A Shelter Full of Hope and Promise

Christmas Puppy Updates

Thank You, script lettering

WAG would like to send a very special thank you to the foster parents of Annie and her family...

48427130_592318657869312_9143734169136791552_n

Annie and pups arrive at their new foster home:

"Just wanted to let you know that the trip here went well,  Annie and her pups arrived safely.  Annie slept pretty much the whole trip so the pups took advantage and nursed most of the way here 🙂   Even the ferry ride didn't faze Annie, she was calm and not anxious at all.

Annie is doing well, she is super curious and had to sniff everything and check everything out once we got her into the house, we just left the whole family in the crate and carried them inside from the truck like that and then let her out.   I finally got Annie to go out for a pee once she finished sniffing everything lol

Have left her to settle in in her room with a big cookie and her water and will check on her in a while.  The pups were sleeping and puppy grunting in a pile so I didn't disturb them..."

031

"Thought I'd send a few pictures from last evening, Annie settled in well and even enjoyed a little play session with a rope toy I gave her . . . tossing
it into the air and catching it.

She's not eating much, only eating the kibble if I mix some of Yogi's wet food in, and then she seems to lick all the wet food off the kibble. So I keep mixing in small spoonful's of wet food until she eats most of the kibble. I'm going to see if she'll eat kibble if it's been soaked and then mixed with canned food. Definitely a canned food girl 🙂

This morning when I went to see her she was in the crate feeding her babies and didn't make a peep all night :-)"

WarmCompress

A large lump was found on little Jingle Bell! She will need to see a vet...

066

Jingle Bell went to see a vet and it was diagnosed as an abscess. She will start antibiotics and be monitored closely.

"Everyone is doing well today, I'll send some updated pictures later (might be this evening) that I took this morning.  The pups are growing fast and starting to truck around which is stressing Annie a bit, she likes them in one spot 🙂

Jingle Belle looks much better today, I managed to get some pictures of her lying on her back after they all nursed and were sleepy and you can see her neck.   Fingers crossed it stays that way.

Annie has been eating much better since I've been soaking her kibble, she is polishing off four meals a day along with some biscuits and Dentastix.

That's it for now, will send a more detailed update later along with the pictures, just wanted everyone to know things are going well with Jingle Belle today and she is nursing fine."

SleepyJingle

"I've attached one of the pictures showing the abscess and then three
pictures of her neck after we got home from seeing Dr. Jesse yesterday and the abscess had been lanced and flushed, I think the darkish staining is from the abscess being drained or from the antiseptic that was used to flush it out. I've been wiping the area to keep it clean and it still looks a bit
dark like that. I also attached a picture of her having one of the warm
compresses, I took it myself holding the camera while holding her, so it's a
bit blurry 🙂 And the last one, sleepy Jingle is from this afternoon when
she fell asleep nursing.

Only one more flush to go! I think both Jingle and I will be happy when
that's over, it only takes a few seconds but I'm a bit squeamish about
poking the tip of a syringe into an incision and she doesn't like the
sensation of the antiseptic wash going in and flushing out. But hoping it
will help stop the abscess from reoccurring. Fingers crossed.

Jingle Belle is feisty and nursing well and so far (touch wood) her neck
looks good except for a bit of discoloration."

005-1

Annie has pretty much decided that feeding pups isn't her thing anymore, was like a switch turned off and the doting mom disappeared lol

When I checked on them last night after supper the pups were hungry crying and she was ignoring them and didn't want to let them nurse.  We had thought this might be coming so had soaked some kibble yesterday afternoon, just in case.  So into the blender it went.  The pups took to it right away, they were hungry.  Once they had licked the kibble slurry for a while I coaxed Annie to lay down and placed the 3 smallest on her, then rotated the rest of the pups until everyone was full and fell asleep.

Today they've again had kibble slurry to supplement each meal and Annie and I have worked out a system . . . which makes both her and the pups happy:

Pups are given some kibble first, then I coax her to lay down and slowly
bring the 3 smallest pups to her, then the fourth and then start rotating
them off and replacing with the 3 largest pups.  All the while letting Annie
lick the slurry of a spoon to distract her and stop her from getting up and
leaving.  Takes a while but in the end the pups fall asleep full and Annie
is more cooperative.  Hopefully over the next few days the pups will
transition more over to the kibble slurry and Annie will still allow them to
nurse for short periods 🙂

One of the pups that I'm hoping will do better on the kibble is Tiny Tim,
such a teeny little guy with skinny little legs and wrinkly skin.  He's a
tough little guy though and holds his own with the other pups, I always
watch him to make sure he is nursing and he gets his full quota plus he is
usually the longest eating at the kibble tray now :-)"

163-1

"Quick email to let you know that all is going well, have pictures to send of
the pups and will also send some info re Annie that we've observed while
she's been with us. The pups are growing fast!

