8/24/2020 0 Comments Where's Jo Jo?Well - he did it! Escaped from the whelping box. I came in, counted puppies and Jo Jo was missing! It didn't take me too long to find him fast asleep in the Vari Kennel. What a sweet funny boy he is! And he didn't just escape the box once today. He did it THREE times! Imagine that! And Rita did once as well! Time for the indoor pen! The whelping box comes out tomorrow. That will result in complete pandemonium! Puppies had their most outside time today so far. I put them out this morning while I tidied up their box. They all just found a place to take a nap. Then they went out again for a good bit of the afternoon for visitors, Cindy, Steven & Cat, and stayed out longer as they were so comfy! It was quite warm and humid out this afternoon, but the puppies managed to find the fan to pile in front of! Again, I was not a videographer today! Maybe tomorrow! Until next time....
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8/23/2020 0 Comments New Mug Shots!Yesterday was so busy that we failed to weigh puppies or take their 3 week mug shots! So we made up for that today! I subscribed to this photo collage app (BeFunky) while running the recent Decorated Dals II fundraiser for DCAF, and it's come in really handy for puppy mug shots! I just love these collages of the puppies at 1 day, 1 week, 2 weeks and 3 weeks. It's so amazing to see how their little heads and faces change so quickly! Here they are in birth order - Maxwell, Sadie, Rita, Lizzy and Jo Jo! The boys joined Sadie in going over 4 lbs. Rita and Lizzy are not too far behind. Their teeth are quite visible now. A little too soon to check their bites, but I will start practicing "show teeth" everyday now. No one has actually escaped the whelping box yet, so I did not set up the indoor pen yet. I'm quite ready to though because Rhani continues to interfere with "litter box" training by shedding the paper and tossing the pads every night! SHE has begun taking some naps in the Vari-Kennel though and today, after their lunch, Maxwell decided to check it out! He looks so tiny in there! After three days of one gruel meal a day, I graduated them to two today with increased puppy food. They continue to wear almost as much of it as they eat. Baths are required for all after each meal followed by a good floor mopping! I've begun to reduce Rhani's food. She's not really happy about that so I let her clean up the puppies leftovers this afternoon. The puppies are playing with one another more and more each day and interacting with toys I've put in the box. All are brave about exploring new spaces too. They are becoming more and more stable on their legs, but are still prone to topple over for no apparent reason. This afternoon, our neighbors Amy and Maddie, stopped by to visit the puppies. The puppies were on the patio when they arrived and they said they could hear them all the way up on the street. They are NOISY! They did, however, have no problem settling in for snuggles with their visitors! Imagine that! We are lucky to live in such a dog friendly neighborhood. Of the 17 homes, 11 have at least one dog - most have 2 or more! And several of the ones who don't have their own dog often have grand dogs over to visit. Sorry no videos today. I either didn't have my phone handy or my hands were covered in puppy mess every time I saw something to video! Until next time.... 8/21/2020 0 Comments Happy Birthday, Rhani!Today is Rhani's 4th birthday! She spent plenty of time today taking care of the babies, but also enjoyed a lot of time in the yard and by the pool and a nice walk this morning. Treats and hugs were aplenty also! And she got to do her very favorite thing - chew up a plastic water bottle! The babies got their nails done again today. All of them tolerated at least two paws without getting too fidgety! Most got through three paws with no fuss! Sadie did, however, reward me with a lapful of pee! They had their second gruel meal and enjoyed it with the same gusto as the first. During weigh in today, I was a little freaked out because Sadie seemed to have lost a little weight. That was until I discovered that when I put their collars back on after eating, I managed to put her collar on Max and his on her! Neither Dave not I noticed the mistake when we weighed them! Good grief! One is a boy and one is a girl! But I did notice it while doing their nails. Again - good grief! But now that the correct weights are assigned to the correct puppies, guess what....Sadie is the first to go over 4 pounds! Imagine that! Late this afternoon, the puppies had their first visit to the outside patio without visitors to cuddle them. Everyone had fun exploring, climbing over and under table legs, barking, sniffing and acting like little dogs.
Tomorrow the puppies turn 3 weeks old and I have a DCA Board Meeting all afternoon via Zoom. Hopefully we will find time to squeeze in 3 week head shots. I tried to catch a few today. Can you tell who is who and which one is missing? (She was sound asleep while I had the camera out doing this.)
