MUNI | Dangerous Common Sense

Day 21 — Inflating the Puppy

Sometimes puppies need inflating…

Geoffrey blows on MUNI until her tongue falls out of her mouth!

Day 21 — Inflating a Puppy

Fortunately, Geoffrey is an expert and can get a puppy so comfortable that her tongue falls out of her mouth! And, that leads to mega-yawns!

MUNI and the pack at home had a stress-free day of sleeping and eating. MUNI was 30.7 oz at breakfast. She acts like she has set a personal goal of two pounds by tomorrow, and she’s been spending the day nursing to meet the target!

Unfortunately, Geoffrey’s Worst Tax Season Ever is continuing, and he worked the entire day. He arrived back home sometime after 7, and these pictures are from 9:30, right before pack bed time.

No real news on the growth front: steady as she goes.

By Galen|2018-10-15T11:52:30-07:00October 14, 2018|dachshunds|0 Comments

Day 20 — Personality Happens

MUNI is showing her eyes more… well, a little more. She still is crawling around the whelping box making determined moves toward Mother and food without noticing her surroundings too much.

But, here eyes are open more. She doesn’t have much reaction to any human she sees. About the biggest reaction she’ll give is cuddling motions and sucking when we pet her and blow on her face and neck.

Zenith is very good protective mother. So, when we want to weigh and hold MUNI, we have to send Zenith out of the room. Then we weigh and pose.

Geoffrey and MUNI after this morning's weigh in

Day 19 – Personality Happens

When we open the puppy room (aka: the TV Room) door to the kitchen, usually Zenith is right there whining and dancing to come back in and check on her pup. Very cute.

Zenith continues to suggest (strongly) that there be a mid-afternoon snack, and we are obliging. She also is taking a few more minutes of adult time, away from the puppy, when she goes outside. Today she and I sat in the sun in the backyard for five minutes making out before she decided she had to run back and be a mother.

By Galen|2018-10-15T10:50:54-07:00October 13, 2018|dachshunds|0 Comments

Day 19 – The Aperture Got Us

Today’s update is more about the limits of photography than it’s about raising a puppy.

Remember, because MUNI just opened her eyes, we are not using flash for a while.

When you take a picture in low light one way to make the image visible is to open up the lens aperture. (Read Wikipedia on lens aperture settings.) The aperture settings are delineated in f-stops. Higher number f-stops indicating smaller lens openings (less light) and lower f-stop numbers indicate a larger lens opening for more light. My camera’s lens have f-stops from 22 to 2.8. 2.8 is pretty good at letting light in. 2.8 allows for flash-less pictures even there’s little light.

Anyway, the benefit of using a low f-stop that lets more light in is that you can take your picture without keeping the shutter open so long that you get motion blur. Or, using a high ISO (fast film) which typically makes for grainy pictures. Unfortunately, the problem with low f-stop settings is that focusing has to be very precise.

See…

Blurry photo of MUNI while Geoffrey's hand is in focus

Day 19 – The Aperture Got Us

This morning’s shot shows a very clear picture of Geoffrey’s hand and wedding ring. However, MUNI, just an inch and one-half closer to the camera, is out-of-focus. That’s because I was using the maximum opening for the lens, f-stop 2.8. And, this is the best picture of the series I took!

MUNI, fortunately, doesn’t care. At 8:05 she was up to 27.4 oz, and she is still happy and content. A bad day for the photographer, but a good day for the puppy!

By Galen|2018-10-15T10:50:25-07:00October 12, 2018|dachshunds|0 Comments

Day 18 — I am the Walrus!

MUNI continues to grow at a happy pace. This morning at 7:30 she was up to 26 oz. even.

We have started thinking that instead of a dachshund, we are raising a walrus. Here’s why…

Day 18 – I am the Walrus

Meanwhile, we have narrowed Zenith’s puppy food banquet down to just one brand: Hills Science Diet Puppy Food. This has made her stomach calmer. But, she still is demanding attention every few hours day or night. Sometimes she “needs” to go out, but often she’s just looking for adult attention. And, at 2:30 in the afternoon she is looking for an afternoon snack to tide her through the day!

By Galen|2018-10-14T17:48:36-07:00October 11, 2018|dachshunds|1 Comment

Day 17 — Playing Hide and Seek

We’ve seen MUNI’s eyes, but she’s not being rigorous about keep them open. Here’s her 8:10 am look this morning:

If you look real close — and believe — you can see MUNI’s eyes.
Click on the photo for a larger, clearer version.

We (mainly me, because Geoff is working 12-hour days for the upcoming tax deadline) are handling her more. Both MUNI and Zenith seem to be okay with that. MUNI calms down when I blow on her face/neck, just like her mother does.

Today, on the jittery scale, she jumped up 1.6 oz to 24.2 oz. I believe the weight gain — her walrus imitation is convincing.

Zenith, unfortunately, has loose bowels again, just as our SF vet predicted could happen if we started feeding her rich, wet puppy food. She’s asking to go out every few hours which also cuts into our sleep.

Oh well. Everyone is gaining weight and seems healthy.

By Galen|2018-10-10T20:48:37-07:00October 10, 2018|dachshunds|1 Comment