Marly’s Foster Puppies

The little ones are 8 weeks old today (or maybe yesterday or tomorrow, but close enough). Today they received the second dose of deworming pills, tomorrow they go for their surgery. It will not be long before they are ready to go to their forever homes.

There is confusion in one Saskatoon household — the family came yesterday to see the puppies, will definitely take one, but cannot decide between Tommy and Turk. I agree it is a difficult choice to make, they are both special in different ways.

Titus and Toga have been spoken for or adopted.

Yesterday was also the Saskatoon SPCA Auxiliary Spring Open House. It was a lovely day, the baked goods plentiful and varied (quite a variety now in my fridge!), the crafts and resale items of the very best quality. The Open House was well attended again this year — all profit goes to the Auxiliary’s Second Chance Fund to be used for extraordinary medical care for Shelter animals.

Puppies love to play with, and destroy, soft toys. They can be stitched together a limited number of times and the stuffing gets thinner with each repair. There was quite a selection at the Open House, so Tulie, Turk and Tommy have some new ‘indoor’ friends:

They also have outdoor toys, but other than the soccer ball, they prefer to play with nature: no plant, tree, gardening item or furniture is uninteresting or safe from their energetic and persistent endeavours. Over the years the level of the sand in the sandbox has diminished but there is enough remaining for them to practice piling it up on one of their siblings, or digging to find a cool spot in the heat of the day.

Every Spring I forget about tree sap. This morning Turk reminded me, he must have rolled in it and then rolled in the sand box — there were rather large areas of his coat that were hardening into amber. So Turk in the bathtub, very unhappy, lots of baby oil rubbed into his coat, even more unhappy, followed by shampoo, the worst yet, and finally water — depression so deep he gave up struggling and couldn’t even cry! But he is a special puppy — Momma bathtowel to the rescue, a quick rubdown, he settled for a few minutes on the towel, regained his composure and returned to his cheerful self.

For small patches of sap I just pour some baby oil on a cloth, rub it in, and rinse it off. Poor Turk had so many patches and the patches were quite large, so he had to undergo a full treatment. Kept him in the house until he was dry — could have told him to stay out of the sand box until he was dry, but even I know better than that!

It is raining today and the little ones are being abused — put them out this morning while I cleaned up the cage, they are wet and bedraggled. I thought they would congregate in the dog house (which is what they normally do in the morning), instead they explored and played on the lawn — no doubt to make me feel guilty for forcing them out into the cold, cruel world — if that was their plan it was partially successful, I felt guilty, just not guilty enough to interrupt their play and bring them back in before everything was ready for them.

The Clinic called yesterday to arrange for spay/neuter surgery date — Tuesday, May 8th. The puppies will go to the Clinic in the morning, have their surgery, and come home about 6:30 that evening. If these puppies have as easy a time as past litters, the problem will be to restrict their activity for the next few days. You just have to love pediatric spay/neuter programs, the little critters heal up and hair over so quickly.

So, they are ready to find their forever homes. I prefer to keep them together until they are a full 9 weeks old, but if you are interested in one of the puppies, please call the Saskatoon SPCA (374-7387), ask about the blog puppies and the staff will get in touch with me to arrange a convenient time to view them. You can fill out the preliminary adoption form to hold the puppy of your choice until he/she is ready to join you forever.

The Saskatoon SPCA adoption fee includes 1st vaccinations, deworming, spay or neuter surgery, microchipping, 6 weeks of free Pet Plan insurance, if you live in Saskatoon a free vet exam within 7 days of adoption, and of course, an adorable puppy. Tulie will cost $185.96, Tommy or Turk $167.65 (taxes are included in the above prices).

As a responsible pet owner you will also be aware of the other costs of adopting a puppy. Some are one-time costs (harness/collar, leash, food bowls, bed, crate, toys, etc.) and some are continuing costs spread over the life-time of your pet (food, vet care, City license fees, toys, treats, training, your time, your love, your laughter).

