The Dackel Princess

Bogie Plays With Uncle Arnie

I had Bogie out for a while this morning and I actually got the movie camera going so I could catch a little video of the two boys playing. Arnie loves the puppies and enjoys playing with them all, but as you can see, Bogie has a lot of confidence and he played so well with Arnie! And his Grandma Greta too!

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The rest of the day was spent doing laundry, and running errands. I promise more pictures on Sunday. I have been so bad taking pictures this time, but I have to tell you, these pups keep me very busy!

What’s For Breakfast?

Someone must have bitten Anneliese in the teat because she doesn’t want to nurse those babies any more! I force her to a couple of times a day, but until they are eating puppy food well, they still need the old Mama Milk Machine!

I began my education of the puppies to learn to lick. I made puppy formula, added a little baby rice cereal and with a finger made them taste it. All day they screamed and balked at this.

“Give Me My Mama’s Teat”!!! they all barked!

But at 4 weeks of age it is time for them to learn to eat. As the day progressed they did better and better and tonight all four are good little lickers.

In fact Bel is pretty funny.

Bel today after her meal.

When Bel is slurping up the milky gruel she squeaks! And Bogie liked it but kept backing up and then barking because he didn’t understand he needed to go forward. I encouraged him to go forward and the next thing I knew he was standing in the dish!

Baron made quick work of the spoonfuls and then progressed well onto the plate, but he gave me that look that told me he really would prefer Mama!

The hilarious one (read that stubborn), Ali (Birgit), just does not want to eat this crap at all. She fussed, she barked, she looked totally indignant! But eventually she did eat.

I didn’t get pictures today because I had my hands full with the gruel. I’ll try to get some tomorrow.

Will they be surprised about breakfast tomorrow. I plan formula, cereal and a little bit of puppy food. YUM!

Oh Dopey Me!

I got up today with the best of intentions as today was Weight Watchers day. I dressed, made Hubby breakfast, made a thermos of coffee for me, packed a yogurt and banana and set off.

I got down to the Cadillac,

and tossed my pocketbook, and tote into the car and I noticed how hard it was raining. So I thought I would get the newspaper in for Hubby before it got soaking wet.
So, I picked up the paper and when I came back into the garage I closed the door to the car and walked past it to the stairs where I tossed the paper up to Hubby. I turned and walked back to the car and……….it had locked all the doors, with all of the keys inside!
So we called our auto club and they sent out a nice man who came and with a little tool was able to unlock the door. Of course then the car alarm went off and I slid into the car and shut it off.
By then it was 10 o’clock and too late for me to go to Weight Watchers, so I stayed home and just felt dumb! How stupid!

Please tell me I am not alone in doing this!

Three Pounds Bundles Of Activity!

Tuesday found me dealing with four puppies trying to breakout of their swimming pool whelping box, and succeeding! What to do, what to do, what to do!

After pausing long enough to place the delinquent puppies back in their box I hit upon a great idea. I called our local furniture store and asked if they had a reclining chair card board box. They did! I quickly drove down, picked up the box and brought it home. Hubby helped me and we cut the box to the correct height to keep in our little monsters!

They love it, although Anneliese is still getting used to jumping in and out. Of course going in she does have the steps, but coming out, she is on her own.

I checked to see how the babies looked in the box. You know, did they look cute? Comfortable? Happy? Here is what I found.

Beautiful sleeping babies.

They are all growing, getting stronger and having more fun and awake time.

Baron

Bogie

Birgit

And the puppy in the middle of this pig-pile is Baerbel!

I’ll try to get some good face shots of the puppies in the next few days. I did get this one of Bogie that just came out so well. Isn’t he adorable?

Well, I think the move into the new box is a good thing and I’m hoping to get them outside later this week when it’s just a little warmer. They would really enjoy it!

Memorial Day

Memorial Day found me going back to the Craft Fair with Arnie. He did very well. It was funny though because he ignored the small dogs, but when he saw a huge Leonberger he went over and started barking wildly! Yeah, that’s my boy. Find the biggest dog in the area and pick a fight. The Leonberger looked at him and turned away. I mean why waste your time with a little thing like that!

Arnie also saw his first parade and I think he actually enjoyed seeing all the kids with their musical instruments making a joyful noise!

I found the prettiest Tiger Lily for the yard, and I got Hubby some more Splenda Apple Pie. Fabulous Friend brought some the other day and he loved it.

The afternoon found me playing with pups and doing laundry. I also took out the pups and let them feel the grass under their feet for the first time. They liked it very much!

Another friend came over today and we cooked steaks on the grill, corn on the cob and potato salad! Yum! But I admit that we ate late and probably won’t be up for much of a meal come dinner time. At least I won’t be.

I’ve been watching the “Jon & Kate Plus 8” marathon this weekend and one thing I think Kate should do. Lighten up! She is so critical of Jon and the kids and she needs to remember that she too, is human and full of flaws. I hope these two can work it out for the kids at least.

Have a great week everyone!

Uncle Arnie

The sweetest thing in the entire world happened today. I’d been cleaning the puppy box and then placed them back inside it with a new puppy toy, when Anneliese came in and went about nursing her babies. A couple of them fussed and before I could react, Uncle Arnie jumped into the box and began licking the babies.

Now here is the beautiful part. Anneliese never growled, didn’t react at all. It was perfectly natural to her and she accepted his presence and his care for her babies.

