Six years ago today, a dackel in Germany named Erika Vom Geestmoor, gave birth to a little girl dackel. Her name was Xochil Vom Geestmoor. She was a feisty pup from the start, but beautiful as well.
When she was 8 weeks old a man and woman came from America to adopt her. They called her a funny name, Greta. They rejoiced at her arrival and carried her all the way from Rheden, Germany to New Hampshire, after a stay at Auntie Uschi’s house in Berlin.
Through the years Greta gave birth twice to 10 puppies. Arnold, Anneliese, Anita, Angelika and Anja. And then Caspar, Calvin, Curt, Claus and Christel.
Greta was one of the best mothers ever. With her last litter she nursed her babies until they were leaving the nest. The look of pure happiness on her face when she had her babies near, was unlike any other mommy dog that I have seen.
Greta is also my sweet-heart. At night she cuddles close to me and there are times I can feel her push her weight against me. All with love.
Today she is six. I cannot believe how the time has flown! I have put together a little montage and I hope you all enjoy it.
Monday was one of those days where I spent most of the day waiting on, cleaning up after, and pampering the dogs. The medicine makes Greta feel so much better that she wants to run outside and chase every, leaf, cat or mouse that she sees. More than once, when she went outside, she took a run and of course this meant that I also went on a run. After her!!! So If Greta went out, so did I, just to watch her. At least she is feeling somewhat better.
The other two dackels were their normal adorable selves. Especially my buddy, Arnie. That boy is just the sweetest thing! This was the boy I had not wanted to keep all those years ago. I had planned to sell him and now, I cannot imagine my life without him! Look at that face! Isn’t he the handsomest guy?
Anneliese is a bit more independent, but she likes to hang out with me as well. She is funny though because she will be very affectionate when no one is looking. Her favorite time of day for sweet kisses? Dawn! Oh well, somehow the tenderness she shares with me makes the time of day acceptable, most of the time!
Fritz really hangs tight with me when Hubby is gone. It’s so funny because as soon as Hubby gets home, Fritz suddenly forgets who I am. It’s okay. Fritzi is a sweetheart and I love him just as he is!
Hubby skied for half the day and then went working on a project at the library. He arrived home just in time to eat dinner before I was out the door for a meeting.
I’ve joined a Women’s Organization called Altrusa. The women in this group are dedicated to community service. I’ve been looking for a way to serve my town and this feels like a good outlet for me. The other women are terrific and I enjoy the time I have spent there.
The day is coming to a close as we put each dog out for their last walk of the night. Always an exciting time. Next is bed.
I’m not sure what happened to Monday. It seemed the day had just begun (6:45 AM-thank you doggies!), and before I knew it, I put the last dish into the dishwasher and turned it on, made the coffee for tomorrow and sat down.
So between 6:45 AM and 6:45 PM, what have I accomplished?
I made three meals for Hubby and myself, and I am mad at myself because the ribs were overcooked! Hubby ate them without saying a word, but I knew I could have done better.
I brought all three dackels to the Veterinarian’s office for shots, nail clipping and to have Greta examined. She has been having trouble with her neck and I got very worried after my trip because she was having an increase of these painful episodes.
So I brought her in and they examined her completely. They could feel a small lump around the back of her head and when they were doing the exam she showed that she was having some pain.
Greta has always been a very active runner and jumper. I have trained Arnie and Anneliese to use the doggy stairs that I have all over the house. Greta will look at them, and then jump by them! She has also taken a few tumbles off the bed and I am afraid she may have hurt herself doing something along those lines.
In any case, we are treating her with anti inflammatory, and pain medication. I will also try to keep her quiet and let things settle down. It won’t “fix” the problem, but it will make her more comfortable.
Dackels are so prone to these sorts of things, and they tend to be their own worst enemy, as they jump up and down and put so much stress on those long, low backs.
After the Vets, I came home, did some paper work (I still can’t believe I actually have to deal with papers I do almost everything via the computer now), and decided to go in search of hidden dog bones.
I retrieved 5 bones that had been expertly hidden by the three dackels! But I also found some dust bunnies, so tomorrow I will have to get out the vacuum and get those dust bunnies out of here!
Then it was time for dinner and so the day ended. Twelve hours and I was amazingly busy, I got a lot of things done, but the time, that seemed to just fly by.
I was awoken in the night by Greta. Yes, Greta enjoys tormenting me, by waking me up at 3 AM. I was so groggy and cold and I couldn’t find my robe. I did find a jacket that barely covered my bottom. So out I went into the frost in my underwear socks, slippers and jacket. Oh thank you dear Lord that there were no Paparazzi outside to capture that on film!