All puppies have periods during the day when they can seemingly destroy your entire house while you pour a cup of coffee! Puppies do not train themselves to become a member of your family, it is the responsibility of YOU, the adoptor, to spend the time and effort to ensure that the cute puppy behaviour and energy is channelled appropriately. The more effort you put in at the beginning of the relationship the better the chance of success and many years of wonderful companionship. The more time spent on early training of the puppy also reduces the long term financial responsibility –proper crate training will mean your carpets are safe, crate training will save your shoes, table legs and electrical cords while you are at work. Obedience training will help to make your little friend popular with your relatives, neighbours, and other friends.

Please do not adopt a puppy if you cannot commit yourself to ensure that it grows into a ‘good’ dog: everyone loves a good dog, few of us can love an untrained, unruly, dog even if it is friendly. There are many ‘older’ dogs available for adoption that someone else has already spent the time to housebreak, they have basic obedience, proven friendly behaviour — they are not guaranteed and will all require some effort from their new family, but much less than a young puppy. Some of these dogs are about a year old when they come to the Shelter and would provide many years of companionship and love to a busy family without the time and energy to devote to a puppy.

About a month ago I was at the Shelter when a 9-week-old puppy was returned. It had been in its new home for two days and was not fitting in — seems this little guy chewed everything, nipped at fingers, didn’t stop what he was doing when told ‘NO’, and ‘went’ in the livingroom — behaviours common to every 9-week-old puppy in existence! The paperwork showed that the adoptor had stated he had previous experience with training dogs and specifically housetraining. Of course the staff took the puppy back and he was subsequently re-adopted, hopefully this time to a family with more realistic expectations.

The point of the above example is to beg you to be honest about your capabilities and expectations — honest to yourself and to the staff — the staff wants nothing more than to place each animal in an appropriate, caring home. They know the animals, they understand the commitment that must be made, and can help you decide which animal will be best for your situation.

All of the above is not intended to deter you from adopting a puppy if you have made the decision. Raising a puppy is a wonderful experience and the rewards will be with you forever (memorialized in thousands of pictures!).

And speaking of pictures:

Yesterday afternoon they practiced their soccer moves:

Tommy tried to entice the others to play with a ball of more appropriate size:

And last evening Turk showed his superior athletic abilities first by sitting on the small stool,

Then, by being the first to get all-four on the top of the step stool:

Descent was less pretty, but the tumble was onto Tulie — no injuries to either.

Tulie showed off her acting skills — auditioning for a part as a wolverine?

And Tommy, well Tommy has cornered the market on ‘cute’

Nearly 7 weeks old!

The puppies were about 2 weeks old when they had their last car ride. All 3 fit nicely in the medium sized crate. Today they were chock-a-block in the crate, but they were brave little troopers and uttered not one complaint all the way out to the Shelter. Of course, the crate was lined with Momma bathtowel.

The trip was routine — time for their first shots and deworming. Normally I say that the Saskatoon SPCA deworms all animals just to be sure — in this case the puppies were dewormed just to be sure because we are sure they have worms. All three took their pills fine and all three ignored the needle — about 30 seconds after the needle Tulie began yelping and crying like someone was beating her. She only needed a cuddle to return to her normal self.

Tulie and Tommy weighed in at 5.2 kg (11.5 lbs.). Little Turk (HAH!) was a grand 6.2 kg (over 13.5 lbs.) Tulie looks bigger than Tommy, probably because her coat is longer and fluffier. Turk does not look that much bigger than the others, but he is SOLID.

There appeared to be no ill effects from the pills or shots. When we all came home they resumed their daily chores — today the job list specified that the cotoneaster must be pruned:

They are good little workers and very conscientous about clean up — environmental issues and recycling is very important to them: they break the larger pieces into smaller ones, digest them, and return them to the soil.

It was a beautiful warm day and after all the medical procedures and manual labour they were ready for a rest — but it was a little warm in the house.

