We are still having lots of people come by and play with the puppies. Some of the guys that I shoot skeet with bring their wives, children and grandchildren. Each day there are several different people just holding the puppies and petting them.
This little girl isn’t too bothered by her first time in real grass.
Abby feeding the puppies outside.
Another picture of Abby feeding her babies.
I finished the Super Pup exercise with the puppies. This exercise was supposed to be done from day 3 through day 16. My whole life I have figured, “if it’s worth doing it was worth over doing”. I started on the third day but we went until day 18. I don’t know whether it will help the puppies but I know for sure it won’t hurt. Anytime the puppies are being held it’s good for them.
We have had lots of rain and the ground and grass has been wet. Finally, yesterday I felt that it was dry enough to get the puppies out of their box and put them on the grass. June, our daughter Dana and I went down and carried them out. I had locked Abby in the big pen outside the shed where she couldn’t get to the puppies but could see what we were doing. Abby was really nervous.
The puppies cried and shivered for a few minutes. We picked the quiet ones up and petted them, occasionally. In just a few minutes the puppies were crawling around in the grass or sleeping. At this age they mostly sleep.
Abby was still nervous so I let her out so she could be with her puppies. Abby is pretty hyper when I put birds out but I was pleasantly surprised about how calm she was being, out with her puppies. The first thing she did was count the puppies to see if everyone was there. Then she just hung around. She didn’t try to leave or jump on us. She did get petted but she stood still.
After a little while she laid down and some of the puppies nursed. I have started feeding the puppies a milk formula that was given to me by my vet. He said it was a mother’s milk replacement. Abby has enough milk, right now, that the formula isn’t a big deal to the puppies. The formula is: a can of evaporated milk, a can of water, an egg yolk, (uncooked egg white may be bad for dogs) a tablespoon of yogurt and a tablespoon of either Karo syrup or honey.
Later, when the puppies get teeth, I will let puppy chow soak in the formula a while before feeding them. This makes an easy transition to the dry dog food. When they are little I like to leave food in front of them at all times.
Abby, nervously running the big pen.
The puppies are born without being able to see or hear. At about 3 weeks their ears are through forming and they can hear. I like to place a CD made by Masters Voice of music containing gun shots, close to the pups when I feed them the formula. They hear this CD morning and evening when I place the formula in their box. One of the first things the puppies hear is the sound of gunshots. And they hear it at a happy time. Breakfast and supper.
I have two boxes that are connected, in the shed. The first box has a door that leads into a big pen. In this box is Abby’s food and water. The other box is where the puppies live. I have a 2×4 flat around the box except for where the hole is between the two boxes. I cut this out to keep the puppies from using it for a step to get out of their box but as they grow they will learn to get out, anyway. I have to move them to the kennel or the other puppy pen. I saw two different puppies trying to get from one box to the other, yesterday. Luckily, they weren’t big enough yet.
This was the first time Mann had seen his babies.
When I’m close to the kennels all of my dogs are quiet, most of the time. A lot of the people that come over to play with the puppies aren’t bird hunters or even dog people. The just like puppies. When I bring the people down to the shed, past the dogs in the kennel, the dogs are quiet. But when we start back after petting the puppies Mann runs from one end of his kennel to the other, whining. He thinks I will go get a pigeon and show the people how the dogs in the kennel quiet down and point the pigeon.
And I usually do. I will put a pigeon to sleep and place it on the ground in front of the kennel. All of the dogs stop and point. Abby in the big pen can’t see the pigeon but she can see the other dogs pointing so she points too. They don’t have the style they would have if they were smelling the bird, but they point.
As long as they are close together they are happy.
In the heat of summer I can’t work dogs. I don’t even like to put the pigeons in release traps on these hot days so I need puppies to play with. I do have some projects around the house I’m working on and hope to finish by the time cooler weather gets here. And I mow grass. Seems like all I do is mow. But it keeps me moving around and I need that.