Saturday, December 26, 2009

Puppies for Christmas
















Christmas time is always busy around here. With all our dogs, the new puppies, and still our foster dog Tasha things can get a little hectic. That being said I love Christmas and I figured I would take the opportunity to photograph our newest additions under the Christmas tree. They were not so thrilled at first about being in a strange new place but soon nestled into the presents and went to sleep. Cali on the other hand has spend the last 14 days since we put the tree up hiding all of her "prizes" in various places underneath it. She is such a little livewire and I have to admit I am more than a little nervous about what we are going to find under there when we take it down. As always the JRTs are a constant source or amusement, frustration, and joy. An interesting combination you may think but once you own one you understand.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

10 Days Young








The puppies are growing well. One little girl was born with Atresia Ani and a fistula but with the help of many vets she is so far doing alright. Our regular vet, Theresa Chu, has been amazing through this whole process quite literally holding my hand the night I found the problem (at 3 days old) and I rushed over to the college after hours right up to today coming in on her day off to look at an eye infection. The vets at the WCVM have been equally as amazing and will hopefully be able to correct both issues with a couple of surgeries. We have to wait until she is a little older and stronger to do much for her but she has such a will to live it would be impossible for me not to try. She is just the sweetest little girl and even though she is just half the size of her littermates she is tough and rarely gets pushed off a nipple. I am giving her a little beef liver broth a few times a day and that really seems to help her keep her strength up, especially those first few days. We have named her Mazel Tov, which is "Good Luck" in Hebrew as I think she is going to need it.

The other three are doing very well, just stunning puppies really, with outstanding bone and heads like I have never seen on 10 day old puppies. They are already weighing in around 1.5lbs and round little balls of fur. This is always the stage where I try and justify to myself keeping all of them but I know that the homes we have lined up are going to adore them as much as I do so that makes it a little easier. Sadie herself is doing fantastic, eating like a small horse and taking breaks from the little ones to come and hang out with me every now and then. She would prefer I spend all my time in the office, where her whelping box is, and will stand at the top of the stairs barking at me until she eventually comes down and sits on my lap for a bit. I don't think I will ever get bored of Jack Russell antics, they have so much personality!

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Sadie x Jock Puppies










We have been waiting for Sadie to whelp this litter all week and they were definitely worth the wait. I am wanting to keep a female from this litter so as luck would have it I now have four to choose from! My good friend Karen braved the cold and drove 25 min into town to help me whelp this litter and for that I am eternally grateful! I only have one good hand at the moment (broke the other one in a horse related incident) and as anyone who has ever tried to whelp puppies knows it is a two handed job. Karen was also here during the birth of our previous litter lending her veterinary expertise and guiding me through the sometimes scary process.

I had commented to Karen earlier that this might be a very colourful litter so when the first puppy was born with a half-mask and an ear spot she remarked that she was still waiting for her "holstein". Well she wouldn't have to wait long as the next two puppies were covered in body spots! The Tan and white girl came second, then the Tri girl, and thank goodness the last puppy was a little more tame as I think we were both still reeling from all that color. All in all this is a nice looking litter and I am looking forward to watching them grow, although I don't know how i am ever going to pick just one to keep they are all so cute!