Tommy relaxed in a cool pose

Turk tried a little elevation

But Tulie was the most inventive

she slept a good part of the evening with her rear in the water bowl and her head in the food bowl. Eventually Turk wanted a drink, he tried getting his head in and under her, when that didn’t work he whined, yipped, and eventually they worked out a compromise

Tommy, woken by the goings on, did not join in, but found a quieter location

One can only wonder what they have planned for tomorrow.

A departure from the norm today, gratitude must be expressed.

Last evening was Volunteer Appreciation Night at the Saskatoon SPCA. Lisa (the Volunteer Coordinator) organized, emceed, solicited items for door prizes, and provided a veritable groaning board of dessert delicacies for our enjoyment.

The honourees represented the wide range of volunteers required to provide the extras for the animals and raise the funds to keep the Shelter doors open: cat cuddlers, dog walkers, exotic specialists, pet therapy helper, foster care homes, past and present Chairs of the Board, the Chair of the Auxiliary, donation-in-kind thank you writer, crafters who create unique items to be sold for the benefit of the animals, brochure printers, donation-in-kind/yard sale item collectors, mall sitters, some who worked at the Christmas Store, a father and son team of volunteers, young(er) and old(er) volunteers, all of whom contribute to the care of the animals either directly or through fundraising.

Mayor and Mrs. Atchison dropped in. They have been wonderfully supportive of the Saskatoon SPCA, Mrs. Atchison was the honourary chair of last year’s Pets in the Park day and they spent the whole day exhibiting two special SPCA dogs. The Mayor said a few words about the importance of volunteers to the City of Saskatoon and thanked everyone for the work they do and the commitment to the betterment of the lives of the people and animals of the City. The Mayor’s remarks were greatly appreciated and added significantly to the occasion.

And Lorene outdid herself with the creation of the second and third editions of her line of volunteer ‘appreciation’ pins. I am sure some of us will continue to volunteer for many years to come just to complete the set!

But we are remiss if we do not acknowledge the person who pulls us all together — Lisa.

Her job encompasses all areas of volunteering, including foster care of special needs animals and Mommas and babies.

As an example: when I fostered my first litter of 6 puppies, I knew nothing. I phoned Lisa frequently seeking guidance. When puppies are between 4 and 5 weeks of age they begin a period of horridness, beyond belief of those who have not been through it. I now know that this stage lasts about 10 days, then the puppies begin to learn some manners, do not yowl all night, are not quite so eager to roll in excrement, do not constantly bite (or at least not so hard), jump, scratch and chew, but back then I thought it went on forever. I didn’t think I could keep them for another day, could not possibly endure until they were old enough to go up for adoption. Lisa listened, sympathized, talked me into trying for another couple of days, offered advice. Lisa’s calm reassurance and wisdom were to the keys to success. I am sure all foster homes have been guided as expertly (if not as frequently).

Lisa also seeks and organizes the volunteers for fundraising, pet therapy sessions, pet safekeeping, cat socializing, dog walking, exotic care, mall sits, the Christmas Store volunteers — any time a person is needed to help, Lisa gets the call and provides the solution. She also personally handles the media contact, showing of pets on TV, orders the merchandise for the Shelter Store (seeks out bargains and unique items), and fosters cats in her office!

Over the years Lisa seems to have always been there: for the animals, the volunteers, the Saskatoon SPCA. During 2006 she had additional responsibilities as the Saskatoon SPCA was without a Fundraising Coordinator for most of the year. Lisa coped with the extra duties, including the first ever Christmas Store, and the pressure with a smile, words of encouragement, and the necessary, seemingly endless, supply of volunteers to ensure that the activities would be successful. While we appreciate her appreciation of us, we also must express our appreciation of her creativity, expertise, and dedication. Thank you Lisa for a wonderful evening and for the warmth and kindness you contribute to the organization.

And because Lisa is all about the animals, a couple of puppy pictures:

Tommy getting ready to pounce on a blade of grass:

Tulie caught digging — to China? or under the sandbox? Does she look guilty?