Until next time.... 8/20/2020 1 Comment We Tried It. We Liked It!What a busy day for the babies! Starting with lunch when they got their first taste of something besides, Rhani's milk! I'll keep them on the same recipe once a day for the next three days before graduating to more puppy chow and thicker gruel. The current recipe is 1/4 cup dried goats milk, 3/4 cup water, 1/3 cup puppy kibble soaked and then all blended together. Funny story...our blender was a wedding gift 41 years ago! It only works on the "instant blend" button, but it still gets the job done! The video is probably longer than necessary, but we can't have puppies without documentation of their first encounter with gruel! They ate it all (except what they wore!) Baths all around were necessary after lunch! And then there were visitors! First, Linda, who lives around the corner from us, but I'd have never met her if not for walking our Dalmatians. Linda has Yorkies, is a wonderful person, and thought the puppies were adorable! Then later in the afternoon, our neighbors, Cindy, Steven and Cat (home from Chicago for the weekend) dropped by. They have the babies' Aunt Lexie so are experienced Dalmatian puppy socializers! Rhani was happy to see all the visitors today. So were the puppies! Well, I was wrong with my prediction yesterday that Sadie would reach 4 pounds before Rita got to 3. Everybody is now 3 pounds +! Everyone is also getting more mobile. In fact, this morning Jo Jo climbed right out of the storage bin I had them in while I was changing their bedding in the box. I turned my back on him for less than 5 seconds, and he was out and scrambling around the office! As you can see from the photos, the puppies were in the outside pin again this afternoon for visitors. Rita was, again, the most adventurous in terms of exploring the area. Imagine that!
Until next time.... 8/19/2020 2 Comments We're Busting Outta Here!This morning, Jo Jo was doing his best to get over the edge of the box and Sadie had her wag on! Enjoy the little video clips!
Jo Jo's attempted escape prompted me to begin rearranging the office/dog room. Recliner out. VeriKennel in. Not setting up the indoor pen until they are actually out of the box, but I am guessing that is just days away. Margot and Dave and two of their granddaughters visited today. Regan and Charlotte thought the puppies were very cute! Margot and Dave couldn't believe how much they've changed in the week or so since they last saw them. I can't either! For the visit, the puppies had their first encounter with the outside pen. Rita was the most adventurous wandering pretty far afield for such a little bit. The girls discovered little teeth emerging which may explain why Rhani is less interested in letting them eat whenever they feel like it. Guess I better get them started on puppy gruel tomorrow! During today's weigh in today, Lizzy passed 3 pounds, so now it's just Rita who has not tipped the scale for that marker. By the time she gets there, Sadie will be over 4 pounds! Imagine that!
Until next time.... 8/18/2020 0 Comments We're just cute!Not a lot to report today. I was reviewing some of my resources this afternoon and realized that I probably need to start the weaning process sooner than I was thinking. There are lots of different opinions about when to do this, but the puppies will get teeth this week. That is not comfortable for Rhani, so I will likely start the process in the next few days - no later than Sunday. Even though there's not much to report, I did get a couple cute photos and video clips. First - three views of a scene that cracked me up this morning. Sadie sprawled on the pig rail, then the full view, and last a close up of Jo Jo and Lizzy's butt. And then the videos. (I had more but somehow managed to shoot them in slow motion. They weren't so cute to make you watch 3 minutes of 30 seconds worth of cuteness!) The first one is of Jo Jo and Rita engaging in some play. This will get much more vigorous over the next few days and weeks. The second is of the puppies all waking up, jostling for position and wrapping up with a big mouth yawn by Maxwell! Imagine that! Until next time....
Jo Jo's eyes are wide open by tonight, but this was the view this morning. The middle picture is Lizzy. She has dramatic eyes and is a little bit of a drama queen too (in the most sweet way!)! Then - just a pile of puppies with Maxwell piling on top! Today was the last day of Early Neurological Stimulation exercises. All the puppies came to peace with them except being inverted vertically. No one liked that from day 3 through day 16! Imagine that! From now till they are 4 weeks, we will just concentrate on them developing however they naturally want to. They will continue to meet new visitors, probably go for a car ride or two, begin the weaning process, graduate from the whelping box to larger indoor and outdoor areas and be separated from their litter mates (with one of us) for short periods of time. But daily structured development activities will begin in earnest at 4 weeks. Today, I saw more puppies sitting, more wagging tails (still no video) and observed them beginning to interact with each other in play. I think they would take to the "litter box" if Rhani would stop interfering. They mostly head that direction when they wake up, but when I am not in the room with them, she flips the cookie trays, shreds the papers I put in them and around them to catch the pine pellets and make them less slippery, and generally messes up the entire whelping box set up. I guess I should have consulted her on this! Because they are developing so quickly, Dave constructed the outside pen today. We have lots of fun things planned to add to this area when the puppies are ready to begin hanging out there in a week or so. I'll leave you with a couple cute photos of the boys resting their chins on the pig rails. Well, actually, Maxwell is trying to eat it! Until next time.....
8/16/2020 0 Comments LocomotionThere is not a lot to report today, but the puppies are really gaining locomotion ability! Jo Jo - who still hasn't opened his eyes - continues to lead the pack in the getting around category, but others are not far behind - especially Sadie! And I observed the first tail wags (not captured on videos) and Maxwell just sitting. (Sitting is new.) That stopped my heart, because his Grandpa Raj used to just sit and watch the world go by. Maxwell and JoJo have joined Sadie in the 3 pound department. Until next time!
