Wash Day!!!

The puppies are getting cuter by the day. Now they can see and I caught this one giving me the eye.

We're feeding them differently now. There really isn't enough room in the crate, so Helen has the Mom outside the crate and feeds the pups in shifts. That way she knows that they are all getting a chance to feed.

With nine puppies, every day is wash day and our washer and dryer are working overtime. In addition, the pups need a cleaning from time to time and today was the day.

"Lady, can't you see that I don't like this? If you try this when I grow up, you're in BIG trouble."

The drying system. Towel #1 is the wettest, #2 is nearly dry, and #3 is very dry. When dry, the pups are weighed and placed in the "warming tray".

This is where we place the pups until they are totally dry. Underneath is a heating pad set on low, covered by a towel, then a layer of puppies and another towel.

This was the most active and vocal puppy, the tan female. When Helen held her over the water she looked down and started screaming. It didn't work as she still got a bath.

Not one to give up, after the drying process and being placed with her litter mates, she started to howl. It wasn't too loud, but it did allow her to vent her frustration..

Some of the others calmed right down and went right to sleep. The bath was right after eating, so with a warm bath and a full belly they went to sleep. Except for the complainer, of course.

A clutch of contented pups.

She was so content to lay on her back and enjoy the warmth of the heating pad and the heat from the lights over the counter.

I'm pleased to report that the pups are all gaining weight. Some are gaining a lot faster than others, but that's the same as last time. This time we really don't have a runt as they're all fairly close together in size.

More fun to come.

Two weeks and a day!

That's how old the pups are today. What has changed? Well, they all have their eyes open and are walking on four legs. This means that they are much more active and occasionally get out of the crate. Most of the time they are just living the life of ease.



Or cuddling up with Mom.



And, of course, there's breakfast, and after breakfast treat, lunch, and after lunch treat, dinner, and after dinner treat, bedtime snack, midnight snack, and more...



I'm about as cute as can be! Don't you agree?

Hey!!! I'm cute. too!!!

Can't you guys let me sleep?

Mom is learning to play with Jodie and Coco.

And, she knows how to keep the toy.

Mother and pups are all doing fine. The puppies are getting more vocal every day and the Mom did a LOT of howling when a friend came to visit. I guess that just by being in the house he was much too close to the puppies. Sandy sometimes joins my two loud mouths with a bark from time to time, but she really bellowed when my friend came over. I thing Sandy may have smelled Dave's dog, Lola, on him. There were no nips or bites, so there was no foul

This afternoon the puppies have another date with the vet. We'll see how much they've gained and how well they are doing.

Another day with the puppies.

The puppies were a week old yesterday. Although they don't seem to change much, they are growing very fast. We weigh them and are surprised at how much they put on in just a few days.

Last night we gave Sandy a bath in the large set tub in the laundry. She didn't give us any real trouble, but she was extremely tense. The rinse water was like mud and we think that she may not have had many baths. Like Jodie and Coco, she seemed to really enjoy the towel dry and rub down.

Today it was the puppies who got bathed. How's this for the "wet rat" look?

This is the "before" box. No point in washing one twice and another not at all.

Here is the "after" box. There's a heating pad under the blue towel to assure that they are kept warm. They may not look any cleaner, but they sure smell a lot better.

Momma and the pups at dinner time, which occurs about every hour.

I LOVE MY MOMMA!

ME TOO!!!

Day two with the new family

Yes, today is our second day with Sandy and her pups. We notice that these pups are a lot healthier looking than the last litter, but we still took them to the vet this afternoon to have them all checked out. Mom and pups have some fleas and we removed wood ticks from Mom and one pup. Mom also has some ear problems and some other things that we are addressing.



Everyone at the vets office was taken with the pups and Sandy. She is such a quiet dog and didn't give the vet or the assistants any trouble what so ever. Naturally, she tries to be with her pups all the time.



Helen was up all night just in case there was a problem. Sandy had 10 pups, but one got smothered at the shelter. On the way home from Lake County, every time one of the pups would screech Helen would want me to pull over. Just as soon as I stopped the mother would get up and the screeching would stop. In our last litter we lost one to smothering the first night and we are paranoid about losing another.



There is a great variance between the puppies and when we asked the vet what she thought they might be, she would not commit. However, when we told her that the dog came from animal hoarders who had over 60 dogs. she stated that the puppies could have two or more fathers. I didn't know that could happen, but apparently when there are a great number of males available it can happen.




This last picture is a real cutie, Momma and the white male. Because the puppies are so different, we are able to easily tell them apart by their color and markings. Helen thinks one father might be a Lab, another a Husky, and a third a pit bull. The animal shelter told us that all three males were part of the hoard, so it is possible.

They are a cute bunch of puppies and we, again, feel privileged to be doing this again. In a few days, when we're both in dire need of sleep, we may feel differently, but for now we are elated.

Busy, busy, busy, busy.

We seem to be in a situation where we are idle for days at a time and then all heck breaks loose. Last week was an easy week, sleeping in most days and taking it easy. Friday evening we drove to Clarmont to pick up Grandsons 2 and 4, Keaton and Kyle who are children of my older son, Paul Jr. and his wife Robin. We had a nice ride home. They watched "Back to the Future" on TV and went to bed. It was all very peaceful.

