Pumpkins

This past weekend we carved out Halloween Pumpkins, I went with an owl design and my husband supported his favorite NFL team the San Fransisco 49ers. To be honest, he lost interest very quickly and I ended up finishing his pumpkin.

Here they are added to my front porch decor.

One of my favorite parts of carving pumpkins is roasting our own pumpkin seeds. This is one of the easiest things to do.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit

Gather your seeds and place them in the colander with as little pulp as possible. 

Rinse them in the colander to remove any residue and pulp still stuck to the seeds.

Spray cookie sheet with non stick spray

Pat dry with paper towel and place on cookie sheet.

Salt or season seeds to taste

Bake for 45 minutes

Whelping Puppies: Where Are They Now

If you are even half as in love with your dogs as I am, you know just how scary it is to find out your dog is pregnant. This is my story about caring for my dogs and helping with the delivery of puppies.

Disclaimer: I have such a great love for my dogs but I wouldn't do it again if the opportunity presented itself. There are so many deserving dogs in shelters all over, whom desperately need homes. I wouldn't be irresponsible and bring new lives into this world. I was lucky to find amazing homes for the puppies I could not keep. I knew the families well and had references on file, backup re-homing plans, and adoption agreements. This may sound extreme but I was not about to allow these innocent creatures to end up somewhere I wasn't comfortable with.

On July 29th, 2013 I aided in the delivery of 5 healthy Yorkie/Maltese Puppies.

4:00pm - Male- Oliver

4:40pm- Male- Silas

5:15pm- Female- Paisley

5:47pm- Female- Londyn/London (renamed Haddie)

& Surprise

6:50pm- Female- Harlow (renamed Harlie)

2 weeks

4 Weeks

6 Weeks

At 8 weeks Haddie and Paisley went to their new homes. Mid October Harlie went to her new home. It was hard saying good bye, but it was for the best.

She was such a sweet, quiet little girl. She had one little outburst where she tore up a floor mat and peed on it, and then proceeded to drag it around the house before I got it all cleaned up. She was so cute I couldn't even be mad at her. 

I made the boys little Ty beanie baby tags out of felt as their Halloween Costumes.

Here are my 3 boys around Christmas, it was about this time that Oliver stopped growing and Silas started getting really big. As you can see most of Oliver's dark Yorkie toned hair had grown out and he was starting to have more of Hallie's coloring. Silas stayed dark.

In May we got Miss Paisley back. Her adoptive Mommy wasn't supposed to have pets in her apartment, Paisley needed some serious training. I think training a dog isn't quite as easy as everyone thinks but I've found this most true with small, female dogs. She still has her issues but I couldn't be happier to have a little princess.

Paisley and Tucker are the best of buds, both have similar personalities. They both are very hyper and require a lot of play time. Silas and Oliver are much more timid and lazy.

Here is everyone on National Dog Day

Here are everyone Christmas shots from last year.

Whelping Puppies: Meet the Pups

PpDay 2- We first gave Hallie a very quick bath, we wanted to get all the icky afterbirth off her. Be very mindful of the water temperature and use very gentle soap. I used an unscented, sensitive skin baby wash. I used yarn and marked each puppy.

Yellow- 1st Born- Oliver

Green- 2nd Born- Silas

Blue- 3rd Born- Paisley

Pink- 4th Born- Londyn

Purple- 5th Born- Harlow

When the babies were 3 days old, I took them to have their tails docked and dewclaws removed. You want to have this done before 5 days old. They're still developing and the pain is supposed to be quite diminished at this age. It still broke my heart to do it, but they were all healed up by week 2. Make sure and leave mommy at home, again I only lived 5 minutes from the vet. Make this trip as quick as possible because mommy is sure to be panicking.

1 week old Harlow

2 week old Oliver on the bottom & Silas on the top

Around week 3 Hallie started losing interest in her babies and returned to mischievous behavior. She destroyed the leg of a chair that was in her whelping room. She wouldn't lay down to feed the pups, I had to lay her down and sit beside her to keep her laying down for them to feed. I would highly recommend having some milk replacement on hand from your local vet just in case your mommy dog acts similar.

Around 4 weeks you can start transitioning the pups to soft food.When making the transition to solid food, a high-quality dry puppy dog food can be soaked with warm water and milk replacement from your vet and blended to a mush.

 

The issues with Hallie continued she would eat all the pups food, and leave hers. I began making her her own serving of soft food but she would still eat all the food and growl at the pups if they got close to the food. I spent as much time at home as possible just to keep a watchful eye. Plus who doesn't love puppies. Believe me, it was torture ;)

 Taking the pups for their first shots. Puppies have to get 3 sets of boosters.

By this point their personalities were in full bloom, We let them roam the living room, and have plenty of room to play. We also started crate training, for only 5-10 minutes based on their behaviors. They were all together and so small they didn't really notice at this point.

The pups are completely comfortable in their crates. I often find them in there with the doors open taking naps. For more information on gradual crate training, please comment below. 

Silas

Oliver

Paisley

London/Londyn (Renamed Haddie by adoptive doggy parents)

 Harlow (Renamed Harlie by adoptive doggy parents)

Paisley & Haddie went to their homes on the same day, Harlie's adoptive family lives in Texas so they planned a trip to visit family and drive home.

Playing outside

Unfortunately at this point in time, 6-8 weeks, Hallie was snapping at the puppies and Tucker alike. When I shared this information at school (in front of the previous owner) it was then I found out that Hallie had attacked the previous owner's new puppy, resulting in almost losing an ear and a surgery. As much as this should have scared me for the safety of the other dogs it more so pulled at my heart strings. This poor girl just wants to be heard, loved, and a "leader of the pack". 

