The Dackel Princess

The Puppies Visit The Vet

Today was the puppies six week check up at the Vets. They began their shots, and were weighed and de-wormed. All went splendidly for the pups, and Anneliese too, as she was with us and her mastitis is responding well to the antibiotics.

But then, as we prepared to leave and put the pups into the pet carrier I closed the door. I turned to ask the Vet a question and then I heard it. A squealing puppy! I ran back and there he was. Baron. He had tried to gnaw the metal door grill and gotten his lower jaw caught! He was screaming and I started to cry.

The Vet and her technician ran back into the room and slowly, carefully freed Baron from the door. I immediately opened the door and took Baron out and held him.

In fact I held him all the way home. Of course he was fine and had just scared himself (and me!), and once we got home I placed him with his siblings in their bed and they all fell asleep. Here is a picture of Belle, sound asleep.

They’ve been quiet since they got back, although they were up and running around dinner time. Then one by one they crawled onto their bed and fell asleep.

From left to right we have Bogey, Baron, Belle in the green collar in the back and Ali (Birgit) in the front far right.

Now it’s time for me to sit down and put up my feet. It’s been a long day and I am really beat, but happily so. The babies are all happy and healthy and progressing right on target!

Sunday In Puppyville

As promised I have pictures and a short montage of the puppies. They are the cutest things in the entire world and I keep thinking how lucky we are to have produced these splendid little creatures!

Today we got the exercise pen out and set up outside the door of the puppy room. This means I can open the door, and let them outside while I clean their box or mix their food, without worrying about them too much. It’s taking them a little while to get used to it, but this will be such a help for me now that these guys are so mobile.

The pen.

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Exploring under the watchful eye of their Mom.

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It seems the little ones are sleeping for an hour or two then up for two playing and then sleeping a little then up again raising all heck. It’s wonderful to watch even if it is a bit tiresome. I kid you not when I tell you that I am on my feet racing around most of the day. But happily so!

I have a new little friend who comes by. You will see her in the montage. Her name is Makenna and she is the daughter of our neighbors. She is almost seven years old and quite a joy to have around.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Have a great week everyone!

Some Days…

Some days I find it difficult to just write upbeat things. And so it goes today. Last night Hubby and I attended a grand party to commemorate the life of a dear friend of ours. So many people we know turned out, and we shared stories and jokes about this beloved woman, who lost her battle with cancer just before the puppies were born. I’d seen her a few days before she passed and I am so glad that I did.

I spoke to her step children and they said how many people had stopped going up to see her and how much she missed all of that.

I spoke to her sister and told her what a wonderful woman her sister was and how lucky I was to know her. I thought of my own sister then and how much she would be hurting if this was me she was trying to say good-bye to.

I spoke to her husband, who is destroyed at losing her. I thought of my own Hubby, who would be lost without me.

So hold your family and your friends closely and remember how dear they are to you. Life is short and we must appreciate everyone we have, and everything we share each day.

I promise tomorrow to have more happy puppy news and pictures.

They Grow So Fast

The days seem to be falling into a pattern. Me up at an ungodly hour, pups to be fed, and walked, a box to be cleaned and then the puppies play for about 2 hours before they fall back asleep and I can sit down.

I am so thankful for our mudroom. I can gate it and then allow the puppies to play in that room. It works out so well.

During the day we take them out. I think today we actually had them out 4 times. They love it and run and jump in the grass. Bogey does this really cute thing where he runs, jumps and then somersaults. He’s a wild guy. His sister Ali (Birgit),

is almost as athletic. Baron likes to run around, and when he gets done he stands in front of the sliding glass doors and wants to go in.

Baron

Belle is running around now too and she will follow you like a…….little dog! LOL!

I like to feed them outside because as soon as they get done they need to use the grass. It saves newspaper, and I like the idea that they are learning to do their business on the grass.

So for now I plan to get my pajamas on and watch some mindless TV until I fall asleep. I imagine that will be long before the sun sets.

I hope that when my new laptop arrives next week I will get back to commenting on every-one’s blogs. Please forgive this rather exhausted Granny! I promise I will be back to commenting soon!

Another Busy Day…

Right now it seems every day is super busy, what with the puppies becoming more and more mobile, and the fact that I crazily have 4 dogs anyway, plus a husband. It sort of wipes me out. Especially when one of them gets ill.

Anneliese’s mammary glands just swelled up like crazy over the last few days despite the fact that she had weaned the puppies on her own. They’re fortunately old enough to eat softened puppy food now and do well.

Anyway, Anneliese also felt warm to me and did in fact have a fever. I brought her in to the Vet and she has Mastitis. Poor baby. She is swollen, uncomfortable and has an infection.

They immediately started her on antibiotics, calcium and B vitamin and hopefully she will improve over the next few days. Despite the puppies wishes to nurse, we cannot let them at all, and that means at times I have to separate Anneliese from the babies.

Uncle Arnie helping to watch the babies!

So I find myself running back and forth, up stairs and down, and inside and out as I do triple duty. Wife, Doggy Mommy, and Doggy Granny! Ah yes. The fun never ends!

And I do mean that. At the end of the day when the pups go to sleep and I sit down in my chair, I feel pretty lucky to have these beautiful, healthy, happy puppies!

