Dackel Princess

4 Weeks Old!!!

Friday was a busy day. We have now entered the time when Greta can no longer keep up with the bodily functions of the puppies all by herself. This means that I am changing the box fairly frequently, and the puppy laundry begins to be a challenge.

The puppies are growing and they are all at least 2 1/2 pounds now, with Calvin tipping the scales at 2 pounds 12 ounces! He is one big boy! They all do have personalities all their very own, too.

Here is our little Miss. She has been adopted by Abigail, and her new forever name will be “Schnapps”!

Here is Caspar. He is a roly-poly, cuddly little guy. A really happy guy!

The pups are all still being taken care of by their Mom. Greta is truly a fabulous mommy to these babies. I think she is even better this time than she was the last. Perhaps it is because she is a seasoned mother now. She doesn’t leave them for too long, despite the fact that they are 4 weeks old today! She does come out and visit with us, but then goes back, lest one or the other of the puppies want to have some milk.

Can you believe that 4 weeks have passed? I can’t. I just know that this litter’s time with us will fly by and very soon they will be on their way to their new forever homes!

Thursday In New Hampshire

Today Hubby and I visited an exhibition of two WW II aircraft. The B-17 and the B-24. We were allowed to walk through the planes and take tons of pictures. So many, in fact that I actually put together a slide show.

What really hit me was how small the insides of the planes were. How these men were able to get around is totally amazing to me. Especially the area underneath the B-17, the Ball Turret, where the Belly Gunner sat. I looked and I just knew I could not have gotten in there. Or if I had gotten in, I never would have gotten out.

I spoke for a long time to the Belly Gunner of that plane, Smitty. He told us the story of when the plane had been shot down, and how he had lost his arm. He spoke kindly of the German Nun Nurse who cared for him. He told us about the struggles that the men went through.

I shook his hand with thanks, and by the end of the talk, I hugged both him and his wife.

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I thought of all the young lives lost and also of all the lives saved by these heroic men. What a terrible time in world history, and yet these machines that flew through the sky, primitive as they were, flown by these fearless men, conquered overwhelming evil and restored freedom to many parts of the world.

I was so pleased that I was able to hear about Smitty’s survival. He is a real American Hero.

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The pups and Greta got to go for a ride to the Vets office today so that Greta could get her stitches out. Everyone went wild for the puppies, and Greta’s stitches are now finally out. We returned home and I prepared a clean whelping box, set them inside of it, and noticed the little faces looking out over at me.

Yes, we’ll be setting up that new box soon!

Autumn in New England

Autumn is coming to New England. The weekend was the perfect example of why I love it here in the fall. Temperatures in the upper 60’s and low 70’s during the day, cooling off to the 30’s at night, and clear, crisp air. Yes, Autumn is a wonderful time of year.

The last of my garden’s harvest is close to being picked and enjoyed.

Soon the apples will be ready to pick, eat and make apple sauce with. It is so wonderful to take a container of your own apple sauce out of the freezer in February and once thawed, relive Autumn once again with every bite!

Our trees and the fruit.

And then there are the puppies. Those sweet bundles of chubby bellies, and baby barks, that have brightened up our Autumn days. I stopped and got the recliner box from a local furniture store today, as the pups are very close to climbing out of the kiddie wading pool. Christel and Calvin try already, and it is only a matter of time. The recliner box will contain them for a week or two more before we unleash them in the puppy room. I plan to switch them over next week.

Here are the babies today. Aren’t they getting big?

They’ll be 4 weeks old on Saturday! I cannot believe how quickly time is going by.

Adorable!!!

The day started far earlier than I hoped. 3:30 AM! Groan! I did, however, go back to bed after walking Greta in the early morning darkness. I also got back to sleep, which is rare. So when she barked at 6 AM to go out, I told her to just go back to bed, and she let me sleep until 7 when all the other dogs woke me as well.

The puppies were wide awake and when I came in to weigh them all, they responded with their adorable little barks! They are all gaining well, and are just so totally adorable.

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Then I went in to the puppy room and found this adorable sight.

Those two are really something and they make me laugh and laugh the way they are co close to each other. It reminds me a lot of Arnie and Anneliese. They were constant companions from the time they were born, and here are Claus and Caspar repeating that bonding.

The other pup who really caught my eye today was Calvin. What a neat little guy he is!

So I hope to do a thorough cleaning job in the puppy room tomorrow. I’ll have to get Hubby to take Greta out so I can vacuum. I’m afraid she will attack the vacuum cleaner if I don’t. It won’t be too long until we have to rearrange the puppy room so they can toddle around in it. Another 2 weeks and then we’ll have 5 pups on the lose!

This & That

Over the weekend I had a 48 hour virus of some sort. I didn’t move out of my recliner too often and found I had a wonderful nurse while I recovered. Was it Greta? No. Anneliese? No. Fritz? No. It was my sweetheart, Arnie! He hardly left my side. Here is a picture of my boy all snuggled up in the blankets with me. And yes, those are my super warm, leopard print, flannel pajamas!

