with Della too, because she found it boring after a while. I've started introducing some milk replacement, once a day at most. They aren't thrilled with it but it does seem to be gaining some acceptance, and I guess they are learning to lap it up rather than suck. It's a new eating technique. I've been using some canned milk replacer, but tomorrow I will try mixing up the powdered stuff; it may be tastier.

I am not really ready for the puppies to be out of the pool and roaming around the shed, so today I set up some fencing surrounding the pool to keep them in. It's 24" tall, but I cut down a section in front to make an easier jump for Luna to get in. That should hold things for another week, then I'll need to come up with something else to give them more room to play and grow.

This is the new doggie door from the outside.
I had a wooden box that made for a nice step.

From the inside.  There's a panel that slides in
so I can close Luna either in or out.

Luna's bed is right next to the wading pool and it's just about
the height of the pool's edge so the pups can climb out of
the pool and directly onto Luna's bed.

I always wanted a bear cub.

Learning to lap milk replacer from a pyrex
baking dish. Not as intimate as nursing, but
it's a good nutritional supplement.

Luna is a much smaller dog than Della and had a much smaller litter so I opted for the medium
size pool rather than the large. The smaller pool isn't as tall, so the pups are getting out of it
sooner than I want them to. This is 1" x 1" wire fencing, two feet tall. It's stiff enough to stand up
and it should keep the pups confined for another week or more. You can see that I cut down a
section in the front to make it easy for Luna to get in and out.