After about another month of trying to show her lots of love & individual time with us it was clear no amount of attention would help. We hoped that creating a very clear "pack order" would ease her need to be heard. Allowing light growls & teeth baring but not snaps. So on and so forth. Nothing seemed to help and she ended up spending more and more time alone to keep her from attacking the other dogs. After some time it was clear Hallie would do best in a home where she can be a single dog. We moved her to my parents house. She has been there since and is doing great. 

It is still really hard for me at times, because it feels like I just used her for puppies and tossed her out like the last family did. I still pay for her health care, just because it makes me feel good to contribute. My parents did me a big favor in taking her in, I know she is in a good home, receiving lots of love. She still creates issues like destructive behavior and going potty in the house. Not every animal can be exactly what you want them to be. With her age, 3, she had become used to being to center of attention, and sharing that attention is very hard for her. My dad had recently lost his little fur companion Kia, so he has adopted Hallie as his own and that creates a big relief for me.

In order to find the best home for an animal it may take trial and error. I feel guilty about the whole situation to this day. I just wanted to take her in and have everything work perfectly and get to know her so well that all her problems would go away but it just wasn't possible and it was best to take her out of a situation that she didn't like. 

Whelping Puppies: Labor and Delivery

If you are even half as in love with your dogs as I am, you know just how scary it is to find out your dog is pregnant. This is my story about caring for my dogs and helping with the delivery of puppies.

Disclaimer: I have such a great love for my dogs but I wouldn't do it again if the opportunity presented itself. There are so many deserving dogs in shelters all over, whom desperately need homes. I wouldn't be irresponsible and bring new lives into this world. I was lucky to find amazing homes for the puppies I could not keep. I knew the families well and had references on file, backup re-homing plans, and adoption agreements. This may sound extreme but I was not about to allow these innocent creatures to end up somewhere I wasn't comfortable with.

As I mentioned in my last post, I found Hallie panting in her crate, I could tell by her body language she was beginning to labor. I used a thermometer to check her temperature, rectally. I carried her crate with her inside into the room where I had kept the pool.

She did not like it when Tucker came into the room to check on her, he legitimately was concerned and nervous. He cried the whole time he was in there and kept looking at me, like "make it better".

I allowed her to labor in her crate as long as possible. Luckily Hallie and I had bonded really well and she had zero issues with me being up close in the action. This may not be the case with all mommys so be cautious. Once I noticed the first puppy sack starting to show, I tried not to panic, her crate didn't have enough access to her to properly help deliver the dogs but she very well may not have needed my help so I didn't want to interfere if unnecessary. However, after 10+ minutes of the sack just sitting there I quickly pulled her bed out for better access. Even now as I write this I cringe, but I slightly rubbed her nips to help with contractions hoping she would push that pup all the way out.

Allowing Hallie to clean the puppy            Puppy nursing for the first time

After a few more minutes I grabbed a rag and gently pulled on the sack as I continued to stimulate her nips. This helped greatly and based on how long he has been squished in the birth canal I pierced its sack and held it close to Hallie's face so she could lick and clean the puppy. After a bit the puppy still was not moving. I quickly tied off the umbilical cord and cut him loose. I started rubbing firmly to try and stimulate a cry, holding the head slightly lower to allow any fluid to run out. He still did not cry. At this point in time, I suctioned out some of the fluid in his nose and mouth. He still only made a gurgling noise. Thank goodness I did my research because I then went to the "drop method".

Drop Method:

Firmly hold puppy between both hands, make sure head and neck are well supported. In one quick motion flick puppy downward (HOLD TIGHT), This quick motion flings all fluid, trapped, outward. I then suctioned out his nose and mouth again and returned to rubbing the pup. 

Finally I got a cry and perfect timing because I saw the next sac starting to appear. I put the puppy to feed and was ready for the next. I pulled her out of her bed, and made her finish laboring in just the pool. 

  Second Puppy                               First 2 Puppies nursing

5 healthy puppies were born on July 29th, 2013. Labor started 1:22 pm. 

First puppy - Male: 4:00 pm

Second puppy- Male: 4:40 pm

Third puppy- Female: 5:15

Fourth puppy- Female: 5:47

and surprise

Fifth puppy- Female: 6:50

Things to know: Mommy will eat the afterbirth, this will give her runny, smelly, green poo.

Puppies need to go right to nursing, this also help stimulate contractions.

I recommend having newspaper under mommy, this makes for easy clean up. Including after delivery, this helps with surprise runny poo from Mom too.

If you have any questions or areas you'd like me to elaborate on, just comment below. This is my first time delivering puppies, I am no expert. I most likely will never do this again in my life, but all 5 puppies are now healthy 2 year olds. This is just my personal account and advice/notes on what I experienced.

You can see the bowl of ice cream in the picture below.

I had just laundered the duvet with an unscented, sensitive skin laundry soap, I didn't have the pool inside the duvet yet, but I was too worked up in the moment to take the time to properly prepare the area. I was home so everything worked out but this is my one face-palm moment. I assumed I had a few more days and Hallie liked rooting around and digging in the bedding so I had just left it inside the pool.

Atleast a week before your projected due date, have everything 100% ready. Have the whole pool lined with several layers of newspaper and the pool inside the duvet, or you can purchase a whelping box online. I also had a heating pad under the duvet on the very bottom of the pool (between pool & carpet), near but not directly under the pups. This kept the area near them warm, even when mommy went potty and got up to eat.