Pictures of Annie are from one of our walks and the other from today in our
back yard playing ball, was a bit darkish/cloudy out so not a great
picture but thought I'd send anyway 🙂 Though should have wiped the
'sleep' out of her eyes lol"

091-1

A few pictures of the pups and Annie.  Hard to get a family picture now
because Annie doesn't really like to hang out with all the pups now unless
they are full.  Which was why she was in the crate, figured she was safe 🙂
She is still a doting mom but more so that she checks in on them and lays on top of the crate when they are inside sleeping and when they nurse in shifts she cleans them.

The pups are getting around well now and are starting to check out stuffie
toys and attempting to play fight.  Though their teeth aren't fully through
yet so they mainly gum each other  🙂    They recognize the food trays now
and start barking and screeching (or whatever noise that is they are making lol and then as soon as the food is put in the trays  . . . . all goes
quiet while they lick up the slurry.

Then three pups and Tiny Tim nurse for a bit, then the other three and Tiny Tim (he gets to stay on the whole time) nurse.  Then they wander back over to the food trays and eat a bit more.  Once finished they have a little play session for a few minutes and then start making their way to the crate . . .. and all fall asleep.     A few hours later, we start over lol .

Picture 102-1 is the pups putting themselves to bed in the crate

Picture 137-1 is Annie in the crate with the pups a couple of days ago which rarely happens now, they had all just eaten the kibble mix and nursed so were ready for sleep so she probably figured it was safe to go in even though it's getting quite crowded now. "

Gingerbread-1

"Everyone is doing great, had a bit of a scare with Annie on Monday evening when she became very ill and appeared to be developing mastitis but thankfully by Tuesday afternoon she was back to her normal self.

The pups are growing fast, they are eating softened kibble four times a day
now though still try to nurse when they get the opportunity . . . which is
fleeting.  They have mastered walking and are now running in short spurts, playing with toys, drinking water out of a dish, play fighting, barking and making a wide variety of noises especially in the morning when they are waiting for breakfast lol    We re-arranged the room yesterday so that the pups have a lot more room now they are bigger, Annie still has her "lounge" where her water and food dishes along with blankets are so that she can relax and get away from the pups but she still prefers to lay on top of the crate most of the time and keep an eye on what's happening.

As the pups are now 4 weeks old they had their first visitor today so that
they know we aren't the only people in the universe 🙂   Everyone did
really well and received lots of snuggles, Annie is shameless at seeking
snuggles, cuddles and belly rubs so enjoyed her fair share of attention too.
And because it wasn't raining or too cold out today the pups also went
outside for the first time and explored a bit of the outside world.  All in
all they had a pretty exciting day!  Eggnog is definitely the most
adventurous, independent pup and has always been the first to head out on his own and check out what's 'out there' with Jingle Bell and Ebineezer not far behind  🙂    And  . . . . Tiny Tim has two blue eyes!"

 

088-1

"Everyone is doing really well, the pups are growing like weeds and thanks to the great weather we've been having lately they have been able to get outside and enjoy some fresh air and experience more of the great outdoors, including a having a couple of meals outside.  We've been taking it slowly so that the pups are comfortable with being outside but today they were out almost 45 mins before wanting back in.  That tuckered them out and they slept for hours afterward.

Everyone is doing really well, the pups are growing like weeds and thanks to the great weather we've been having lately they have been able to get outside and enjoy some fresh air and experience more of the great outdoors, including a having a couple of meals outside. We've been taking it slowly so that the pups are comfortable with being outside but today they were out almost 45 mins before wanting back in. That tuckered them out and they slept for hours afterward.

It took a few days for all of the pups to make it up the two stairs out to
the back yard by themselves, at first there was lots of puppy protesting and whining, and that's even with the mini-stairs built-in so that the stairs
aren't so high, but they eventually built up courage, tried and made it.
Today the highlight was Tiny Tim following the rest of the pups and making it up the stairs all by himself 🙂 So now all of the pups can do the
stairs! And, today they all made it back down the two stairs by
themselves, including Tiny!

Now that the pups are eating four meals a day of softened kibble it has
taken a lot of pressure of Annie, who is now more tolerant of her babies. I
think she was feeling a bit overwhelmed for a while being so young herself, but now will let the pups nurse once in a while as you can see by some of the pictures, once she feels she's had enough she just stands up and walks away. Along with weaning the pups Annie has been teaching them manners and letting them know when they bite too hard. She also enjoys finishing up their meals and scooping their toys, though we have to keep an eye on her with the toys as she will tear stuffies apart in seconds and destroy squeaky toys in minutes. The only toys she hasn't 'killed' so far are two balls we throw for her outside and even though they squeak, she hasn't destroyed them. As she really likes them we will give them to her to take to her new home so that she has something familiar.

