Thrifty puppies

Clay and I went to town this afternoon. We hit four or five thrift stores looking for puppy stuff. I've got a big box full of stuffed toys and they enjoy them, but we were looking for different things to challenge them a bit and enrich their experiences while they were still confined indoors. 

It started off rather slow, not really finding what we were looking for, or thought we were looking for anyway. We got a couple more small blankets to use as bedding although we already had plenty. But eventually we found a few things, some for now, some for when they are little bigger. 

They are easy to please. Empty cardboard boxes can entertain them and I've got a couple of them ready for them as well. Oh, and I used a small shop vac in their space today to get them used to the noise so they won't fear the vacuum monster when they grow up.

They are too big to all eat from the same bowl, but they tried, ignoring an

identical second bowl. A few of them eventually caught on.

I think this is a baby bath tub. They can get in it if they try, or will be able to soon.

Tonight they mostly chewed on it.

They all come to investigate anything new; that's good and we really want to encourage that.

This is a little out in left field. It's a small ironing board frame, not exactly a typical

puppy toy. I set it up as a ramp at first. It's an unusual texture on their feet and

probably not entirely pleasant, but we want them to experience

and learn not to fear unusual surfaces.

I was happy to see this guy stand up and put his paws on it, 

but mostly they chewed on it.

This was probably the biggest hit today. It's a rectangular basket, about 4" deep.

Turned upside down they can easily climb on it. It's made of a woven fabric that

is pleasing to both their feet and their teeth. 

Puppy play

As long as we have puppies there will always be plenty of material for a blog post. These guys are cute and playful and they are entering the most fun puppy stage where they are sufficiently coordinated that they can run, play, explore, and learn new things.

I fed the pups just three times today. They cleaned up all the food each time.

Momma Lexie enjoyed some outdoor time in Daneland with Leroy. 

Anything introduced into the puppy space is an object of interest.

This evening I went to Lowe's and bought a cardboard cylinder to use as a tunnel for the pups.

It's 12" in diameter (intended as a concrete form), and about 4' long.

This is a picture of the pups looking at it after I first laid it down in their space.

This pup came over to investigate the tunnel but got distracted by a moth.

The first pup to go through it was Apple Crumb, the girl with the red collar.

Of course, when momma is around, everything else takes a back seat.

The other new object introduced this evening was this octopus toy.

It was a hit, but I bet Lexie will have by morning.

The most important aspect of raising puppies is taking care of mom.

Lexie came in while I was with the pups and laid down for a bit.

She actually tried to play with them and I want her to do that, but they

really just wanted to nurse. 

She is a lovely girl.

The tube was a hit. Now how do I follow it up tomorrow?

Foster spa day

Our foster dogs were both in need of a good bath. Leroy, the bloodhound, didn't really look dirty but Clay said he still had shelter smell on him. I'm pretty well inured to dog smells but I don't doubt that he smelled that way to other people. Lexie's need for a bath was obvious from looking at her. Her coat was dull, dry, and coarse, and also rather sparse. A bath wasn't going to cure all of that, but it wouldn't hurt either.

I started with the hound and he hopped up onto my washing station with just a little coaxing. I secured him and started in with the water and he didn't hate it. On a day like this it had to feel pretty refreshing. I didn't even mind the splashing and the shaking. Leroy was really pretty good about it, all things considered. And I was wrong about him not appearing dirty. Once he was clean I realized how dirty he had been. His coat is much more colorful now, deep mahogany red, fading to brown, and dark black over his back. He shines now and he was very full of himself when it was done. I brought him inside after he was at least partially dried, but he was so obnoxious bothering the other dogs and talking about his experience that I had to put him back outside so I could get back to work. 

Lexie also hopped up onto the platform for me and was good throughout the bath. She was under the hose for a longer time because she had some real dirt that needed to be removed. I lathered her up really good and spent a long time rinsing it all off. After she was mostly dry I gave her a good brushing. The bath had loosened her old undercoat and it was ready to come off. She really enjoyed the brushing, I can only imagine how good it must have felt for her. Her coat is even more sparse now, but I'm pumping a lot of nutrition into her so she can grow a new one and put on some weight for herself, not just the pups. 

I also tried putting Lexie and Leroy together today for the first time. They were just fine as I thought they would be. They spent their joint time together in Leroy's part of Daneland so he didn't have the opportunity to go into the shed where her puppies were. When Lexie and I went back to the puppies later, she actually went in and sat down with them for a while to let them nurse. That's the first time I've seen her do that. They are eating a good amount of solid food now so I'm not sure how much they really need to nurse anyway. 

Those big eyes.

I needed the three point restraint system for Leroy, but he didn't really fight it.

Here he is telling Lexie all about the experience through the fence.

I used a lot of soap on her. She was dirty.

It was hot enough that I didn't mind getting wet when she did her shake.

She even let me wash most of her face.

I think she looks more like a border collie now that she's clean.

Still has a rather husky-like face though. With her mix, and whatever

the dad brought to the table, the puppies should be 100% mutt.

The sun came out again so I could get a picture to show his shine.

And here's a couple of obligatory daily puppy pictures. 

They eat the most at the first meal of the day. The Dane puppies did this too now that

I'm remembering. The second meal I gave them a bit less and they cleaned it up too.

I'll probably do just one more meal for them this evening. Momma is getting three formal meals

and I leave a bowl of food with her at night. It's gone by morning.

They are definitely some chunky puppies.