The Great Escape

Those of you who follow my blog recognize the white puppy of the litter. "El Blanco" or should I call him "El Diabalo". Every day Helen and I take the pups outside to play in the pen I made. They all seem to enjoy it and Helen or I will often take a few out to run freely around the yard. Well, El Blanco is not content to stay in the pen. He tries and tries to get out, jumping on all sections of the fence looking for the right spot. Now he has found the spot and it only takes him a moment to scale the fence and escape. Then he runs around the yard with great glee, with Jodie chasing him. Coco and Sandy don't bother him. In fact, both shy away from him, but Jodie really has a good time playing with the little devil. What really drives us crazy is that in the house as well as outside, he BARKS CONSTANTLY in his high pitched voice that can penetrate walls.

We also are having a problem with several puppies. Three of them have a belly rash diagnosed as pyoderma by the vet. The treatment is to apply Betadine several times a day. I sure hope it works as the pups will be going home in less than two weeks.

Helen is being worked to the max as she will not let me take a turn on night watch. I have to have an iron infusion tomorrow and again next week, so Helen doesn't want me to do too much until she feels I'm OK. I can see that the rat race she's in is running her down. She has the pups from pre-dawn 'til late at night, then she gets up in the middle of the night when they want more food or water. I admit that I have no stamina, but I am capable of taking the night shift. I DO get some sleep and I certainly feel well enough to help more than she allows.

I just had to check the pups because it was quiet. All is OK. They're just sated from food and water.

Enough for now.

More fun than a barrel of Monkeys

what's more fun than a barrel of monkeys? It's a bucket of puppies! We have been taking the puppies outside for some exercise the last few days and they quickly get tired of their usual toys. I put a box in the pen and they were all over it for a short while. However, when I put the bucket in there, it became the center of activity for all the pups.

First there was only one or two inside.

Then there were a few more.

Finally all nine pups were trying to get in the bucket. When it was time to bring them back inside, four pups wouldn't get out, so I carried them inside in the bucket. It was a very easy way to transport four pups at one time.

This is Aria looking about and absorbing everything she sees.

Helen is getting a close up of Aria's brother as he tries to climb up in Helen's lap. The next shot didn't come out as his nose was right on the camera.

This, of course, is Helen making the most of her time with the whole litter. They are growing so rapidly that they need more room to play. That's why we have the outside pen and also why we give them the run of the kitchen. They run and run, chasing toys and each other. We just let them be and after a while they meander back to their pen and fall asleep. Then it gets nice and quiet and Helen and I can clean up. Typical of puppies and the young of most species, the periods of great activity are followed by a prolonged period of sleep. Then we can recharge our batteries.

Later this morning the 10 dogs are going to the vets for their shots. The pups will get their six week shots and the mother will get all her shots now that she's not nursing. A trip to the vet is obviously a two person job.

More later.

Patients and Patience

Some of you know about my recent stay in the hospital. It's is nothing serious and it will soon cease to be a problem. My visit to the ER was unlike any other. Citrus Memorial Hospital us undergoing many changes and a new, larger, improved ER is one of them. I am impressed! This time there were no long lines, no waiting, and I didn't even have to present my insurance cards to be treated.

I'm not sure what time I got in there, but by the time I got to my room it was 2:30 AM, and by then I had received enough saline solution that my blood pressure was back to normal and I felt fine. From the time I entered the hospital until Friday afternoon, I could have nothing, not even a sip of water. They said I shouldn't be thirsty as I was getting all my fluids in the saline solution IV. My mouth was dry but I did feel fine. Friday afternoon they checked out my stomach and said everything was now OK

So Friday afternoon they say I'm OK, but they wouldn't let me go home. They wanted another night. All the while I'm getting 250 ml of saline solution around the clock. And they said I could eat. Well, they really didn't mean "eat" as in something you might actually chew. They meant "eat" as in through a straw. But that was alright, I felt fine. Of course my system was doing a great job of getting rid of all this fluid. In fact, I had so much fluid going in that my blood pressure was elevated.

I'm a thinking person and I thought that if my blood pressure was too low because of lack of fluid, then too much fluid would cause high blood pressure. That seemed logical to me. I talked to the nurse and she had no idea if that were true. In the meantime they were taking my blood pressure every time I fell asleep. Late Friday night they dropped the flow down to 125 ml per hour. My one kidney was processing 230 ml per hour. So as the hours passed my blood pressure fell to normal and stayed there and I was able to talk the nurse into stopping the IV. WHAT A RELIEF not having to drag the stand with the IV to the bathroom all the time. I still felt fine.

