Straydog UPDATE posted MONDAY 4/7/03 at ~9:47 p.m. CT
Pat Arnold's Daily Dog Log
MONDAY APRIL 7 2003
Nine puppies go for vaccinations!
What a morning this was! We have five big travel crates in our doggie van and every crate was filled today with puppies going to the clinic for their beginning (or continuing) puppy vaccinations. Seven puppies and puppy-dogs made the trip today.
Rosie's pups
Rosie's eight puppies are six weeks old now, and today they were scheduled to get their very first (of a series of four) puppy vaccinations. Employees Tina and Joel (sometimes it's hard to know which name belongs to an employee and which name is that of a dog or puppy) put the eight pups into two crates, but when Rosie started putting up a huge fuss at having all her babies taken away from her, I took Rosie's brindle colored brothers, Rex and Ricky, back out of the van and left them with their mom to keep her from worrying. I'll take them to the clinic this Wednesday when another group of dogs will be going.
Puppy Kimberly
Little pup, Kimberly, was due for her second vaccination and second dip for demodec mange, and she went in the middle crate.
Chubs and Cassie
Big pups, Black Lab Cassie and her bigger brother, Blind Chocolate Lab Chubs, went in the two remaining crates at the back of the van. With everyone finally loaded into the van, off we went.
Loud, noisy puppies
By the time we arrived at the clinic, I was nearly deafened by all the puppy whaling that had gone on the whole 25-minute-drive. What's funny is that the second I pulled into the clinic driveway, all the fussing stopped. There was instant silence.
Kimberly's first
I took brown puppy Kimberly in first and she had her checkup and vaccination and then the vet tech took her for her dip bath.
Rosie's pups are next
The six (of the litter of eight) little puppies, Pebbles, Rudy, Benny and their sisters, Tiffany, Gizmo and Star, all had their mini puppy checkups too and vaccinations. These little tykes were very well behaved, and are all healthy puppies, the doctor said.
One of Dr. Morton's vet techs, Donna, is amazing. She handles all the dogs so well and is so efficient at everything she does. Today she helped me weigh the pups one at a time. She carried one pup and I another, and as we walked down the hallway to the scales, she'd be trimming the toenails of the pup she was carrying while we were walking, and by the time we returned to the examining room, that pup's nails were trimmed, and she'd then work on another.
Labs Cassie and Chubs were next
These four-month-old pups are growing so fast, and have gotten so big the doctor and vet techs hardly recognized them. Chubs weighed in at 39 pounds and Cassie weighs 35 pounds.
Blind Puppy Chubs isn't afraid of anything!
When we got to the examining room, Chubs trotted around the small room, occasionally gently bumping into the counters and the legs of the chairs, which didn't phase him one bit, and he had a grand time investigating all the corners and new smells as did his sister, Cassie.
When Dr. Morton came in and exclaimed "My, what Big Pups you two have become," Chubby, along with his sister, Cassie, ran right over to him and jumped up on his legs to greet him.
After Dr. Morton examined them and gave them their last of the series of puppy vaccinations, he said that they are very healthy, adding that they are absolutely gorgeous pups. The next step for them will be for Cassie to be spayed and Chubs neutered about a month from now.
Once Chubs and Cassie were also settled in their crates in the van, I went back for Kimberly, who was dry from her dip/bath, and home we came. All the pups were so tired out from their "busy day" seeing the doctor, they all slept all the way home. How peaceful.
Back home:
Border Collie Billy meets Rosie in the park
While I was at the clinic, our caregivers introduced Rosie (the mom of all the little puppies) to Border Collie Billy. The report is that Billy paid little attention to Rosie except that he would growl if she got too close to him. This possible future pairing up probably won't work.