I mean, just look at that sweet face!

I did get in to play and visit with the puppies, but I am more than grateful to Greta for being a totally awesome Mom to her kids.

They are growing like crazy and they are actually getting up on their little legs and walking around. Here is a short video of them walking today.

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I also got a cute picture of Claus and Caspar together. Do you suppose they are twins or something? They seem to have this friendship and are always together.

I will leave you this morning with this picture of Christel and Caspar. They were playing like crazy and just cracked me up.

Have a great day everyone!

New Collar Sunday

The pups are all 2 pounds now and required a collar change. I use rick rack when they are first born, but this time I managed to get some Chihuahua collars for the babies. My only problem was I couldn’t find a yellow one, so Calvin is now in a light blue collar while Caspar remains in a dark blue one. Now they look like proper puppies!

Calvin in the light blue, Christel in the pink, Curt in the red, Claus in the green and Caspar in the dark blue! Aren’t they cute?

Greta allowed Arnie to come in today while Makenna had Calvin in her lap. He sniffed and sniffed and seemed to like the pup!

This is my only girl, Christel. She somehow has a very feminine face, don’t you think?

This is our big boy Calvin. He is a very nice boy, and is full of fun. His coat is lighter in color like his mother.

Sept. 20 Calvin24

My last picture is of the very tired mother, my darling Greta! It’s really a shame this is her last litter because she is such a great mother. Ah well, she is my best little buddy and I’m just happy to share my life with her.

Cruising Pups

There was a lot of movement in the whelping box today. The pups all were so much more animated. They also played and walked around, and occasionally rolled around as they played. Makenna was here and we took some movies and pictures of our growing herd of dachshunds!

First we have the handsome and charming, and largest boy, Calvin. Calvin really is remarkable because he has the largest head, and biggest paws!

Next in the weight line is Curt. He tends to be a bit quieter, but is pretty strong as well. Today he slept a bit more and I am thinking he is having another growth spurt! Last time I looked he was nursing away.

Christel is the next in line weight wise. She is one big girl! She is no pushover either. She gets right in there with all of her brothers and rolls around, crawls all over them and then snuggles with her Mama.

Then we have Claus. He is such a handsome boy. His favorite playmate from almost the first day has been his brother, Caspar. It’s funny because when I check on them, either they are playing or sleeping together! Claus is a real sweetheart!

Last but not least, is Caspar. He may be the smallest (by just an ounce or two) but he is probably the most active. I often see him cruising around the whelping box, or climbing over the other pups.

I took two pictures that I just loved. The first is of Caspar and Calvin sleeping together. Aren’t they sweet?

And lastly, this one of the pig pile! Ah I just break out into a big smile when I see them like this!

And I leave you with this short movie that Makenna and I made.

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Three Weeks Old

It’s hard to believe that the babies are three weeks old! The have all more than doubled their weights, and now that they have their eyes open, they are all moving around the whelping box like the growing, little puppies that they are. They also raise their heads when they hear us, or their mother and even bark!

The time is flying by and soon they will be ready to go outside on a warm day, and will be toddling around the puppy room playing with toys. Today I caught Christel biting and chewing on her brother Calvin, and Claus and Caspar actually rolling around together.

I put these pictures together and set it to a little music. It’s short, but shows you how beautiful these babies are!

Happy three week birthday, pups!

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On The Move!

I cannot believe how quickly the puppies are growing. Not only are three of them over 2 pounds now, (Curt, Calvin and Christel), but they are all 5 of them on the move! I am amazed at how they move around the whelping box! They are truly amazing to be this active so soon in their young lives!

So here are today’s pictures. I hope they make you smile!

Remember Yellow is: Calvin, red is: Curt, pink is: Christel, green: is Claus and blue is: Caspar.

In the center is Christel’s face!

Everyone is healthy and their eyes follow us all over the room. They also hear. I speak to them and they start to look around when I speak to them.

So, I am thrilled with this litter. They are so beautiful and sweet. That makes me the luckiest woman on the face of the earth!

Puppies, Puppies, Puppies!!!

Calvin reached the momentous weight of 2.02 pounds! He is such a nice relaxed boy, who loves to eat. I am not surprised that he does so well. His personality is the calmest of all the group.

Our sweet Christel found her forever home today. Abigail, a fellow New Hampshire-ite, will be adopting our little girl. It is so wonderful that she will be fairly close by and in state!

Casper is still our smallest. He is just a few tenths of an ounce smaller. He is a vigorous nurser, and he loves to move around the whelping box.

Claus is always with Caspar. It’s sort of a funny thing. They are usually side by side when nursing, and more often than not curled up together to sleep.

Curt is a character. He loves to cruise around the whelping box and burrow under the blankets. Yes, that is Curt’s bottom sticking out. I found him like this after lunch and it just made me laugh!

Here is darling Curt’s face.

Lastly, here is a little video I took today while they were eating. I just love the little noises that they make when they are nursing.

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