I’d always wondered about raising sibling dogs like this. How it would evolve over time. What their relationship would become. Well, I can tell you that Anneliese and Arnie truly love each other, trust each other and care for each other.

Arnie has become the Uncle to Anneliese’s babies. He loves them like they were his own and watches out for them in a really loving manner.

These wonderful dogs teach me so much each and every day. I am so blessed to be a member of their pack!

A “Fabulous” Visit!!!

On Saturday the Dackel Babies were visited by their Auntie Fabulous from Massachusetts. She brought with her another Auntie, Auntie Anna Lena and we all were in Dackel Puppy Heaven!

Auntie Fabulous brought with her, her two dogs Fabulous Dog, and Lani.

I have long been a fan of Fabulous Dog, as he is truly a handsome guy!

And when I gave him the chance, Mr. Fabulous showered me with kisses!!!

Hubby took the chance to spend time with the two ladies and show them all sorts of places to go and see on our states map.

We had lunch together. I’d made an eggplant Parmesan and salad and Fabulous brought a sugar free apple pie! That was totally delicious!

Now Anneliese wasn’t sure she was at all happy that Fabulous Dog was in our yard. She barked and barked and drove us all insane!

Finally we decided to allow Fabulous Dog and Lani to rest in the car and my hearing was restored.

They stayed until mid afternoon and then headed off to do some hiking. I hope we can get together again for some more visiting. I think once the puppies are gone all the dogs could probably get alone just fine. Greta, Fritz, and Arnie were all friendly with Lani and Fabulous Dog, but Anneliese is still very protective of her babies.

It’s so great when you meet a blogging friend and find that they are even more of a pal than you thought they would be!

It’s Just Going Too Fast

I woke up on Friday and after walking the dogs and grabbing my first cup of coffee, I settled in to weigh the puppies. They’d all done well, gaining nicely, and after I’d weighed each one and given them their morning kisses, I set about changing their little box. After all, 4 puppies in there all night had really made a huge mess.

So I changed all their soft pads and placed two blankets in the corners. The pups have started to cuddle up on their soft blankets at night or when they sleep, which is very cute!

In any case, I’d just finished the cleaning and sat back to watch them and all of a sudden Baron BARKED for the very first time! They’ve all growled, thus proving they are, indeed Greta’s grandchildren, but until Friday, none of them had barked. It was so cute, I wanted to melt right then and there!

Baron, as he cuddled up to his Mommy having lunch!

Anneliese with all her babies. Birgit (Ali), Baron, Baerbel and Bogie!

As I watched Anneliese today I realized that she is getting ready to begin the weaning process. Oh not completely, or quickly, but she now spends more time out here with us, and she is less attentive to the babes.

Of course, if anyone goes in there, she is right there. She does not like Greta in there, and she is very protective, but the first stages of her growing away from them has started. As nice as it is to have time to cuddle my Anneliese, it also makes me sad that the puppies are growing so fast.

It seems like just yesterday that Anneliese was Greta’s baby and now, here she is the mother of her own little brood.

Sometimes I think that life is going by way too fast!

Playing

I went in this afternoon to watch the puppies play. You can talk to them now and get them to react, and Arnie comes along too and often just seeing him makes them rush to the side of the whelping box! They are starting to walk, they growl, they all have a few little teeth and have started to play with each other. Soon I will break out the tiny puppy toys so that they have something to play with besides chewing on each other.

Here is a short video that I took on Friday afternoon. It’s pretty cute, or should I say, the puppies sure are!

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I seem to spend my day either playing with the pups, doing laundry or taking Anneliese, Arnie and Greta out for walks. I have been pretty remiss answering my comments and email, so please forgive this new Granny!

Meanwhile this new Granny has a busy weekend coming up. Friends visiting, a craft fair to attend with my cousin and possibly Arnie, and dinner out with friends.

All In A Dogs Life

I’m starting to believe that I simply cannot keep up with the incredible wee-ing pups! It seems that no sooner do I change the little plastic whelping box than the pups wee on the pads. This is sort of a transitional time. They are still too small to be running around the box and selecting a dry spot, and yet their little bladders have matured enough that they now go without the help of their Mommy.

They roll around, they crawl quite well and they growl. Yes, if you try to move them away from their Mommy for any reason, they make the cutest growling noise.

After my sister and Mom left, I started in with the usual puppy laundry as well as the additional stuff one does after guests have been with you. However. I admit to being a little tired and so I also lay down on the sofa with Arnie to watch my Soap Opera (All My Children) and just lay low for a while.

Arnie is doing great. He is all recovered now from his bad tummy and is his usual happy go lucky self. He adores Anneliese’s puppies and they love him. They will see him enter the room and actually crawl over to the edge of the box to see him.

The puppies and Arnie.

I can see that Arnie will be their playmate when they are a little older.

The great thing is that Anneliese loves having Arnie in there with her. Perhaps it is because they were litter mates and they have always loved each other. Even as babies they would curl up and sleep together.

Arnie and Anneliese as babies.

At night when we are without puppies, they still do sleep together in our bed. I have to say. I don’t have a lot of room when all the dackels take up my space! Just look what they do when I nap on the sofa!

So the day went on. Leftovers for dinner, and a DVD for entertainment tonight. The puppies are asleep, the dogs are fed and the day is done!