31 August 2009

Today should be a quieter day. Just catching up on the housework and lots of puppy watching. They are such fun to watch now. The Malinois are 6 weeks old tomorrow and the Bostons were 4 weeks old last Saturday. The Bostons spend quite a lot of time out of their cage now and do spend time with the Belgians. I do watch them carefully as the Belgians can be a bit rough, especially as there are a lot more of them

















The Bostons have taken to solid food like ducks to water and they both just dive in and make sure they get enough. Both of them seem to spend more time in the food bowl than anywhere else.














Yellow

30 August 2009

Another busy day. I have been meaning to replace the carpet in the conservatory since we moved in but having 11 puppies galloping on it and having accidents has rather forced the issue. The pupies house training is doing very well. When they wake up I let them out of the pen straight away and they all follow me outside for a wee but they don't always make it right outside. We now have rather nice slate coloured cushion floor in the conservatory which is much easier to keep clean.















Big Red having a rest












Turquoise's ball

















Yellow wants to know what Daisy has got













Turquoise

29 August 2009

We had a bit of a break from puppies today. There was a companion show in our local park I took Saffy Daisy and Ruby for a day out.

Saffy and Daisy both came 3rd in their classes. All 3 had a go at the companion test which was a bit like the good citizens test and they all passed, even Daisy although she lost marks for her walking on a loose lead as she spent more time in the air than on the ground.

There was a small agility course there so we all had a couple of goes. Ruby got two clear rounds and looked really happy to be doing something other than looking after babies. She only jumped low height jumps as she is probably a bit out of condition.

Saffy did everything at her usual breakneck speed. She did all the jumps but missed the weave entry. this seems to be a bit of a problem when running courses. She can get the entry in the garden from lots of angles but always seems to miss it when running a course.

Even Daisy had a go over very low jumps and really enjoyed it The crowd loved her as she is so fast.

then we went home to play with the babies.

28 August 2009

The Malinois spent ages this morning playing with Daisy in the garden. She plays really well with them even when they all join in.


























































Purple














Little Red


















I put two bowls down with food in but everyone crowds round one. Spot the odd puppy out. There was also a separate plate of food for the Boston Babies but Laurel chose to fight with the Malinois for their food!














I suppose that might have been because Hardy ate all theirs!

27 August 2009

All the puppies are doing really well. The Malinois are just about weaned. Ruby only feeds them very occasionally now. I hadn't planned to wean the Bostons yet as Darcy has plenty of milk for them but they took matters into their own paws. Both Bostons were out while I was feeding the Malinois and I turned round and there was Hardy helping himself. Both him and Laurel ate quite a bit. Much easier than the Malinois puppies who needed to be helped to try the food.





























I have taken the collars of the Malinois puppies now. They play so wildly It is safer for them not to wear anything in case they catch them on anything. I can identify all the puppies if I am close to them but it is not as easy from a distance.

Yellow making sure no-one pinches her bone














Turquoise















have we got 3 Boston puppies now?

25 August 2009

Little Red in the tunnel















breakfast in the run.














Turquoise, Pink and Green














Purple eating his chicken wing















Orange sitting comfortably

24 August 2009

The Boston puppies are really growing up fast now. They love to come out of their run for a toddle round the living room. Today I took them outside for the first time. They seemed quite happy in the sunshine. They did not make the awful howling that the Belgians made the first time they went outside.

Daisy helping Darcy look after the babies















Hardy (left) and Laurel (Right)

















Ruby thinks Darcy's puppies are a lot more civilised than hers

23 August 2009

The puppies have spent quite a lot of time in their run outside today. I think they like the extra space. We took more individual photos of the puppies again.

Blue Boy



















Blue Boy getting a little help with his ears.






t







Green Boy



















Green Boy refusing to stand still

















Purple Boy


















Purple Boy


















Orange Boy



















Orange Boy

















Turquoise Boy



















Turquoise Boy















Dark Red Girl



















Dark Red Girl
















Little Red Girl



















Little Red Girl















Pink



















Pink Girl



















Yellow Girl

















Yellow Girl

21 August 2009

The Malinois puppies are one month old today. They spent quite a lot of time in the garden today learning about all the important things a Malinois needs to know.
Green has a go at the A Frame and Pink tries the channel weaves. Starting their agility careers young?






























Daisy shows little Red how to bite sticks















Ruby might love her babies but not enough to let them play with her stick and takes it back up the garden.














the puppies set off in hot persuit
















and soon track her and her stick down














Then Aunty Saffy comes along and starts teaching them how to play














Tomorrow is the WBSDS Obedience show so I will be out all day. Robin will be looking after the puppies.

20 August 2009

Ruby's toe is still very sore. the claw has fallen off entirely which has helped a bit as she is not catching it when she walks but she is still being very careful and obviously doesn't like the puppies going too near it. Yesterday she really didn't want the puppies feeding but today she is letting them feed provided she can lie on my bed and I bring her the puppies, a couple at a time!
The puppies are now eating well and trying lots of different food. They are learning to drink milk from a bowel too. The girls are still ahead in with ears. Pinks ears are up today and Green is the only boy to have an ear up

Today Darcy and her puppies have come down stairs for the first time. They are almost 3 weeks old now and they are toddling about. they are very fat compared to the Malinois puppies but there is much more milk available for each puppy.