Saturday morning we rose and made plans to go to Brandon to watch Grandson 3 and Granddaughter 2, Kolbie and Kourtnie, children of my younger son Scott and his wife Heather. Kolbie plays football for the Brandon Cowboys Peewee team and Kourtnie is a cheerleader for an older boys' team. Grandson 1, Branden, was around but I guess it's not cool to be around parents and grandparents because we saw him from time to time, but only in passing.

The whole atmosphere in Brandon was about the Brandon Cowboys and Keaton, Kyle, Helen and I were more like bumps on a log. After Kolbie's game we went back to Scott's house for a couple of hours and soaked up the air conditioning. It was HOT at the football field, even in the shade, and I don't know how all those kids can stand all the phisical activity in that heat. Heather was head of her cheerleading squad and Scott was the videographer, so we kept company with Heathers father and step-mother and her grandmother. Keaton and Kyle were playing with one of Heather's neighbor's kids. With all the heat, humidity, and boredom, Keaton and Kyle were remarkably well behaved.

We got home and I was able to find a tape of "Back to the Future II" and I set that up on the bedroom TV so the kids could watch from the bed. After that, they had me comb my tapes to find "Back to the Future III" but it could not be found. Sunday we all rose late and Helen took the boys to see the latest "Nanny McFee" movie. Later on, we called PT and Robin and made plans to meet them for supper at the Golden Corral in Clarmont. Luckily, we were joined by Kristin and Kimmy, too. It was nice having that whole family together. Kimmy is an animated little doll. We left them at the restaurant and headed home to a life of ease, or so we thought.

At home I checked our email and found a plea from a member of Labrador Retriever Rescue of Florida to save a mother Lab and her nine puppies at the Lake County Animal Shelter. I checked with Helen to see if she felt up to doing this again and she said yes, so I emailed back the Helen and I would intervene. This morning we drove the 48 miles to the animal shelter in Tavares and picked up the yellow Lab and her nine offspring. Unlike our experience last year in Suwanee County, This one was clean and modern. The animals appeared to be well taken care of. The mother lab and all her pups were in very good condition.

So I've started to build a new kennel in the corner of the family room as we had last year. Only now, because of past experience, it goes up a lot easier. A couple of pictures are posted on Jodie and Coco's blog, but I will post more here later on.

Jodie and Coco are a lot more reserved with this group of new-comers than they were last year, though both of them are sticking pretty close to me.

More later.

We're back to two drivable cars.

I did finish with Helen's car yesterday, but it's a good thing I took a lot of pictures to show me where everything went. It's all too easy to rationalize that you'll remember where this goes and remember where that goes, but it doesn't work like that in real life. This is especially true when there is a time period between the taking apart and the putting it back. As it was, when I started it up, it ran EXTREMELY rough. Another check of the connections found that I had not connected one bank to the coil assembly. When reconnected, it ran amazingly smooth. That's one thing about the old Lincoln. It's so quiet and smooth that when you pull up to a stop light, it feels like the engine quit. We've tried to start a running engine more than once.

Since it was all apart I took the time to thoroughly flush the coolant system and add fresh antifreeze. If all goes well, it will last for another five years.

Today, Helen and I are celebrating L S I D, Late Summer Idle Day. We'll sit around and nosh, watch TV, and vegetate. Ahhh. Feels good already.

I've been making progress

Today I FINALLY got the bugs washed off the front of the motorhome. It might not seem like much, but there were almost three months of bugs there! Well, that's not true as I cleaned the front a number of times, but only concentrated on the windows the last week or so. I used car wash and that didn't work too well so I tried the old fabric softener sheets. They worked better, but still not real easy. I finally settled on a bottle of black mark and bug cleaner that Helen bought me eons ago. That was the best of all and I finally got the front washed. I started a few days ago, but shortly after I started a violent thunder storm struck and that chased me inside. The same happened yesterday. Today I started early, but I could only do a little at a time as the sun was beating me on the back and it was in the high 90s. Finally I was done and since everything inside was completed, I moved the RV back under its canopy.

The dogs are getting a lot of exercise each day now. We start with a session of fetch, during which they make a detour into the woods to take care of business. Then it's into the pool. They do love the pool and jump in every chance they get. Again, I toss the balls and Coco does most of the retrieving, but Jodie will occasionally grab a ball that comes close to her. Then I leave them alone for a while. Jodie wants Coco to chase her but Coco only wants to fetch the toys. She'll push a ball off the edge of the pool and watch the current take it away. Then, when it gets far enough she'll pounce on it and bring it back. From time to time during their pool time I will take them out to play fetch and give them a chance to do business in the woods. I'll even take some time to play tug with Jodie. It's funny how each dog has her own likes and dislikes.

Later this afternoon I sprayed the engine compartment of the Jeep with solvent and let it set a while. When I hosed it off, I was amazed at the amount of sand that came out of the compartment. I guess that all those miles behind the motorhome caught a lot of dirt.

Also this afternoon, the gaskets for Helen's car arrived. I just don't feel like tearing into it today, but first thing tomorrow that will be a priority. I'll get to see just how systematic I was in taking it all apart. Thankfully, I had the sense to take pictures as I went along so I can see how everything should look as it goes back together.

Although we have the internet connection and internet phone, we've had no TV since the awful thunderstorm several days ago. It's almost like camping where we do a lot of reading and turn in early. We wonder what's going on in the world though.

Later