Other dogs, but puppies too

Not much time today and I only took one puppy picture. They self-assemble into a pile, or sometimes into two or three smaller groupings, depending on what I do not know. Sojo is still gaining, but slowly, maybe two ounces a day. Their eyes are beginning to open and they are becoming more vocal. 

Lexie is doing well in her new home. She is best friends with the three year old girl that they have. 

I took the Danes, shepherds, and the golden boy, Hugo, out to the pasture this evening for some running and mowing.

Serena and Max

Hugo and Rufus

Max, destroying a ball

The Danish girls, Serena and Della

Hugo with his favorite disc.

Hugo has the shepherds interested in the disc game now too.

Della oversees it all.

Rufus

Hugo and Melly

Jake, the Mountain Pug

The domestic dog's adaptability never ceases to amaze me. A year ago my mother's pug, Jake, was living with her in a retirement community. Jake's outdoor time consisted of a walk around the pond, which he very much enjoyed, but otherwise he was her constant companion, generally laying next to her chair, getting up for meals or to follow her around the apartment, but not much more.

When my mother died, Jake moved to Montana with my sister Paula and her husband Pat. They have a beautiful new home up on a mountain, but like many (most?) in Montana they are pretty active people and engage in a variety of outdoor activities. They recently went camping and took Jake along, carrying him in a backpack when they were hiking. He sleeps in the tent, using my sister's down coat as a sleeping bag. They hiked, they camped, they saw grizzly bear, and they stopped at a Montana brewery for lunch.

Jake was adopted from the mother's local animal shelter. My mother loved having him and I'm very glad that she did. He was more than a bit overweight, but he has shed quite a few pounds as a result of his new, active lifestyle. Jake isn't a young dog at this point, but there is still plenty of dog left in him and Paula and Pat are devoted to making him happy and comfortable for the rest of his life. 

Notice Jake in the backpack that Pat is carrying.

Jake always did enjoy happy hour with my mother.

Montana is a beautiful place.

Jake in the tent, snuggled into a down coat.

It seems that Jake will go anywhere, if you carry him.

And here's some puppy pictures, just because.

Allison is becoming quite attached to me.

We are still a couple weeks away from puppy action pictures.

At this point pretty much all they do is eat and sleep.

Little Sojo is holding her own and putting on a couple ounces each day.

She feels a little heftier now when I pick her up, but she's still very small 

compared to her brother and sisters.

Allison is using her dog bed now rather than laying with the pups at all times.

I've opened the dog door so she can go outside to Daneland when she needs to during the day.

Color coding

 Today we put the color coded collars on the pups. 

Clockwise, starting just after 6:00 o'clock: Susan B., Amelia, Rosa, Elliott, Dolly, Ruth, Malala (collar not visible), Eleanor, Harriett, and Sojourner in the middle. They had arranged themselves like this.

Here's the chart to match up the color/markings, name, and collar color:

White	Elliott	Black
Black	Sojourner	Aqua
Large spotted merlequin	Susan B	Dark Blue
Less spotted merlequin	Harriett	Yellow
Piebald	Dolly	Red
Lilac chipmunk stripes	Rosa	Lilac
Lilac merlequin	Malala	Purple
Merle - big white chest	Ruth	White
Merle - head spot	Eleanor	Light Blue
Merle - neck spot	Amelia	Green

I've been bottle feeding Sojo about eight times a day, and she's slowly gaining, but getting the milk in her is a struggle. Today I decided to switch nipples again, going with a larger one that has a more true-to-life shape, but still not as big as the real deal on Allison. It was the perfect size and shape for Sojo's tongue and she took it like a champ, sucking the milk down in record time with very little of it spilled on her or me. It wasn't quite as successful when I did it again two hours later, but she may have still had a full belly at that time. I'm hoping this will enable me to get more of it into her so she can grow enough to get more of Allison's milk.

Sojo is only half the weight of the larger pups, but I hope we can cut into that lead.

Thank you, Rose, for the bottle feeding supplies.

Allison is no longer staying with the pups constantly. She is using the dog bed outside the

whelping box part of the time at least. But she's still feeding them, cleaning them, and

being an all around good mom.

Allison is eating 2 cups of puppy food, 4-5 times a day. 

She often gets me up at 2:00 a.m. for a feeding as much as for a trip outside.

I've opened the doggie door now, so she can come in and out on her own.