19 August 2009

Poor Ruby is not happy today. Her problems started yesterday. I gave the puppies their food and shut the pen and went off to tend to the Boston Puppies. When I came back Ruby was in the puppy pen and the food had gone. More worryingly there was quite a lot of blood on the floor. Then I realised I could only see 8 puppies. Panic set in and I had a good look round but couldn't see the mising puppy, Purple boy as it turned out, so I caught up all the other pups and put them in a cage so I could move the furniture to search for Purple.

I carefully moved the settees and looked behind the TV unit, but no Purple, and I was really starting to panic when I head a small squeak. Purple had climbed over the barricade and into the cage in the corner and had obviously gone to sleep.
I was so relieved to see him.

Checking over all the puppies it was obvious the blood didn't come from them. As there were Ruby sized foot prints in the blood I checked her over and found some blood on one of her hind feet. I couldn't really see where it had come from and it didn't seem to be hurting so thought it wasn't too serious.

This morning however she was really lame. Her foot is very tender and I can now see she has cracked her nail almost where it joins the toe. This meant a trip to the vets for poor Ruby. Luckily the vet thinks it will resolve without needing to be removed but I need to watch carefully incase it gets infected. She will also not be able to go any walks for a few days.

Please can we come out














Daisy wants to play but does not want thew puppies to have her ball.















Darcy thinks it smells like a puppy but it is not black and white














Saffy thinks the safest place to be is on my chair

18 August 2009

The puppies are 4 weeks old already. Time is going sooo fast.
To celebrate both Little Red and Yellow have put their ears up.
Little Red girl on the settee














Yellow girl














Yellow girl and Purple boy. Purple's ears are doing their best but are not quite there yet.

17 August 2009

The puppies went out into the run again this afternoon. They are still not sure about it so didn't stay out there very long. They were much more adventurous and explored the shed as well as the run.




















































Then they went back inside for a snack and afternoon nap.














Laurel and Hardy don't go outside yet but they are nuch more active now they are up on their legs now although that is quite difficult as they are such chubby little puppies. Darcy is obviously feeding them really well
Laurel














Hardy

15 August 2009

The puppies went put into the garden today.
















They were not sure what to make of it all but then Ruby suggested a picnic they were happy.















Then I threw them in Jail! Well actually I put them in the run. Ruby is not sure why they are in the run while she is outside.

13 August 2009

Individual photos of the puppies. I have tried to get them all standing side and from the front on but it was quite hard as they kept moving
Green Boy Front view



















Green Boy Side View

















Blue Boy Side View
















Blue Boy Front View



















Purple Boy Front View



















Purple Boy Side View















Orange Boy Front View



















Orange Boy Side View














Turquoise Boy Side View















Turquoise Boy Front View



















Dark Red Girl Side View














Dark Red Girl Front View






















Light Red Girl Front View



















Light Red Girl Side View.














Yellow Girl Side view














Yellow Girs Front View



















Pink Girl Side View














Pink Girl Front View

12 August 2009

we are way overdue for a Boston update. They are rather over shadowed by the Belgians at the moment.
Both babies are growing really well. They doubled their birth weight when they should and they have both now got their eyes open. much quicker than the Belgians.
They are both very active. they both slide on their tums still but it wont be long before they start taking their first steps. Darcy is being an excellent mother.

Laurel in front.














Hardy in front














both














all three

11 August 2009

The Malinois puppies are 3 weeks old today. they are now full of life and getting really adventurous. Yesterday in their new pen they stayed around the bed most of the time but today they have really been exploring.


















In spite of my attempts to block access they have all found their way round the back of the settee and blue found his way underneath. I have no idea how he got there as the gap seems far too small to let a puppy through.
Daisy likes going into the pen with the puppies. She is very patient except when the puppies have a go at suckling from her.

















Of course after all these exertions they have to sleep it off. Purple was sleeping soundly when this picture was taken.

10 August 2009

Another change of scene for the puppies. Although I finished the conservatory pen yesterday it is not ideal due to the changes in temperature. Very hot when it is sunny and cold at night so I moved the panels to block off part of the living room. This will be much better as the puppies will be able to hear all the household noises and see the daily goings on. Ruby also seems happy as she can sit in her little hidey hole and watch her babies. Maybe she will stop asking me to take them outside to her den in the garden.
















The other dogs can see the babies too. Darcy looked very interested and I think she would have liked to go into the pen with them. Daisy thinks they look fun but grandad Casey is not too sure.

09 August 2009

Today I finished setting up the puppy pen in the conservatory and then brought the puppies down to see what they thought of it. They were not really very impressed at all and decided to huddle together on their familiar piece of vet bed .















It didn't take long however for curiosity to over come them and they went to explore their new home. Ruby looked rather confused when she saw they were down stairs however I think she still wants to move them outside.















I have had to open up the compost bin again as Ruby has dug holes under almost every large bush in the garden so to prevent her killing them all I have let her back into her den. She now spend quite a lot of time outside there.