Wednesday Happenings

Hubby is on my “Fabulous” list! Today he ordered me a new laptop. A Toshiba with a 3 year extended warranty! I am so happy as it will be here in one week! Ah, the joy! I can feel my hands trembling at the mere thought of a new laptop!

The puppies are doing great. We had them outside three times today, and they ate like wild beasts when served their food. They’re eating 4 times a day now and the little ones even like drinking water!

My friend brought her 4 year old daughter and 18 month old son over today to see the puppies and Hannah was so sweet with them. Jaden wasn’t quite sure what the big deal was with them, but he patted them too.

Another friend was over tonight with her new boyfriend and we really liked him and got along well. It was a nice dinner party!

Lastly, I know I keep telling you this, but I am so tired. I know I am not the one who had these puppies, but they sure keep me on my toes! Time for an early bedtime, after all 6 AM comes awfully quickly when the puppies will demand their first meal of the day!

Lazy Days (for the pups at least!)

Tuesday was a busy day. We had the puppies out a lot and we researched a new computer. I hope we will be ordering one very soon.

So, since I am exhausted tonight I put together a little video of the puppies antics outside. It was a wonderful sunny day, and we even had a visitor. Alexandra came! She and her husband are adopting Bogey! It was so nice that she is able to visit him!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

A Day In The Life…

I thought you would all enjoy seeing this short video of Ali (Birgit) that we took today. She is so amazingly daring and always on the run when we take the puppies outside.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

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We also took a few pictures of the pups as they played in the yard. I just love that the weather has been good and we have been able to bring them out at least twice a day. It’s so good for them to develop their muscles!

Ali (Birgit)

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Bogey (Yellow) and Ali (Pink)

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In other news once again I must tell you that my “new” laptop has died an ugly death. Just two weeks out of warranty, the machine is gone. I mean for real, R.I.P!!! Not coming back, can’t be fixed. I am beside myself that this laptop that is just a year old died. Yep, I have the worst luck with laptops. I know, I know, people tell me to get a MAC, but people I have several hundred dollars worth of computer programs that I use every day that are just not MAC compatible so today is the first day of saving up for a new machine.

***SOB***

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Hubby and I put our garden in today. Consequently my back is breaking and a hot bath is now calling my name.

Knock Three Times

Hubby and I were asleep in our bed. Cuddled closely with Greta and Arnie and Fritz slumbering on the floor by the door. Suddenly, there was a knock, knock, knock. Hubby and I started to wake, each thinking we must still be dreaming.

Knock, knock, knock!!!

I turned over and looked at Hubby. “Who is knocking at our door?” I asked him.

Knock, knock, knock!!!

He got up and opened our bedroom door and in ran Anneliese! Yes, my little mama dackel knows how to knock on a door! Can you believe it? She needed to go out, so I got up with her and of course all the other dogs came with me, and we all went out to explore Mother Nature in the back yard.

It was just 5:45 AM!

Still, how can I be angry with a dog who has taught herself to knock? Polite, yes?

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I never did get back to sleep as I had puppy duty. I weighed them, fed them their breakfast, cleaned up their box and played with them. Hubby joined me a couple of hours later and apologized for failing to gate in Anneliese before he came to bed last night. I laughed and told him not to worry. I actually got a big kick out of my dackel knocker!

As promised I have pictures of the babies. They are so adorable and I told Hubby that we really needed to post some new pictures so he helped me get a few.

Baron.

Bogey.

Ali (Birgit)

Baerbel (Belle)

We also managed to get in a play session outside before the cold front blew in, bringing with it rain showers and quite a bit of wind.

All the puppies pooped outside which amused the little twin girls from next door and their friend. The twins are 7 and their friend is 6 so poop humor is right up their ally!

Another Chip Down

Before I tell you about the amazing Dackel Princess Puppies, I want to start by mentioning that my laptop memory chip has blown once again! One second all was well and then “the blue screen telling me to re-seat the memory” came on. I cannot write the words that came out of my mouth, as I would be banned for all eternity on the Internet, but it wasn’t pretty! So, once again I am banished to the office!

Okay, we had all four puppies outside today. They did well, ran around for a while and then came in and slept for two hours! I am hoping tomorrow will be a nice day so we can do it again. You see, my pictures, and my video are on my LAPTOP! (That worthless piece of garbage……) I had them all set up, sized and ready to go when I glanced over at my laptop and found a blue screen with the error message.

So I apologize for not having the promised pictures of my gang. I must begin to repeat “I always must back up my documents every day…I always must back up my documents every day” as I simply do not trust the laptop any more.

Back to the puppies. When they first got put down onto the grass, they froze. Then they each began to sniff and feel the grass. Bogey really liked it and he seemed to start moving around before the others. Soon, Baron tackled him and the two girls played by my feet. Then they were playing and rolling in the grass and Birgit (Ali) decided to be the first one to poop on the lawn! Yes, we are so proud!

After about 45 minutes I brought them all inside, gave them some water and they promptly fell asleep. Anneliese kept going in and staring at them. A few times she even barked at them. And tonight she even nursed them voluntarily! Perhaps they are growing too fast for her too.

I know it’s all going by far too fast for me.