Rufus and Melly

It's time to start looking for new homes for Rufus and Melly. They are two German Shepherd Dogs, both about seven years old. They are spayed/neutered, current on vaccines, and are heartworm negative. They were owned by the same person, an elderly woman who recently moved into an assisted living care facility. Both dogs were well-loved and cared for and it shows.

Unfortunately both became quite overweight in the last few years when their owner slowed down but the dogs' food intake did not. They have been on a diet since coming here and it is really beginning to show results. In spite of being overweight, both dogs are quite active and love to get out to the pasture to run and play. Melly likes to play fetch. 

Rufus and Melly have been housetrained for years and have not used a crate since they came here. Their indoor manners are excellent. Melly is happy to meet any new people and will greet them with a kiss and a wag of her tail. Rufus is more stand-offish, but he's easily won over. He has a shepherd's protective instinct to bark at strangers but he's all talk. 

Melly and Rufus lived together for several years but they do not have to be adopted together. They are both good dogs and will be wonderful companions in their senior years. They are as active as you want to be, but are also quite content to lay around with you at home. They had a big adjustment when they first came here as fosters, but both have adapted and fit in very well with our pack. Neither has had an trouble with any of the other dogs around here. 

Both dogs are available for adoption through Green Dogs Unleashed. You can contact the foster home at vadogrescue@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Melly is a classic black and tan shepherd. She loves to play fetch.

Rufus is a beautiful sable shepherd. 

My cabin in the woods

I've been living in the puppy shed ever since we got Allison, coming to the house to eat, work, and shower. I don't know that I really need to be out there still, but I think Allison has decided that it's where the two of us live and I hate to abandon her. It's been sort of fun really, sort of like camping but with more amenities. I've begun to think of it as my cabin in the woods.

It has two window unit air conditioners but now I've also brought out a heater when the nights got chilly. I've been organizing the space, most of my dog stuff is out there, although really there is still dog stuff in many other parts of our house. I had added a dog door last summer although I haven't had it open for Allison to use just yet. I'm not sure why. 

We've been pretty comfortable out there. My cot is actually quite comfortable and now Allison has taken to laying on it during the days occasionally if I don't stand it up to get it out of the way. There's plenty of space while the puppies are still confined to the whelping box. By the time they are out of that, Allison and I should be back in the house. 

We had a real electrician run power out there this summer. Previously we had been running everything off two long extension cords that ran from the other two sheds. Our wifi signal reaches out there so I've had television, using a small one that I brought back from my mother's place last fall. We've decided that this is going to be a dedicated dog space, so I'm even considering finishing the interior a bit more. 

We really don't have a place in the house that is large enough and separate enough for mother dogs with puppies, so this has been invaluable. I said that I didn't need to do the puppy thing again after Della had hers, but then there was Luna with her shepherd pups, and Lexie with hers, and now Allison, so I'm going to stop lying to myself. It's not an ideal place, but it's pretty useful. It's my cabin in the woods, a/k/a Della's home for wayward mothers.

This is the business end of the cabin, built out with shelves. I've got puppy supplies on the top

shelves, other dog stuff, some tools, electronics, etc. That desk is one I brought back from 

Kansas. It had been in my mother's basement and had originally come from my father's family.

It's not a valuable antique, but it's very solid, useful, and a perfect fit for this space.

A work table with scale. That dog bed below I plan to pull out for Allison to use.

Here's a view of the whelping box. Yes, it's irregularly shaped, I used what I had.

Allison prefers the bathmats over blankets and they do work well. The pups can move 

around on them pretty well.

A stack of blankets on another chair that is currently blocking the dog door.

That red bucket is full of Allison's food. She's eating 5-6 times a day and I think 

she has started putting on weight now. I always add a lot of water to her food

to help with milk production. So far, she's got plenty.

That's Sojo (Sojourner), nestled up against Allison's head.

Does your Dane sleep in odd, uncomfortable positions? This is where it starts.

That's Susan B., draped over Allison's leg. Spines are very flexible at this age.

Sojourner is doing better with the bottle feeding now that I got one with a

smaller nipple. I think she's beginning to pick up a little weight, but 

we've got a long way to go. Everyone else is doing well. 

Allison laying on my cot after rearranging the bedding to suit her.

The cabin is located in the backyard. The dog yard is to the left, Daneland to the right, 

in the shade of a couple birch trees and a sycamore. I recently planted a third birch

in front to provide shade from late afternoon sun. The pasture is behind. When it was 

delivered, the guy who delivered it stood back when it was done and said that it

looks like it's always been there. It fit in very well and it's very well built.