8/15/2020 0 Comments Two Weeks Old Today!Today is their 2 week birthday! Imagine that! To celebrate, the puppies got their nails dremmeled (except Maxwell who I did last night), got new mug shots and had a visit from Danielle and her mom, Alison! Here are their mug shots side-by-side followed by their individual "collages" showing them at 1 day, 1 week and 2 weeks. It's fun to watch their little faces develop! Looking at these photos, I see I should have kept at their nails a little longer! I told you they are LONG! And no - Jo Jo still has not opened his eyes, but he's the best walker of the bunch! Everybody is improving their skills in that regard!
Besides these activities, we had our daily weigh in. Guess who hit 3 pounds first? Sadie - of course! No cute videos today because they pretty much ate and slept and that was it today! Until next time.... 8/14/2020 2 Comments Peepers, Spots, and Legs....Oh MyWe've had no internet except my phone's hot spot since Sunday! That means we've had no Internet! But the puppies carry on regardless! During their second week on earth, they've been busy growing, getting spots, finding their legs, having visitors, developing their sense of smell, and finally opening their eyes! Sorry for a longish post, but a lot happens in 5 days! Visitors!This week's visitors included some new friends and some old friends! One of the great things about walking my Dalmatians everyday is the people we meet! We see Shawn walking her dogs almost everyday. We always say hello and I always think to myself - what a nice lady with such well-mannered dogs! I never knew her name until Rhani had the babies! I told her she should come see them and she took me up on the offer since her daughter, Sorell's birthday was Tuesday and she was trying to plan a fun day. Well - what could be more fun than visiting puppies? The next day, the Marino's came to visit! More people we met walking, although only once. Valeri and her daughter Amelia stopped to talk to Baili and me one day a couple months ago while we were drawing one of our chalk drawings. Valeri told me that she and her husband had a Dalmatian when they were first married and they've always wanted another one. I told her Rhani was expecting puppies and to look us up. Well, they apparently registered to be notified by AKC Marketplace when puppies in the area were available and got notice of Rhani's litter. Within days, I had a Facebook message from Valeri and then a puppy application. Their first Dalmatian was from my friend, Elaine Lindhorst, where we got our Cooper! These puppies are related to their first Dalmatian! Valeri and Mike have triplet daughters that are 17 years old - Amelia, Cambell and Riley! They were totally smitten with the babies! The girls emailed me after the visit offering to help with the puppy "curriculum" that will start when they are 4 weeks old. I might just take them up on that! Today, Steven and Cindy from across the street came back to visit for the second time. They couldn't believe how much the puppies have grown in the past week! Steven made sure Rhani got personal attention too which she greatly appreciated! Puppy DevelopmentThe puppies have all grown a lot this week! The photo is of Lizzy getting weighed in on Wednesday! Everybody is well over 2 lbs and Sadie is still the largest - fast approaching 3 lbs! Most of this week, Lizzy, Maxwell and Jo Jo were without collars. I decided to order buckle collars which arrived today to make it easier for those of you at home to know who's who! So as a reminder - Maxwell is purple, Sadie is pink, Rita is red, Lizzy is now yellow as they don't make "rainbow" collars, and Jo Jo, the liver boy, is blue! On Wednesday night, I finally saw some eyes opening! As of today, everyone mostly has their eyes open, except Jo Jo! He is still squeezed shut! You can see Rita's pretty open eyes in the photo above with Cindy holding her. In addition to gaining weight, these puppies sure do grow toe nails! I clipped them last week on Tuesday. On Monday this week, they got their first dremmel nail job. They all tolerated it pretty well. Of course, on Tuesday, they couldn't see, hear or smell, so what's not to like? By today, they really need it again. I did Maxwell's nails again tonight with the dremmel while Steven and Cindy were here and he was a very good boy until the very last nail. Better do the rest of them tomorrow! Tuesday evening, I noticed them starting to sniff, so their noses are now operational! They are all eliminating on their own now. Oh joy! This means lots more loads of laundry for me! I am trying the "litter box" with these puppies that I've seen so many friends use successfully. For now, it's disposable cookie sheets with pine pellets. When they are bigger, they will graduate to rabbit pen trays. The cookie sheets have only been in the box for about 24 hours. So far there is some action there. Not sure if it's accidental or not. Hopefully the accidents will become habits! Spots are really starting to come through! Clockwise in this photo are Maxwell, JoJo, Lizzy, Rita, Sadie. And they have legs! They are definitely drunken sailors but they are getting up and about. I predicted early in the week that Jo Jo would be the first to be walking and I was right. And one more funny video from a couple days ago - of course, starring Rita! They love to eat! Until next time....
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Toni LinstedtI like to keep a diary of the puppies as much for myself as for prospective puppy buyers and interested friends. Sadly my blogs for Lucy's and Baili's litters are no longer available due to legacy systems, but I saved them off as pdf's and was reviewing them last night. It was a good refresher on all kinds of things and brought back lots of good memories. Looking forward to Imagine memories too! Archives
January 2021
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