Uncle Reacher



On the outside looking in.

Reacher, who is accustomed to being in on all the action around here -- and creating most of it -- has been missing out since the puppies arrived on the scene in the wee hours of September 28. In fact, because he's such a bouncy Boxer he was banned from the puppies until recently.

For a couple of weeks, poor Reacher didn't really know what was going on upstairs nor was he allowed a peek at the new crew. But one day he managed to get up the steps undetected and was both surprised and amazed at what he found in the kiddie pool. Of course, Vega immediately herded him away from her little family so Reacher didn't have a chance for a thorough investigation.

Once the puppies made the move to the garage, he was allowed in, but was mostly relegated to a rug so he continued to miss out on all the puppy fun. Even when he was allowed a peek, he could look but not touch.



One of Vega's puppies with Uncle Reacher.



The other day Reacher got his big chance and surprisingly behaved like the big boy he's growing up to be. While Reacher was behaving nicely on his rug one of the puppies came to check him out. Kind of a reverse investigation.

Reacher let the puppy sniff around and amazingly stayed put. That little girl liked what she found. And if she could talk, I think she'd call her new friend Uncle Reacher. 

Puppy Progress

Changes are coming fast and furious for my puppies these days. In just a week, this litter of eight has learned to climb over the door of the whelping box. It now remains open and the pups have no trouble going up and down the box's short step on their clumsy little legs. They can also climb up, over and back into the plastic kiddie pool they were born in. They've got sharp little teeth and pointy little toenails that have just received their first clipping.



Stand foot in one dish, eat out of the other.

But the biggest milestone of all is one Vega is celebrating. They have begun to eat puppy food! Or should I say, puppy porridge that I make with dry kibble and water. They had their first taste of it this morning and they lapped it up like eight little champs. That was after they walked through it and received a dripping wet coating of it on their paws and legs.

The puppy food means Vega's days of nursing are numbered. And if she could, I'm sure Vega would be counting them down. Right now, she has to be coaxed to nurse her crew. At night while I'm sleeping or if I'm away from the house, I seriously doubt she's doing her motherly duty.

Easy does it!

So, I sit with her and offer encouragement, but when she gets bit or scratched or pulled on too vigorously, she growls at the offending pup, stands up and simply walks out. It's as if she's saying, "I quit!"

It won't be long and she can quit completely. Vega seems anxious to get her old life back. She's enjoying a short daily walk with Reacher and is even starting to play and run with him a bit just like the "old days." He likes having his gal pal back, too.

Out With The Puppies!

Time flies when you're having fun with puppies. This litter is officially 23 days old today.

Two weeks ago, the first puppy opened his eyes and the rest were close behind. Last week, they were taking their first steps, although there was more wobbling than walking. Now, the puupies are walking with confidence. And even beginning to play with one another.

All eight of them had a big moment on Friday when they managed to escape from the box and headed out to explore the great big world of the garage. Today, it was on to the great outdoors.

It was a picture-perfect fall day. So Evan suggested taking them on their first trip to the yard. They weren't quite sure what to make of the mulch and the leaves and the pinestraw, but it didn't take them long to get in the swing of things. They're puppies after all. And that makes them ready for just about anything. 

 

 

Scrambled Puppies

 

This morning, I got up and got dressed as usual. I headed downstairs, turned on the lights, let Vega out of the garage and Reacher out of his crate. Then I fed the two dogs, took them outside and proceeded to make breakfast.

As I was about to begin eating, I heard the puppies yelping in the garage. Vega and Reacher both went down to check it out. When I got there, six puppies had squeezed through the gap between the top and bottom doors of the whelping box and were exploring the brand new world of the garage floor. The other two were on their way to join their brothers and sisters. 

To add to the fun, Vega was herding Reacher - who was fascinated by all the activity - away from her family while I tried to round up the puppies. Problem was I really had no place to put them where they would stay put. There were a few frantic moments as I contemplated my next move.

 

I checked the whelping box double doors. They were latched but somehow off kilter causing a bigger gap at one end than the other. I fixed that issue, but didn't completely trust the doors would stay that way. Looking around the garage, I noticed two tabletop halves to the drinking game corn hole (thanks, Charlie) and I propped those against the whelping box door. I held the tabletop pieces in place with three heavy ceramic planters.

As an added precaution, I arranged the Superyard XT Portable Playard I'm borrowing from a friend, around the end of the whelping box. Then I scooped up the puppies two by two and put them back in the box. Problem solved!!

That's one way to start the day. Scrambled puppies instead of breakfast.

What's In A Name?

Color-coded puppies.

After all my blogging about names for this litter of puppies, all my themes are out the window. If you recall, I had star names, German names, girls' names that ended in "a"/boys' names that ended in "o," names of characters from children's literature and names of cocktails. And those were just the ones I posted. I was all about a beer theme most recently.

For the first ten days or so, the litter was themeless and nameless simply because it was just too hard to tell the puppies apart. They were all about the same size and their coloring was basic black.

Last Tuesday it was decided the puppies were grown up enough for collars. They are color-coded like this: boys wearing red, blue, green and green/orange; girls wearing solid yellow, solid orange, yellow/orange and orange/green.

The boy that ended up with the red collar happens to be the chunkiest puppy and right away was dubbed Big Red. David decided he wants to be a GSD owner and named his pick Panzer after the German tank. Over the weekend, a couple came to choose a female and will likely call her Reina (pronounced rain-a), the Spanish word for queen. So, having a theme isn't really working out.