Looking a little too innocent to be up to nothing:

For the past several days the weather has been warm and the puppies have been spending a couple of hours a day out on the deck, safely fenced in when I cannot watch them. At this age puppies do not have a reliable reverse gear, so when they get into a tight spot they sometimes cannot get out — my deck is close to the ground, but there are spots that puppies can squirm through and experience has taught me that if they get under the deck they can’t/won’t come out on their own — in another couple of weeks they will figure this out.

Today, there was time to watch them, so they were out in the big wide world. They are growing so fast, and learning so much, but they are still babies and new experiences are frightening: they do not like open spaces, they spent the majority of the time either on the deck, near the house/garage or occasionally bravely following MM or me on quick jaunts out onto the lawn where they were either under my feet or under MM:

At first Tommy couldn’t figure out how to get out of the fencing, even with Tulie giving him instructions:

Turk was the bravest, he found safe spots to lurk

and then he discovered pine cones and, well actually he was after a pine cone and sort of missed:

Tommy finally found his way out of the fencing (with a little help from MM)

But he preferred the company of his brother or sister to solitary exploration:

Tulie was busy giving orders, checking on everyone, but mostly she hung out with MM

With most litters of puppies, about the time that the Momma dog starts to wean the litter and the puppies are capable of climbing over the ironing board to freedom from the bathroom, I move the litter into a fenced off area in my livingroom. This gives me more interaction with the puppies and ensures that I do not watch too much television (the fencing is between my arm chair and the TV, and the puppies are much more entertaining than most programs!). This litter had not yet clambered over the ironing board, but they seemed ready for more stimulation (or I wanted my bathroom back??), so yesterday they moved into the livingroom.

After all the excitement outdoors, they found a comfy spot and napped:

Tulie and Tommy played peek-a-boo through the wire opening in the crate, then traded places:

Turk was just plumb tuckered out:

Over the past couple of years the differences between Shelter-raised puppies and those fortunate enough to spend their early days in foster care have been pointed out to me. I didn’t realize the extent of the differences until a friend adopted a Shelter-raised puppy — the staff and volunteers at the Shelter spend as much time with the puppies as possible, but it is not a home environment. The differences do not appear to be long-lasting if the puppy goes to a good home, receives care, attention and proper training. My friend’s dog is as socialized and well-behaved as other dogs — it just took a few extra weeks for the puppy to learn about living in a house with rules and boundaries.

I have been wondering about the differences, if any, that would be noticable with a litter raised without a Momma. All fostered puppies are handled, cuddled, and coddled, but their mother normally provides the food, comfort and rules — orphaned puppies depend solely on humans. These puppies had their mother for the first 8 or 9 days, so may not have some characteristics of true orphans. Early on some things were obvious — the imprint on bathtowels, the preference for people over the only other dog in their lives (although they take orders from MM better than they do from me!), my hands/fingers do not get bitten, and whether it is nature or nurture these are the cuddliest puppies I have fostered.

They are nearly 6 weeks old now and by all appearances they are normal, feisty, energetic, unruly, bitey little monsters that eat, sleep, play, explore, and complain with the same intensity and regularity of other litters. They huddle together when new items/experiences are introduced, they pair up to sleep or not depending on their mood, if 3 food bowls are provided, they all eat out of one and move en masse to the second and third, they are as much a help/hindrance with laundry and cleaning chores as other litters, one is more vocal, one rarely makes a sound, one likes the bathtub, two do not, two play with toys, one sleeps on them, Tommy likes things organized and clean (from the beginning he would not ‘go’ in the crate or his sleeping area, carries the toys to a corner — doesn’t seem to mind when the others haul them around or play with them — can see Tommy being trained in his forever home to pick up the kid’s toys and put them in the toybox), Turk is more laid back (the others take things from him, push him out of the food bowl, although he is the biggest, he bides his time and complains to me about being bullied), Tulie is the vocal one (she growls, yips, squeaks constantly in play, initiates play more often than the others, doesn’t seem to require as much sleep as the others).

