puppies2018 | Dangerous Common Sense

Day 24 — First Checkup and First Nail Trimming

Zenith and MUNI almost slept through the night! True, bedtime after Sweat last night was late, around 11. But, the girls didn’t ask for attention until 4:30 this morning. This is a big improvement over the every-two-hour timetable of recent nights. And, Zenith allowed us all to sleep for another hour and didn’t inquire about breakfast until 5:40ish.

Day 24 — MUNI’s First Nail Clipping. Geoffrey is both the nail trimmer and hand model.

But, the main news today was that MUNI got peoplehandled!

First off, Geoffrey put her on the scale to discover that she gained 1.4 ounces in the past day and was at 33.8 oz. This puts her back on the fast-growth track that just yesterday we thought might be slowing.

Then, Geoff did the first nail trim for the girl. He said he trimmed all of the front nails and many/most of the rear ones. It’s a rite of passage.

Geoffrey noticed that MUNI didn’t mind the trimming at all, but she was not a fan of being on her back. Since he was focusing on the trimming, he let slide the “not on my back” squirming. She’ll learn cradling soon enough.

Galen is wearing dachshunds. MUNI in his arms and smooths on the shirt.

After the morning nail trauma, Galen used MUNI as a prop to show off the dachshund shirt sent to him by Patrick. [Click a couple times on this — and all pictures — to see larger versions with more detail.]

The main scheduled event of the day is well baby-checkup with our SF vet, Dr. Jill Chase.

Dr. Chase and her two assistants arrived a bit before noon, and MUNI passed her exam with flying colors. MUNI weighed a couple tenths of an ounce more than she did for Geoffrey early this morning. The vet weigh in validated our home scales and MUNI’s healthy weight gain.

Dr. Chase was embarrassingly complementary about MUNI’s looks and temperament. She did mention repeatedly that MUNI was “enormous” and much better than her mother and aunt were at her age. The world “walrus” was spontaneously uttered by Dr. Chase or one of her tech, too!

Day 24 — Dr. Jill Chase Holds MUNI

By Galen|2018-10-18T13:12:12-07:00October 17, 2018|dachshunds|1 Comment

Day 23 — Steady as She Goes

Today was a happily unremarkable day.

MUNI gained only .4 oz in the last day. No worries! She looks healthy, and she and Zenith spent most of the day contentedly together in the whelping box.

Geoffrey says that he heard little “Grrr!” noises coming from MUNI when he rubbed her side this morning. We hope that she inherits that gruntle noise of her grandmother.

Zenith has decided straight Science Diet wet puppy food is yummy, and she NEEDS a 2:30 midday feeding. If I try to sneak some kibble into her food, I get met with puzzled tail wagging from Zenith and a look that says she knows that we cannot expect her to eat the dry stuff. I am trainable, and the two cases of canned food arrived from Petco via UPS this evening.

Zenith is also comfortable spending more extended stays away from MUNI. Zenith joined me in the sunny backyard this afternoon. She relaxed and fell asleep for 5-10 minutes before deciding she needed to go check on her puppy. MUNI didn’t complain of the neglect.

MUNI and Galen posing with a shirt from the UNFORTUNATES,
another OSF show that came to ACT.
Click a couple times to see a detailed picture.

This evening, the pack also had its longest time without humans since the puppies’ birth. Geoffrey bought tickets to ACT’s version of Sweat, and the canines were on their own from 6 – 10:30. Both the puppy room and the adult kitchen lair were spotless when we returned home… good dogs!

By Galen|2018-10-17T11:22:10-07:00October 16, 2018|dachshunds|0 Comments

Day 22 — Three Weeks Old and A Two-Pound Whopper!

Geoffrey was up early today to do a full day at the office on the tax deadline day (this never happens, but this year is “different”), so the morning weighing was early, at 7:10. But, MUNI made her goal! She’s an even 32 ounces!

MUNI, All 32 ounces of her, still fits in one hand.
(Don’t forget you can click on the pictures a couple times to see a full-size photo!)

We think that MUNI reacts a bit more to the humans every day. She is comfortable in our arms.

MUNI has the Yawn Action Down Cold!

And, like her mother and her aunt, she likes us blowing on her neck and head. This is a yawn, not a howl of complaint!

Mother Zenith, however, is not a fan of her daughter being picked up and petted. For the photographs, we have been sending the adult pack outside to do their doggie things. While they’ve been outside, Geoffrey and I have scooped up MUNI, posed, and returned her to the whelping box ASAP.

Zenith still knows that her puppy has been MANhandled. She whimpers and licks MUNI clean.

Our vet comes Wednesday, and we’ll discuss with her if we need to do any behavior modification. The trade-off between mom’s need for security and puppy socialization probably has an infinite number of answers. Like every other question in dog world, it seems for every 10 people, there are at least 15 definitive answers.

Today is warm and sunny in the backyard. Mom and the other adults will go out and lay on the bricks for a few minutes. Zenith lets herself relax, get petted, and snuggle on the bricks for a minute or two. Then she jumps up and asks to go back into the puppy’s room to check and nurse.

Zenith also is on to my mixing dried kibble with the wet puppy food. She turned her nose up at the last of the food this morning, even after I added some ground-up boiled chicken. She may be returning to more picky eating, but it’s also likely that she just wasn’t hungry for THAT much food. We will have to see in the coming days.

Tomorrow our 24 cans of puppy food will be delivered from PetCo. This would not be the right time for Zenith to decide she’s over the Science Diet menu!

But, for now, we are warm, quiet, and happy.

By Galen|2018-10-15T16:10:12-07:00October 15, 2018|dachshunds|1 Comment

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