Around 9:00 AM Saturday, the Gastro-Intestinal doctor came by to say that everything looked good and I was free to go as soon as the doctor of record signed me out. OH BOY! I feel fine and I'm going home. All I have to do is wait to be signed out. 10:00 passes. 11:00 passes and I still feel fine. It's noon now and I have another meal by straw. I feel fine, but I'm getting antsy. The guy in the next bed is getting antsy. He had his family there to get him the day before and at the last minute the doctor discovered that they hadn't been giving him his heart medicine, so he'd have to stay another day. He also had clearance from his heart doctor, and he was also waiting for the same doctor of record.

1:00 PM and my level of antsyness is reaching a new height. The nurse assures me that the doctor would be coming shortly. I still feel fine, but I'm starting to get mad. The guy in the next be feels the same way and our anger is starting to feed off each other. 2:00 arrives without the doctor and it's time to call Barb, our retires nurse friend. "Can I sign myself out?" I asked. She said I could. Armed with new confidence I accosted the nurse and told her that at 3:00 PM, I was going to sign myself out. She got on the phone to find the doctor. He told her that he was not available and gave her another doctor to call. I feel fine and now my anxiety is going down.

3:00 comes and I'm about climbing the walls. The nurse is trying her best, I suppose. My room mate and I are starting to think that the doctors are making us wait for spite. In a few more minutes I went back in my room and removed the heart monitor and put on my shirt. I wrapped the cables around the transmitter and took it to the nurse and told her that I was signing out. She said OK, but she would have to print out a form for me to sign. I called Helen and I was out. Wow, what a little adrenaline can do for you.

I have to give particular credit to a nurse that took me down for my endoscopy. Prepping my for the procedure, she found that I had about 20 patches on my upper body where I was connected to monitors, EKG, etc. I told her not to worry, I'd take them off under a hot shower. She said that the longer they're on, the harder it is to get them off. Then she said she would take them off when the procedure was finished. I didn't realize what she meant until I got ready to leave the hospital. The only patches I had were the ones being used by the sending unit I wore. She had removed all the other patches while I was still sedated. What a girl!!

This afternoon we met with a couple who are adopting one of the pups. The lab female was already taken so they had their choice of the two males. They chose the white one that has garnered so much attention from my blog readers. They seem to be very nice and I'm sure he will be going to a fine home.

That's all for now and I still feel fine.

Our Boxers at Five Weeks

Since we are part of Labrador Retriever Rescue of Florida, the Labs in our litter have gotten all the attention from people wanting to adopt. That makes a lot of sense. People wanting a poodle wouldn't be looking at Lab Rescue (LRRoF) and people wanting a Lab wouldn't be looking at a Boxer Rescue site.

We have all the Lab pups spoken for and we have a list of people who want a chance if the original people change their minds. There are no takers on the six that bear no resemblance to a lab. They are as cute as can be and we have to find homes for all of them. Failure is not an option.

I'm Trying to Catch Up

OK, I know that I've been delinquent in my blog. Jodie and Coco have been after me for days, but I told them that I have to finish mine before I can take their dictation. Please believe that taking care of 12 dogs is a lot of work. We did almost the same last November and I don't remember it being quite this hectic. Of course we have one more puppy this year and I guess he's turned out to be a hassle.

Last Saturday we had our friends Barbara and Rita over for dinner. It was Barb's birthday and she turned 39 again. Rita is a little older so she is also 39, but with more agains.

Hello, I'm Barb and it's my birthday!

Helen did a great job on the supper and it's a good thing that she had control of the whole thing. I'll explain that later. Steaks on the grill is always a good choice, especially when I'm not cooking.

Barb and Rita at the counter.

This is the cake that Barb wanted for her birthday,

delicious, but oh so rich.

Of course the puppies take a lot of our time. The thing is .....they are just so cute!!! Another thing is that we get to see what most people don't. We saw them as tiny blind lumps that had to be led to the mother to nurse. We saw them beginning to walk, when their legs would barely hold them. Then the started to run, or at least they tried to run, as they often ended up falling to pone side. They have gone from depending on the mother all the time to supplementary formula. Now they're on solid food, though we soak the puppy kibbles to make them soft. We had no choice but wean them off the mom because they have sharp teeth and mom was growling a bit when they were too aggressive. Look at the pictures. How aggressive could they be?