In other words, they appear to have all the similarities and differences as any other litter of 6 week old puppies — except I have never before been able to calm a litter by simply giving them a bathtowel — wonder if that will continue to be important to them a year from now?

Today at the Shelter I spent some time with the other 4 puppies in the litter — if possible they are even cuddlier than my 3! All are healthy, happy, well-adjusted puppies.

Topaz and T-Dog (or, depending on who you talk to: Tara and Trever).

T-Dog (Trever)

Topaz (Tara)

Titus and Toga

You can tell them apart in the above picture because Titus’s colouring is a rustier shade than Toga, and Toga has white toes on her back feet. Unfortunately, I didn’t pay attention during the picture-taking session and I cannot be sure who is who in the other pictures. In future they will wear collars!

The teeth are becoming a problem. At this age the solution is to have something appropriate to stick in their mouth when they try to chew something inappropriate — it works at best about 20% of the time — it is a stage all puppies go through.

Turk took the bait at least once today:

It was such a glorious day I set the fencing up on the deck, threw in some some familiar things, toys, water bowl, food and relocated the puppies:

They were not happy about the change:

until I added Momma bathtowel

Oh, to be so easily comforted! They spent about 2 hours in the great outdoors — the highlights of the afternoon were some dried leaves they found on the deck, and clambering in and out of the dog house.

Meet T-Dog (male):

and Topaz (female):

They are being looked after by a staff member of the Saskatoon SPCA, and are doing fine.

As the other foster parents of this litter have chosen names beginning with the letter ‘T’, puppy #1 of my litter will be Tommy, puppy #2 will be Turk, and puppy #3 had already been named Tulie when she came to live with us.

The puppies are now 5 weeks old. They are eating on their own, although they still receive milk replacer a couple of times each day. Their activity levels and skills are improving daily, as is their curiousity and eagerness to break free from the bathroom. Soon they will have to be moved to the livingroom. Soon they will also get their first trip outdoors.

For the last couple of days the puppies have been almost playing with their toys — in the middle of the night one of them audibly discovered a squeaky toy and was fascinated by it, for a couple of minutes — won’t happen again as all noisy items are now picked up at bedtime!

Today I spent a good portion of the day trying to get pictures of the puppies with the toys — they ate, they slept, they carried the toys around when I didn’t have the camera, I could hear them squeaking when I was busy elsewhere, but show up with the camera and they came to say hello and get loved up. So the sum total of a day’s work:

Puppy #1

He spends the least time of all the puppies with any toy — although he does like to cart them to a corner and leave them there. Puppy #2 decided to guard the toy pile:

He actually plays with the toys, has been seen to toss one and attempt to pounce on it — not in front of the camera of course! Puppy #1 often takes a toy from Puppy #2 and puts the toy in a corner somewhere — Puppy #1 is going to be packrat.

Puppy #3

All of the puppies will curl up with the pumpkin, but it seems to be Puppy #3 that gets it for the night. They roll over the pumpkin, chew on the rope arms, but they do not carry or drag it around, it has its place by the waterbowl (sometimes in the water bowl) and the puppies visit it singly or in pairs.

The favourite toy for each of them is another puppy, me or MM.

And when they pick on puppy #1 he seeks protection:

Oh, yes, they have also turned into bitey little monsters — as a rule fingers are safe (they lick fingers because they have been hand fed), but all other body parts, clothing, blankets, towels, walls, etc. are fair game.

The puppies have all figured out which end uses the water bowl

and they all have teeth

so today I introduced them to dry kibble: didn’t expect them to eat much of it (the other side of the bowl contained the usual mixture), but soon they should eating some of it at every meal. For today it is something to play with

and for me to pick up from all areas of the bathroom

The puppies take turns playing turtle

peek-a-boo

upset with the papperazzi

(actually the second picture is a yawn, but it reminded me of the MGM lion)

Some pictures that clearly show the eating idiosyncrasies of puppies

and companionship is important