The puppies are still spending most of their time upstairs but have now learned to escape from the whelping box. I have set up a run round that and removed the front so they can get in and out when they want. They are already leaving the box to toilet which helps keep it clean. Very good as they are not quite 3 weeks old yet. They have had another meal of minced turkey tonight and it goes down very well. They all head for the bowl and fight for position. Then one will climb over someone esle and push them into the food so they end up covered in it.

Today is Saffy's birthday and she is 2. Time goes so fast. It doesn't seem any time since she was as tiny as the puppies. She was only 3 weeks old the first time I saw her.

Saffy at 6 weeks














Saffy at 2 years

07 August 2009

The Boston puppies are gaining weight well. Darcy is very good at looking after them. I haven't weighed the Malinois puppies today as they are getting too big to fit in the scales now. They are all at least a Kilo now. They had some more turkey mince today for lunch and ate it very quickly. Ruby likes clearing up the bits they leave.

Dark Red Girl















Orange Boy















Blue Boy












Light Red Girl











Yellow Girl










Purple Boy


















Green Boy
















Pink Girl












Turquoise Boy

06 August 2009

The puppies had their first taste of solid food today. They have been seeming hungry for a couple of days even though Ruby feeds them regularly I thought I would just see what they would do if I gave them some minced turkey. at first they sniffed round interestedly and then suddenly they seemed to work out where the smell was coming from and launched themselves into the bowl. They got the food everywhere. All over the whelping box and all over themselves. The food disapeared in a flash. and they are now sleeping soundly. I guess they were ready.

05 August 2009

I put all the pups out on the floor while cleaning the whelping box this morning. They were really not sure about what was going on. Most of them stuck together in the middle of the room but a couple of brave souls did go exploring.





























They were very pleased to see mum when I put them back in the nice clean box and crawled all over her.














Dark red wondering if she is brave enough to go out again.

04 August 2009

The Malinois puppies are 2 weeks old today. Pink girl is the first puppy to break the 1 kg barrier. She has been the biggest for a couple of days and now weighs 1046grams.
Red girl is the smallest at 825 grams.
The biggest boy is Turquoise at 958g and the smallest is Blue at 920g.
Green boy is the first puppy to get both his eyes fully open. All of them have their eyes a little bit open. they are now starting to explore the world with their mouths and as mouthing the vetbed and each other. they seem to love climbing on things and when Ruby gets in the box the will often climb on her.

The Boston puppies are growing too although not as quickly as the Belgians.
This is Laurel, the girl














And this is Hardy. Hardy doesn't have a dirty face, his nose is starting to get some pigment and should be black in a few days.

04 August 2009

Bandit came for a visit today. Well actually Bandits owner came along to see the puppies. She was in the area for the shows over the weekend so called in on the way home to see the babies. I took the opportunity to take some pictures of him. Bandit didn't really want to be bothered posing for photos. He was much to interested in the new smells in the garden.





















































The puppies have all got their eyes slightly open today, just little slits. Still gaining weight well and up on their legs.

The Boston puppies are also growing too. Darcy is managing them really well now. and they are very lively, feeding very well.

2nd August 2009

Yesterday and today was the back to back Belgian shows. This event is run once every 3 years where both of the UK Belgian Breed clubs get together and hold their championships shows on both days over the weekend. I was not sure whether or not I would be able to get to it this year with Rubys puppies being so young and Darcy's puppies being due on Monday.
Sure enough Friday night Darcy started in labour. Saturday morning and no puppies, Saturday afternoon we had a trip to the vets where he gave her an oxytocin injection to see if that would speed up the delivery of the pups, but no pups appeared so we decided a cesarean would be the best option.
Thankfully we had 2 live pups born but a third one was stillborn. So we now have two more members of the foxbriar menagerie, a dog and bitch temporarily called Laurel and Hardy.
















this is Laurel, a little girl.
















and this is Hardy a little boy














Sunday I decided it would be better to stay at home to watch Darcy and her new babies. She is managing them very well but the first night she really didn't seem to know what these strange little things were doing in her cage with her.

Today she is managing much better and now has to be forced away from them to go outside. She is managing the cleaning herself too . All this has not affected her appetite at all. She has not refused one meal through all this unlike Ruby who needed to be hand fed very small tasty titbits as she wouldn't eat.

Speaking of Ruby her brood are growing like weeds. Surprisingly the Boston puppies were actually not very much smaller than the Belgians at birth, so it is astounding to see how big and developed the Belgians have become in less than 2 weeks. They are now just starting to open their eyes. Tiny little slits are appearing at the corners. They are also standing up on their legs. they are still a little wobbly. Meal times are a real scrum now

01 August 2009

Life is pretty hectic at the moment with all the puppies. Although Ruby does all the feeding and cleaning of the puppies I have to keep the whelping box clean and tidy and feed Ruby as well as looking after the other dogs etc.
Here is Ruby in her nice clean whelping box looking a little confused, there is something missing. Has anyone seen any puppies?














There is not a lot of room in the basket now for all the puppies. they look more like sardines than Malinois.














This afternoon Aunty Ashleigh and Ellie came to visit the puppies.