I came inside and Greta decided that she did not want to go back to bed. After an argument with her, I gave up and went back to bed. I pulled the warm blankets over my body and pulled Arnie closer…and “bark, bark, bark!”
So I got up and this time told Greta to get into the bedroom and stop all this silliness and go to sleep! I managed another couple of hours before it was time to start the day.
I put the puppies outside in their pen and spent half an hour washing up their room. I cleaned everything, washed the floor and fed them. All that before drinking my first cup of coffee!
Hubby had a meeting this morning and so I fed him and sent him off with Fritz for a working meeting in the woods. Meanwhile I stayed home alternately cleaning the puppy room, walking them and then cleaning the puppy room again!
Later in the day our friends came by for a puppy visit and then later on Makenna arrived to run the pups for us.
Tonight, the pups and I are all exhausted. I think we will all get a good night sleep. At least I hope so. I do know one thing. Greta will be walked two seconds before we go to sleep.
Today was a funny day for Greta. I’m no longer allowing her complete access to the puppies and there are times when I have just set their food out and she sees it and then she starts whining and fussing. Hubby thought it was because she wanted to be with her babies. HA! It’s because she wants their food!
I heard her fussing there today and I stood up to see what she was doing and this is what I found.
Yes, she had climbed into the newspaper holder and was sitting on top of the pile whining at the puppies. She sat there staring at their food and making all sorts of noises.
It was one of those days, filled with potential, and yet, it seemed disaster was following just behind me!
I woke feeling happy and nice. I had a good night sleep and actually wanted to get up for a change. Yes, I was rested and in good form!
The first thing I noticed was that Greta had a very enlarged teat. This required a visit to our Veterinarian. She has Mastitis, and needs to be on antibiotics, and medication to relieve the swelling and help dry her up.
Yes, the puppies are now weaned and eating puppy food and drinking water and a little puppy formula.
Okay, we went home after the Vet visit and gathered up our friends from Australia, and Arnie and Anneliese and off we went to see the beauty of Autumn!
We drove up into the “Notch” and saw the beauty of mother nature. Red, orange, and yellow leaves dotted the mountains. Lovely!!
I mentioned to Hubby that we needed to stop for lunch. Words I will will regret for at least the foreseeable future. We found a restaurant that advertised “Fish and Chips” for lunch, so we pulled in and got in the line waiting at the door for the lunch rush. I should have known. I should have walked away, but I didn’t.
We had the waiter from Hell! He brought warm, nearly cold water for Jill’s tea, never brought Hubby’s or my drink and it was terrible. I finally asked to speak to the restaurant manager and I complained. Another waiter came to help, but the food was terrible and none of us enjoyed it.
I got to the car and Anneliese needed to be walked. I slipped off her pants and left them next to my car. While I walked Anneliese I saw a woman pass my car and she looked at the pants and then kicked them under my car!
“No!” I yelled. “Those are for my dog!”
Too late. I ran back and had to lie down on the ground and retrieve the pants. This meant nearly crawling under my car. The woman was aghast. I tried to explain they were for my dog who was in heat, but she wasn’t very helpful.
I did get them, but they were soaked. They’d gone into a puddle under the car. So, I took a pair of pants out of my purse and put those on. Unfortunately I was so upset, I forgot to put the pad on the pants!
Okay, we saw beautiful leaves on our journey across the Kancamagus Highway.
It was beautiful and we had a great time. My neighbor went in and checked on Greta and the pups and Fritz, while we were gone.
The puppies are doing great, and I am holding a hot water bottle on Greta to help her teat. Poor baby girl. She is really uncomfortable with those swollen breasts of hers!
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
Sunday found Greta wanting a little more freedom from the brood. She would lay down quietly with them and nurse them, but then she wanted to get up and come out to the family room and visit with us. Of course this didn’t last too long and she would be back at the gate to go in with the babies. So, we decided to allow the gate to remain open and give her the freedom to decide where she wanted to be.
Of course this meant that we had to watch Arnie and Anneliese, who, given the chance, would be right in there trying to help and babysit their brothers and little sister! Arnie is so funny. He would really like to go in and baby sit, like he did with Anneliese’s puppies.
So Greta went back and forth and back and forth all day long. By nightfall she had finally settled in with the babies. I’m even considering sleeping in my own bed tonight, but I will see.
I’m still so thrilled to see the babies each day. Their bellies get rounder by the moment and they are healthy and sweet.
Makenna was over and she held Christel for a while. She was wearing a furry vest and little Christel thought that there might be a milk fountain in there and looked around!
I got a close up picture of Curt today. Greta allowed me to. Over the next few days I will try to get one of each of the pups.
Can you believe how much they have grown?
Calvin, Claus, Caspar, Christel and Curt in front.