I still like many of the star names and am calling the little girl with the yellow collar Lyra because she looks most like her star-studded mother Vega. I named the two other females Lola and Zelda just because they're girls' names that end in "a" and I like them. For some reason - maybe because it was his birthday last week - I agreed to let David play my name game. He chose Bronson and Titan for the two remaining males.

As it turns out, there is no theme. But, to very loosely paraphrase Shakespeare: "A puppy by any name is still very sweet."

Family Dining

If you saw yesterday's video of the feeding frenzy you probably understand why Vega isn't thrilled to head for the whelping box every time the puppies are hungry. And if I'm home, that just seems to give her an excuse to delay the puppies' next meal.

I encourage her to go to the garage and take care of her babies. While she'll head out there, she usually gives the eight a quick look, maybe takes care of some housekeeping and heads back inside.

So, I often end up staying in the garage with her so I can be sure she's nursing the pups. She's got me trained: She'll stay if I do. Tonight that meant I had dinner in the garage, just like the puppies. Well, I did sit at a table -- a card table that is. It overlooked the whelping box.

To make the scene complete, Reacher was there, too. I sent him to "the place" (the most useful command in the world), a throw rug next to my reserved table. He wasn't too happy about it, but he stayed put.

All eight puppies at least, were thrilled with their reservation at the milk bar. 

So tonight, we all ate at Garage Chez Schuetz, where we dined like one big, happy family. 

 

 

 

Feeding Frenzy

All's quiet on the puppy front ... for the moment. Tummies are full, puppies are satisfied and taking a snooze. But it wasn't like that a few minutes ago.

When Vega came into the garage and stepped into the whelping box, all eight puppies woke up. They were ready to eat! Mama had a few messes to clean up first, but several eager beavers made a valiant effort to stand on their hind legs and grab on for a drink. A good idea, but not so easy when you're just over two weeks old.

Still, it was madness in the whelping box. All eight puppies were scurrying around as best they could trying to anticipate where Vega might land. In all the excitement, one little girl managed to hook her front paws over the box's lower Dutch door and tumble out onto the garage floor. Time to close the top door!

Finally, Vega laid down, stretched out and let the puppies go for it. You can see for yourself what happened once they got situated.

And in a few hours, it will start all over again.

Graduation: From The Pool To The Whelping Box

The puppies have made lots progress in just a couple of weeks. Their eyes are open, they're starting to walk and they're getting big! At this stage, they still mostly alternate sleeping with nursing but they are definitely more active when they are awake. In another week or so, I'm sure things will be getting wild in the whelping box.

Yes, they have graduated from the pool in the bedroom to the whelping box in the garage. Vega would prefer to be in the house with me, but she spends the nights with her puppies and nurses them every few hours during the day. Other than that, she's outa there!

A mother can only take so much of eight very demanding, vigorous nursers. Vega is tugged on, pawed at and fought over during every feeding. And if that's not enough, she is constantly cleaning up after them all. It's a vicious cycle.

When you think about it, it's pretty much the same for all mothers with new babies. I remember. So, I take her for walks, throw the ball and just let her hang out with me. She's grateful for the adult company now and then.

Top Dog

Top dog! 

Lately, I have been focusing on Vega and her puppies. But that doesn't mean I've forgotten about Reacher. He is the kind of dog who tends to make his presence known whether you want him to or not.

However, even though he's way outnumbered these days - eight darling puppies and Mama Vega vs. "Mr. Personality Plus," Reacher has been enjoying special privileges these past couple of weeks. He has made a new high school friend who comes over in the afternoons to go for a walk. I don't know exactly what they do (translation: how Reacher behaves) or where they go, but when the two of them return, both have smiles on their faces.

I try to do my part as well. Reacher and I continue to visit the dog park where he hopes his Boxer girlfriend Tess will be, too. He also likes running with the rest of his dog buddies including Tyson - also a Boxer - and Roosevelt, Sammie, Henry, Harley, Chip and Gracie, to name just a few.  

And let's not forget training. We continue to practice and go to our lessons on Thursdays and Sundays. He's making steady progress, I might add. Good boy, Reacher!

There may be a total of 10 four-legged friends in the house right now, but Reacher was here first. In his mind, that makes him top dog.


 

Puppy Love

Eight puppies at seven days.

These litter of puppies is getting in the way of blogging. And cleaning. And cooking. And laundry. And most everything else in my life.

 

Since Vega is completely in charge of their care and feeding at this point, there's really nothing for me to do puppy-wise. Except enjoy them. 

 

For the first several days, the happy family was in my bedroom so I'd lie across the bed and just watch them sleep and nurse and squirm and scoot around. This happened even in the wee hours of the morning.

 

Then I decided I needed a full night's sleep, so I moved everyone to the garage. It's where I spend a lot of my waking hours, too. In fact, right now, my computer and I are inside the whelping box with Vega and her puppies. They are all bellied up to the bar and making those contented nursing noises. 

Upside down diner.

 

There is a lot of jockeying for position. Because unless Vega is lying just right, it's difficult for all eight to nurse at once. Usually two are awaiting a turn and they are not patient about it. But eventually, one of the nursing puppies peels off, passes out and another takes its place. Then everyone is satisfied.  

 

Puppies grow up and move on much faster than children. Which means our time together is rapidly ticking by. So, the cleaning can wait. The cooking can wait. The laundry can wait. Right now, I only have time for puppy love.