Well. That may sound a little crude. Well maybe a lot crude, but it's also SO very true. When you have a litter of puppies you encounter more poop in your life than you EVER wanted!!!! lol
That said, we have been enjoying watching the puppies grow. We have enjoyed watching them become aware of their surroundings and gain eye sight and hearing. They are so adorable at this time with lots of puppy kisses and hugs for anyone willing to pick them up. They are also LOUD. Last night was the first night in several weeks that I got to sleep a whole night through.
I have been advertising on Kijiji (Ebay Classifieds) to sell the puppies. Now, selling things is never fun, but selling these sweet little babies is even less so. I don't like the idea of panhandling the babies we all worked so hard to bring into this world. lol But these guys need new homes. I certainly couldn't handle all these babies staying with us forever! Gosh, we can barely handle all 8 of them now. So I am hoping to have them all at least on-hold in the next two weeks. It would be one less worry for me knowing they are placed in good homes.
Now another consideration to take into account when raising puppies is the possibility of diseases. Now I have never been a big fan of vaccinations as I have a horror story that I still get chills when I tell. I had just bought Kuna. She had been vaccinated by the breeder. They told me what brand to buy and where to buy it (I have given dog shots before). When it was time for her booster I bought the vaccination and gave it to her about 9 p.m. at night. It was still nice out and Max and Kuna had been outside to go potty. Her cute little self came traipsing in . . . with huge mosquito bites! I couldn't believe it. I looked at them and then looked at Max (who was oddly bite free) and was totally confused. But she acted fine otherwise so I didn't make a big deal about it. About ten minutes later I looked down at her and the bug bites had tripled ALL over her body. I freaked out. Then I decided I shouldn't freak out, she looked fine. But then two minutes later it looked ever worse. I yelled to my mom that I was taking her to the after-hours vet (yes, it was a gigantic bill). By the time I arrived at the hospital, which was about 10-12 minutes away from my house, Kuna's whole head was SWOLLEN! She could barely blink and she was clearly upset, shivering. I thought for sure she was going to die. But, luckily, she lived. She got a couple of shots and was fine. So this is the story that has me so trigger shy on giving vaccinations. I researched and researched and have found studies and trainers who refuse to give vaccinations to their dogs for the very reason and for many others. I am very scared and know that it's very possible that one of these puppies could have the same reaction as their mother. Studies have shown that waiting until they are 12-13 weeks old gives them less of a chance of reactions like this. I have decided to vaccinate them, despite my better judgment. I know that it WILL in the long run be a better start for them.
So, we are picking up lots of poo, plugging our ears at night from puppies who now know what freedom is, aaaaaaand spending lots of time looking for families for our puppies. It's hard work and we are all really tired already (and we have three more weeks!) but it's been worth it. Especially with the new addition to our family, Panda Bear!!!
Here are few photos of Panda (and one of me).