I've attached a couple of pictures of the pups meeting their first young
person (with permission from the parents), Gabby enjoyed her important role of helping socialize the pups and will be coming back next Monday. Annie, of course, is shameless at soliciting attention and has been very social with everyone she has met so far including other dogs we have met on walks.
Annie also went in for her booster vaccine and examination today at our vet clinic and did really well, she was a hit with everyone there including Dr. Jesse :-)"

 

163-1

"...whoever adopts Annie needs to have a sense of humor:-)

Just a few examples . . . last night while hanging out with the pups and Annie, I turned around to see Annie on top of the crate with one of my toques, that she had apparently grabbed off the top of the freezer where I'd left it. She had it under her paws and when I asked what she had, she wiggled and wagged her tail and pretended she didn't have anything.

Today Annie was barking and barking so we went to see what was up, she had jumped over a barrier in their room and was sitting on top of Derek's worm farm container, stuck and unable to get back over the barrier . . . as soon as she saw us she started wiggling and wagging her tail, like thank goodness someone is here to save me lol She was quite happy to let me pick her up from the top of the container and place her back on the other side of the barrier.

Yesterday I was folding laundry and had the door open to the back yard, Annie was coming and going playing with her ball and then I look out and she's flinging one of my slippers in the air and catching it!

Nothing is safe :-)"

 

167-1

"Annie had a spa day today, not sure if she's had many baths before because she was pretty apprehensive and shook a little, even with two rubber bath mats down so that she wouldn't slip.  Fortunately, she doesn't take long to wash so that along with lots of treats (during and after) and then a run around the yard with the ball afterward soon had her forget the bath.

Then on to the nails, wasn't sure how this would go but Annie was perfect,
she just checked out the clippers and was more curious than anything about what I was doing, nails were clipped in no time!    More treats.   All in all, I think she enjoyed her spa day, a brushing later will finish off the
day. "

030-1

"The pups are having a lot of fun exploring the yard and are venturing further, even finding the large leaf compost pile we have at the back and digging in it.   They are now running full tilt and enjoy ambushing each other, climbing up onto and gathering up nerve to jump of some of the larger rocks in the yard, having 'rumbles' in amongst some of the lower hanging branches of one of the cedar trees and racing around the outside of the crate when they are inside and playing tag.  Playing with tug toys and any other toy, chasing balls, they've met our dog Yogi and like to follow him around when he's outside with them and enjoy meeting friends that have come over to help socialize the pups, Tiny Tim was especially drawn to Gabby (almost 4 years old) and interacted with her the whole time she was here last week.  All in all, they are very active and are enjoying being pups  🙂 "

 

JingleBell-1

"Sunday was pup spa day, they were all given a bath to get rid of the grim
and then had another nail trim. Just did a quick wash and didn't wet their
heads as it was their first so wanted it to be positive. Then treats and
fluffy towels to dry off as soon as they were out of the tub. Once finished
they were all clean and fluffy and smelled like 'wild cherries' (puppy
shampoo) :-)"

 

033-1

"The pups went in for their vet check and first vaccine at Gibsons Veterinary Hospital today and everything went well. They were all examined first and then received their vaccine, by the time we were finished they were all curled up and starting to fall asleep under a chair in the examination room 🙂

Here's a couple of pictures of Dr. Hershel who did the examinations and
vaccines, he is holding Eggnog and Ebenezer and also examining Eggnog.
Needless to say, the pups were a big hit with everyone at the clinic :-)"

 

238-1

Time has flown by and it's time to say goodbye to Annie and her pups as they make their way back to WAG tomorrow.  It's been a busy, fun and sometimes hectic time since they arrived on December 23rd, I've forgotten what it's like to get up and have a relaxing coffee in the morning lol   But it's now time for everyone to find their own homes.  As you can see from the pictures the pups have thrived and have grown so much in their time here and it's been exciting to see their individual personalities develop.  Annie being so young herself has at times found raising her babies a bit overwhelming but as the pups grew tended to become more of a playmate with them playing tug with sticks and rope toys.  Wishing Eggnog, Ebineezer, Gingerbread, Pudding, Tiny Tim, Sugar Plum and Jingle Bell all the best as they venture out into the world and hoping that Annie soon finds her perfect match and can finally enjoy just being a pup herself.

Here's a couple of pictures of Dr. Hershel who did the examinations and
vaccines, he is holding Eggnog and Ebenezer and also examining Eggnog.
Needless to say, the pups were a big hit with everyone at the clinic :-)"