October '07 Litter Blog:

December 1st: Today I received a disturbing email from someone upset that I would not kill my white puppies at birth and that the ACA would register a white boxer. However, any registry, including the AKC, allows limited registration of white boxers, which means that any puppies resulting from the breeding of a limited registration white boxer may not be registered, thus discouraging the breeding of white boxers. This person hasn't done their research. Not surprising, as the American Boxer Club will only allow members who will agree to euthanize white pups immediately after birth. Placing a white puppy in the freezer as this person advises should be prosecuted as much as any other crime against animals. Would I throw a baby in a freezer because it was born the wrong color? Give me a break:

"Tubbs should have been quietly placed into the freezer at birth. If you REALLY love this breed.... put the "dog" down. At least keep him to raise yourself and have him FIXED ASAP! I curse you with a curse for trying to get money for this "dog". People like you do nothing but dilute the best breed on the planet. Why do you hate boxers so much? A REAL lover of the breed would hide this animal away, not post it for the world to see! I'm not famiiar with the ACA rules, but they had BETTER not be "registering" WHITE "Boxers"! Did you TELL them Tubbs was WHITE? Do us all a favor and put the dog down."




November 24th: Puppy dispositions:
Lily: A character, strong-willed and vibrant
Teddy: Lily's almost twin - loves to wrestle, outgoing
Mac: Pudgy and playful, smart and loving
Flash: A fave, irresistable and pudgy too, loves kisses
Hercules (held): Demands attention, can't resist other dogs
Tubbs: This guy is HUGE, a lapdog totally
Blizzard: Independent and curious
Diamond: A real sweetheart, enjoys laps more than playtime
Patton: Not afraid of much, chases kids for love





November 18th: We're preparing for the big day, November 23rd, when hopefully folks will be beating down the door to adopt our little angels. It's sad how fast it has gone, and we feel like we hardly got to enjoy the little guys before they're all ready for the big world. Daisy seems less eager to detach from them this time. Perhaps she knows what is going on. We'll have to give her extra love this next few weeks. The kids could hardly wait for the pups to get big enough to play, and now soon they will be on to their new adventures.



October 31st: The pups are now almost loud enough to drown out the surround sound - a difficult task since their whelping box is 2 rooms away from the television. These pups seem even more eager to break out into the real world than the last litter. Many times you will catch them playing dominance games already with their littermates, growling and trying to gum each other to death. And you can just look at Daisy and tell she is ready for them to move onto solid food. The largest pup - we call him Hercules - has his canines already. If I were Daisy, I'd shoot out the front door like a rocket and eat out of trashcans before I'd get anywhere near that puppy's mouth.

Well - it's off to tricking and treating. Have a safe Halloween everyone! Keep the chocolate away from your pets - maybe the safest place for it IS on your thighs!




January '07 Litter Blog:

November 17th: We're pretty sure Murphy and Daisy will be parents - I won't go into detail, like I did at Thanksgiving dinner, but take my word on it.

January 1: Daisy is looking more and more like she might have quite a few babies, and you can actually see them kicking and squirming in her belly. Our vet says she's having about 4 or 5 but it looks like 20 to me.



January 19th: 2:30 am - Husband wakes me, Daisy is panting heavily and restless. I walk her to her whelping box, and she lays down and gets to work. I take breaks at the computer to give her some alone time. Dogs tend to get through this first stage quicker when they're not disturbed. 5:40 - Turns out Daisy took that paragraph very seriously. The only fawn male was born without circumstance. By 10:25 am, 9 pups were born - all came out without assistance and were breathing immediately. Sometime around 11:45 I took a break to grab some coffee and call my mother, came back to the whelping box, and realized my count was off. For some reason I came up with 10. That couldn't be right...Sneaky girl. She waited til I left to have the last - Maybel. Not only did she "free-whelp" (meaning she required little to no assistance), but she delivered 10 pups - breed average is 4-6. She's an amazing girl!



January 26th: Pups are 1 week old: small blind, deaf piglets right now, unable to do much but suckle and squeak. Daisy has to be forced outside for breaks (which involves me pushing her from the rear while she digs in her claws in the carpet). She's a wonderful mom and has not rejected any pups. Unlike the human world, Murphy is not allowed to spend any quality time with mother and brood - if he so much as peeks at the pups, she chases him from the room.



February 16th: 4 weeks: All the pups are healthy as hogs. It's pretty rare that she would not only whelp 10 pups, but that all were born breathing - not one required resuscitation at birth. Many times one or two pups don't survive to a week of age. Daisy's herd, as I have begun to call them, is not only thriving but quickly outgrowing my puppy exercise pen. What would be plenty of room for an average litter is growing tight with this bunch. Looks like it's another trip to Petco for an extension. Wonder how many exercise pens fit under a large wool coat...

The babies are at the best age yet - big enough so that when they hear that dry puppy food grinding in the mixer, they immediately run to the close end of the pen and voice their opinions. Daisy has begun her part of the weaning process. In fact, she visits the pen briefly to do some cleaning, check that her brood is healthy, and launches herself back out to safety. I guess the pups' teeth are too much for her at this point. Imagine 10 little vampires coming at your soft underbelly all at once.



February 24th: 5 weeks: I'm so proud - 4 of the pups are now on deposit to the best homes a Boxer could hope for. It makes me a trifle sad because time is moving so quickly and very soon I won't have my Boxer flock - but then I think of how often their papers have to be changed and the massive amounts of Iams puppy food and the puzzled looks on my garbageman's face as he hauls away double the trash (I'm sure Allied Waste is considering just when to raise my rate) - and I feel a little better. Still, they each have such defined personalities now, it's hard not to get attached. Every day these puppies remind me why Boxers are the best breed in the world. I hope their new parents enjoy them half as much as we have - and I hope they have lots of newspaper.



March 9th: 7 weeks: Unbelievable! One week left and the pups will be in their new homes. They are a riot now, and I do mean "riot" in the literal sense. I let them out in the morning, at lunchtime and after work - we open the puppy pen door and they pour out like fat ferrets. Actually they look more like little rabbits the way they hop everywhere.

Zoe and Lion are not only taking well to the Eukanuba Puppy food everyone was switched to, they are obsessed with the bowl the food comes in (see Zoe in the 6 weeks album). Zoe lays in it and acts quite content, even eating at the same time, challenging any puppy who tries to push her out. Snow and Squirrel seem to be the dominant females in the pack. Porsche continues to be a real sweetie, loving just being held. Tank is a tank, bigger than the other pups in height and rolling over the other pups at play time. Nala steals your heart with her big eyes - she is going to be very refined-looking like her mother. Blaze is starting to come into her own - she used to blend into the background, so much so that we don't have alot of pics of her. We were taking pics of Porsche and they look enough alike we just didn't see Blaze. Maybel is interested in everything, very curious. Roxanne is, as always, a trouble-maker - chasing me around the pen when I'm cleaning it and ripping the newspaper up under my feet as soon as I lay it.

We had to switch everyone from Iams Puppy to Eukanuba because they just didn't take to the Iams. Didn't enjoy the taste or something. And if you've ever switched foods on a puppy, DON'T. Atleast have a good reason for it. What a mess. Also, this week I am weaning them from any supplemental additions to their diet such as canned food. They look at me like I'm evil.