And Then There Was One

Eight weeks and one day after they were born, all but one of Vega's puppies has left the nest -- or the pool, or the whelping box, or the garage -- depending on how you look at it.

The four girls went to homes that already have a dog or two in the family, so those puppies will have at least one other four-legged friend in the family to keep them company. And owner(s) who I hope will spoil them at least a little.

The little boy who is still at my house, of course has Mama Vega to keep him in line and Uncle Reacher who is already grooming him to be his partner in crime.

The other three males left for a police canine training school in South Carolina. This was a litter of working dogs, after all!

 So now it is much quieter at my house. The pool has been scrubbed and is about to be returned. The whelping box has been cleaned and disassembled. The surrounding fortress taken apart. The pans for the puppy food put back in the cabinet. 

The cedar shavings have been swept up. The play yard fence folded up and put away. And there is room once again in the garage to park the van. 



Am I sad the puppies are gone? Not as sad as I thought I would be eight weeks ago. Do I miss all those cute puppy faces and the sweet puppy breath? I've got hundreds of pictures and memories to last a lifetime. Am I happy I had this litter of eight? Yes!! It was an amazing experience. Did I learn a lot about dogs, Mother Nature, puppies and myself? Definitely. Was I good at this? Amazingly so. Is it an experience worth repeating? All I have to say about that is, it would be tough to top perfection.

 

 

All photos taken by Alex Benigno, www.AlexBenigno.com.

She's Back!

At only six weeks after her litter was born, Vega is looking good and obviously feeling good, too. She enjoys long walks again. And at home in the yard she's back to running and playing with the favorite Boxer in her life.

In the past few days, she's shown that once again she's able to leap tall landscape walls in a single bound then fearlessly sail off of them again on her quest to catch Reacher. And as you can see in the video, there's nothing quite like a good wrestling match between friends.

If Vega is feeling good. Reacher is feeling even better. He's finally got his girl back!  

 

 

Foiling The Escape Artists

The whelping box has become a fortress.

Keeping eight busy, inquisitive puppies all in one place for any length of time is no easy feat. They've been finding ways to escape whatever space they've occupied ever since they've been two weeks old. That's when I discovered the first explorer on the carpet in the bedroom, not in the blue kiddie pool where he belonged.

Turns out that was just the first in a series of great escapes by one or another of this brother-sister team. And no matter how hard I've worked to fix each breach in security there's always at least one pup who finds an alternate way out.

After that first dive onto the carpet, I moved the puppies to the whelping box. It solved the problem until one Friday morning when I discovered six of them had squeezed through the space between the top and bottom doors of the box and were scrambling across the garage floor.

A quick fix with an old tabletop held in place by three ceramic planters solved that problem. But this is a determined bunch who always seems to be one paw ahead of me.
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Recently, I decided to expand the puppy space for my energetic crew. I opened the doors of the whelping box and put one end of the play yard fence against one side of the opening. Then I made a half circle with the rest of the fence, placing the remaining end at the other side of the box. While it created a bigger puppy playground, it also created new opportunities for escape. 

In an amazing display of teamwork, eight puppies bounding against the fence were enough to scoot it out, out and away from the end of the box. And that resulted in a just-right space for the puppies to run through. I answered that escape by placing paint cans against the outside of the fence. It stopped the moving fence and foiled their puppy power.

The fix didn't last. Several brave souls learned to climb over the edge of the box taking the two-foot drop to the garage floor in stride. That's why at 10 pm last night I was answering their call of the wild by adding some height to the sides of the box. I stood a collection of one-time shelves on end and placed my kitchen chairs side by side with their backs to the box.

It's not a pretty solution, but for the last 24 hours not one of the eight has figured it out. For now at least, I'm smarter than a puppy!

Grown Up Pups

Lyra

In just five short weeks, these puppies have grown from eyes-closed, contented little creatures to four- and five-pound+ bundles of boundless energy. Miraculously, they've turned into real dogs. They're just smaller. They run, jump, climb, stand on their hind legs, chew, whine, bark and growl. They have sharp little teeth, eat puppy food and are getting along quite well without their mama, Vega.

In fact, they are getting ready to go to their forever homes very soon. Fortunately, all eight puppies are spoken for. And after their second deworming and first set of shots on Friday, some of them will be leaving as soon as next weekend.

I'm not sure I'm ready for them to go. Admittedly, they have become more and more work as the days have ticked past. They're demanding and boisterous. And even if they are fast asleep in a tangled heap, they erupt like an anthill as soon as I open the garage door. 

Panzer

Vega has given up both her nursing and clean-up responsibilities so I've had to take over. That means I've been blending puppy porridge, mopping spilled water and constantly sweeping up cedar shavings. And when I'm not handling those housekeeping chores, I'm often on the floor in the garage or the kitchen or even outside letting them crawl all over me and laughing at their funny puppy ways.

When they've all gone to their new homes, will I miss them? Definitely. Will I do it all over again some day? That remains to be seen.

There's A Swimming Pool In My Kitchen

Nursing in shifts.

The kiddie pool has been an invaluable piece of equipment during this puppy extravaganza. Vega's litter of eight was born in it and now it is the favorite spot - more accurately, the only spot - she will nurse her brood.

The pool has made many stops on this five-week journey beginning in the bedroom where the puppies were born. When Vega and the pups transitioned to the whelping box, the pool went with them.

Once the puppies began to exit the pool of their own accord, it moved from the box to the garage floor. But on Vega's cue, the puppies often moved back into the pool to nurse. 

Now that weaning is in full swing, the pool is the only place Vega will settle down. She also requires that I be within sight at all times. Which is why the pool has now become part of the kitchen decor.

At least in the kitchen, I can be productive - wiping the counter, tidying up, scrubbing a pan or emptying the dishwasher. And after the puppies have drunk their fill and leave a puddle on the kitchen floor, I'm right there to mop up.