I can...barely.....hold......my......eyes.....ope......

I'll sleep when I'm good and ready!

OK,people. We're awake FEED US!!!

Ha, Ha, I've got the toy!

Of course, we're not forgetting the adult dogs. They will not let us. Here Coco is making sure that Helen is aware that it's time for the 6 PM cookies. Jodie and Coco have been doing it for years and Sandy has fallen into the same rut. In almost every case, the cookie begging is started by Coco. Then when the door to the cookie closet is opened, Jodie and Sandy materialize.

COOKIES! COOKIES! COOKIES!

Speaking of how Sandy picks up my dogs' habits, she saw Jodie pick up something and present it to us when we came in from outside. Jodie has been doing this for years. When we go out, she greets us with something she picks off the floor, a shoe, sandal, sock, anything that she may find. Sandy saw this and after a couple of days she started the same thing. This is what greeted Helen when she returned from shopping.

These are for you, Mom.

Now let me explain why it was a good thing that Helen cooked the steaks. last night I was in charge of cooking hamburgers on the grill. Two hamburgers are not a lot to take care of, but they slipped my mind and when I got to the grill I found......

Two VERY WELL DONE hamburgers.

Two just right hamburgers, ready for cheese.

So, have I learned my lesson? Unfortunately, no! Tonight I was cooking chop suey at the point where I had browned the pork and added the onions and celery. Then something occurred to me and I wanted to make just a quick trip to the computer. Next thing I know Helen yells that the supper is burning. Well, it wasn't burned too bad and charcoal flavored pork chop suey is not too bad. Now I'm pretty much caught up. I thought I'd go into my room and do some reading, but Coco is insisting on working on her blog.

All alone with the pups

Since Helen was going to drive some friends to Moffitt today, I had "night duty" with the puppies. We fed them at 10:00 PM, then I fed them around 3:30 AM and again around 6:30. Helen left a little before 8 and I was left alone for the day. I like to give the pups more running room, so I put down newspaper and let them run free. They seem to enjoy having more room and doing some exploring. Of course, all too soon they want to get out to explore more of the house. They are at a stage where they play with each other and today one of the pups took up one of the toys Helen put in with them. He was a ferocious dog, grabbing the little stuffed toy and shaking his head back and forth. Their energy is soon all used up and they gather in a group to sleep.

I've been a little concerned that the amount of milk that they need is taxing the mother and I see the last few pups going from nipple to nipple trying to find one that "works". Yesterday I mixed up a bowl of formula and it was well taken by some of the puppies. For some reason, the puppies that look like mini boxers took to it instantly while the others can't seem to make the connection.

Here, more of them are getting into the second bowl which has the dual function of food dish and wading pool. The formula went very quickly, but I don't know how much was eaten and how much was worn.

After all the bellies were full, they got very sleepy and I put them in a box so I could clean out the pen and cage and put down fresh towels.

The next item on my agenda was to wash all those dirty little faces and feet. While I was at it I decided to clip their nails. Now, on the Internet, nail clipping is a must do for puppies, though Helen and I didn't do it with the puppies last year. This litter is so much more active and the pups are doing a job on Momma's belly. They push on the towel with their hind feet and claw at the belly with their front feet. This is especially true of the mini boxers.

Wiping them off was no problem and a few even liked it. Clipping the nails was another matter. I certainly could have used another set of hands. They are small, but strong for their size and wiggly as eels.

Puppies, puppies, puppies

Helen's out shopping and I have control of the house, the three dogs, and the nine puppies. The puppies are getting active and I thought I'd give them the chance to roam around their whole pen, and not just the crate. They certainly are active. The female Golden has been named "Aria" by Helen as she is CONSTANTLY howling. The puppies charged out of the crate and ran all about the pen.

Pretty soon they were organizing in gangs and chasing after each other. There is nothing as alluring as a wagging tail.

"We'll huddle down here away from those ruffians".

With in about 20 minutes they were looking to get out.

"He's guarding the gate! Perhaps there's a way out up here.

It was madness for just a little while. They ran and they ran and now every one of them is tuckered out. The quiet is deafening as even Aria is silent. Peace returns to our home, if only for a little while.